Parshat Pinchas - The Diminishment of Five

If you have been inspired by this video please share it with your friends. Thank you. This class is based on Likutey Moharan Lesson 24: In Parshat Pinchas, the Torah counts 65 families of Am Yisrael preparing to enter Eretz Yisrael, five fewer than the 70 nations of the world. Rashi connects this to the verse “ki atem hame’at” (you are the smallest), teaching that the Jewish people know how to diminish themselves and receive Hashem’s light through humility. Rebbe Nachman explains that the Infinite Light can only be received through the pushback of the Keter, when a person accepts setbacks with simcha (joy) and emunah (faith). The number 65 also corresponds to the Name of Hashem we pronounce in place of Yud-Kei Vav-Kei, showing that the “cover-up” itself is the vessel for higher perception. The five that diminish us also hint to five pathways of joy—humor, music and movement, finding good points, gratitude, and joy borrowed from the future—through which a Jew becomes a vessel for the deepest light.