Henry's D'var Torah: Moses' Death

Deuteronomy Chapter 34:4​

“… I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither."

Henry feels that this punishment is heartbreaking to Moses and that G-d is being too harsh, because G-d knows that Moses has wanted to go to the Promised Land. He walked and led the Israelites for 40 years in the desert and he doesn’t get to cross into Israel. Not only is he prohibited from going into Israel but G-d is showing him the land. It’s kind of like putting a bar of chocolate in front of a kid’s face.

 

The first thing that we noticed about this Parashah is that it’s the last chapter of the Torah. This Parashah is about Moses’ death. The Parashah gives us detailed information about Moses’ last events, his death, and his burial.

 

At the beginning of the Parashah Moses went up the mountain of Nebo. From the top of the mountain he could see the whole land of Israel; the final destination of the Israelites. Then G-d tells Moses that this was the land that was promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and told him that he will not cross the border to Israel.

The Parashah then tells us that Moses died on top of mountain Nebo and was buried in the valley. His burial location will never be known.  

At the end of the Parashah it is very clear that Joshua will become the next leader of the people of Israel and therefore at the end of the Torah is the end of one leadership and sets up the beginning of a new leadership for the next part of the Tanakh. It is kind of a cliffhanger.

 

Question for Reflection:

-Would you agree that God's showing Moses the promised land but denying him entrance is unfair? Why or why not?

     

 

 

Final Torah Hangout - May 3 - Moses' Farewell

In the second to last parashah of the Torah, Haazinu, Moses speaks to the people one last time. His speech is a beautiful call to the people to follow God's teachings so they may finally live as a free and righteous people in peace. The people are on the verge of entering the land -- they can even see it now!

However, Moses himself, the man who has humbly and loyally led the people all this way, is not allowed to enter the land. After his final speech to the people, God tells Moses to climb to the top of Mount Nevo, to look at the promised land, and to die there. God says Moses may not enter the land, "Because you betrayed Me among the people Israel at the water of Merivat Kadesh in the Zin desert and because you did not sanctify Me among the people Israel." What does it mean that Moses did not sanctify God?

You see, back when the people were complaining of thirst in the desert of Zin, God had instructed Moses to speak to a rock to make water gush from it and quench the Israelites' thirst. But instead of speaking to the rock, Moses hit the rock with his stick. Water still came out of the rock and the people drank it, but because Moses did not follow God's instructions exactly, God does not allow him to enter the land God promised the people Israel.

Before Moses dies, he sings a poem to the people Israel, blessing each of the 12 tribes. Finally, Moses dies, the Torah says, "by the mouth of God." What does this mean? The Talmud says that Moses died as God kissed him. And God Godself buries Moses.

What do YOU think?
Do you think God's punishment of Moses is fair? Why or why not? Defend your answer with evidence from the story.

From the Rabbis
It is believed that it was Moses who wrote down the whole Torah, recording God's words as God spoke them. But how could Moses have written the whole Torah if he died before the ending?

There are a few explanations for this. One answer is that Moses wrote up to the moment before his death and then his student and successor, Joshua, wrote on from there, finishing the rest of the Torah. (It is Joshua, after all, who takes over for Moses and leads the people into the Land.) Another opinion states that Joshua could not have finished it because Moses already had a complete Torah scroll. How could this be? Rather, says Rabbi Meir, we must say that God dictated the event of Moses' death, saying, "And Moses...died there" and Moses wrote it in tears and then died.

~Why do you think the rabbis imagine Moses writing these last words in tears?

~Why do you think the Torah ends with Moses' death? Why doesn't it end with the people going into the promised land? 

#20 April 26 - Korah Rebels

In Parashat Korah, an Israelite named Korah, who is a Levite, gangs up with Dathan and Aviram, Reubenites, and 250 other Israelites, and rebels against Moses and Aaron. Together they come to Moses and Aaron and say, "You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and God is among them. Why then do you make yourself higher than God's people?" When Moses hears this, he does not answer them but turns to God for an answer.

Then Moses says to Korah and his band, "Tomorrow morning, God will say who is His leader and who is holy, who gets to be close to God. This is your homework, Korah: You and your whole band of rebels take metal bowls and tomorrow burn incense in them in front of God's tent. Aaron and his sons, the priests, will also burn incense. Then God will tell us which man God chooses -- that man will be the holy one. You have gone too far, you Levites!"

Moses continued, "Listen up, Levites. Isn't it enough that God already made you special by letting you work for God in God's tent? (While Aaron and his sons are priests who make sacrifices to God, the Levite tribe is assigned to take care of God's tent, the Mishkan. They make sure everything is clean and tidy. They make sure all the tools and furniture are in the right place.) God has already made you and all the Levites special and now you want to be priests too?! By doing this, you are not rebelling against me but against God."

Take a look at the diagram above. This was how the 12 tribes camped and traveled together. At the center is God's tent (called the "tabernacle" in English or mishkan in Hebrew). Closest to the tent is the Tribe of Levi, which includes Moses, the leader, Aaron and his sons, the priests, and three other groups of Levites, led by Korah, Gershon and Merar. Surrounding the Levites are the rest of the 12 tribes, three tribes for each direction (North, South, East and West). So when Moses says to Korah, "Isn't it enough...?" he is talking about the fact that Korah is already very special - he gets to take care of God's own tent! So why is he complaining?!

So Korah and his crew show up the next morning at the tent with their metal bowls and and burn incense on them. God becomes so angry that He says to Moses and Aaron, "Stand back! I'm going to kill them all right this instant!!!" But Moses and Aaron bow to God and say, "No, God. Calm down. If only one man sins, is it right to kill everyone?" So God says to Moses, "Okay, tell the whole community to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Aviram." 

So the people move away from those men and their tents. As Dathan and Aviram stand by their tents, Moses says, "Now you will know that it was God that sent me to lead the people -- I did not choose to be your leader, God did." Right as he finished speaking, the ground opened up like a mouth beneath Korah, Dathan, Aviram and their families and swallowed them up!! Then the earth closed up and they vanished!  And God sent a fire that killed the rest of the 250 rebels. 

Questions for Refection

1. What does Korah accuse Moses of doing? What does Korah want?

2. Korah was actually right when he said that the whole Israelite community is holy. God said earlier, "You shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." Korah is also right when he says that "God is among them" because God lives with and guides all the Israelites as they wander in the wilderness. So what is wrong with what Korah says and does? 

3. Korah accuses Moses, saying "Why then do you make yourself higher than God's people?" Moses says, "I did not choose to be your leader, God did." What is the difference between how Korah and Moses understand leadership?

Let's Ask a Rabbi

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks says that Korah and Moses understand leadership in opposite ways. Korah understands it like a pyramid whereas Moses understands it like a Menorah. First, he tells us to imagine the pyramids: 

These were more than just buildings. They were statements in stone of a hierarchical social order. They were wide at the base and narrow at the top. At the top was the king or pharaoh – at the point, so it was believed, where heaven and earth met. Beneath was a series of elites, and beneath them the laboring masses. This was believed to be not just one way of organizing a society but the only way. The very universe was organized on this principle, as was the rest of life. The sun ruled the heavens. The lion ruled the animal kingdom. The king ruled the nation. That is how it was in nature. That is how it must be. Some are born to rule, others to be ruled.

Judaism is a protest against this kind of hierarchy. Every human being, not just the king, is in the image and likeness of G‑d. Therefore no one is entitled to rule over any other without their assent. There is still a need for leadership, because without a conductor an orchestra would lapse into discord. Without a captain a team might have brilliant players and yet not be a team. In a social order in which everyone has equal dignity in the eyes of heaven, a leader does not stand above the people. He serves the people, and he serves G‑d. The great symbol of biblical Israel, the menorah, is an inverted pyramid, broad at the top, narrow at the base. The greatest leader is therefore the most humble."

According to Rabbi Lord Sacks, Moses is like the stem of a menorah - as the leader, he supports the people. Can you think of other ways that the menorah is a symbol for the Jewish people?

Can you think of people today, in your own life, who lead like Moses? Share your answer below in the Comments box.

#19 April 19 - The 12 Spies

Numbers, Chapter 13

Read the Story

God said to Moses, "Send for yourself men who will scout out the Land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel. You shall send one man each for his father's tribe; each one shall be a chief among their tribe. 

So Moses sent them from the desert of Paran by the word of God. All of them were important men: they were heads of the children of Israel. They were: 

1. Shammua son of Zikkur for the tribe of Reuven

2. Shaphat son of Hori for the tribe of Shimon

3. Caleb son of Jepphunneh for the tribe of Judah.

4. Yigal son of Joseph for the tribe of Issachar.

5. Hoshea son of Nun for the tribe of Ephraim.

6. Palti son of Raphu for the tribe of Benjamin.

7. Gaddiel son of Sodi for the tribe of Zevulun.

8. Gaddi son of Susi for the tribe of Joseph.

9. Ammiel son of Gemali for the tribe of Dan.

10. Setur son of Michael for the tribe of Asher.

11. Nahbi son of Vophsi for the tribe of Naphtali.

12. Geuel son of Mahi for the tribe of Gad.

These are the names of the men Moses sent to scout the Land. And Moses called Hoshea son of Nun, "Joshua".

Moses sent them to scout the Land of Canaan and he said to them, "Go up this way in the south and climb up the mountain. See what kind of land it is and the people who live there: Are they strong or weak? Are there few or many? And what kind of land is it? Is it good or bad? And what are the cities like? Are they camps or castles? What is the soil like? Is it fatty or lean? Are there any trees in it or not? Be courageous and take from the fruit of the land." It was the season when the first grapes begin to ripen.

So they went up and explored the land. They came to the Valley of Eshkol and they cut a branch with a cluster of grapes. They carried it on a pole between two people and they took some pomegranates and figs.

They returned from scouting the Land at the end of forty days. They went and came to Moses and Aaron and the whole group of the children of Israel in the desert of Paran to Kadesh. They brought them back a report, as well as to the entire community and they showed them the fruit of the land.

They told him and said, "We came to the land to which you sent us and it is flowing with milk and honey and this is its fruit.... However, the people who inhabit the land are mighty and the cities are extremely huge and secured and there we saw even the children of the giant! The Amalekites live in the south land while the Hittites, the Jebusites and the Amorites live in the mountains. The Canaanites live on the coast and alongside the River Jordan."

Caleb silenced the people and he said, "We can surely go up and take possession of it for we can indeed overcome it." But the men who went up with him said, "We are unable to go up against the people for they are stronger than us." They spread an evil report about the Land which they had scouted telling the children of Israel, "The Land we passed through to explore is a land that eats up its inhabitants and all the people we saw in it are men of stature. There we saw giants, the sons of Anak, descended from the giants. In our eyes we seemed like tiny grasshoppers in comparison to them - and so we were in their eyes.

The entire community raised their voices and shouted and the people cried all night. All the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron and the whole community said, "If only we had died in Egypt or if only we had died in this desert. Why does God bring us to this land only to be killed? Wouldn't it be better if we went back to Egypt?"

Watch this video from G-dcast

Did you get all that?
1. What kind of men were the spies that Moses sent to check out Canaan?
2. What was the spies' mission?
3. Which spies came back afraid to go into the land? Which spies believed they could do it?

Let's go a little deeper

1. Describe the differences between the spies' actual journey to Canaan and their report of what they saw. 

2. It says that all the spies, except Caleb and Joshua, spread an "evil report" about the land. What makes their report "evil"?

3. According to Rashi, the spies say several things to scare the people: that giants live in the land; that the Amalekites, who attacked them once before, live nearby; that the land lies alongside the Jordan River, which will be difficult to cross. Why do you think they want to scare the people?

4. According to a Midrash, when God says to Moses, send for yourself, this means that God is not commanding Moses to do this. God is saying, "If you want, you can send spies to scout out the land." Moses chose to send spies because the people kept asking him "Can we send men ahead of us to check out the land?" even though God had already said that the Land is very good. God lets them send spies in order that they would make a mistake by believing the spies' report and not be allowed to enter the Land. (As you saw in the video, this generation of Israelites will not be allowed to enter the land because they do not believe they are capable of conquering the land.) Why do you think God would let them make this mistake?

5. Why do you think the Israelites, upon hearing the report, wish they could have died in Egypt?

6. The only two spies who believe they can conquer the land are Caleb and Joshua. The other spies say they felt like tiny grasshoppers compared to the people they saw in Canaan. According to rabbis in the Talmud, when Caleb says we can surely go up, it means "we could even go up to heaven! If God tells us, 'make ladders and go up there,' we will succeed in whatever God says!" Describe the difference between Caleb's attitude and the other spies' attitude.

In your own life
Describe a time in your life when (a) you felt tiny like a grasshopper or (b) when you felt like you were strong like a giant. What impact did this feeling have on your experience?

Gordo-Vargas D'Var Torah: Looking to Aaron for the Answer

Have you ever had a problem and didn't know how to fix it? What if everyone is looking to you for a solution? What do you do?

Before the construction of the gold calf, the people believed they had lost their leader. Moses had been gone for some time, and they turned to Aaron and asked him to build them a god to go before them (Shemot 32:1), to restore their sense of direction and purpose in Moses’ absence. Aaron, instead of taking up Moses’ role as leader, prompted the people to give over their gold and he melded it together to make the golden calf that the people then worshiped.

We were curious to know why Aaron had to bring everyone’s gold together. Why not just make the idol out of found materials? Better yet, why not take that leadership role instead of building the idol at all?

Imrei Shefer, quoted in Or Ha-Hayy says that Aaron himself wasn't forced into idolatrous practices, that the people simply asked him to make them a god. When Aaron obliges them, Shefer argues, that Aaron's sin is that of lif’nei iver, “enabling someone else to commit a sin i.e. placing a stumbling block before the blind.” But this is where we think Aaron might have been more clever than he is credited. He didn't just build the idol for the people and he certainly didn't do it out of malice. He made sure everyone had to sacrifice something precious and valuable thus demonstrating how important it was to have something symbolically in place of their missing leader. They essentially all participated (actively and willingly) in the making of their own stumbling block.

Aaron didn't simply step up and take Moses’ place because God didn't speak to Aaron the same way Moses had. Aaron didn't know what to do without Moses any better than the people did. So instead of pretending and taking charge, possibly leading the people further astray, Aaron facilitated the people in making the idol they wanted and in so doing bought some time for Moses to return from Mt. Sinai. In this way, Aaron essentially admits he doesn't have the answers and figures out a way to appease the people until Moses returns, who will provide the leadership that the people (including Aaron) so desperately needed. The golden calf, this “stumbling block,” is really a stalling device, a distraction, until help from Moses can arrive.

There is an important lesson here that we don’t often discuss with this parsha. Instead of worrying about who is to blame, Aaron or the people, we can look at it as Aaron admitting he doesn't know the answer to the problem the people are facing. He doesn't know which direction is right or what action to take, but he knows that Moses will know and so Aaron waits for that guidance instead of acting in haste.

Discussion Questions:

         -Are there times when you don’t have the answer to a problem? 

         -Can you think of someone who might be able to help you? 

         -Are you brave enough to ask for help when you don’t know what to do?

#18 March 29 - The Golden Calf

Exodus 31:18 - 32:20

When God had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, God gave Moses the two tablets of the Pact, stone tablets, written with the finger of God. 

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aaron and said to him, "Come, make us a god who shall go before us, for that man Moses, who brought us from the land of Egypt -- we do not know what has happened to him."

Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold rings that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me." All the people took off the gold rings that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. This he took from them and melted them together in a mold and formed it into a molten calf. And they exclaimed, "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!" When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron announced: "Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord!" Early next day, the people offered up burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; they sat down to eat and drink and then got up to dance.

The Lord spoke to Moses, "Hurry down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted wickedly. They have been quick to turn away from the way I told them to follow. They have made themselves a molten calf and bowed down low to it and sacrificed to it, saying: 'This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!'"

The Lord further said to Moses, "I see that this is a stiff-necked people. Now let Me be, let My anger blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them and make of you a great nation." But Moses begged the Lord his God, saying, "Don't let Your anger blaze forth against Your people, whom You delivered from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand. Don't let the Egyptians say, 'God delivered them out of Egypt for an evil purpose, only to kill them off in the mountains and wipe them off the face of the earth.' Turn from Your blazing anger and give up Your plan to punish Your people. Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac and Israel, how You swore to them by Your Self and said to them: I will make your children as numerous as the stars of heaven and I will give to your children this whole land of which I spoke, to own forever." And the Lord took back His punishment He had planned to bring upon His people.

At that point, Moses turned and went down from the mountain carrying the two tablets of the Pact, tablets written on both surfaces: they were written on the one side and on the other. The tablets were God's work and the writing was God's writing, carved upon the tablets. When Joshua heard the sound of the people in its merriment, he said to Moses, "They are getting ready for war." But he answered, "It is not the tune of victory, Or the sound of the tune of defeat; It is the sound of song that I hear!" As soon as Moses came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he became enraged; and he hurled the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made and burned it; he ground it to powder and poured it out over the water and made the Israelites drink it.

~

Did you get all that? 

With a partner or on a sheet of paper, answer the following questions:

1. Why did Aaron build a golden calf? How did he make it?
2. Which of the ten commandments are Aaron and the people violating when they make and worship a golden calf? 
3. Which character in the Torah does Moses remind you of when he asks God not to destroy the people?
4. Why is God so angry? What does God wish to do?
5. How does Moses convince God to refrain from destroying the people?

Let's go a little deeper...

Read the following commentaries / questions and choose one to respond to (below in the comments box):

1. ... God gave Moses the two tablets ...

Rashi says that this moment, when God gives Moses the tablets and the people, meanwhile, are worshiping a golden calf, happened long before God commands Moses and the people to build the Mishkan (portable dwelling place for God). According to the order of events in the Torah, this is not the case. God has already commanded the Israelites to build God a Mishkan. Why do you think Rashi insists that the golden calf incident happens before God commands them to build the Mishkan?

2. A Midrash says: Aaron tried to busy the people with tasks. He said to them: "Remove the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives"-- a most difficult thing, for the women, who saw all the miracles that G-d performed in Egypt, at the Sea and at Sinai, would surely not participate... When the women did not do as the men demanded, the men removed their own jewelry, as it says, "And all the people unloaded the golden earrings which were in their ears."

They wanted to build the altar together with Aaron, but he would not allow them, saying: "Allow me to build it by myself, for it is not befitting the respect due to the altar that another should build it." Aaron's intention in this was to delay matters, saying to himself: "By the time I build it all by myself Moses will come down." But when he had built it Moses had not yet descended.

What did Aaron do? He said: I shall postpone the festival until tomorrow, as it is written: "And [Aaron] proclaimed: Tomorrow is a feast to G-d!" His intention was to the true G-d, being certain that by the next day Moses would come and they will serve G-d. But they "Arose early in the morning..."

What is the purpose of this Midrash? What is it trying to say about Aaron's role in the golden calf incident?

3. ... stiff-necked ... This word, according to Rashi, means that the people are stubborn. They turn the hardness of the backs of their necks toward those who scolded them and they refused to listen.

How does Rashi's definition of "stiff-necked" help you understand how God characterizes the Israelites?

4. Why do you think Moses breaks the tablets?

#17 March 22 - What Happened on Mount Sinai?

Exodus 19:1-20:18

In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt, they entered the wilderness of Sinai. And the people camped in front of the mountain.

Moses went up to God, who called to him from Mount Sinai and said to him, "Tell the Children of Israel, 'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you close to Me. If you obey Me faithfully and keep my covenant, you will be My special treasure among all the peoples of the earth, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' Say these words to the Children of Israel."

Moses called the elders and told them all that God had commanded.

And all the people answered together: "All that God has said we will do!"

Then Moses brought the people's words back to God. God said to Moses, "I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you, and they will trust you forever. Now go to the people and warn them to stay pure and to wash their clothes, and to be ready for the third day, for on the third day I will come down, in the sight of all the people, to Mount Sinai. Tell the people, 'Beware of going up on the mountain or touching its borders. For whoever touches the mountain will die. Whether animal or human, they shall not live.' When the shofar sounds a long blast, then they may go up on the mountain."

Moses came down from the mountain and told the people all that God had commanded.

On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder and lightning, and a dense cloud, and a very loud blast of the shofar, and all the people in the camp trembled. Moses led the people out of the camp toward God, and they took their places at the foot of the mountain.

Mount Sinai was covered in smoke, for God had come down upon it in fire. The smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace and the whole mountain shook violently. The blare of the shofar grew louder and louder. When Moses spoke, God answered him in thunder, God came down to the top of Mount Sinai, and Moses went up.

Then God spoke all these words:

• I the Lord am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of slavery, You shall have no other gods besides Me.
• You shall not make for yourselves a sculptured image or anything resembling what is in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to these idols or serve them.
• You shall not swear falsely by God's name, for I will not pardon anyone who swears falsely by My name.
• Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall do all your work but the seventh day is My Sabbath. You shall not do any work -- you, your son or your daughter, your male of female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your gates. For in six days God made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them and God rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
• Honor your father and your mother so that you may live long on the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
• You shall not murder.
• You shall not commit adultery.
• You shall not steal.
• You shall on testify falsely against your neighbor.
• You shall not covet your neighbor's house, or his wife, or his male or female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

All the people saw the thunder and lightning, the blast of the shofar, and the mountain smoking. when the people saw all this, they backed away and stood at a distance. They said to Moses, "You speak to us and we will obey but do not let God speak to us or we will die." Moses said to them, "Do not be afraid for God has come only to test you and be sure that you will always revere God so that you do not go down the wrong path." 

Then Moses approached the thick cloud where God was. Moses remained on the mountain covered in cloud for 40 days and 40 nights. 

~

Did you get all that? 

With a partner or on a sheet of paper, answer the following questions:

1. What do the Israelites have to do before the third day?
2. What do God, Moses and the Israelites do on the third day? (Try to list the events in order.)
3. At what point are the Israelites allowed to go up the mountain?
4. If you were a weather forecaster, how would you describe this day in the Sinai wilderness?
5. After God comes down and declares the 10 Commandments, what do the Israelites do?

Let's go a little deeper...

Read the following commentaries / questions and choose one to respond to (below in the comments box):

... I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you close to Me.

What does it mean when God says God carried the Israelites out of Egypt on eagles' wings?Rashi says: Like the eagle who carries its young upon its wings. For all other birds put their young between their feet because they are afraid of another bird that can fly above them, but the eagle is only afraid of man, for a man could shoot an arrrow into him because not bird flies above him. Therefore the eagle puts the baby birds upon his wings. He says, "Better that the arrow should enter me than my child." 

Based on Rashi's description of the eagle and its young, why do you think God describes Godself as an eagle? If an eagle is the symbol for God, what is the symbol for Israel?

***

... you will be My special treasure among all the peoples of the earth, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

God says that the Israelites will be special and holy to God if they follow God's commandments. God says they will be a "kingdom of priests." Later on in the Torah, God will assign certain Israelites (Aaron and his sons) to be priests. They will get to work in the Mishkan (the portable Temple that the Israelites will build for God). They will get to wear special clothing. They will not have to cook their own food. They will be in charge of all the sacrifices that Israelites will bring to God. In short, they will be very important. Why, then, do you think God says ALL of the Israelites will be priests? What do you think God means by this?