Make a count of the sons of Kohath from among the children of Levi by their families, according to their fathers' houses. From the age of thirty until the age of fifty, all who enter the service, to do work in the Tent of Meeting. The following is the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting-the Holy of Holies. (Bamidbar 4:2-4)

 

To do work - la'asot melakha - This is different from the description of the function of the sons of Gershon and Merari - to perform service - la'avod avoda; here it says to do work [melakha]. Through this it makes clear that there was no avoda [labor] in what the sons of Kehat did, since the Ark would carry itself (Bamidbar Rabbah 4:20), and only melakha is done with it.

It also seems that since they had to keep proper order in their marches when they carried [the holy vessels] on their shoulders, and since they walked alongside the glory of God's Ark, like someone carrying his master on his shoulder (see Sota 35), their service is called work, which is not so in the case of the service of the sons of Gershon and Merari.

(Or HaHayyim 4:3)

 

All who enter the service, to do work in the Tent of Meeting, but in reference to the sons of Gershon and Merari it uses the expression avoda - "labor." The difference between them is well known: melakha refers to skilled work that requires craftsmanship, while avoda refers to something involving physical effort. That is why the service of the sons of Kehat, which involved sacred objects that had to be treated with thoughtful attention lest they [the priests] be distracted from their sacredness, were said to do melakha. Avoda includes the service of God, but melakha refers to the way in which it was performed, that it required thought to cleave to the sacred with pure thoughts, and therefore it could be referred to by both terms.

(Malbim Bamidbar 4:3)

 

"For a gift is given from the wilderness": on Torah, Wilderness,

and Humans Created in the Divine Image

Yehoshua Granat

Parashat Bamidnar is named (as is the book it begins) after the opening verse, And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness [bemidbar] of Sinai in the Tent of Meeting... (Bamidbar 1:1). The Shabbat when parashat Bamidbar is read comes near in time to the festival of Shavuot, the festival of the Giving of the Torah. This juxtaposition may prompt thoughts regarding the connection between the Torah and the wilderness. The wilderness served as the "arena" in which occurred most of the events recorded in the five books of the Torah (beginning from the Exodus and up to the entrance into the Land). The exalted occasion of the giving of the Torah also took place in the wilderness, and the word midbar - "wilderness" features prominently in the verses which open the description of that event: In the third month of the children of Israel's departure from Egypt, on this day they arrived in the wilderness of Sinai...they arrived in the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness (Shemot 19:1-2).

The aggadic Sages already cast light on various aspects of the Torah/wilderness pairing. The Mekhilta (Bahodesh, 5 [p. 222]) opens its discussion: "This is why it [the Torah] was given in the wilderness: a commons, a place unowned." Two explanations are given, both of which say that the Torah is available to all and transcends borders. Let us begin with the second, shorter explanation of why the Torah was given in the wilderness: "So as not to create controversy between the tribes, lest one say, 'The Torah was given in my land!' and the other say, 'The Torah was given in my land!'" The Torah was given in the wilderness, outside of the settled Land of Israel and beyond the Israelite tribal territories in order to keep the Torah from becoming a kind of private possession of a particular tribe, or a source of preeminence of one tribe over another. By being given in the wilderness, the Torah becomes the possession of the entire nation, without prejudice towards one tribe over another - and we might add - of one community or family over another. The first explanation offered by the Mekhilta for the Torah's having been given in the wilderness goes further: "So that the nations of the world will not have an excuse to say, 'We did not accept the Torah because it was given in his [Israel's] land.''' According to this explanation, the Torah is addressed beyond the general Israelite community to all of humanity. It was given outside the Land of Israel, in the wilderness which is open to all, in order to say that it was intended for every nation and individual. This becomes even more explicit later in the passage the Mekhilta: "The Torah is compared to three things - wilderness, fire, and water, in order to tell you: just as these are freely accessible, so too, the words of the Torah are freely accessible to all the world's inhabitants.'" A parallel passage reads: "For if the Torah had been given in the Land of Israel, they would have told the nations of the world 'You have no part in it.' Instead, it was given in the wilderness... Anyone who wants to receive it can come and receive it" (Mekhilta Bahodesh, 1 [pg.205]). As Menachem Hirschman has demonstrated, these passages clearly represent a "universalistic" trend in Tannaitic literature, whose supporters held that, "The nations of the world also have their portion in the Torah of Israel."¹

While the Mekhilta explains that the Torah was given in the wilderness in order to express its unconstructed and universal nature (whether at the collective national level or even at the international level), Pesikta DeRav Kahana (Bahodesh, 20 [pp. 218-219]) relates to the individual who comes to take his part of the Torah: "Why was the Torah given in the Sinai wilderness? To teach you that if one does not relinquish himself like that wilderness, he will not merit receiving words of Torah." One must undergo extremely demanding preparation before receiving the Torah: in order to succeed, he must "relinquish himself like this wilderness," and as the parallel passage in Tanhuma (Bamidbar 6) puts it: "Anyone who does not make himself relinquished cannot possess the Torah." What is the meaning of this severe statement? It seems to be saying that in order to cling to the Torah, one must first practice great humility and free oneself of any speck of arrogance or pride. This is apparently necessary so that one will not consider the Torah one studies to be one's own private property, which would undermine its infinite nature, a nature which goes beyond the attitude of "Mine is mine and thine is thine." As the Pesikta there explains: "Just as the wilderness is endless, so too the Torah is endless... and just as it is endless, its reward is endless." These words are reminiscent of the beginning of a short personal prayer attributed to the Amora Mar Birya Derabina (Berakhot 17a), and which has been adopted as part of the silent prayer following the Amidah: "My God, protect my tongue from evil... And my soul will be as dust to all, open my heart with Your Torah, and let my soul pursue Your commandments." And in Pirkei Avot (2:12) we read, "Prepare yourself for Torah study, for it is not your birthright."

The Babylonian Talmud (Eruvin 54a) contains a dictum proclaiming a similar sentiment; it relates to a verse describing the stations of the Israelites' march through the wilderness: and from the wilderness to Matana (Bamidbar 21:18). The dictum is attributed to the Amora Rav Matana (perhaps the attribution is based upon his name?): "If a man allows himself to be treated as a wilderness on which everybody treads, his study will be retained by him, otherwise it will not." This statement is not repeated in the midrashic literature of the Land of Israel, but something like it is echoed in an early piyyut [liturgical poem], the kedushata for Shavuot known as Abirut Ayuma,² which gives the following description of Kenesset Yisrael on its way to receiving the Torah:

On the month of her exodus she went out to the wilderness/ for Matana [literally: "gift," i.e., the Torah] is given from the wilderness.

The significance of that gift being given "from the wilderness" is dwarfed in importance by the way the choice of Mount Sinai is later explained in the piyyut. The latter was chosen due to its modesty and humility:

This Mount Sinai cast down pride/

glory [of God] camped upon it and it supported glory

The conclusion of that early liturgical work presents a unique and interesting link between the famous verse na'aseh venishma [we shall obey and listen] from the story of the giving of the Torah (Shemot 24:7) and the verse, na'aseh adam betzalmeinu - let Us make a man in Our image - from the story of the creation of humans (Bereishit 1:26):

He [God] spoke: na'aseh adam/ to glorify Me with na'aseh and honor Me with nishma.

This unique "drasha" seems to subsume the universal, pan-human dimension of the Torah given to Israel: the giving of the Torah to Israel and the creation of man in God's image are organically joined together. Early authors of piyyutim such as Yanai and Eliezar Berabi Kalir added this dimension to their poems written for Shavuot by tying the sixth commandment - Thou shalt not kill - with the notion that all human beings are created in the image of the Creator God:

Do not murder and destroy a creature/ created in the image of the Rock...

Do not murder the image of any creature/ when he is created like the Rock.³

Do not murder one created in the image of life/ a life for a life...

Do not murder one of flesh and blood/ in God's image He made man.⁴

1. See: M. Hirschman, Torah LeKhol Ba'ei Ha' Olam, Tel Aviv 1999, especially pp. 24, 37-42.

2. See: O. Fleischer, "Lekadmoniyut Hakedushata, Kedushata Kedam-Yanai'it LeYom Matan Torah," HaSifrut II (5730), pp. 390-414, and S. Elitzur, Shira Shel Parasha, Jerusalem 5759, pp. 126-130.

3. See: M. Zulai, Piyyutai Yanai, Berlin 5698, pp. 369-70.

4. See: S. Elitzur, R. Eliezer Birabi Kalir: Kedushta'ot LeYom Matan Torah, Jerusalem 5760, pg. 196.

Dr. Yehoshua Granat teaches at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and has recently been researching the role of the Book of Jonah in medieval poetry.

 

 

Take a census of the whole Israelite community by clans of its ancestral homes, listing the names, every male, head by head.

(Bamidbar 1:2)

 

The king said to Yoav, his army commander, "Make the rounds of all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beer-Sheva, and take a census of the people, so that I may know the size of the population.

(II Samuel, 24:2)

 

Did David Sin?

...In my opinion, David's sin demonstrates that he depended upon mortals and the large size of the nation was the source of his confidence. However, it was improper for him to trust in anything save in God alone. In addition, (as we explained in the parasha of Ki Tissah) the Torah commanded us to count people indirectly, by having each man give a certain amount of money, and then counting the total sum collected, so that no plague may come upon them through their being counted (Shemot 30:12).

(RaLBaG on II Samuel 24:1)

 

...It would seem from the chapter's (II Samuel 24) details that this census has a military purpose, since Yoav, his army commander and the other officers were placed in charge of it, and only soldiers ready to draw the sword (24:9) were counted.

One might ask: The Torah never prohibited people from taking active steps in the fight for survival - quite to the contrary, it demands of people work, activity, assiduousness, and devotion of strength, energy and spirit to the preservation of life and settlement of the world. The army which defends its people and land from enemies are part of all this. In that case, what was the RaLBaG's (and Abravanel)'s point...?

The root of the matter is this: The army cannot serve as an instrument of self-aggrandizement or as a value in itself. Rather, it is a means that is needed only when the necessity arises.

(Prof. Nehamah Leibowits, z"l, Iyyunim be-Sefer Bamidbar, pg. 22)

 

In that day, I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; I will also banish bow, sword, and war from the land. Thus I will let them lie down in safety. And I will espouse you forever: I will espouse you with righteousness and justice, and with goodness and mercy, and I will espouse you with faithfulness; then you shall be devoted to the Lord.

(Hosea 2:20-21, from the haftara for parashat Bamidbar)

 

With righteousness and justice - Which should guide your behavior.

And with goodness and mercy - Which you shall receive from me in recognition of them [i.e., in recognition of your righteousness and justice]. It is written of our father Abraham: For I have singled him out, that he may instruct...to do what is just and right (Bereishit 18:19). In return, his sons were given goodness and mercy from God, as it says, and [He] will show you compassion (Devarim 13:18) and the Lord your God will maintain for you the covenant and the goodness (Devarim 7:12).

Desist from the just and the right, as it says, you who turn justice into wormwood and hurl righteousness to the ground (Amos 5), and God will withdraw his goodness and mercy, as it says, for I have withdrawn my favor from that people, the goodness and the mercy (Jeremiah 16:5). And when you resume doing the just and the right, as it says, Zion shall be saved by justice (Isaiah 1:27) God will add goodness and mercy to them, making a crown of the four of them [i.e., justice, righteousness, goodness, and mercy] which He will place upon your head.

(Rashi Hosea 2:21)

 

Acceptance of the Torah is a Personal Decision, Made "Not in Order to Receive a Reward"

...That is why Israel was not given the Torah immediately after the splitting of the Red Sea, because if they had received it after the splitting of the Red Sea, it would have looked as if they accepted the Torah in order to receive a reward, as a result of the great miracles that had just been performed for them. That is why God waited a bit - meanwhile they could partially forget the miracles performed for them, as it says, there was no water for the community, and they complained. Afterwards, they received the Torah, saying that they would do it and hear it, which proves that they accepted the Torah solely out of love for the Torah.

(From Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev's Kedushat Levi)

 

Now all of the people were seeing the thunder-sounds, the flashing-torches, the shofar sound, and the mountain smoking: when the people saw, they moved and stood far off.

(Shemot 20:15)

 

The people saw, but could not understand, the content of the words and their meaning. Therefore, immediately after the great revelation, comes the additional expression: When the people saw, they moved and stood far off -- it is possible to see, and to move - and still stand far off."

(Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotsk, quoted by Prof. Y. Leibowitz in Sihot al Haggei Yisrael Umoadav)

 

Why is the Book of Ruth Linked with Atzeret (Shavuot)?

To teach us that Torah was given only via suffering and poverty.

(Yalkut Shimoni, Ruth)

 

Because the story takes place at the beginning of the barley harvest, and Shavuot is the time of the barley harvest.

(Aboudraham)

 

Because our ancestors received the Torah and entered the covenant only through circumcision, immersion, and sprinkling of blood; Ruth, too, converted.

(Aboudraham)

 

In the Festival Parasha (Parashat Emor), following the parasha on the two loaves of bread which are offered on Shavuot, it is written, Now when you harvest the harvest of your land . . . for the afflicted and for the sojourner you are to leave them. This was observed by Boaz, who said: You must also pull some stalks out of the heaps and leave them for her to glean… Ruth was a pauper and a convert, and therefore we read Megillat Ruth on this day.

(The Levush, quoted by Rabbi Zevin in Hamoadim BaHalakha)

 

May the Lord reward your deeds. May you have a full recompense from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have sought refuge! - Come and see how great is the power of the righteous, how great the power of charity, and how great the power of those who perform acts of kindness, for they find shelter not in the shade of dawn, nor in the shade of the ends of earth, nor in the shade of the wings of the sun, nor in the shade of the wings of animals, nor in the shade of the wings of the cherubim, nor in the shade of the wings of the seraphim, but in the shade of He Who Spoke and the World Came into Being, as is written (Psalms 36:8), How precious is Your faithful care, O God, Mankind shelters in the shade of Your wings.

(Ruth Rabba, Parasha 5)

 

 

We need your support in order that the voice of a religious Zionism committed to peace and justice will continue to be heard through the uninterrupted distribution of Shabbat Shalom

in hundreds of synagogues, on the Internet and via email in both Hebrew and English.

In Israel, checks payable to Oz VeShalom may be sent to Oz VeShalom-P.O.B. 4433, Jerusalem 91043.

US and British tax-exempt contributions to Oz VeShalom may be made through:

New Israel Fund, POB 91588, Washington, DC 20090-1588, USA

New Israel Fund of Great Britain, 26 Enford Street, London W1H 2DD, Great Britain

Please note that the NIF is no longer accepting donations under $100

PEF will also channel donations and provide a tax-exemption. Donations should be sent to P.E.F. Israel Endowment Funds, Inc., 317 Madison Ave., Suite 607, New York, New York 10017 USA

All contributions to either the NIF or PEF should be marked as donor-advised to Oz ve'Shalom, the Shabbat Shalom project. For Donations to NIF, please mention that Oz veShalom is registered as no. 5708.

If you wish to subscribe to the email English editions of Shabbat Shalom, to print copies of it for distribution in your synagogue, to inquire regarding the dedication of an edition in someone’s honor or memory, to find out how to make tax-exempt donations, or to suggest additional helpful ideas, please call +972-52-3920206 or at ozshalom@netvision.net.il

If you enjoy Shabbat Shalom, please consider contributing towards its publication and distribution.

• Hebrew edition distributed in Israel $700
• English edition distributed via email $ 100

Issues may be dedicated in honor of an event, person, simcha, etc. Requests must be made 3-4 weeks in advance to appear in the Hebrew, 10 days in advance to appear in the English email.

 

About us

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom is a movement dedicated to the advancement of a civil society in Israel. It is committed to promoting the ideals of tolerance, pluralism, and justice, concepts that have always been central to Jewish tradition and law.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom shares a deep attachment to the land of Israel and it no less views peace as a central religious value. It believes that Jews have both the religious and the national obligation to support the pursuit of peace. It maintains that Jewish law clearly requires us to create a fair and just society, and that co-existence between Jews and Arabs is not an option but an imperative.

4,500 copies of a 4-page peace oriented commentary on the weekly Torah reading are written and published by Oz VeShalom/Netivot Shalom and they are distributed to over 350 synagogues in Israel and are sent overseas via email. Our web site is www.netivot-shalom.org.il.

Shabbat Shalom is available on our website: www.netivot-shalom.org.il