Pinchas: The Message of the festivals

The final pasuk of our parasha is somewhat difficult to understand: “Moses spoke to the children of Israel in accordance with all that the L-rd had commanded Moses.” (Sefer Bamidbar 30:1) We know from numerous verses that Moses told the Jewish people solely “that [which] the L-rd had commanded.” Without a doubt, he always acted as Hashem’s loyal servant. Therefore, the Torah states that “he is faithful throughout My house.” (12:7) To what, then, does the phrase, “in accordance with all,” actually refer? Based upon Midrash Sifrei, Pinchas 57, Rashi suggests the following:

Moses spoke to the children of Israel: [This verse is written] to make a pause; [these are] the words of R. Ishmael. Since up to this point the words of the Omnipresent [were stated], and the [following] chapter dealing with vows begins with the words of Moses, it was necessary to make a break first and say that Moses repeated this chapter [of offerings and the Festivals] to the Jewish people, for if not so, it would imply that he did not tell this to them, but began his address with the chapter discussing vows. (Underlining and emendations to the translation, from The Judaica Press Complete Tanach, are my own)

In sum, Rashi is teaching us that Moses repeated to the Jewish people, both the laws pertaining to festival musafim (additional offerings) and the festivals themselves.

Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin (1816-1893), known to posterity as “the Netziv,” builds upon Rashi’s gloss and notes, “Our teacher, Moses, explained the laws of the Festivals to the Jewish people more so than all the other parshiot in the Torah.” (Ha’amek Davar, Parashat Pinchas, 30:1) At first glance, this is a very surprising statement, as it seems there should be many other contenders for the crown of “most explicated section of the Torah.” As such, why did the Netziv single out the Festivals in this fashion? His answer is both incisive and far-reaching in scope: