Machshava:

Leadership,  Torah 

Nach:

Yehoshua 

Parsha:

Pinchas 

Collections: R' Rubenstein Parsha Series

Description

This shiur explores why Yehoshua, rather than Pinchas, was chosen as Moshe's successor, due to גדולה שימושה של תורה יותר מלימודה, the principle that serving a rebbe forges a deeper bond to his essence greater than learning from him alone, illustrated through Elisha's service of Eliyahu, Eliyahu's service of Achiyah HaShiloni, and Yehoshua's constant attendance on Moshe. This is tied to the Pirkei Avos mishna's progression toward "all your actions should be leshem shamayim," since true shimush is what infuses mitzvos with vitality rather than rote habit, as shown through the Noam Elimelech. The shiur closes by reading Nadav v'Avihu's original sin as a failure in this very quality of shimush, for which Pinchas's transformation into Eliyahu served as their ultimate tikkun, framed further through the sun-and-moon imagery of Moshe and Yehoshua.