Parshat Pinchas
Num. 25:10-30:1
In this week’s portion, Pinchas, God guides Moses as he appoints a successor to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, since Moses himself will not enter the Land. We read that “Moses spoke to the Eternal, saying, ‘Let the Eternal, Source of the breath of all flesh, appoint a leader for the community who shall go out before them and come in before them, and who shall take them out and bring them in, so that the Eternal’s community may not be like sheep that have no shepherd.’” (Numbers 27:15-17) God then singles out Joshua for this appointment because he was “an inspired leader.” (Numbers 27:18)