Parsha for Kids: Masei 2023
Below is the transcript for this week’s episode of Parsha for Kids, Masei 2023.
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Season 4 Episode 10:
Hello! My name is Chana and this is Parsha for Kids. The parsha of the week is Maasei. Maasei means travels. This parsha catalogues Bnei Yisrael’s many travels over the course of their forty years in the Midbar, wilderness.
Why did God want Moshe to write down all the places that Bnei Yisrael camped? There are several possibilities. One that resonates with me is that each of these places was named based on something that happened there. Therefore, when later generations of Bnei Yisrael would be living in Eretz Yisrael, they would read the list of places in the Torah and understand its history. For example, one of the places was named Dafka. A father would tell his children, “Listen! In Dafka, God made a miracle, providing manna from the heavens. The place was called Dafka because Bnei Yisrael’s hearts beat, dafak, anxiously about the lack of food.” Each place would therefore remind Bnei Yisrael of the history of that place.
TRANSITION
God taught Moshe that Bnei Yisrael would need to drive out the seven nations who inhabited the land of Canaan. These nations worshipped idols and believed in human sacrifice. Since they did evil things, they could not be allowed to remain in the land. If Bnei Yisrael did not kill them or drive them out, then eventually Bnei Yisrael would be influenced to act like them.
God also made sure Bnei Yisrael knew that they would need to destroy all the idols they found in the land.
Moshe clarified the exact boundaries of Eretz Yisrael. This was important because there are many mitzvot that can only be practiced in the land of Israel. Therefore we would need to know which sections actually make up Eretz Yisrael and which pieces of land are outside of Eretz Yisrael.
TRANSITION
God told Moshe to set aside three cities of refuge, arei miklat on the East side of the Jordan. When Bnei Yisrael crossed into the land of Israel, Yehoshua would need to set aside another three cities.
What is an Ir Miklat? A city of refuge exists to harbor a Jew who has accidentally killed another Jew. For example, perhaps a Jew was chopping wood, and unintentionally the handle of his ax flew off and struck and killed someone. That murder was not committed on purpose. In this circumstance, a Jew is permitted to run to an Ir Miklat and live there. This keeps him safe from the relatives of the person he killed, called the goel hadam or goalei hadam, the redeemers of the blood, who would otherwise be permitted to kill him because of the blood he had spilled. The Jew who was negligent and accidentally committed the murder remains in the Ir Miklat until the Kohen Gadol dies.
You may ask: but what prevents someone who deliberately committed murder from running to the Ir Miklat and hiding there?
I’m glad you asked. The law was as follows- any Jew could run to the Ir Miklat. However, after he came to the city, the judges of the Sanhedrin, High Court, would put him on trial and decide whether he had killed on purpose, b’mezid, or by accident, b’shogeg. If they decide the murder was committed on purpose, they put him to death. If they decide the murder was committed by accident, they permit him to remain in the Ir Miklat.
An Ir Miklat is a place of refuge but it is also a prison. If the person who lives within the Ir Miklat steps outside of the city, the goel hadam is within his rights to kill him.
Some of you may have watched the Disney movie ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame.’ In that film, there is a gypsy named Esmeralda. There is a priest named Frollo who is out to get her. But Esmeralda enters the church and claims sanctuary. Claiming sanctuary means that as long as she remains within the church she cannot be harmed. The priest, Frollo, is unimpressed. He tells Esmeralda that he is aware that “Gypsies do not do well within stone walls.” As soon as she steps outside of the church, he plans to arrest her.
The idea of sanctuary, and the idea of the church as a place that offered sanctuary, appears to be derived from our Jewish concept of Ir Miklat, city of refuge.
TRANSITION
We mentioned that the individuals living within an Ir Miklat are allowed to go free once the Kohen Gadol dies. Why is that?
The Midrash explain that it was the Kohen Gadol’s job to pray that these kinds of incidents should not occur within Bnei Yisrael. If he was worthy, then accidental murders would not happen during his lifetime. The fact that an accidental murder does happen within his lifetime means that he is somehow responsible. His death atones for the murder. Additionally, the assumption was that once the Kohen Gadol passed away, people would be so wrapped up in grief for him that they would not be thinking of avenging the deaths of their loved ones.
People who lived in an Ir Miklat wanted the Kohen Gadol to die so they could return back to their homes. Due to this, the mother of the Kohen Gadol would go to each of the Arei Miklat and hand out food and drinks. They hoped that the refugees would therefore not pray for the Kohen Gaddol to die.
If an accidental murderer dies while he is in an Ir Miklat. he is buried there. After the Kohen Gadol dies, his bones can be moved to his family’s cemetery.
Additionally, God warns us not to accept money to allow an accidental murderer to return home before the Kohen Gadol dies. And of course we cannot accept money to allow a deliberate murderer to live.
TRANSITION
In this week’s parsha, we learn about where the Levites would live when they entered Eretz Yisrael. Because the Levites would be serving as the talmidei chachamim, or scholars in residence, it was important that they be scattered throughout the land rather than only living on one portion of land. Thus, they would end up living near each of the tribes and would be able to teach and inspire members of that tribe.
Therefore, God commanded that Moshe instruct Bnei Yisrael to give the Levites 48 cities, spread out across the land of Israel. Each Levite city needed to have an open area of a thousand amot, or around two thousand feet, around it. This space remained open to make the city beautiful. No one was permitted to plant there.
This open area was surrounded by a second, larger area where the Levites were allowed to grow plants and have their animals pasture.
TRANSITION
We learned about the daughters of Tzelafchad in Parshas Pinchas, Machla, Chagla, Noa, Milka and Tirza. These women came from the tribe of Menashe. The leaders of the tribe of Menashe were concerned that these women might marry men from a different tribe. If this were the case, then the tribe of Menashe would lose property.
God saw their concern. He advised the daughters of Tzelafchad to choose husbands from their own shevet, Menashe, so that the shevet would not lose property. Machla, Chagla, Noa, Milka and Tirza did this, marrying husbands from their own tribe.
TRANSITION
So here’s what we learned this week!
The name of each place Bnei Yisrael camped has a meaning. If you delve deep enough into the meaning, you will recognize something significant that happened there. That is why it is important to list the names of each of the campsites.
We discussed in the previous parsha that people are often influenced by those who are around them. This is why it would be so important for Bnei Yisrael to kill or drive out the seven nations that inhabited the land of Canaan at that time. God did not want Bnei Yisrael to start to believe, as the idolaters did, that might makes right.
God set up a system that made clear murder was evil. But He distinguished between the accidental and deliberate murderer. While both were punished, an accidental murderer had the opportunity to live in an Ir Miklat. Maybe there, they would become rehabilitated, learning how to be more careful and considerate when interacting with others- so that their negligence could never harm anyone else.
The Levites were scattered throughout the land of Israel so that they could serve as scholars and teachers for the rest of the nation. This is similar, nowadays, to the rabbis who are scattered throughout our communities. We don’t just have one state in America, for example, where all the rabbis live. Instead, we have rabbis in all of the states so that they can inspire and lead their distinct communities.
If you have any questions or comments on this week’s episode, please email me at parsha4kids@gmail.com. That’s parsha the number 4 kids at gmail.com. Good Shabbos