NOW THIS IS HOW THE MENORAH WAS MADE: IT WAS HAMMERED WORK OF GOLD, HAMMERED FROM BASE TO PETAL. ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN THAT THE LORD HAD SHOWN MOSES, SO WAS THE MENORAH MADE.

(Bamidbar 8:4)

 

It was hammered

When you mount the lamps - You find that Moses had more difficulty with the making of the Menorah than with any other of the Tabernacle's vessels, so much so that the Holy One blessed be He pointed to [its image] for him with His finger; Moses found three things to be difficult...

Hammered work of gold - What does mikshah [hammered] mean? That is to say: What was kashe [difficult] about making it, that Moses had to toil excessively until he finished making it, as it says, you shall make the Menorah mikshah (Shemot 25)? Since he found it difficult, the Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: Take some gold and throw it into the fire, and take it out, and it will form itself, it's calyxes, petals, cups, and branches came from it [mimenah]. You would hit [it] with a hammer, and it would form itself. That is why it says mikshah teiyaseh hamenorah: it is written teiyaseh with a letter yod [it shall make itself], and not ta'aseh [you shall make].

What did Moses do? He took the basin, threw it into the fire, and said: Master of the Universe, the block has been thrown into the fire - do with it as You wish. The Menorah immediately came out, perfectly formed. That is why it is written, According to the pattern that the Lord had shown Moses, so was the Menorah made. Moses is not mentioned, rather it baldly states, so was the Menorah made. Who made it? The Holy One blessed be He. That is why the Holy One blessed be He told him to warn Aaron to light it, as it is said, When you mount the lamps - the Holy One blessed be he said to Israel: If you are careful to light [them] before Me, I shall preserve your souls from all bad things, for your souls have been compared to lamps, for it is said, Man's soul is the Lord's lamp. (Mishlei 20)

(Tanhumah BeHa'alotkha 3)

 

There shall be one law for you, whether stranger or citizen of the country

Pinchas Leiser

In memory of my rabbi and teacher of blessed memory,

HaRav HaGaon Moshe Yonah HaLevy Zweig, ZTz"L,

who passed away in the prime of his life on

Motza'ei Shabbat Kodesh of Parashat BeHa'alotkha, 5723.

And in memory of a dear man, a lover of humanity,

Torah, and the Land, a pursuer of peace,

Professor Yosef Walk, z"l, who left us at a good old age,

on 18 of Iyyar 5765.

The concept of the ger [stranger], which is mentioned in our parasha in connection with the paschal sacrifice and the "second" Pesah, is ambiguous. The plain meaning of Scripture does not make it clear whether it refers to a ger tzedek [convert to Judaism] or to a ger toshav [resident alien] - a stranger who lives among us who has taken upon himself the observance of a minimal number of commandments (the seven Noahide commandments, or, according to a differing opinion, the avoidance of idolatry).

The Sages, together with the majority of traditional exegetes, understand the ger mentioned in our parasha to be a ger tzedek, making it obvious that he would be required to celebrate the paschal sacrifice and even the second Pesah if some justified reason kept him from bringing the paschal sacrifice in its proper time.

This explanation does create a certain difficulty for our understanding of Scripture: it is all too obvious! A convert is in all things like a Jew and a citizen of the land. Why would it be necessary to make a special point of his obligation to make the paschal sacrifice?

Furthermore, the Torah makes numerous mentions of the stranger living amongst us in various contexts, and it seems that the plain meaning of the text does not refer to a convert, but rather to a stranger who lives in our midst.

The word ger first appears in the Covenant of the Pieces [Brit ben ha'betarim], when the Holy One blessed be He says to Abram, Know verily that your offspring shall be a ger in a land not their own (Bereishit 15:13).

When Abraham turns to the Hittites to ask them to apportion some land for Sarah's grave, he says: I am a ger and resident with you, give me a burial site among you, and I shall bury my dead from before me (Bereishit 23:4).

The ger mentioned in Bereishit is certainly a stranger who continues to preserve his ethnic and cultural identity.

When Moses' oldest son, Gershom, was born, the Torah explicates his name's meaning: She bore a son whom he named Gershom, for he said, "I have been a ger in a strange land" (Shemot 2:22). Here too we see the word ger referring to alienation, and not to some process of conversion. Neither have we heard of any earlier process of conversion.

For the first time, in parashat Bo, in the section in which the Israelites are commanded to perform the paschal sacrifice, we find mention of the ger who must undergo circumcision in order to offer the paschal sacrifice: If a ger who dwells with you would offer the Passover to the Lord, all his males must be circumcised; then he shall be admitted to offer it; he shall then be as a citizen f the country. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it (Shemot 12:48)

Despite this, in parashat Kedoshim the Torah uses the following formulation to warn us against cheating a ger: When a ger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. The ger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were gerim in the land of Egypt: I the Lord am your God (Vayikra 19:33-34).

Here it seems clear from the language of the passage that it refers to a stranger living in our midst, similar to the Israelites who were gerim [strangers] in Egypt. R. Abraham Ibn Ezra's interpretation of the passage seems to imply such a reading:

When a ger resides with you: He is mentioned after the elderly person, and the reason is that just as I warned you to respect the aged Israelite because he is powerless, so too I have warned you to respect the ger, for your power is greater than his, our since he has no power at all, since he resides in your land by your permission. (Ibn Ezra on Vayikra 19:33)

In parashat Behar, the Torah speaks explicitly of the ger and the resident:

If your kinsman, being in straits, comes under your authority, and you hold him as though as a ger and resident, let him live by your side. (Vayikra 25:35)

If a resident and ger among you has prospered, and your kinsman living in straits, comes under his authority and gives himself over to the ger and resident among you, or to an offshoot of a ger's family. (Vayikra 25:47)

Indeed, the RaMBaM rules that we must sustain the ger toshav:

It is forbidden to an Israelite to give a free-gift to an idolater, but he may give it to a ger toshav, for it says, give it to the ger within your gates and he shall eat it, or sell it to a foreigner - as a sale, not as a gift. But it may be given to a ger toshav either through sale or as a gift because you are commanded to sustain him, for it is sad, a ger and resident, let him live by your side. (Mishneh Torah Hilkhot Zekhiyah U'Matanah 3:11)

R. Hayyim ben Atar explains the importance of this commandment in his commentary on the Torah, Or HaHayyim:

A ger and a resident...: The point of his claim is based upon what the RaMBaM wrote in chapter three of Hilkhot Zekhiyah U'Matanah: "He may give it to a ger toshav, for it says, give it to the ger within your gates and he shall eat it, or sell it to a foreigner." You must know that all of our holy Torah is rational, particularly in connection to matters of earthly governance. Rationality requires that the residents of the land sustain a person who is a ger and resident among them, giving him a free gift, just as we do. That is [the point of] Abraham's claim, I am a ger and resident, give me. He was careful to specify ger, and not merely resident, in order to say, "Even though I am a ger and not one of you, even so, I am still a resident..." (Or HaHayyim 23:4)

The ger is mentioned twice in the book of Bamidbar in connection with the sacrifices. In our parasha:

And if a ger who resides with you would offer a Passover sacrifice to the Lord, he must offer it in accordance with the rules and rites of the Passover sacrifice. There shall be one law for you, whether ger or citizen of the country. (Bamidbar 9:14)

And in the parasha of Shelah:

And when, throughout your generations, a ger who has taken up residence with you, or one who lives among you, would present an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord - as you do, so shall he do. (Bamibar 15:14)

The Sages and most of the commentators say that our parasha and Shelah both refer to a ger tzedek. On the other hand, R. Saadya Gaon writes:

A ger who has taken up residence : A ger who has converted and entered the religion, or who lives among you throughout their generations, and he comes to make an offering, wanting it to be acceptable and desirable before the Lord. (R. Saadya Gaon on Bamidbar 15:14)

It seems, therefore, that understanding the notion of the biblical ger is a complex affair.

On the one hand, it is clear that we owe moral and religious duties towards the ger who dwells among us, who is known to the Sages as a ger toshav. We are commanded to sustain him, to treat him justly, and it is prohibited to cheat him.

This command is rooted in the memory of the exodus from Egypt: We have experienced slavery and the life of the stranger, and so we can understand the ger's sensitivities and vulnerability. That historical memory demands of us ethical and just behavior towards the members of other nations who dwell among us. True, there is some problem in the halakhic literature regarding the technical definition of a ger toshav. However, HaRav Herzog produced an interesting responsa calling for a renewed discussion of the topic. Since we are not presently engaged in a halakhic investigation, there is no need to enter into those details.

On the other hand, when it is a matter of the ger's participation in the paschal sacrifice, he is required to enter the covenant, since no uncircumcised person may eat of it.

The RaMBaN's offers an especially interesting comment on the verse from our parasha dealing with the ger and the paschal sacrifice:

The point of a ger who has taken up residence is to command the gerim regarding the Passover taking place in the wilderness when the Israelites were commanded about it. It could be that the passage in the parasha of Bo and if a ger lives among you and made the Passover offering (Shemot 12:48) refers to the Passover of Egypt, as I explained there (verse 43), and it meant that the gerim who were leaving Egypt as part of the mixed multitude should make the Passover since they were also involved in that miracle, but [it would seem,] those who converted afterwards in the desert or in the Land of Israel would not be required to make the Passover offering, since neither they or their fathers belong to the category of [those who can say] and you took us out from there (Devarim 6:23). That is why it was necessary to [specifically] obligate them here to observe the Passover in the desert and in the Land. (RaMBaN on Bamidbar 9:14)

The RaMBaN understands that the mixed multitude, that is to say, the gentiles who left Egypt together with the Israelites, were obligated to perform the make the first Passover offering, because they were participants in the experience of redemption together with the Israelites.

A shared lot allows members of another nation feel that they are partners in the same process. Afterwards, when later generations had not personally experienced the exodus from Egypt, the sharing of collective memory was no longer based upon biology, but rather upon voluntary entry into the covenant.

The complicated realities of the State of Israel and the Land of Israel require us to deal with the issue of historical memories and narratives which are not jointly held by Jewish and gentile residents, together with the demand of morality and Torah for equality and justice that do not discriminate between Jew and stranger. Perhaps this is the challenge of a society aspiring to be Jewish and democratic.

Pinchas Leiser, editor of Shabbat Shalom, is a psychologist.

 

Love Bends the Rules

And so Aaron did - this is said in praise of Aaron, for not deviating [from the Lord's instructions].

(Rashi Bamidbar 8:3)

 

Rabbi Baruch of Mezhibozh (a Chassidic master, grandson of the BeShT) was asked: When God told Aaron through Moshe how to light up the lamps, the Torah says And so Aaron did. Rashi explains that this is said in praise of Aaron, for his not having deviated from His instructions. What does this come to teach us? Can we even imagine for a moment that Aaron - sanctified of the Lord - would deviate from His command!? Why, then, the special commendation for faithful execution?

Replied the Rebbi:... It is told of a holy person who served in the synagogue, that when he set up the lamps and poured in the oil, because of his great enthusiasm he was unable to fulfill his task properly, and some of the oil was poured outside the lamp. Therefore was it said in praise of Aaron that despite all his devotion to the Creator, he arranged the lamps with all his heart, but he lit them as prescribed.

 (Or Haganuz, Martin Buber).

 

In order to properly execute a certain work, enthusiasm and good will are not enough. There is also need for patience and exactness.

 (From Abraham Stahl: Shabbat BeShabbato, Vol. II, p. 183)

 

...This is to say that Aaron did all that he was commanded not as one who acts with enthusiasm and wonder, but as one who directs his consciousness and awareness to the daily service of God. The great significance of the service of God lies not in man's giving release to his religious enthusiasm - indeed it is doubtful whether such behavior is pure, uninterested, service of God. Perhaps it is but satisfaction of man's psychological needs.

(Y. Leibowitz: Sheva Shanim Shel Sihot al Parashat HaShavua, p. 648)

 

Take the Levites... and cleanse them - Senior Officials Require Purification

The high standing of Man uplifts his heart in the ways of God - but one must be careful that this merit add no obstacles, such as pride and desecration of the Name; whoever is greater than his fellow, his inclination is also greater - and so the closeness to holiness can lead to impurity, just as in the case of Korah and his Levite followers - their greatness led to their downfall. Those who rise up to the holy service are in need of extra caution lest they stumble. . . this is why they were admonished to be scrupulous in preserving their purity - each according to his status - after their service in the Tent of Appointment. And so we have already learned that all this holds true for the study of Torah. One who accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah lifts his heart up to the paths of the Lord, but he must be careful that it does not become an impediment. When he has merited success with Torah, and has studied with the necessary caution, this is reason to further elevate the mind towards the love of God. But all this is accomplished only if he consciously intends by this to attain love of God. Without such awareness, this benefit will be lost, leaving only the mitzvah of Torah study. Torah, too, is a high and exalted matter, but only if it has not turned into an obstacle, as the Sages pointed out: "If he has not merited, it [the Torah] becomes potion of death" (Yoma 64).

(HaAmek Davar, Bamidbar 8:15)

 

...We must remember that the above was written by the head of the Volozhin Yeshiva, who knew intimately the world of those who devote their lives exclusively to the study of Torah, and he was well aware of the danger facing them and all generations, lest they dare perceive themselves and refer to themselves as Gedolei Torah - Torah giants.

 (Y. Leibowitz: Sheva Shanim Shel Sihot al Parashat HaShavua, p. 649)

 

The "External Sciences" are Necessary for Understanding the Torah

It has already been made clear in the beginning of parashat Tetzaveh that the Menorah alludes to the illumination of the wisdom of the Torah through the sharp analysis of the Torah, through investigation and study. The six braches of the menorah together with the central lamp are the seven sciences "external" to the Torah. The Torah needs them in order to be interpreted through them regarding all of the details of measurements and the like that come to be explicated in the Torah...the cups represent the giving of drink; the Torah gives the drink of the sciences, and the sciences give the drink of knowledge - to know and understand the details of God's word.

 (The NeTziV of Volozhin's Ha'Amek Davar)

 

 

 

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