Yankel Nosson
07-26-2003, 11:17 PM
The following question is based on Rashi's comments on Bamidbar 26:55 ("Ach b'goral yechalek es ha'aretz lishmos matos-avosam yinchalu" -- "Only by lot shall the land be divided, according to the names of their father's tribes shall they inherit")
Rashi describes this as "meisim yorshim es hachayim" -- dead inheriting from the living. Because the size of the inheritance of each individual who went out from Egypt is determined by the number of offspring who entered Eretz Yisrael (based on the census). The Sapirstein chumash with Rashi gives a good explanation.
If I understand the formula correctly, it creates an unusual situation, which I don't quite understand: the more offspring for a given family that enter Eretz Yisrael, the larger the portion in the land for that family. But within a family, since the portion in EY is divided equally among all brothers who went out from Egypt, you find that the descendents of a man who had fewer offspring entering the land get the biggest portion.
example
Let's examine two families, say Chetzroni and Karmi, each of which had (for our example) two men among those who went out from Egypt.
In mishpachas Chetzroni, one yotzei mitzrayim had one descendent who entered EY, and the other yotzei mitzrayim had 5 descendents who entered EY. Thus, there are six descendents of mishpachas Chetzroni who entered EY, so the two sons who went out from Mitzrayim each inherit three shares of EY, which are divided among the descendents. The lone descendent of the first son receives all three shares, whereas the 5 descendents of the second son split the three into five, each getting .6 of a share.
In mishpachas Karmi, one yotzei mitzrayim had one descendent who entered EY, and the other yotzei mitrayim had 3 descendents who entered EY. Thus, there are four descendents of mishpachas Karmi who entered EY, so the two sons who went out from Mitzrayim each inherit two shares of EY, which are divided among the descendents. The lone descendent of the first son receives all two shares, whereas the 3 descendents of the second son split the two into three, each getting .4 of a share.
So the more descendents who entered the land, the greater the inheritance of each man who went out from Mitzrayim. But the brother who had fewer offspring entering the land would see his offspring get the largest individual inheritence!
What is the relationship of the offspring who enter EY to their ancestors who left mitrayim according to chassidus? Since those who left mitzrayim were 600,000 they (could) represent all the neshomos yisroel, and the offspring who enter the land could represent the fragmentation and gilgulim required for each neshoma to enter the land.
Perhaps some of the yodei chei"n can check up on this.
Rashi describes this as "meisim yorshim es hachayim" -- dead inheriting from the living. Because the size of the inheritance of each individual who went out from Egypt is determined by the number of offspring who entered Eretz Yisrael (based on the census). The Sapirstein chumash with Rashi gives a good explanation.
If I understand the formula correctly, it creates an unusual situation, which I don't quite understand: the more offspring for a given family that enter Eretz Yisrael, the larger the portion in the land for that family. But within a family, since the portion in EY is divided equally among all brothers who went out from Egypt, you find that the descendents of a man who had fewer offspring entering the land get the biggest portion.
example
Let's examine two families, say Chetzroni and Karmi, each of which had (for our example) two men among those who went out from Egypt.
In mishpachas Chetzroni, one yotzei mitzrayim had one descendent who entered EY, and the other yotzei mitzrayim had 5 descendents who entered EY. Thus, there are six descendents of mishpachas Chetzroni who entered EY, so the two sons who went out from Mitzrayim each inherit three shares of EY, which are divided among the descendents. The lone descendent of the first son receives all three shares, whereas the 5 descendents of the second son split the three into five, each getting .6 of a share.
In mishpachas Karmi, one yotzei mitzrayim had one descendent who entered EY, and the other yotzei mitrayim had 3 descendents who entered EY. Thus, there are four descendents of mishpachas Karmi who entered EY, so the two sons who went out from Mitzrayim each inherit two shares of EY, which are divided among the descendents. The lone descendent of the first son receives all two shares, whereas the 3 descendents of the second son split the two into three, each getting .4 of a share.
So the more descendents who entered the land, the greater the inheritance of each man who went out from Mitzrayim. But the brother who had fewer offspring entering the land would see his offspring get the largest individual inheritence!
What is the relationship of the offspring who enter EY to their ancestors who left mitrayim according to chassidus? Since those who left mitzrayim were 600,000 they (could) represent all the neshomos yisroel, and the offspring who enter the land could represent the fragmentation and gilgulim required for each neshoma to enter the land.
Perhaps some of the yodei chei"n can check up on this.