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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