July 11, 2011
by Digital Maggid
די שול־גבאים זיינען איינמאָל בעקומען דו ר’ פינחס’ל קאָריצער און געקלאָגן זיך פאר דער חוצפה פונ’ם שטאָט־חזן, וואָס האלט כסדר אין איין בעטען הוספות און איצט וויל ער זײַן שכירות זאָל זײַן גלייך מיט’ן רב’ס שכירות.
— און מיר איז דאָס גאָר ניט אזא פּלא — האָט ר’ פינחס’ל אָפּגעענטפערט, ער איז ניט דער ערשטער וואָס „עושה מעשה זמרי (מלשון זמר — זינגען) ומבשק שכר כפּינחס“ …
The gabbai’im (assistants) of the shul once went to R’ Pinchas’l Koritzer to complain about the chutzpah of the city’s cantor, who was continually asking for raises and now wanted his salary to equal that of the rabbi.
— This doesn’t surprise me in the least — retorted R’ Pinchas’l — he is not the first “to commit the acts of Zimri (in the language of a singer — singing) and ask for Pinchas’ reward.”
This story employs a multi-level pun.
read more »
Like this:
Be the first to like this post.
Posted in greed, Mayses (Stories), Pinchas, Pinchas, R' Pinchas'l Koritzer (Horowitz) |
Leave a Comment »
July 10, 2011
by Digital Maggid
Our parsha begins rather in the middle of a story that we left unfinished last time. To recap briefly, the Jews were living for a period of time in Shittim, and “the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab.” By this is meant that they were worshipping the wrong gods, ate the wrong foods, married the wrong people, etc. etc.
Hashem would not suffer this, and became angry. He ordered Moses to ‘Hang ‘em high!’ (paraphrased). And a bit of an odd thing happens here (as if this were not an altogether odd story to begin with), because there is an implication that the punishment for those who worshipped the Baal of Peor (a false god) were to be hanged, but at the same time, a plague arose. Only the text does not tell us this until after the fact. It appears that people who were neither hanged nor afflicted with the plague were mourning the loss of their kinsmen, while a certain Israelite was carrying on with a Midianite woman in plain sight.
read more »
Like this:
Be the first to like this post.
Posted in piety, Pinchas, Pinchas, Vurker Rebbe |
Leave a Comment »
Digital Maggid
