TORAH SPARKS ניצוצות תורה
פרשת במדבר
PARASHAT B’MIDBAR BIRKAT HAHODESH
May 28, 2011 – 24 Iyar 5771 – כ"ד אייר תשע"א
Annual: Numbers 1:1 – 4:20 (Etz Hayim, p. 769; Hertz p. 568)
Triennial: Numbers 1:1 – 1:54 (Etz Hayim, p. 769; Hertz p.568)
Haftarah: Hosea 2:1 – 22 (Etz Hayim, p. 787; Hertz p. 582)
Prepared by Rabbi Joseph Prouser
Baldwin, New York
While the Hebrew name of the Torah’s fourth book, Bamidbar – “In the Wilderness” – provides the setting of its opening parashah, its familiar English name, Numbers, suggests the content of these initial chapters. A census is taken of the Israelite population. Excluding the tribe of Levi, there are 603,550 Israelite men of military age. The Levites, replacing Israel’s first-born sons (who originally were dedicated to God’s service by virtue of their Providential protection during the tenth plague), are placed in charge of the Tabernacle, its assembly and transportation. This inaugurates their unique role in the cultic and spiritual life of the nation. Still, they are to remain subordinate to the priestly line of which Aaron was founder and progenitor.
Chapter 2 provides a detailed account of the order in which the Israelite tribes proceeded through the wilderness and their structured arrangement when they make camp, with each marking its territory with an ancestral tribal banner. The tribes are divided into four groupings, east, south, north, and rest of the Tabernacle. The Levites are encamped separately, close to the Tabernacle.
Another census, counting all male Levites from the age of one month, finds some 22,000; the number is recorded “by ancestral house and by clan.” A second census of the Tribe of Levi, counting men between ages 30 and 50, is taken in order to calculate the work force that would be assigned various tasks, including carrying the Tabernacle. Similarly, the duties of Aaron and his priestly line in maintaining and preparing the sacred accoutrements and ritual objects within the Tabernacle are listed.
Theme #1: “Just Deserts”
“On the first day of the second month, in the second year following the
exodus from the land of Egypt, the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai…” Numbers 1:1
Derash: Study
“The character trait that has distinguished the Jewish people from its very
beginning is the spirit of self-sacrifice it has always shown in the observance of its law and adherence to its faith. The Jews willingly entered a wilderness full of wild beasts, without food or drink, not knowing how long they would have to stay there, for no other cause but love and loyalty to God.” Rabbi Meir Shapiro of Lublin
“The Torah foresaw that throughout Jewish history Jews would find themselves at times living in a spiritual desert. Immorality, licentiousness and decadence would reign in the general society. The spiritual desert, its emptiness and jadedness cannot slake our inner thirst for immortality and connection to our Creator. And the Torah, given and nurtured in the desert would then be recognized as the ultimate oasis of life giving water. Perhaps only one who is wandering and suffering in the desert can truly appreciate the oasis and water hole. Our times demand our presence at the oasis that only the Torah provides for us.” Rabbi Berel Wein
“As a remedy to life in society I would suggest the big city. Nowadays, it is the only desert within our means.” Albert Camus
“If you can’t stand a little sacrifice and you can’t stand a trip across the desert with limited water, we’re never going to straighten this country out.” H. Ross Perot
“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Questions for Discussion
Why was the desert chosen as the national and spiritual training ground of the people Israel? What benefits did the wilderness bestow during this
formative period? Experience in depravation and willing self-sacrifice, as
Rabbi Meir of Lublin and Ross Perot suggest? Is the humbling vastness of the desert especially conducive to the search for God? Or is the desert’s barrenness its singular virtue?
Rabbi Wein argues that the wilderness is an apt metaphor for the challenges confronting devout spiritual seekers throughout our history. How is our own spiritual experience analogous to that of the generation of the wilderness? What are the limitations of this comparison?
Somewhat counterintuitively, Camus compares the urban experience to that of the desert. How is the big city like the barren wasteland? What
programmatic implications might Camus’ insight hold for congregations and Jewish communities in urban settings? How might Camus’ message be related to that of his countryman, Antoine de Saint-Exupery?
How is the history of the Jewish people a function of the geography and topology of the land (and state) of Israel?
Theme #2: “Love It or Levite”
“I hereby take the Levites from among the Israelites in place of all the first- born, the issue of the womb among the Israelites: the Levites shall be
mine.” Numbers 3:12
Derash: Study
“Originally, the Temple service was performed by the firstborn, but when
they sinned by worshiping the Golden Calf, they became disqualified. The Levites, who had not committed idolatry, were chosen in their stead.” Midrash Bamidbar Rabbah
“Not only the tribe of Levi but every single person from among the world’s inhabitants, whose spirit moved him and whose intelligence gave him the understanding to withdraw from the world in order to stand before God to serve and minister to Him, and to know God, and who walked upright in the manner in which God made him, shaking off from his neck the yoke of the manifold contrivances which men seek – behold, this person has been totally consecrated, and God will be his portion and inheritance forever and ever. God will acquire for him sufficient goods in this world just as He did for the priests and the Levites.” Maimonides
“The parents of Moses both hailed from the tribe of Levi (Exodus 2:1). And it may well be that connection which explains why this tribe alone rallied to Moses when he descended from Mt. Sinai to find his people sunk in celebration before their molten calf. The shock of the golden calf induced God to staff and surround the Tabernacle—the Kohanim on the inside and the Leviim on the outside—with a hereditary clergy that would lower the risk from the rabble.” Rabbi Ismar Schorsch
“There may be an implicit etymological pun here. ‘Levite’ (lewi) is the name of Jacob’s second son and hence of the tribe, but the name could suggest the verbal stem l-w-h, ‘to accompany,’ ‘to attach to,’ which is the role of the Levites vis-à-vis the deity.” Robert Alter
Questions for Discussion
How is the tribe of Levi an apt collective role model for the Jewish people? In what ways are the Levites an improvement over the firstborn who
originally were entrusted with spiritual and cultic leadership? Maimonides
suggests that the Levites’ function as religious role models extends even beyond the Jewish community. Does this dilute their historic message, or is it a critical element of their priestly mission to their fellow Jews?
Consider Chancellor Schorsch’s insight. Was the Levites’ election motivated not exclusively by merit, but rather by nepotism — by a prophet, desperate for allies he could trust, turning to his own clan? How does this affect our attitude toward the perquisites of the tribe of Levi? How does Moses’ status as a member of the tribe of Levi (and as a youngest child) relate to this transition of power? How do the conflicting explanations of “Levi” affect our understanding of Moses’ descent from that tribe?
Chancellor Schorsch describes the debacle of the Gold Calf as a “shock” to God, who responds with a shake-up of the Israelites’ religious leadership, enlisting the sacral efforts of the Levites, deemed better equipped to deal with a perilous, popular “rabble.” How are religious leaders today to distinguish between the unreasonable demands of a subversive rabble and the sincere insights of an enlightened and thoughtful spiritual constituency?
Remember Jacob’s final words to Levi and Shimon (Genesis 49:5-6): “Let not my person be included in their council, let not my being be counted in their assembly…” The spiritual rehabilitation of Levi with a hereditary cultic office is complete, if ironic. How does Professor Alter’s proposed etymology address this irony? Does this tribal reversal of fortune and stature (i.e., their checkered ancestry) enhance or detract from the Levites’ spiritual function? Their contemporary relevance?
Historic Note
Parashat Bamidbar, read on May 28, 2011, describes the people Israel’s sojourn and
activities in the wilderness. On May 28, 1892, John Muir, Scottish-born American naturalist and advocate for the preservation of wilderness areas in the United States, founded
the Sierra Club to further that cause. He subsequently was honored with creation of the
581,000 acre John Muir Wilderness along the Sierra Nevada of California.
Halachah L’Maaseh
Notwithstanding the census procedures depicted in Parashat Bamidbar, it is generally
considered forbidden to count Jews directly (Yoma 22B). On this basis, there has been halachic opposition to conducting a census in the state of Israel (see, e.g., Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg, Responsa Tzitz Eliezer 7:3). This prohibition has led to a variety of practices associated with counting worshipers for a minyan. Some will not-count, saying instead “Not one, not two…” Others customarily recite a 10-word Biblical verse, most popularly Psalm 28:9 – Hoshiah et amecha u’varech et nachalatecha ur’em venas’em ad ha’olam – “Deliver Your people and bless Your legacy, tend to them and sustain them forever.” Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson of Chabad pointed out the added virtue that reciting this verse introduces public worship with a prayer for redemption. Alternatively – and wryly – listing the Ten Plagues serves the same pragmatic purpose!