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Why does Rashi (רש"י) call the year they did Korban Pesach (פסח) a "genuss" (disgrace) when they performed the mitzvah (מצוה) correctly? The shiur develops that Korban Pesach is not merely a mitzvah but a membership commitment to Knesses Yisrael. Since they failed to continue it, their first year lacked the proper commitment element.
The shiur explores a fundamental question about Rashi (רש"י)'s commentary on the structure of Sefer Bamidbar. Rashi explains that the Torah (תורה) places Parshas Bamidbar before Parshas Beha'aloscha (which discusses Pesach (פסח) Sheni) because it would be a "genuss" (disgrace) for Klal Yisrael to begin with Pesach Sheni, since they only observed Korban Pesach that one year during their forty years in the wilderness. Rabbi Zweig questions this explanation: Why is performing Korban Pesach correctly considered a disgrace? That year, they fulfilled the mitzvah (מצוה) properly with great enthusiasm, even having people complain that they couldn't participate due to ritual impurity. The real problem was the subsequent thirty-nine years when they failed to bring the offering.
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Parshas Shelach
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