From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, May 21, 2004 2:38 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Bamidbar, 5764




                                         
                                                     After the Fall

                   By Rabbi Joshua (reassuringly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman


In memory of Leonard Meker / Eliezer ben Yehoshua HaLevi, whose 35th yohrzeit occurs this Friday, Rosh Chodesh Sivan.


In a speech to the pro-Israel lobby, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) this past Tuesday, President Bush, speaking of the friendship between America and Israel, said that both countries are "founded on certain basic beliefs : that God watches over the affairs of men, and values every life." Although one may argue over whether or not Mr. Bush's assessment of the founding principles of the two countries is accurate, the beliefs he mentioned are certainly included in this week's Torah reading, parshas Bamidbar. The parsha begins with God commanding that the entire nation be counted, thus emphasizing the importance of each individual, as Ramban points out, and proceeds to describe the encampment of the nation in the wilderness, focused around the center, the mishkan, in which the aron - the holy ark - containing the tablets with the Ten Commandments - the word of God - was housed. Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim of Lunshitz, in his commentary Keli Yakar points out that being encamped around the mishkan and the aron was indicative of the fact that they were being led by God during their time in the wilderness. Both of these beliefs need to be understood in light of the changed situation of the nation after the incident of the golden calf, whose repercussions are reflected in this week's parsha in connection with the tribe of Levi. To better understand how these beliefs are brought out in our parsha, we need to look back at the end of last week's parsha, Bechukosai.

Parshas Bechukosai ends with the verse, "These are the mitzvos that God commanded Moshe to the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai " (Vayikra 27:34). However, in the preceding verse, we are told of the prohibition of exchanging one consecrated animal for another. Rabbi Yitzchok Karo, in his commentary Toldos Yitzchok, cites a midrash which says that this prohibition is followed by the counting in the beginning of Bamidbar to indicate that God will not exchange the Jewish people for another nation. One may ask, however, why the Jewish people would need to be reassured in this way. I believe the answer to this question can be found in the symbolism behind the mitzvoh immediately preceding the prohibition of exchanging one animal for another, namely the mitzvoh of tithing one's cattle and sheep, or ma'asar beheimah.

The procedure followed in the mitzvoh of ma'asar beheimah is to count one's sheep as they pass through a small door, and to mark the tenth one with a red pigment, and consecrate it. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch writes that parshas Bamidbar follows close after this mitzvoh to show that just as the farmer counts his flock, so too does God count His flock, the Jewish nation. However, I believe that there is more to this imagery than Rabbi Hirsch's explanation. Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, z"l, explained the wording of one of the first kinos, or elegies that we recite on Tisha B'Av morning, Eicha Atzta, on the basis of the mitzvoh of tithing one's flock. In that kinah, the Jewish people is referred to as 'telaeicha' - Your (God's) sheep. Rav Soloveitchik z"l explained that although, in the process of tithing animals, only the tenth is declared holy, if the first nine animals would not be counted, the tenth could not be counted, either. Thus, all ten animals participate in the process of sanctification. Similarly, although the Jewish nation has within it the tribe of Levi, which is considered holy, that tribe is a product of the entire Jewish nation, and, therefore, the entire nation is referred to as God's flock.

Following Rav Soloveitchik's explanation of the symbolism of the mitzvoh of maa'sar beheimah, perhaps we can say that when the midrash portrays God as saying that he will not exchange the Jews for any other nation, it was reacting to the change that took place when the service of God in the mishkan was transferred from the firstborn to the tribe of Levi. God was saying, in the image of the midrash, that the people should not think that just as He exchanged the firstborn for the Levites, perhaps He will also exchange the entire nation for another. Therefore, immediately following these two laws, the book of Bamidbar begins, with a count of the Jewish nation, projecting the message that God will never exchange His nation for another, and that each person in the nation, no matter which tribe he is in, has a unique role to play, and has a special status in God's eyes

Interestingly, when God tells Moshe to count the people (Bamidbar 1:2), He says "seu es rosh kol adas bnei Yisroel," which means, literally, 'lift up the heads of the entire assembly of the children of Israel.' The word "seu," - literally, lift up - has a dual connotation, according to the midrash in Bamidbar Rabbah (1:9). The midrash mentions that we find a similar expression used in regard to Yosef's interpretations of  the dreams of the chief of the cupbearers and the chief of the bakers (Bereishis 40:13 and 19). In connection with the chief of the cupbearers, however, it meant to lift his head in a positive sense - to be elevated - while in the case of the chief of the bakers, it was used in a negative sense - meaning that his head would be removed. God is telling the people, explains the midrash, that if they merit it and follow in God's ways, they will be elevated, and if they do not merit it, and rebel against God, they will be punished.  Rabbi Avrohom Binyomin Sofer, author of the commentary Kesav Sofer, explains that this was said in the wake of the incident of the eigel, or the golden calf. The people felt that they were not worthy of God's attention as a result of that sin. Therefore, God told them that each of them has special status in His eyes, and because of that status, they have to act properly and actualize their potential. Perhaps here, too, this message was needed because the tribe of Levi was about to be counted separately and exchanged for the firstborn. Perhaps the people felt a lost of status because of this. Therefore, they had to be reassured that each of them was still special in God's eyes.

Rabbi Shimon Malka, in his commentary Istakel BeOraisa to parshas Bamidbar, writes that the entire order of encampment, as set out in this parsha, reflects a process of atonement for the incident of the golden calf. He notes that according to one rabbinic source, each tribe had an emblem on its flag, portraying one of the animals engraved on the divine chariot, a vision of which they had seen when they crossed the Yam Suf. Each of these animals is characterized by a certain trait, which reflects a power in the universe. The point of the vision was to indicate that God was in control of these forces. When the people asked for a golden calf to be made, however, they were, in effect, beginning to attribute powers symbolized by these animals to forces outside of God's control. By forming four major degolim, one on each direction of the compass, each with a symbol of a different animal portrayed on its flag, and encamping around the central point of the aron, the tribes were indicating that the powers reflected in the animals thus portrayed are ultimately under God's control. In effect, they were acknowledging God's control of the world, and His role in the events that occur in it, and, in this way, rectifying the mistake they made when asking for the eigel.

Although Rabbi Malka does not say this, I believe that the traits characterized by the animals portrayed on the flags also constituted traits which each tribe personified. By displaying these emblems, the tribes were indicating their understanding that despite the replacement of the firstborn by the tribe of Levi, each of them had their own special traits, and each was special in God's eyes. At the same time, by encamping around the aron, they were acknowledging that these traits needed to be channeled in the direction that fulfilled God's mandate for them. The message of the double-edged sword of the counting that took place at this time, indicating each person's special value, and the need to live up to that potential, through a constant awareness of God's presence in their lives, serves as the starting point of the book of Bamidbar.



Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) with the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.

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