This Shabbat we conclude the Book of Numbers with great emphasis on the seriousness of vows and how we use our words. Dramatically, the Parsha also describes the battles with forces that threaten the new nation and her unique mission. The verses of the Torah describe the “holy war” to crush the Midianites. A Hassidic master, the Ishbitzer, noted how the word Midian shared the same letters as the Hebrew word for illusion, Dimyon.
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