Parashas Ki Sisa - Shabbos Parah
18 Adar 5769

March 14, 2009
Daf Yomi: Bava Kama 76

Guest Author:
Alan Betsalel Friedlander

National Council of Young Israel 

Adjunct Professor, Touro College

 

 “And they shall make all that I have commanded you.” (Exodus 31:6)

 

In this week’s Torah portion, (Exodus 31:1-11), Chur’s grandson Betzalel was selected to build the mishkan (tabernacle).  If Nachshon Ben Aminadav was chosen for the malchus (royalty) (Numbers 2:3), why, was Chur’s family chosen for the vital spiritual task of building the mishkan? Furthermore, even though Nachshon led the Bnei Yisrael into the Yam Suf (Sotah 37a), it was Chur who assisted Aharon in aiding Moshe during Yehoshua’s battle with Amalek (Exodus 17:10&12). In fact, the spiritual support Chur and Aharon lent Moshe during his prayer would seem to lead to a clear implication that it was Chur who deserved to be the Nasi of the tribe of Yehudah. Furthermore, Moshe Rabbeinu told the people to look to Aharon and Chur for leadership (Ex. 24:14), while Nachshon was not mentioned as a spiritual leader at all.   Yet, only Nachshon is designated as the Nasi of the tribe of Yehudah (1 Chron. 2:10), an appellation that is not used to describe Chur, Calev, or even Betzalel, builder of the mishkan.

 

But these are really two separate matters. Chur was not assisting Moshe in the guise of the future prince of the tribe of Judah; rather, Chur was there as an attendant to Moshe Rabbeinu. After all, he was Moshe’s nephew, child of Miriam and Calev (See Rashi, Beshalach 17:10).

 

Chur’s family acquired the privilege of building the mishkan via his grandson Betzalel as compensation over Chur’s being martyred by the rebellion with the Golden Calf (Daas Zekaynim, Shemos 31:2). Torah Temimah (on Exodus 32:5, note 11) cites a Midrash Tanchuma, which states that Chur was slain by the golden calf worshipers. This can be inferred from Scripture itself since Chur was beside Aharon as a leader of the congregation at the end of Parashas Mishpatim (Ex. 24:14), but only Aharon is mentioned in our parasha (ibid. 32:3&5).

 

But if Chur was so great, why wasn’t his family also chosen to receive the malchus?  Did not Chur sacrifice more than Nachshon? Shouldn’t he have also been called Nasi by Scripture, at least as a posthumous honor?

 

In order to answer this question, we must realize that both Aharon and Nachshon were willing to sacrifice themselves with the full expectation of their own destruction, if the rules of nature remained in place. Unless a miracle would occur to save them, they knew they would die, and in halacha we do not rely on miracles (Pesachim 64b). When Aharon participated in the sin of the golden calf, Aharon thought he was giving up the World to Come, as it says in the fifth chapter of Avos, “Whoever causes others to sin is not given a chance to repent.” But HaShem is filled with kindness and heeded Moshe Rabbeinu’s prayer to forgive him (Deut. 9:20).

 

When Nachshon jumped into the sea, he did not expect destruction since he trusted HaShem with complete faith (see Mechilta 14:22).  But “faith” in this case refers to his mind and soul overpowering his natural inclination to not allow himself to drown in the sea. The Mechilta quotes the verse from Tehillim (Psalm 69:2) “Save me because the water has reached unto the soul (which will depart from me if You don’t save me).”  He was not a spiritual robot, a thing without emotions. His body must have been gripped with fear and he overcame that fear with mind over matter (Moach shalit al halev). Nachshon’s body trembled and he thought that he was giving up this world when he jumped into the sea, yet his soul and mind rejoiced until eventually his body calmed down, accepting its fate, and at that moment of complete devotion to God’s will, the miracle occurred.

 

So why did he do it if it was dangerous? How could he rely on miracles? The answer is that he was told to do it by the Navi, Moshe Rabbeinu. Though his mind and soul knew there was no danger, his physical body needed to catch up to his spiritual side. At that point, when he conquered his physical self, he achieved complete faith.

 

By Chur, on the other hand, it is possible, even probable, that he did not expect the fate that befell him. He may have judged the crowd too favorably that they would never hurt him. Therefore, he may not have had the same level of kavanah/intent of mesiras nefesh (willingness to sacrifice himself) as Nachshon did. This explains why Chur, although he was righteous and did sacrifice himself, did not merit to be called a Nasi in his generation.  But from this a new question arises: if Chur was not a Nasi, then why was Chur chosen to assist Moshe and Aharon at all?  Contrary to our assumption above, that Chur was Moshe Rabbeinu’s attendant, we find that in the very paragraph that Yehoshua is called an attendant of Moshe Rabbeinu, Chur is not. (Ex. 24:13-14)

 

There is a Talmudic statement (Sotah 11b) that Chur’s family DID, in fact, obtain the malchus, in the merit of their matriarch, Miriam. The gemara says of Miriam that she was also called Efras (in the book of Chronicles) because she gained the house of malchus (as David was descended from her). But Scripture clearly states in Ruth and Chronicles that David came from Nachshon, not Chur. 

  

In order to reconcile the verse with the Talmudic statement, we must conclude that King David descends from both Nachshon and Chur. A female descendant of Miriam and Calev (Chur’s parents) must have married a male forbearer of Yishai, the father of David. Since malchus is determined by patrilineal descent, Chronicles, which is primarily a depiction of the kings of Judah, mentions only Nachshon as the prince of that generation. Therefore, in this way, we avoid having to evaluate whether one righteous person is greater than another righteous person in any way.

 

The conclusion is that Chur and his parents, Calev and Miriam, joined in a partnership with Nachshon’s family to all become forbearers of the Davidic dynasty. May their descendant, the King Moshiach, come speedily in our days, amen.

 

Good shabbos.