פרשת בהעלותך

Bamidbar Chapter 8: The Lighting of the Menorah and the Purification of the Levi'im

Introduction: The Book of Appendixes

So we're reading Bamidbar chapter 8 today and I guess this is one more appendix to the story of the dedication of the Mishkan and especially the dedication of the Levi'im around it, the Kohanim, the Levi'im, all of that. I guess I've been saying the word appendix many times but it seems to me that in a certain sense the entire Sefer Bamidbar is the book of appendixes to previous stories, especially to the story of the Mishkan and the Kohanim discussed in Sefer Vayikra.

The Mitzvah of Ha'alas HaNeiros

The Repetition Problem

So it's like this, the first thing we have here is a mitzvah. I've framed it here as a mitzvah. I'm not entirely sure that that's the best or most correct framing for this. It's possible that we should see this more as part of the story, in other words part of the story of the Chanukah but it's definitely said in the sense of a mitzvah and that's the mitzvah about or as it's called here, putting on or raising the lamps onto the menorah. That's how it's said here.

Now this is a mitzvah that has been said many times already, at least three times. Ramban here struggles to explain how there's something added in each time, there's something added here that we didn't have in previous episodes of the same thing. It's less convincing to me what it's why, or in other words even if there's something added, we still need to explain why this is added here again. So why is it split up so much? We said the same thing, כסותה עד [kosotha ad] that it has to be on the menorah, that the seven lamps should be towards the middle or something like that. Okay, but why?

Connection to the Chanukah Story

And it seems like the reason is similar to the reason for all these stories being cut up in the way that we've discussed, that we've seen, which is that it seems like in some sense this belongs to the story of the Chanukah, to have the ha'alas menorah. Of course there's famous Midrashim that discuss this in some ways, but it seems like that is what is going on here. There's some way in which this is a continuation of the Chanukah, just like the Nesi'im brought their gifts and the other processes of Chanukah happened. There's also the mitzvah of lighting the menorah, or of putting the lamps onto the menorah, that is somehow part of that. It's not entirely clear how it's part of that, but that seems to be the story.

Understanding the Structure: Menorah vs. Neiros

So there's a mitzvah, Hashem speaks to Moshe, tell Aharon to that, and this is how it's framed. When he raises the lamps, it should be towards the פני המנורה [pnei hamenorah — the face of the menorah]. What exactly this means is also not very clear. It seems to be a mitzvah about the structure of the menorah, so there's just to be very clear, this is I think agreed upon, there's a menorah. A menorah is a vessel, a kind of kli, which has the branches as everyone recognizes, and that's called the menorah. It's the vessel which holds the lamps.

Now the menorah is not in which directly the lights, the oil with the wicks, the lamp, the fire is lit. On top of the menorah is something called נרות [neiros] here, or sometimes called נרות [neiros], I think, which are lamps, and in those lamps we put some oil and we put some wick and we light it. So the work, the avodah of lighting the menorah is really the avodah of putting lamps onto this lamp holder, right, it's a candelabra, it's holding the lamps, it's not, the lamps don't go directly and it's not like there's a cup on the top of them where you put the oil.

Now there's, like we do in our menorahs, people sometimes have complaints about that, that you put, when we have a menorah on Chanukah, everyone usually puts like a glass and in that the oil, but that's actually the original way of doing it, it's not directly in that, the menorah is a vessel that holds the lamp, which is the oil and the wick and all of that.

The Specific Mitzvah and Its Fulfillment

So that's the mitzvah, and the mitzvah seems to be precisely this, the connection of the lamps to the face of the menorah, and that is interpreted whether it has to be tilted towards the front or the middle or the face, depends also on how you imagine exactly the menorah to have been, it's not entirely clear to me what the simple meaning of this is, or to anyone I think, but in any case, this is the mitzvah about, it's about specifically this, about the connection of the lamps to the menorah.

And then as many mitzvos go, it has also the report of the mitzvah being done, this is like, again, how all these stories are built, and ויעש כן [vaya'as ken — and he did so], and precisely this, he puts the menorah on the face of the menorah as Hashem has told him.

The Making of the Menorah

And now we get a postscript sort of to this, which is not only talking about the lamps being put on the menorah, but also the menorah itself being created, being made, in the correct way, in the way that Hashem told. Of course, this is not really adding anything, we already know this from the end of Parshas Pekudei, from Vayakhel, that all the vessels, everything was made as Hashem commanded.

It seems like, again, this is connected to this idea that somehow, since the menorah is an interesting vessel, it's an interesting kli, it has a part of it which sort of comes apart, right? A big part of this whole story is how things come apart when they're traveling, right? We have the Aron, and then the badei ha'aron, which is the way they travel, and so on. Apparently the menorah every night is in some sense taken apart, because the lamps are the main part which makes the light, and here we have this thing that's connecting them.

So in the same way, we have to repeat that the menorah is made in a certain way, and it's connecting that to the story of the lighting of the menorah. That's how I think we can understand what is saying here, and therefore it repeats. The creation, the making of the menorah, is make sure it's one piece of gold, that's at least how Rashi interprets it, from its leg to its flowers, so all of, from the big parts to the small part, that's what it means, like the big details, the small details, as Hashem has showed Hashem, that's how He made the menorah.

So again, the same idea, there's a command and the action which match, there's a symmetry, there's always this symmetry between the mitzvah and the asiyah, but the point here is that the symmetry goes all the way to the asiyah. So that's the mitzvah here, the last mitzvah belongs there, and maybe we could say it shouldn't really be a series of mitzvos, but belongs to the Chanukas HaBayis.

The Purification and Dedication of the Levi'im

Context and Placement

Now we have one more appendix, which is really an appendix to something we already started talking about in previous chapters, and I think that this is somewhat out of place, it probably should have probably happened before the Levi'im, before the Nesi'im did their Chanukah, so it's really an appendix to how the Levi'im were sanctified and got the job and the place of doing the avodah, and also particularly how they were replacing the Bechorim.

We learned already before how the Bechorim were taken, how the Levi'im were taken in place of the Bechorim, and there was the pidyon of the extra Bechorim with five shekalim, and here we see the process of how the Levi'im, their bodies specifically, were purified in order to become the Levi'im.

Why the Levi'im Need Purification

So there's this process, unlike Kohanim, Kohanim has meshicha, but unlike Kohanim, who at least seems like they don't need like to be purified, there's of course korbanos miluim, maybe it also has to do with purifying of the Kohanim, but the Levi'im very specifically because they're said to be replacing something, so they were not originally meant to be the Levi'im. The Levi'im are somehow the shlichim, they're the replacing of all the Bechorim, of all the Yisrael that has to now take their place to do the avodah, so there's a very specific process describing this, and that's the rest of this chapter describing that process, and again, there's the mitzvah and the asiyah, right? So we have the mitzvah, and the mitzvah is like this.

The Three-Step Purification Process

Hashem tells Moshe, take the Levi'im and purify them with the חטאת ישראל [chatas Yisrael], and He says, how exactly, how, what will you do to purify them?

The first thing is, you will spray מי חטאת [mei chatas — waters of purification] on them, in other words, mei chatas again is something that we don't yet know what it is in the order of the Torah, it's said only in Parshas Chukas what it is, we know that it's the Parah Adumah, but it says, spray mei chatas on them, that's to purify them from tumas meis, as we'll learn there.

The second thing is, pass over a razor on their entire flesh, in other words, shave all of their hair, and as we've studied in the story of the Nazir, this seems to have also been a process of purification.

The third thing is, wash their clothing, so I guess mei chatas is washing their body, but also wash their clothing, of course, we interpret it as being in the mikvah, but it means, it's basic, simple to understand that it's a process of purification, and that will purify them, their bodies.

The Korbanos of Purification

And then, adding to this, there's like a korban that has to do with the purification, so they take a par, for olah, and a second par for chatas, and this is the standard way of when you do purification, always olah and chatas, with their mincha, and that will be the korban of purification.

The Ritual of Transfer: Levi'im as a Korban

Now, there's also an action of purification, like an activity, like a ritual, of sort of giving the Levi'im over from the people. So, what we do is, we bring the Levi'im in front of the Ohel Moed, we gather together all the people, and the people do smicha on the Levi'im, so the Levi'im themselves are sort of like a korban, just like when a person brings a korban, he does smicha on it, and that's, in a sense, like carrying over the responsibility, or the kedushah, from the person to the korban, and the same with the Levi'im, are sort of the korban that the Bechorim, or the Yidden, are bringing to the Mishkan, to work instead of them.

So, the Bnei Yisrael are doing smicha on the Levi'im, and then, just like many korbanos, especially the ones that are not makhrevan the mizbeach, we do tenufah, we raise them, like symbolically raise them to God, in the same way, Aharon here will do tenufah on the Levi'im, to raise the Levi'im, to symbolically bring them to God, and then, they will, then they are dedicated, and they are part of the avodah.

The Levi'im's Own Korbanos

Then, the Levi'im will bring their korbanos, the Levi'im are the korban of the Yidden, the Levi'im themselves bring korbanos, these two parim, so the smicha on the parim, and then the Kohanim will do the avodah, will make them the chatos.

The Second Tenufah

And then, it says it again, I think, I'm not sure if this is a repetition or not, it says again, you will make the Levi'im stand, you will put, you will, I don't have a good translation in English, העמדת הלוים [ha'amadas haLevi'im], means like something you will present the Levi'im for Aharon and the children, they do tenufah, which is maybe another tenufah, according to Rashi and other mefarshim, so the first tenufah was like giving them from the Yidden, the second one is for the Kohanim to accept them, and this will separate the Levi'im from the Yidden, and after all of that, they will come to do the avodah of the Ohel Moed, and they will be purified and have the tenufah, so again, a repetition again, maybe the third time is already another repetition, but in any case, in other words, that's when it will happen, it will be chalal, they will become the Levi'im.

The Theological Rationale: The Double Exchange

And the pasuk repeats the reason for all of this, which we already had, because the Levi'im are given to the Kohanim, to the Mishkan, from the Yidden, instead, in the place of the Bechorim, which were given to Hashem when, when He killed all the Bechorim, so there's like this double change is going on, Hashem exchanged the Bechorim of the Yidden for the Bechorim of Mitzrayim, they're all His, and therefore they become His, and then

The Age Parameters for Levite Service

Now there's one more mitzvah about the Levim, which is the age of their service. So remember we had different ages — the age of the Yisrael [Israelites] being counted from 20 years and on in the census, which we've interpreted as being also the ages in which they work, which is when they go to the army. And now we have the same language for the Levim, for the ages in which they will become part of the Tzva'a Avodah [Tzva'a Avodah — the service corps]. So again the army — the Tzva'a means something like an army, not necessarily an army for war, but an organized corps, like to work or something.

And it gives their ages. So it gives the age from 25 to 50. From 25 they start working, and from when 50 they retire — they become not doing the Avodah [service] anymore.

Continued Service After Retirement

But it says, in other words, they could still guard, they could still watch. Remember the main sort of job of the Levim is to do this Mishmeret [Mishmeret — guarding/watching]. They're watching, like they're literally watching, or watching by teaching and by making sure that nobody who is not authorized enters in the Mikdash [Sanctuary] and so on. So they're watching and still do, but the rest of the Avodah, which we've discussed — Avodat Masa [Avodat Masa — the service of carrying], right, the carrying of the Mishkan [Tabernacle], which you need to have strength for that — after 50 they can't do that.

Conclusion

So that's the Avodah of the Levim, and that's the end of the story of the dedication of the Levim.

Bamidbar Chapter 9: Pesach Sheni and the Cloud of Divine Guidance

The Chronological Setting: Going Back to the First Month

We're reading Bamidbar chapter 9. This story beginning has a date. It's in the second year of Yetziyat Mitzrayim [the Exodus from Egypt], the first month. So we're going back to the date where everything really is happening here. All of these stories are sort of surrounding these dates.

As we've discussed, this is explicitly before the story of the census in the beginning of the book, which was in the second month of the first year. So this is going back all the way to the day that the Mishkan [Tabernacle] was set up, which was Rosh Chodesh Nissan, the first month of the second year. And it's adding something that happened then.

We could understand the dislocation because we had to finish everything about the Mishkan — the creation of the Mishkan itself, the census, all the things surrounding it — before we get to this, which is really a separate story, a separate thing.

A Parasha of Kiyum Mitzvah: The Observance of Pesach in the Desert

Now, what we have here is mainly a story of, as we've discussed, this is one of the prime examples of a mitzvah, the parasha of a mitzvah. This is like a parasha of mitzvot, although it's also a parasha of a story. So in some sense, the parasha — and it's one of the only parashiyot that are like this — is a parasha of a mitzvah of the Eidah [congregation], doing in the desert a mitzvah that was given before. The mitzvah of Korban Pesach [Passover offering] here was given already in Parashat Bo, and commanded already that it should be every year. So this is really a story of the kiyum hamitzvah [fulfillment of the commandment].

Pesach is interesting in that way, that there are about seven stories in the whole Tanakh saying how the people were mekayem [fulfilled], how they did this mitzvah. So this is the first one. It's already in the Torah itself.

To that is added a mitzvah that was given in response to a problem that they had. So this is a structure that we find in many mitzvot, in Sefer Bamidbar specifically. There might be some of it in earlier books, but this is the place where most of them are. This is why I said this is like appendixes, fixing or adding things to mitzvot and stories that were there before, in response, and specifically in response to a certain thing.

The Principle of New Situations Requiring New Halacha

In other words, if we would generalize it, we would say: from here we learn that sometimes there's a new situation which requires a new pesak [halachic ruling], a new halacha regarding the mitzvah. Of course, we have the klal [principle] of Chazal [the Sages]: אלה המצוות שאין נביא רשאי לחדש דבר מעתה [Eleh hamitzvot she'ein navi rashai lechadesh davar me'atah — These are the commandments; no prophet may innovate anything from now on]. This doesn't happen anymore. Only Moshe could do that.

But I don't think it's so far-fetched to think that it does happen, only in the way of halacha, in the way of Torah she'b'al peh [Oral Torah]. Sometimes when there's a new situation, we say, well, does this apply here? Does it make a difference? Things like that. It's not very different. But that's the thing of Sefer Bamidbar — it has such mitzvot, and this is what we're going to read.

The Command to Perform Pesach (Pesukim 1-5)

So we read: in this time, in this state, in this place, in Midbar Sinai [the Sinai Desert], Hashem spoke to Moshe and says, ויעשו בני ישראל את הפסח במועדו [V'ya'asu Bnei Yisrael et haPesach b'moado — And the Children of Israel shall make the Pesach in its appointed time]. And what is this correct time? As defined by Parashat Emor and as defined by Parashat Bo, which says the correct time.

So this is really Hashem being mazkir [reminding] them, reminding them to do something they already did, told them once. And there's, of course, a question: why does He have to remind them? But I think this is the logic of every story. They don't do anything here without being told.

The Three Levels of Command

And we saw, for example, in the story of the hagbalah [boundary setting], as Rashi says, מזהירין [mazhirin — they warn]. So there's a special command to actually do it. Like there's three levels. There's the general command, and there's the command to actually do it, and then there's actually doing it. And this is the command to actually do it.

And as it says, explicitly, you'll do it on the 14th day of this month. וככל חקתיו וככל משפטיו [V'chechol chukotav v'chechol mishpatav — And according to all its laws, according to its order], as you've already been commanded. So there's no doubt that this is referring to the mitzvah that was given earlier, and it's telling them to do it.

And Moshe tells the Yidden [Jews] that they should do it. And they do it. So that's the third level, right? Hashem tells Moshe to do it now, and they actually do it now. כאשר צוה ה' את משה כן עשו [Ka'asher tzivah Hashem et Moshe ken asu — As Hashem commanded Moshe, so they did].

Now, and this is, I think, all said here — probably that's the answer to the question. Like, isn't it obvious that they did the mitzvah? It's probably obvious. But the reason this story exists, maybe even it happened this way, is in order so we should have the next story.

The Problem of the Temei'im: Those Who Were Ritually Impure (Pesukim 6-8)

Now there were some people that were not able to do the Pesach. Why were they not able to do the Pesach? Because they were טמא לנפש [tamei lanefesh — ritually impure through contact with a dead person]. We already discussed: tamei lanefesh means tumah from a meit [dead body]. They touched a dead soul, a dead body, a dead person. I think the nefesh doesn't necessarily mean soul versus body, because you can't be tamei to the soul. You're tamei to the body. But anyways, nefesh means a person.

And they could not do the Pesach, as we learned over there, that if you're tamei, you can't do it. And they come to Moshe and Aharon, they tell him, and we have a dialogue here, a very explicit dialogue, where למה נגרע [Lamah nigara — Why should we be diminished/excluded?]. It's interesting, because everything here is being counted. So nigara is something like, why don't we count? Why are we deleted? Why are we reduced from being able to make the Korban Hashem? להקריב את קרבן ה' במועדו [L'hakriv et korban Hashem b'moado — To offer Hashem's offering in its appointed time], goes along with all the Yidden.

Moshe's Response: Standing Before Hashem

And Moshe accepts this argument, accepts their complaint. And he says — this is interesting, because later in the story we'll see many complaints where people say things similar, like, why not? Why not me? Why not this? And then, apparently, if you complain in this style of complaining, then Hashem gets mad.

But here, this was a complaint, or a kind of demand, which Moshe says, עמדו ואשמעה מה יצוה ה' לכם [Imdu v'eshmah mah yetzaveh Hashem lachem — Stand and I will hear what Hashem commands for you]. Let me stand here, wait here, and I'll listen, I'll hear to what Hashem told me.

And this is, of course, also a continuation to what we had at the end of the previous chapter, where after the Mishkan, and the Mishkan was set up by Hashem, there is a place to go ask Hashem things. That probably means He went to the Ohel Moed [Tent of Meeting], and He asked them what to do.

The Law of Pesach Sheni: The Second Passover (Pesukim 9-14)

And Hashem answers, and He gives a command, דבר אל בני ישראל [Daber el Bnei Yisrael — Speak to the Children of Israel]. He gives a new mitzvah, and the mitzvah is phrased in the style of a mitzvah, a very general phrase. איש איש [Ish ish — Any man, every man], if it will be tamei, or — and it adds, right, since it's a general law, it's not only responding to the situation, it's giving the new law.

The Principle: The Law Was Always There

Like the way Chazal would say it: there was really the law before, but the story happened so that these people should be the cause of the law being revealed. But it's not like the law was created in response to that. This is really the law. And we can see this from the style of the pesak. It's not a style of like, oh, so for today we'll do this. No, there's a general law that has a rule, this is how it works.

And it's not only for you, it's also if you're בדרך רחוקה [b'derech rechokah — on a distant journey], if you are in a far away, you can't reach the place of doing the Pesach, so the same thing. It's not specifically for tamei, it's any kind of other way, legitimate way — well, not if you did it on purpose — but a legitimate way in which someone was impossible to come to the Pesach.

And it's not only for today, it's not only for now. לכם ולדורותיכם [Lachem ul'doroteichem — For you and for your generations], it's for now, or for the future generation. So this is a general law.

The Details of Pesach Sheni

Now, what will this person do? He will do a Pesach. When will he do a Pesach? On the second month. So this is also a story — we see very clearly, all these stories were happening between the first and second months. So this is a story that's a bridge between the first and second month, because if someone can't do the Pesach on the first month, he will do it on the second month, in the 14th day. So again, the same time of the month, and the same time of the day, בין הערבים [bein ha'arbayim — between the evenings], he will do it.

And he will eat it in the same way. He will eat it with מצות ומרורים [matzot umororim — matzah and bitter herbs], in the same halachot will be. Will not be allowed to lay over until the morning, עצם לא ישברו בו [etzem lo yishberu vo — no bone shall be broken in it]. So the same halachot. They will not break any bones. ככל חקת הפסח יעשו אותו [K'chol chukat haPesach ya'asu oto — According to all the laws of the Pesach they shall do it]. He will do it along with the same rules of the Pesach.

In other words, it's a real Korban Pesach, just not b'moado. That's where we had the word b'moado. Well, not b'moado — it will be in the new moed, the new moed from the 14th day of the second month.

The Warning Against Deliberate Neglect

And of course, since we gave this permission, we gave this second chance, so to speak, we have to remind you that this is only going to work for people who have unfortunately had this problem. But don't think that this is permission to just be late. If you're tahor [ritually pure], and you're not b'derech rechokah, and you don't do the Pesach, then you're back to the regular law. ונכרתה הנפש ההיא מעמיה [V'nichretah hanefesh hahi me'amehah — And that soul shall be cut off from its people]. We've already learned this in Pesach, that if you don't do the Korban Pesach, you'll become karet [spiritually cut off].

כי קרבן ה' לא הקריב במועדו, חטאו ישא [Ki korban Hashem lo hikriv b'moado, chet'o yisa — For he did not bring Hashem's offering in its appointed time, he will bear his sin]. We have again this word b'moado. He didn't do it in his time, and he was able to. חטאו ישא [Chet'o yisa — His sin he will bear] himself.

The Law for the Ger

Now there's one more law about Korban Pesach. I think this was already said in Pesach. I'm not sure why it's repeated here. Some people understand that maybe a ger [convert/sojourner] could also, if he becomes a ger, if he comes later, he could do it later. Not clear to me.

If a ger comes, and he will do Pesach, he will also do it according to all the laws of the Pesach. חקה אחת יהיה לכם לגר ולאזרח הארץ [Chukah achat yihyeh lachem lager ul'ezrach ha'aretz — One law shall be for you, for the stranger and for the citizen of the land]. This is something repeated many times in pesukim like this: the same law will be for you, for a ger, for a stranger, a sojourner, a traveler, and for an ezrach [citizen]. Both have the same law. And as I've said, that's a repeat.

The Cloud and the Protocol for Travel (Pesukim 15-23)

Okay. Now, we end this. This is the last mitzvah that belongs to this series, or in this part. We can see it's part of the story. And now, we have a beginning of a new part of the book, I would say. The question of if we should start it here, or start it in the next part, I'm not sure. But remember, we set up all the machanot [camps], all the camps, in order to travel correctly. And here we have the story of how they travel.

The Laws of Travel: Not L'Dorot

So the first parasha, which is till the end of this chapter, is again halachot, and it's set up almost as halachot, or almost as general rules. And then there's the application of these general rules, when they actually traveled. So there's laws of how and when they travel, or rules — I don't know if they call them laws, because they're not l'dorot [for future generations]. These are the prime example of a mitzvah that's not l'dorot. But it's how they travel.

The Cloud Covering the Mishkan

It says the day that the Mishkan was set up, the cloud covered the Mishkan. At night there was a מראה אש [mareh esh — appearance of fire], a vision of fire. So maybe not necessarily a fire itself, but a vision of fire. Not clear. And that's how it will go, always.

This is, of course, we already have this in Parashat Beshalach, before there was a Mishkan. There was an esh [fire] at night and an anan [cloud] at day. But now this esh and anan is on the Mishkan.

The Rule: Following the Cloud

And now when did the Yidden travel? When the cloud rises up from the Ohel, goes away from the Mishkan, or rises up, that's when they travel after him. And then the place where the cloud stops, the place where it comes to a stop, that's where the Yidden will be. That's where they will rest.

And this is what it means על פי ה' [al pi Hashem — by the word/mouth of Hashem], which is represented in his cloud. This is how he shows at least his presence with people. They travel along with him and they rest along with him.

The Extended Elaboration: A Song of Celebration

And here the pasuk goes into a very long elaboration, a lot of details of this rule. And it seems, again, to be unnecessary. There seems to be too many of these details. But I think that we should read it, like I said before, in the story of the korbanot of the nesi'im [princes], this is an expression of excitement, an expression of celebration. When you say things at length, it sounds nice, it's beautiful. So it gives us the long elaboration, and in a kind of a song.

And I think the song has a refrain, which is על פי ה' יחנו ועל פי ה' יסעו [Al pi Hashem yachanu v'al pi Hashem yisa'u — By Hashem's word they camped and by Hashem's word they traveled]. As you can see in my organization, it's three times, with slight variation, but three times. So there's like three parts to the song, and it tells it three times. It's a poem, it's a song.

The Variations in Duration

It tells us how, if the cloud is on the Mishkan many days, then the people keep — they keep, they keep, they watch, they don't travel. And if it's only a few days, then we assume the completion of the sentences, and then they will stay there only for a few days. Again, על פי ה' יחנו ועל פי ה' יסעו [Al pi Hashem yachanu v'al pi Hashem yisa'u].

Sometimes it will be only for a day, for a night. In the morning they travel. Sometimes it's a day and a night, and then they travel. Sometimes it's a day, sometimes two days, sometimes it's a month, sometimes ימים רבים [yamim rabim — many days].

The Passage as Expression of Excitement and Celebration

This is an expression of excitement, an expression of celebration. When you say things at length, it sounds nice, it's beautiful. So it gives us the long elaboration. And in a kind of a song, I think the song has a refrain, which is אל פי ה׳ יחנו ועל פי ה׳ יסעו [Al pi Hashem yachanu v'al pi Hashem yisa'u — By the word of Hashem they would camp, and by the word of Hashem they would travel], as you can see in my organization. It's three times and with slight variation, but three times. So there's like three parts to the song and it tells it three times. It's a poem, it's a song.

The Variations: Different Durations of the Cloud's Rest

It tells us how if the cloud is on the Mishkan many days, then the people keep, they keep, they keep, they watch, they keep their watch, they don't travel. And if it's only a few days, then we assume that the completion of the sentence is, and then they will stay there only for a few days.

Again, אל פי ה׳ יחנו ועל פי ה׳ יסעו [Al pi Hashem yachanu v'al pi Hashem yisa'u]. Sometimes it'll be only for a day, for a night, in the morning they travel. Sometimes it's a day and a night, and then they travel. Sometimes it's a day, sometimes two days, sometimes it's a month, sometimes a day, so many days, many months.

For all of that, it's the same rule. As long as the cloud is on the Mishkan, they rest, and when it rises, then they travel.

The Concluding Refrain

אל פי ה׳ יחנו ועל פי ה׳ יסעו, משמרת ה׳ שמרו על פי ה׳ ביד משה [Al pi Hashem yachanu v'al pi Hashem yisa'u, mishmeret Hashem shamru al pi Hashem b'yad Moshe — By the word of Hashem they would camp, and by the word of Hashem they would travel, the charge of Hashem they kept by the word of Hashem through the hand of Moshe]. That's the end of this chapter.

Bamidbar Chapter 10: The Silver Trumpets and the Command for All Generations

Introduction: Where the Travel Narrative Begins

Today we are reading Bamidbar chapter 10. Now what we have in this chapter is we can debate where really the chapter should have started or where this part of the book should start. But I think this is where the next part of the book starts which is the story of the actual travels in Bamidbar. We could have started this a little earlier. I think it probably starts in the middle of the previous chapter where we started to have the form of the travels with the cloud raising up and coming back down and staying.

But now we have something framed as a mitzvah and also in some sense a mitzvah l'dorot [a commandment for all generations], a mitzvah which will be for the generations, will be always, not only a mitzvah now. So unlike the entire order of the machaneh [camp], the order of the camps, where everyone should be which are mitzvot but not mitzvot that are always going to last, not mitzvot that we do always. This is a mitzvah that although it has a very explicit, very interesting kind of mitzvah, precisely because although it has a very explicit source or framing in this story, it's very explicitly timed there. On the other hand, it's very also explicitly told to be a mitzvah for l'dorot, a mitzvah for the generations, for always.

So this is something to think about why this is that. Maybe the only mitzvah that has this kind of framing connects of course to the mitzvah of Tekiat Shofar [blowing the shofar] on Rosh Hashanah, although it's not explicit here but we can understand that it's connected. So that's one place in which to connect it in something important.

The Command to Make Two Silver Trumpets

The Basic Instruction

So what we get is like this, we get as a command, Hashem speaks to Moshe telling him to make two chatzotzrot [trumpets], two, some kind of trumpet or horn or something out of silver, make mikshah [hammered work], so fully silver or it's a style of making, we have it in Melekhet HaMishkan [the work of the Tabernacle], by the Menorah mikshah [the hammered Menorah].

Understanding Mikshah: Subtractive Manufacturing

Rashi always interprets this as being not poured, so not there's a masekha [casting], masekha is when you pour gold or some precious metal and you form it into something, a mikshah is when you do the opposite, so what's known in modern terms as subtractive manufacturing versus cumulative or additive manufacturing. So a masekha, when you pour something that's called an additive manufacturing, you add the material to some kind of form and make that, versus subtractive manufacturing which is where you have a material and you cut things off until it becomes like that, or you form it by itself into like that, and that seems to be the more beloved form by the Torah for whichever reason, mikshah, but anyways, or maybe it just might be that it was considered to be stronger or better that way.

The Two Functions of the Trumpets

And now these chatzotzrot will have two functions, two goals, two jobs. One is l'mikra ha-edah [to call the congregation], you will call together the people by this, and the second is l'masa ha-machanot [for the journeying of the camps], you will make the travel, and really they're both the same, right, they both have the same function which is to, it's a kind of alarm, it's to let the people know that something is going on, you're either letting them know that they could come together for some kind of asifah [gathering], they're coming together to learn the Torah or to hear some new command, or they're coming together or hearing that there's being traveling now, so it's not really a difference, but it's just a different thing that it's being used to announce, either you're announcing l'mikra ha-edah or you're announcing l'masa ha-machanot. But as we'll see, there's a difference in the signal, they're going to give a different signal based on these two things.

The Signal System: Different Blasts for Different Purposes

Both Trumpets: Full Assembly

And that's what it says, v'taka'tem [and they shall blow], they will blow on these, they will use these trumpets, and kol ha-edah [the entire congregation] will come to you, the entire community, I'm not sure if kol ha-edah means literally every person, it might mean only something like, sometimes ha-edah means something like the important people, the representatives of the community, and they will come together to the petach Ohel Moed [entrance of the Tent of Meeting], which was the place set aside, so obviously this was done in advance, they set aside the place to come together, that's called ha-Ohel Moed, means also something like a meeting place, so they might have, that's where they had the meetings. Now, so that's the regular, so that's the first kind of tekiah [blast].

One Trumpet: Leaders Only

Then, v'im b'achat yitka'u [if they blow with one], so we just heard that there's two chatzotzrot, there's two trumpets, and obviously we'll be able to hear, even far away, or however far the people were, that there was, they were blowing with both, but if they blow only with one, then not everyone will come, not the kol ha-edah, but the nesi'im [princes/leaders], the leaders, the roshei alfei Yisrael [heads of the thousands of Israel], the leaders or the generals, we could call them sometimes, if alfei Yisrael means like a military division, they will come to Moshe, that's like a lesser, it's not such a general assembly, it's an assembly of the leaders.

Teru'ah for Travel

Then, it says that, so that's the mikra edah, right, we're calling that. Now, there's the description of the masa machanot, how does the sounding of the trumpets work for masa machanot, so it says u'tka'tem teru'ah [and you shall blow a teru'ah], if you blow one teru'ah, and it might be a different sound, of course, Chazal [the Sages] interpret teru'ah by shofar as a different kind of sound, so they understand the taka'tem as one kind of a simple sound and teru'ah as a more complex sound, or there's a, we famously forgot or don't know exactly how to do it, but teru'ah as some kind of more complex sound, and that seems to be what it says here, because it says later that there's tik'u v'lo tariu [blow but do not sound a teru'ah], it repeats itself, for the hakahal [the assembly], for the getting together, just the kios [blowing], some kind of simple sound, or we could just interpret as just making noise, just the sound, and then teru'ah as when there's some kind of elaboration, some kind of complexity in the sound.

The Order of Travel Signals

And therefore there is, that is the sound that they made, it's going to be a sign for the masa ha-machanot, for the travel, and each, and then it's described how the process of travel is sort of formed, is sort of led by these teru'ot, so there's one teru'ah, and then the camps who are encamped in the front, Keidmah Mizrach [eastward], in the east will travel, they're the first, then the second teru'ah, and then the camps encamping to the right, or Darom [south], or to the south, will travel, and it repeats itself, teru'ah yitke'u l'mas'eihem [they shall blow a teru'ah for their journeys], u'l'hakahal tik'u v'lo tariu [but for the assembly blow but do not sound a teru'ah], and we don't have yet over here, the next two machanot, or the Mishkan, which goes after them, we'll see in the next part, in the next part of the chapter, there is a description of the full, all four or five parts of the travel, but here, it seems like it's just, maybe we could understand ourself that later they will do another teru'ah, or once everyone saw the first two goings, they follow along, they don't need a teru'ah for that.

The Kohanim as the Blowers

Now there's a comment, who is the one doing the blowing, who is the one doing the sounding, it's Bnei Aharon [the sons of Aaron], it's the Kohanim [priests], that's their job, so interesting, they have this extra job, although this is not like a job of the Kodesh [holy things], it's nothing to do with the Mishkan, seemingly, it's their job to blow the shofar, and this will be l'dorotekhem [for your generations], this will work, this will be a law forever for their generations.

The Eternal Application: War and Celebration

In Times of War

And what will be the law? It says like this, when there will be a war, so here we can imagine that this is all about war, since we've been interpreting all of the story of the machaneh as a preparation for war, and these tekiot [blasts], as also, they need an alarm to get together the army, to come together, either for a gathering, or for the masa, which is basically a war, so they're saying that this will not only be here now, it will be everywhere, there will be a war in your land, al ha-tzar ha-tzorer etchem [against the enemy who oppresses you], for any enemy, you will blow with the chatzotzrot.

But here there's something new added, it says, v'nizkartem lifnei Hashem Elokeikhem, v'nosha'tem me'oyveikhem [and you shall be remembered before Hashem your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies], so here it seems that this sounding is not only a practical thing, as we would have understood until now, but it has a ritual aspect, or it has a prayerful aspect, that also causes that they will be remembered by God, or in front of God, and will be helped from their enemies. And possibly this is also why it's the job of the Kohanim, that's why the Kohanim are the ones that have to do this, because they are the ones that are responsible for prayer, for things that have to do with receiving the blessing of God for what they're doing.

On Days of Joy

And we see another thing, that this is not only for times of war, it's also for times of happiness. U'v'yom simchatkhem u'v'mo'adeikhem u'v'rashei chodsheikhem [and on your days of joy and on your appointed times and on your new months], on days of happiness, it doesn't give an explicit date when, or mo'adim, which are set days of happiness, right? We assume that this means yamim tovim [holidays], u'v'rashei chodsheikhem [and on your new months], Rosh Chodesh [the new month], you will blow the chatzotzrot, al oloteikhem v'al zivchei shalmeikhem [over your burnt offerings and over your peace offerings], on your sacrifices, on the olah [burnt offering], or on the shelamim [peace offerings], which are the main sacrifices, and also v'hayu lakhem l'zikaron lifnei Elokeikhem [and they shall be for you as a remembrance before your God].

Interpreting the Practical and Ritual Dimensions

Ibn Ezra's Interpretation of Yom Simcha

We could still interpret these also as having some kind of practical effect, because of the reason, which is that firstly, we can understand one thing that Ibn Ezra says, that this yom simcha [day of joy] might mean just the day where they leave, when they come back triumphantly from the war. So in the yom ha-tzarot [day of troubles] that's described there as going out of the war, we could understand that yom simcha is just the return from the war, which is probably also, I mean, in reality we also see that all the mo'adim, the set yamim tovim, are basically days in which we came back from war, like in some sense Pesach, or the later holidays are more clear, Chanukah and Purim, which are not mentioned in Torah, but they also have the same structure, that we won a war, or some kind of war, and therefore we announced it.

The Practical Function of Festival Announcements

Or even mo'adim, even if they're a set time, just like three times a year, we have a mo'ed, there's still a need for announcing it, right, it's just a gathering, it's just one more instance of gathering. So we can understand these last two things, which are the dorot, as just another two instances of the tekiah, which is the, sorry, of the [blowing].

The Emotional Distinction: Teru'ah vs. Tekiah

And we can see the difference in teru'ah and tekiah, right, the teru'ah, which is l'masa ha-machanot [for the journeying of the camps], which is for war, so teru'ah is the, this is where we get the idea of teru'ah, there's a more sad or more serious kind of sound, because it's the preparing for war, and then the happiness, which is the tekiah, and that's where you have tekiah, and that's the, like l'mikra edah, which is a happy occasion, it's not a scary occasion, it's not a tense occasion.

Rosh Chodesh as Announcement

And then we could also understand that these, in a celebration for a chag [festival], we also need to call the people, like you have to know if they come, so it could be understood in the same way, although it says when you scout them, v'hayu lakhem l'zikaron [and they shall be for you as a remembrance], which again adds the, we call it the vertical aspect here, the divine aspect, it still might have this simple function, also Rosh Chodesh we could understand as a s'vara peshutah [simple logic], that the blowing of the shofar on Rosh Chodesh, and just, it seems like just to let people know that it was Rosh Chodesh, since Rosh Chodesh is something that the people have to know, the Beit Din [court] decides that it's Rosh Chodesh, at least that's how we know from Chazal, it doesn't say in the pasuk [verse], but it might be, that is over here, with the tekiah, and therefore we have to let everyone know that's Rosh Chodesh, and that sets the dates for the chagim to come.

And then there's an ending, there's a

The Meaning of Tekiah as Celebration

And then the happiness, which is the tekiah [trumpet blast], and that's where you have tekiah, and that's like the Mikra Kodesh [holy convocation], which is a happy occasion. It's not a scary occasion. It's not a tense occasion. And then we could also understand that these, in a celebration for a holiday, we also need to call the people. Like, you have to know if they come. So it could be understood in the same way, although it says, which, again, adds the, we call it the vertical aspect here, the divine aspect. It still might have this simple function.

Also, Rosh Chodesh, we could understand as a seder and a mishnah, that they blew shofar at Rosh Chodesh. And it seems like just to let people know that it was Rosh Chodesh, since Rosh Chodesh is something that the people have to know, the Beit Din [rabbinical court] decides that it's Rosh Chodesh, or at least that's how we know from Chazal [the Sages]. It doesn't say in the pasuk [verse], but it might be remez [hinted] over here with the tekiah. And therefore, we have to let everyone know that's Rosh Chodesh, and that sets the dates for the holidays to come.

So, and then there's an ending. This is, there's a signature in this, Parashani Hashem lakaichem [I am Hashem your God], like many parashiot [Torah portions] in Vayikra [Leviticus] and Bamidbar [Numbers].

The Travel Narrative Begins

Now we have, after all the laws, so this is why, this is another place where we could start the story if we want. After all the laws, we have the actual beginning of their travel. The first travel, the first masa [journey], and it gives us a date, the second year, the second month, the 20th of the month. So five days after Pesach. After Pesach Sheni [the Second Passover], na'aleh anan [the cloud rose up], the cloud went up from the Mishkan, and the people traveled after it from Midbar Sinai [the Wilderness of Sinai]. They went to Midbar Paran [the Wilderness of Paran], and this is where their first travel, al pi Hashem b'yad Moshe [by the word of Hashem through the hand of Moshe].

And it gives us, on the first trial, of course, we don't get this repeat for every one. But in Parashat Masei [the Torah portion of Masei], we get something like 40 or 42 different stops that they made. We don't get this one, this elaboration for every one. But for the first one, we get the whole exact process. And when we read it, it's the niggun [melody] to read it in the niggun v'shirah [melody of song], because again, I think this is a poetic, it's not adding any information, it's just adding the poetry of the great celebration, sort of like they're actually starting to travel.

The Detailed Order of the First March

Degel Machaneh Yehuda — The Eastern Camp

We have Degel Machaneh Yehuda [the Banner of the Camp of Judah], which is led by Nachshon ben Aminadav [Nachshon son of Aminadav], together with Yissachar, with Netanel ben Tzuar [Netanel son of Tzuar], together with Zevulun, Eliav ben Chelon [Eliav son of Chelon].

The Mishkan Components Travel

And now we have the process of the Mishkan, right? So we discussed that the Mishkan had Gershon and Merari, which were charged on, respectively, on the wooden parts, the hard parts of the Mishkan, the soft parts of the Mishkan, we can call them, the fabrics, the yeriot [curtains]. And then Kehat, which is in charge of the vessels, the internal parts of the Mishkan.

So first, the first step is the Mishkan gets taken down, and the Gershon and Merari travel with it, with their agalot [wagons], which we've discussed earlier. And then, so that's first, right? First, the first machaneh [camp] is Degel Machaneh Yehuda, that's the kedem [east], which we discussed, they go first. Then the Mishkan, number two.

Degel Machaneh Reuven — The Southern Camp

And then Degel Machaneh Reuven [the Banner of the Camp of Reuven], which is teimana [south], on the right side, on the south, which is with Elitzur ben Shedeur [Elitzur son of Shedeur], the leader for Reuven, with Shimon, Shelumiel ben Tzurishadai [Shelumiel son of Tzurishadai], with Gad, Elyasaf ben Deuel [Elyasaf son of Deuel].

The Kehat Travel with the Vessels

And then after the second one, the Kehat, who carry the Mishkan here, means the vessels of the Mishkan travel. And then says, in other words, we can understand that the reason why this was split in two steps, in other words, the Bnei Gershon and Merari are traveling with the building of the Mishkan, a step before, Bnei Kehat are coming after the next group of people with the vessels of the Mishkan, so that when they arrive at their stopping station, then the Bnei Gershon and Merari will be setting up the Mishkan. And then by the time the Kehat arrives, there'll be a Mishkan in which to put in the vessels of the Mishkan.

Degel Machaneh Ephraim — The Western Camp

Okay, and then we have the third one, Degel Machaneh Bnei Ephraim [the Banner of the Camp of the Children of Ephraim], traveling with Elishama ben Amihud [Elishama son of Amihud], together with Menasheh, with their leader Gamliel ben Pedahtzur [Gamliel son of Pedahtzur], together with Binyamin, Avidan ben Gidoni [Avidan son of Gidoni].

Degel Machaneh Dan — The Rearguard

And then the last one is Bnei Dan [the Children of Dan] in the back, and it gives us a title, me'asef l'chol hamachanot [the gatherer of all the camps], the gatherer of all the machaneh, so we can understand that something like the Bnei Machaneh Dan, that there's a, this is called the vanguard and the rear, right? These are specific functions within a camp that travels. Then the first people have a certain function and the middle is like the main body. And then the rear has the function of taking care of whatever the rear takes care of. It's called me'asef l'chol hamachanot, so Rashi says, like, people lost something, they would find it. In other words, it's protecting their rear.

And together with their leader, Achiezer ben Amishadai [Achiezer son of Amishadai], together with Asher, with Pagiel ben Ochran [Pagiel son of Ochran], together with Naftali, with Achira ben Einan [Achira son of Einan], eileh masei Bnei Yisrael [these are the journeys of the Children of Israel], l'tzivotam vayisa'u [according to their legions, and they traveled].

The Dialogue with Chovav/Yitro

Now, there is two interesting, or three interesting pieces still in this chapter. One is an interesting dialogue between Moshe and his father-in-law, Chovav, the son of Re'uel. Of course, a new name. We've heard of him in Parashat Yitro, his name was Yitro. Here, his name is Chovav, the son of Re'uel.

And Moshe asks him to travel with them. He says, we're going to travel to the place where Hashem has promised to us, which He's told us we'll give it to you. Come with us and we'll give you, we'll be good to you, because Hashem has promised us good. And his father-in-law says, no, I will not go, I will go to my place, to my birthplace.

And Moshe again begs him, please don't leave us, because you have known our camping in the desert. In other words, it seems like Yitro was their site guide in the desert. We learned also in Parashat Shemot, Moshe was taking the son of Yitro, achara hamidbar [behind the desert]. It seems like these were locations which the Midianites, or the people, Yitro was a leader of some sort, a Midian, a kohen Midian [priest of Midian], right? A priest of Midian must have known about how to navigate and so on.

So he says, where Yitro and I am, you'll be eyes, in other words, you'll be a guide for us. And if you come with us, He promised them, hatovah asher ya'aseh Hashem imanu v'heitavnu lach [the good that Hashem does with us, we will do good to you], the good that God gives us, we will give to you good.

The Mystery of the Conclusion

It doesn't give us the conclusion of this dialogue. Of course, in Parashat Yitro, it says explicitly that Yitro, which might have, yes, or not been the same as Chovav, has went home. Vayeilech lo el artzo [and he went to his land], over here, it seems that he stayed. And also in Sefer Yehoshua [the Book of Joshua], it seems like the children of Chovav, choten Moshe [father-in-law of Moshe], explicitly are said to get their prize. So this v'heitavnu lach, this that Moshe promised him a part in the land, was fulfilled in Sefer Yehoshua. So it's not clear what's the story with this dialogue. There's some mystery in this.

The Ark Traveling Ahead — A Difficulty

Then we have a report. They travel from Har Hashem [the Mountain of Hashem], from Midbar Sinai, right, for three days. Aron [the Ark] is traveling three days in front of them. This is another kind of difficulty because a minute ago, we had the Bnei Kehat, who are the ones carrying the Aron, and the Mishkan, as it said here, traveling in the middle. And here, suddenly, they're traveling three days ahead. So there's another mystery or question about what's going on. And the anan Hashem [cloud of Hashem] is on top of them as they travel another, how does this exactly connect with the Mishkan and so on? That's another question.

Moshe's Poetic Declarations

Now, we have the end. And I think that this is the way we should read all these, the next few chapters, the next few parshiot have things like this. They're like somewhat fragmentary reports of the travels in the Mishkan, in the midbar [wilderness], of the wars that they had, of what's going on. We don't have a full account of this. This is why I said in my beginning of Sefer Bamidbar, that there is a story of the wars of Moshe and the desert on the way to Israel, which seems to not be entirely part of the story that we know. We're missing something. We're missing the basic narrative of the story. It seems to not be important.

In any case, we get a poetic report, a very poetic report. And we say this, of course, when we take up the Torah. They even said, and when the Aron was traveling, so Moshe had these two statements, two poetic, both are set in the meter of poetry.

When the Ark Travels

When the Aron travels, Moshe says, Kumah Hashem [Rise up, Hashem]. So that's like Hashem represented in the Aron, stands up, v'yafutzu oyvecha [and let Your enemies scatter], and his enemies spread out, v'yanusu m'sanecha mipanecha [and those who hate You flee before You].

When the Ark Rests

U'v'nucho yomar [and when it rested, he would say], when the Aron sits back down or gets back to its place, Moshe says, Shuvah Hashem [Return, Hashem]. So rest, Hashem, or something, come back down, rivevot alfei Yisrael [to the myriads of thousands of Israel], along with the rivevot alfei Yisrael, with the armies of Israel, which are now resting.

So that's showing how the Aron, with Moshe's speech, is leading the wars, and they're starting and stopping the traveling and camping of the Mishkan, of the midbar. So that is this chapter.

Bamidbar Chapter 11: The Trials in the Desert and the Crisis of Leadership

Introduction: The Series of Trials

Bamidbar chapter 11 very explicitly starts a series of what is called in the Mishnah tests or trials that the people, our forefathers, tried throughout the desert. And the word trials or testing is meant to say the times or the places and the ways in which they didn't trust the plan. They didn't trust.

In other words, we've read just a minute ago how there's a structure to the whole plan, right? There's the Leviim [Levites], there's the Kohanim [priests], the Chatzotzerot [trumpets] that are leading the people throughout their journey in the desert, throughout their making war and all the people around them and getting to the land of Israel, which is their goal, as it said, very explicitly in the previous chapter, that He will give it to us.

And now there's a list of what we call sometimes sins of the desert. They're really trials, trials where the people were not succeeding. They were not succeeding in taking this plan as it is, but they had many questions or many doubts on the plan. And these are doubts, not only doubts like intellectual doubts, but problems with the plan of the travel throughout the desert and this whole thing.

The Geographic Structure of the Trials

All these nisyonot [trials], all these so-called sins or problems that are discussed, all are associated with a place or almost all of them at least. In other words, this is all associated with the structure of there being a long travel throughout the desert, stopping in different places. And in many of the places, there were some issues rising up and some complaints, sometimes translated as complaints or testings or lack of trust of the people in the plan, in the leadership, in the leadership that is taking them throughout this desert, throughout this whole plan.

It's kind of interesting that some of those places in the desert have names. Of course, these are probably oases or places where it's feasible for people to stay, and people later need to travel to the desert and say, okay, this is called Tav'eira, because this is what happened there. But it's still interesting that there's like this naming of places in the desert, goes back to the logic of Sefer Bereishit, where many stories end with the name of a place because of something that happened to the Avot [forefathers] there or something like that. And here there's something similar, although the places are not really like places where people live, they're more like places of travel or something like stops in the desert.

Reframing the Question: Leadership, Not Just Faith

Here we start. And as we'll see, this is where I'm emphasizing the word leadership and the important part of the story, the main story of this chapter. This shows that sometimes it's framed, right? And we already discussed in Sefer Shemot how there's a short version of this whole story, of this whole, maybe not of the same stories, some people say it's the same story, some people say it's not, but for sure a short version of this concept, this problem of the travel throughout the desert and all the trials that there were in that. And over there, it's mostly framed and very explicitly framed as the people not trusting in God, not trusting in God, who is their leader.

Here we get a little bit more detail in that. And we see that there's mostly a question of the kind of leadership that is leading them. And we'll see later in this chapter, how this kind of complaints also changed the structure of their leadership, because there was some kind of leadership. And apparently that kind of leadership didn't actually work, or at least after the people complained, after the people tested it, they saw that it doesn't provide for them what they need. So there was a different model of leadership tried out.

In some sense, the whole story of Parashat Yitro seems to be very much connected to this. Of course, we even had Chayivei Chayil [men of valor] of Moshe a minute ago, seems to be connected with this story, the main story of this chapter, and so on. So it's a lot more complex.

Beyond Simple Faith and Doubt

We tend, we're sometimes taught to collapse this, maybe Sefer Shemot teaches us to collapse this into the question of, do we trust God, do we not trust God? But really trusting God means here, and always really, never means trusting God in the abstract sense, in the most general sense, it means trusting and accepting this specific kind of leadership, which is in the name of God, which is bringing down God's direction to us in the very specific ways.

And there are actually issues with such leaderships, as long as they're human leaderships, they are by humans and for humans, and they have to solve all kinds of human issues. And as we'll see, in some sense, even Hashem agrees and changes the model of leadership or the style of leadership for these purposes.

So that's the story. And that's why this is a lot more complex story than the simplification of it, the questions of faith and doubt and things like that.

First Story: Tav'eira — The Anonymous Complaint

So today we'll read mostly two of these stories, or two parts of these stories. The first is Tav'eira, as it finishes, and that's why I said each one of these is associated with a place, many of these stories finish, and therefore the place was called such and such.

The Complaint and God's Response

The first thing is, the people were mitoninim [complaining], translated usually as complaining. And this is ra b'aznei Hashem [bad in the ears of Hashem], this was bad. So they were complaining, God heard it, Hashem heard their complaints, and he was upset, va'yichar apo [and His anger flared], he was angry, and therefore God's fire burned.

So that's the first response, and also like a very general kind of response, it doesn't give us, and this story probably is in this place in this book, because it's a very general story, doesn't give us details what their complaint was, doesn't give the details of what God's anger was, doesn't give details of what God's punishment or the expression of his anger was, which is really what anger is about. We heard that there was a fire, and the fire started burning at the edge of the camp, so maybe that's just literally what it was, but also fire can mean something very general, it can mean a thousand things, what did the fire start from, what exactly happened, did people die, what happened.

Moshe's Intervention

In any case, the people cried to Moshe, or they come with complaints to Moshe vayitz'ak [and they cried out], we read usually that vayitz'ak means something like having a legal complaint or summons, they're lodging complaints with Moshe, and Moshe vayitpalel [prayed], Moshe prays to Hashem, and the fire goes down.

So there's no teshuvah [repentance] here, very interesting, there's almost no teshuvah in any of the stories besides possibly the story of the Eigel [Golden Calf], and maybe the story of the Meraglim [Spies], but most of these stories and complaints, and most of Moshe's interventions before God, for the people, his point isn't we will stop sinning, his point is always a different thing.

So it says he prayed, and the fire goes down, the fire subsides, of course if you read Rashi and people like that, they'll tell you what the prayer was and what the question was, but it's not mentioned in the pesukim, all that's mentioned is this very anonymous, very sort of simple story.

The Naming of Tav'eira

And then this place is called [Tav'eira] because Tav'eira is from the language of fire, from burning, the fire of Hashem burned to them, this might be also the fire that we had before, the Eish Hashem [fire of Hashem], which is going to be in front of them or above them at night, might be the same fire which has burned them, so very similar to the story of Nadav and Avihu, and then we could think of what this mitoninim exactly means, but okay, that's this first story of Tav'eira.

And Moshe, for example, in the Sefer Devarim, has this very short passage of Tav'eira, Massah, Kivrot HaTa'avah, u'v'Massah u'v'Kivrot HaTa'avah makhisim et Hashem [and at Massah and at Kivrot HaTa'avah you angered Hashem], there were these three places and they knew Tav'eira is one of the places where the people angered God, we don't need a lot more.

Now we have the next one, Massah, of course, is the story which we'll have in Parashat Chukat, in some sense, already had in Parashat Beshalach.

Second Story: Kivrot HaTa'avah — The Complaint About the Manna

Now, what we have now is the next story, and the story which I've given the title Kivrot HaTa'avah, because this is the story based around this place called Kivrot HaTa'avah, but also a lot more complex story, this is really the story of, not the manna, right, the story of the giving of the manna, as already we had in Parashat Beshalach, but the reaction to the manna.

Complexifying the Manna Story

In Parashat Beshalach, we noticed that there's some complexity with the manna, the people were happy, they were not happy, there's some kind of testing with it, which was not clear, it seems to be all about the Shabbat and things like that. Here we learn that there's some more complaints about the manna, the manna was more problematic, right, again, the Sefer Bamidbar complexifying, problematizing, very simplistic things that we had in Sefer Shemot.

Sefer Shemot, the manna is just a great sign of God's providing for us, and so on. Here, suddenly, we see the people were not happy, and of course, it's presented as a problem, but then we see Hashem Himself agreeing, and of course, giving them meat is something that He explicitly gives them also in Sefer Shemot.

So, it seems like, again, we could debate if these are separate stories, or if these happened in different stages, but it doesn't matter. The idea is that what is presented there is something very simple and maybe a legitimate request of where, you know, they ask for manna, for food, and for bread, and for meat, and they received it. Here, we see that what they received wasn't really so good, and there was, like, these steps where they wanted more of that, and that that was involved in an entire revolution of the structure of leadership.

The Asafsuf — The Riffraff

So, let's read the story. And the story starts with asafsuf [the riffraff]. Asafsuf is something like the gatherers, but the not-correct gatherers, right? Edah [congregation] is the people that gather in the proper way, the legitimate representatives of the kahal [assembly], of the asifah [gathering], and asafsuf are something like, right, sometimes translated here, the riffraff, the people that are gathered, but gather not in a proper way, not in an organized way, they're not the legitimate representatives of the people.

Hit'avu ta'avah [they desired a desire], they have desired a desire, they received a desire, and then the Bnei Yisrael, in other words, all the people, not only the asafsuf, started to cry. So, it started, and this is, somehow, mirrors the previous story with the ketzeh machaneh [edge of the camp], the people in the ketzeh machaneh, or the asafsuf, not the center, not the, what's sometimes called the mainstream, are the ones, but they somehow infected the mainstream, the Bnei Yisrael, also with their complaints. So, it's not that they had a bad complaint, it's just, again, a starting complaint from them.

The Complaint: Nostalgia for Egypt

And they said, so this was their main complaint, mi ya'achileinu basar [who will give us meat to eat], we don't have meat to eat. And their complaint gets elaborated in this long soliloquy, where they say, we remember we had in Mitzrayim [Egypt] for free fish and all kinds of vegetables, apparently they're describing fish as plentiful, of course, in the Nile, as we've learned from the story of Makkat Dam [the plague of blood], and we have vegetables, many things that are growing, and now we have nothing, our souls, our bodies, our person is dry, there's nothing, we only have manna, that's all we're looking at.

The Narrator's Description of the Manna

And he tries to praise the manna, he tries to say the manna was good, but obviously we can see from their response that, yes, the manna was good, but it was still kind of limited. And the pasuk says, הַמָּן כִּזְרַע־גַּד הוּא [the manna is like a seed of gad, a kind of grain], that's what kind it was like, it's not like that it was watered, but it was like, and its color was the color of בְּדֹלַח [bedolach], so bedolach is some kind of precious stone, so it's a nice color.

And it describes how they prepared it: the people would spread around and gather it together and then grind it, or kind of beat it — not a grinding machine, but something that you use sometimes for spices and things like that — and they would cook it, and they would make out of it cookies or cakes, and it would taste like לְשַׁד הַשָּׁמֶן [leshad hashamen — an oil kind of pastry], apparently an oil kind of pastry, similar to what it says in Shemot, צַפִּיחִת בִּדְבַשׁ [tzapichit bidvash — honey cakes]. So somehow this manna was something that we would make flour and make some kind of cake or cookie or bread out of, that's what the manna was. Of course there's midrashic and very interesting descriptions of it, but it seems to have, the pesukim seem to very much describe it in a very explicit physical material way. And this manna was at night, when there was the dew coming at night, that's when the manna was coming on it. So that's the description of the manna.

The Illegitimate Assembly: Each Family at Its Own Tent

And now we're back to the people's complaints, they're complaining about this. Now, just like we had before, Hashem hears, in His ears so to speak, hears the complaints and is upset. Here, earlier Moshe was not upset, Moshe was praying to Hashem that He should forgive the people, so to speak. Here, Moshe is hearing them, all their families, אִישׁ לְפֶתַח אָהֳלוֹ [ish le-petach ohalo — each man at the doorway of his tent], so again I think emphasizing that this is not a legitimate assembly, right? There's families gathering each at the doorway of their tent, of their place where they live, so this is like an illegitimate assembly, like a protest, unlike when there was a legitimate assembly that we learned earlier about the Pesach Sheni, they would come to the פֶּתַח אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד [Petach Ohel Moed — the entrance of the Tent of Meeting]. The petach is always the entry way into a city or into a house, at least in ancient times and maybe also now, or like the place where people assemble for meetings, for important things. And here, they're doing אִישׁ לְפֶתַח אָהֳלוֹ, each for his family, each for his space. As we discussed, these are the basic units of the society here, so they're doing it separately, each in their way, and Hashem is upset and Moshe is also, רַע בְּעֵינֵי מֹשֶׁה [ra b'einei Moshe — it was evil in Moshe's eyes].

The Inversion: Moshe Is Now Upset

This is an interesting inversion of the previous story, right? Over there was רַע בְּאָזְנֵי ה' [ra b'oznei Hashem — evil in God's ears], so oznei and einei might be similar, and Moshe was not upset, but here it's רַע בְּעֵינֵי מֹשֶׁה, and now, therefore, here's Moshe's response to this.

Moshe's Extreme Complaint to God

Moshe doesn't complain to the people, he complains to Hashem, he complains to Hashem about the people. Moshe goes to Hashem, and this is a recurring motif in Moshe, but this is I think the most extreme case of it, or one of the most extreme cases of it. Moshe comes to Hashem and he says, why do you hate me, why have you hurt me, why are you doing bad to your servant, did I not find favor in your eyes that you put all of this pressure, all of this obligation on me? Did I give birth to them, did I carry them in my womb, that you're telling me, you're asking me to carry them in my lap, on my body, as if, in the same way that a nurse carries her nursee, the person she nurses, and take them to the land that you promised, this is what you mean?

And in other words, Moshe is saying, yes, I've received this command, I received this command to take them to Eretz Yisrael, as a military leader, as a leader of adults, but these people are acting like children. Why do you want me to be their babysitter, this is what you want, am I their babysitter, am I their mother, am I their nurse?

And then he says, where do I have meat to give all these people, they're crying to me, give us meat? I got them in the desert, they should be happy that they're alive, that they got manna, like they're crying, they're just spoiled and crying for meat. I can't, Moshe says I can't, I can't carry this, I can't bear this burden, it's too heavy for me. Of course this is the exact language that Yitro told Moshe, it's too heavy for me, of course it's psychologically heavy.

And if this is what you want, and this is repeating what Moshe said, but in a more extreme sense, this is what you're doing to me, just kill me. You love me, I found favor in your eyes, I'd rather you kill me, than me have this evil happen to me, I'd rather be dead. So this is Moshe's most extreme sort of denial or refusal of carrying the burden of the people.

God's Response: Delegation of Authority to the Seventy Elders

And Moshe, and Hashem receives, unlike other places where Hashem says, no, I'll give you the power, and things like that, again, very similar to what happens in Parshat Yitro, Moshe, Hashem acquiesces to this request. He says, you're right, you can't carry them, let me give you some help, let me delegate for you.

And Hashem says to Moshe, get together for me 70 people, of the elders of the people, you know that these are their elders, these are their שֹׁטְרִים [shotrim — officers], these are the people that deal with them, that manage them. Take them to the Ohel Moed, again, to the legitimate meeting place, and make them stand, put them, present them, present them to me over there. I will come, I will speak to you, and I will give some of the spirit which is on you, and put it on them. In other words, your whole thing is that you speak with me, you have my spirit on you, spirit means my words, my direction, prophecy, let's spread it out, let's give it to these 70 people, they'll have some of it, and they'll carry the burden with you.

God's Angry Response: Meat Until They Vomit

Then you'll tell the people, prepare for tomorrow, you'll have meat, you cried, no problem, you'll have meat. And now, they get the meat in an angry way, right? Sometimes someone says to a child, you'll get your request but in an angry way. No problem, you said it's better, it was better in Egypt, you wanted meat, I'll give you meat. And not only one day, not two days, not five days, not ten days, not twenty days, a month straight you'll eat meat.

So remember that in this time, and the way the Torah presents it, meat is not something you eat every day, meat is a very celebratory thing, right? You have korbanot that are basically about eating meat in the correct way, it's a zevach, it's a whole situation. Someone eating meat every day is like, nowadays we would say we're used to eating meat every day, sometimes we would say like, I'll give you chocolate, you'll eat it for breakfast, and for lunch, and for supper, the ice cream, that's what you wanted, you wanted ice cream, you're not happy I'm taking you to the land of Israel, and you're crying that you don't have your candies? No problem, I'll give you ten thousand candies, until you throw up from it.

That's what it says, until it would go out of your noses, it's another way, you'll vomit, or you'll throw up, that's, I think vomit sometimes comes out of your nose, and it will be strange, it will be horrible to you. This is all because you have forsaken, you have been מָאַס [ma'as — rejected], Hashem, which is with you, and you've cried from saying, why did we go out of Egypt? So that's Hashem's response.

Moshe's Continued Skepticism About the Meat

And now Moshe still seems to not be happy, this is very interesting. So Hashem seems to say to Moshe, no problem, you'll get 70 helpers, and then somehow we'll give them as much meat as they want. And then Moshe says, what do you mean? Okay, the helpers I get, but the meat, where am I going to get them from? There's 600,000 foot-goers here, you can tell me I'm giving them meat for a month? So Hashem is like making the request harder, like my meat for one day is enough. What am I going to slaughter for them, all the cattle, all the sheep, is it going to be enough? I'm going to gather for them all the fish in the sea, is it going to be enough? It's not enough, it's not possible to supply people like this with meat every day.

God's Rebuke: "God's Hand Is Not Short"

And here Hashem tells Moshe, don't worry, God's hand is not short, God can do that, you will see if this will happen. In other words, more things are possible on heaven and earth than as imagined in your philosophy, things are possible. So for your complaint that you can't do it yourself, that was a legitimate complaint, but you think that it's not possible to get the meat? For God it's possible.

The Execution: The Spirit Descends on the Seventy Elders

And that's what happens, and then Moshe follows, Moshe follows through, he goes out, he speaks, tells the people what God said, he gets together 70 people, God comes down in his cloud, he speaks to Moshe, and וַיָּאצֶל [vayatzal — and He delegated], this is of course an interesting verb, we get the word atzilut from it, somehow he transmits from the spirit which is on Moshe and it goes on the 70 people, the 70 elders, and they have the ruach rest on them, and they prophesy.

The Eldad and Meidad Episode: Prophecy Outside the Camp

Now there's another interesting side note in the story, again connected very much with the question of Moshe's leadership and also of his succession, which is starting to become an issue with Moshe getting old, and to a big extent the end of Sefer Bamidbar, also the end of Sefer Devarim, or maybe the whole Sefer Devarim is concerned with the question of Moshe's succession.

So now we see a story, there were two people, so there were these 70 people again, gathered to the correct meeting place, don't go in these protest areas, you're going to come here, it's going to be a managed, this is also a way of managing their position, if we give every elder his honor, his due respect, and then they'll all be part of the program, and otherwise they each go, אִישׁ לְפֶתַח אָהֳלוֹ, and they start being seditious, and creating rebellions, and things like that.

So now, it seems like two people are still out of the program, there's two people still in the camp, they didn't come to the Petach Ohel Moed, they're called Eldad and Meidad, and they've also received the spirit, they were written in the paper, in this, in whatever way, in other words they were the people, they're part of the people that were sort of invited to this thing, but they didn't go, וְלֹא יָצְאוּ הָאֹהֱלָה [v'lo yatz'u ha-Ohela — and they did not go out to the Tent], so this is almost an explicit rebellion. Of course, interesting.

Eldad and Medad: Prophecy Outside the System

So now, it seems like two people are still out of the program. There's two people still in the camp. They didn't come to the Ohel Moed [Tent of Meeting]. They're called Eldad and Medad. And they've also received the Spirit. They were written in the paper in this, in whatever way — in other words, they were the people, they're part of the people that were sort of invited to this thing. But they didn't go — V'lo Yatzu HaOhelah [and they did not go out to the Tent]. So this is almost an explicit rebellion.

Of course, interestingly, while they're doing this rebellion, they received their prophecy. So they must have been worthy of something. And like when Hashem gave the prophecy to the 70 elders, it got to them also because they're one of them. They're part of the, they're on the list. But they're prophesying in the camp, not part of the system, not being in the organized structure under Moshe.

Yehoshua's Reaction and Moshe's Response

And therefore, HaNa'ar [the young man/servant] — some young person, Na'ar is always a young person, but also someone who is a servant, someone who's helping — runs to Moshe and tells him this. And therefore, Yehoshua bin Nun, Moshe's official Gabbai [assistant], Mibechurav [from his chosen ones] — again, we remember Bachalanei Anashim [chosen men] — his chosen, Moshe's chosen next leader, successor. He explicitly chose him already in the Milchamah Amalek [war with Amalek] we saw and by the story of the [Golden Calf] to be his representative, right? And [Yehoshua] says, destroy these people, look at them, they're rebellious.

And Moshe, Moshe very interestingly responds, what do you want from me? This is what I asked for. Are you being jealous for me? Are you being mad for me? Don't I want — who? I wish all of God's people will be prophets and God will give His spirit on them. Of course, this is a very beautiful middah [character trait] of Moshe Rabbeinu where he's like, I don't want to keep prophecy for myself, I want everyone to have it.

But it's really a continuation also in the context of the story of what he said. This whole thing of giving 70 people prophecy was a response to Moshe saying, I can't do it myself. So Moshe is telling Yehoshua, so there's two more people, so they're not entirely apart, let them take care of themselves, let them help me, I'm giving up, I can't do all of this myself. And that's the story.

The Return to Camp and the Arrival of the Quail

And therefore Moshe and the 70 people go back to the — they also have Moshe — they go back and they gather in the correct way, not in a subversive way, they gather back to the camp.

And the promised meat also comes. There's a wind and there's slav [quail], which is a pheasant, I think, kind of bird. Sometimes there's in the desert or close to the desert, there's these huge migrations of them. So that's the kind of background for this. And they spread out to get around the camp, like as a way, spread out so large, a way of a day from each way, an amount of space that a person walks a day, right? You measure space with time. And two amot [cubits] above the ground, so tons of slav, a huge thing of slav here.

And the people stand up and they go all day and all night and the next day, they gather the slav. The smallest one had 10 piles or 10 groups, like 10 groups we had in Mitzrayim [Egypt]. And they spread it out around the machaneh [camp], to salt it, to preserve it, and something like that.

The Plague at Kivrot HaTa'avah

And this caused some problems. Well, the meat was still between the teeth, so they're still enjoying it. And Af Hashem Charah Bahem [God's anger burned against them], God's anger. Af Hashem usually means a famine or not a famine, some kind of plague. In other words, and we could also imagine that this plague, you know, we eat too much meat and some of it was contaminated or something, we got some bird flu, and we're contaminated and a great Makah [blow/strike], a great hitting, or how do you translate Makah in a clear way, the great blow, or always means the people dying or getting sick, what happened to the people.

And this is why this place was called Kivrot HaTa'avah [the graves of craving], so the graves of the Ta'avah, the graves of the people who had a Ta'avah [craving] — in other words, these people that died from eating too much slav or from whatever plague came along with it.

Transition to Chatzeirot

And then, that's the end of this station, of this place where they rested. Afterwards, they traveled to Chatzeirot [Hazeroth], and they're in Chatzeirot, and they will have more stories of problems with the leadership.

Bamidbar Chapter 12: Miriam and Aharon's Challenge to Moshe's Unique Prophetic Status

The Context: A Series of Leadership Challenges

Today we are reading chapter 12 in the book of Bamidbar [Numbers]. Very interesting chapter. And as I framed yesterday, we can understand this entire series of complaints or trials as really pertaining to the question of the leadership here, the way in which Hashem is leading them and of course leading them through Moshe and his leadership, Aharon and his leadership, whoever else is part of the leadership structure, as we've seen added in the previous story, 70 elders to the leadership structure, whatever is happening with Yehoshua in that story where he is somehow sidelined in that story because Moshe didn't accept his jealousy or his anger over the 70 people becoming part of the structure and so on.

So now we have the story of Miriam and Aharon and their speaking about Moshe. And in response to this we get an angry response from Hashem just like we get for all these complaints but specifically against Miriam, although Miriam and Aharon are said to speak about Moshe. And a very important clarification of what is the difference between Moshe and all these other prophets.

The Pendulum Swings: From Delegation to Distinction

So we can probably see this as a counter to the previous story, right? In the previous story we had Moshe delegating some of his prophecies, some of his leadership position to all these 70 elders, to all these other prophets, or making them prophets by delegating some prophecy to these elders. And now we have a sort of opposite reaction. So if so, then is Moshe equal to them? Is he on the same level of them? And that seems to have been the mistake of Miriam and Aharon. And we have this important story as clarifying that.

Of course this story gets used later by the Rambam for his very important principle, to him at least, of Moshe's prophecy being of an entirely different kind of all the other prophets including the prophets of his day like Moshe and Aharon. But we can debate if that's theologically the point of the story here. It's for sure the point of there being another set of questions about Moshe's leadership, about Moshe's place, and this story clarifying it.

From the Lowest to the Highest: Two Types of Challenges

And again, another way of spelling out the difference between this story and the previous story or the connection between them is that the previous story started with Asafsaf [the rabble], right? The sort of lowest class people having problems with Moshe, with Aharon, with the leadership. And now we have not their problems, but the problems of the elite. The Aharon and Miriam were the highest people in the hierarchy, the closest to Moshe here, having also some kind of complaints about Moshe and then being smacked down, so to speak, or maybe literally smacked down by Miriam getting tzara'at [leprosy] and Moshe getting a talking to from Hashem to explain that no, Moshe's leadership is still justified even after all of this.

So we can take these questions, these remarks in many directions. But this seems to be the context of this story. And of course, afterwards we have the story of the Meraglim [spies], and then the story of Korach, which is an explicit challenge to Aharon's leadership, right? Not Moshe, but Aharon. So there seems to be all these series of stories which are very much clearly connected to the question of the legitimacy of the leadership. The story of the Meraglim has Yehoshua in it, so again, connecting to the question of who is the successor of Moshe, who is the leader under him, and so on.

Reading the Text: Miriam and Aharon Speak Against Moshe

So let's read the story. And the story goes like this.

Verse 1: The Complaint About the Cushite Wife

Vatidaber Miriam v'Aharon b'Moshe [And Miriam and Aharon spoke about Moshe]. Miriam v'Aharon spoke b'Moshe, b'Moshe means about Moshe, and it seems like this language, there's discussion about this in the Mefarshim [commentators], this language usually means to be speaking against or derogatory of Moshe. So it's a speaking, derogatory in parentheses, right? Not just a speaking about, in praise, there must be a different way, a different idiom of saying when someone just speaks about someone in praise, but speaking about someone means here always, maybe usually when people speak about other people it's not in praise, but here especially it means something like they express something not nice about him.

And more specifically, and the Torah gives us the complaint, it's about his wife, this Isha Kushit [Cushite woman], literally means Ethiopian wife or Kushite wife, that he took, and the sort of narrator adds, ki Isha Kushit lakach [because he took a Cushite woman], because that actually happened, he took one.

Of course, this is a very weird story, because we've never heard of any Isha Kushit that Moshe took, what's going on here, who is she, whoever heard of her, there's a famous Midrash that has an explanation of this, but whatever it is, it seems like there's some complaint about Moshe's marriage situation, that everyone agrees on, exactly how to spell out this Isha Kushit, which we never heard of in other places, so again, this also goes to the fragmentary status of these stories, in some sense they're giving us glimpses of stories and glimpses of challenges that there were, glimpses of questions that are only partially resolved, and we don't entirely know who this Isha Kushit is and what's the story with her, but we know the response, the part of the story that the Torah wants us to know.

Verse 2: The Explicit Challenge to Moshe's Unique Status

And again, and they say, and this is the explicit thing that they say, this is their language, there's a quote from them, and they say, Harak ach b'Moshe diber Hashem, halo gam banu diber [Did Hashem speak only through Moshe? Did He not also speak through us?]

So Moshe is acting in some kind of way of privilege, maybe the point is that he's taking another woman, he's taking too many women, or according to Chazal [the Sages], the opposite, he's not with his wife, and we're also prophets, which we understand that this is not okay. So in other words, they're comparing themselves, they're saying, Moshe doesn't deserve to have whichever privilege or whichever level that he claims to have, the way he acts with, we're also prophets, and as I said, this very much goes back to the previous parasha, but of course, Miriam and Aharon, Miriam is explicitly said to be a prophet already in parashat Beshalach [the portion of Beshalach], Aharon is explicitly, of course Chazal are not entirely happy with that, but Aharon explicitly in parashat Sefer Shemot [the portion in the book of Exodus], explicitly describe Hashem speaking to Aharon just as they describe Him speaking to Moshe, so they're saying, He's not greater than us, these are of course Moshe and Aharon's siblings, Moshe's siblings, right, Miriam and Aharon, his older siblings even.

Verse 2b-3: God Overhears and the Narrator's Interjection

Vayishma Hashem [And Hashem heard], so just like earlier, there's this interesting story where, interesting like description, the last two stories we had the same thing, like people complain, people say something, and God is eavesdropping, God heard.

And now here we have another insertion by the narrator, the narrator says, this was not correct, so this complaint obviously is some kind of way in which Moshe is acting in a way of privilege, in a way of being above the people, and the Torah says this is not true, V'ha'ish Moshe anav me'od mikol ha'adam asher al penei ha'adamah [And the man Moshe was very humble, more than any person on the face of the earth], this is a very extreme superlative language, Moshe was the most humble person of any person to ever live, in other words, they're complaining that Moshe is acting with the opposite of humility, he's acting with arrogance, or we could say maybe snobbishly, which is the opposite of anav [humble], and the Torah says no, Moshe actually acted very nicely to everyone, he spoke to people on equal footing, he didn't act in the way of the opposite of anav.

But apparently they interpreted something that he did as the opposite of that.

God's Response: The Sudden Summons

And now we have God, Hashem's response, Vayomer Hashem pit'om [And Hashem said suddenly], pit'om [suddenly], so suddenly, this suddenly is meant to signify something like unexpected, something like they did not realize that this was going to happen, so there's some harshness in this pit'om, and he speaks to these three people, Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam, so also to Moshe, and he says tze'u shloshetchem el Ohel Mo'ed [go, the three of you, to the Tent of Meeting], in other words, remember from before, that's the meeting place, Ohel Mo'ed literally means the set-up place where meetings happen, Hashem speaks to Moshe, so they all go out, vayetze'u shloshtem [and the three of them went out], so we shouldn't send out of the camp, out of where they were, to the Ohel Mo'ed.

Vayered Hashem b'amud anan [And Hashem descended in a pillar of cloud], and Hashem descends with his cloud, with his pillar of cloud, vaya'amod petach ha'Ohel [and stood at the entrance of the Tent], to the petach Ohel [entrance of the Tent], which we discussed, which is the meeting place, this is where the great assemblies happen, vayikra Aharon u'Miriam [and He called Aharon and Miriam], and he calls to Aharon and Miriam, vayetze'u shneihem [and the two of them went out], and they go out, so out of where, not clear, maybe they're in the Ohel Mo'ed and they go out of it, or they go out, further out of the camp, closer to Hashem, so this is Hashem speaking specifically only to them, so he called Moshe there, somehow, Moshe is also part of the audience, but he's not speaking to Moshe, he's speaking to Aharon and Miriam very specifically, Moshe might have heard this, might be a little weird to think that Moshe didn't hear it, and maybe he's also eavesdropping on this conversation the same way that Hashem is eavesdropping all this time, but Moshe is not spoken to, he's spoken about, so that's very explicitly, he speaks to them.

The Definitive Statement: Moshe's Unique Prophecy

And this is what he tells them, Shimu na devarai [Listen now to my words], listen to me, im yihiyeh nevi'achem [if there is a prophet among you], yes, you are prophets, if you are prophets of Hashem, this is one of the instances of Hashem saying his name, Hashem, in third person, Hashem [Hashem], if Hashem speaks to you, and then he goes back to first person, bamar'ah elav etoda, bachalom adaber bo [in a vision I make Myself known to him, in a dream I speak to him], it's in a vision or in a dream, I make myself known to you, to you, to the prophet, to Aharon and Miriam, in a vision, or I speak to them in a dream.

The Contrast: Moshe's Direct Access

Lo chein avdi Moshe [Not so with My servant Moshe]. But Moshe is not like this, my servant Moshe is not like this, b'chol beiti ne'eman hu [in all My house he is trustworthy], he is trustworthy in my whole house, peh el peh adaber bo [mouth to mouth I speak with him], I speak to him mouth to mouth, which is another idiom that means the same thing as face to face, u'mar'eh v'lo b'chidot [with a vision but without riddles], with a vision but without riddles, u'tmunah Hashem yabit [and he sees the image of Hashem], and he sees my image, he glimpses or stares at my image, u'madua lo yereitem l'daber b'avdi b'Moshe [and therefore, why are you not afraid to speak about my servant Moshe?]

So what he seems to be saying is, and this is why of course the Rambam found this as a very explicit statement of the prophecy of Moshe being of a different quality as any other prophet, he says, your argument was, the answer is, you're wrong, you don't understand that there's a difference, Hashem speaks to you, yes, in dreams, in visions, he speaks to Moshe also in visions, but in some level of clarity of visions, not with riddles, he speaks to you apparently in visions, you see something in a dream, you don't clearly see him, you don't see him during the day, you're not trustworthy, in other words, I reveal everything that I have to say, my inner secret, like someone who is trustworthy in the home means something like it's said in the Yosef said about his master, he leaves all the matters of the house to me, so he doesn't like hide anything from me because he's scared he's going to steal it or take control of it, Moshe gets on everything, he is part of this, he is not an outsider looking in, he gets the full permission, he has the full trust to see everything, but you, you don't have the full trust, sometimes at night you get a vision something like that, it's not in the same sense of trust, it's not in the same sense of personal speaking person to person so to speak, seeing the image of God directly, that's—

The Meaning of "Eved" — Servant as a Term of Honor

It's an interesting thing to notice: in the entire Tanakh almost, servant is a term of endearment, a term of honor. It's not diminishing Moshe — it's not saying Moshe is only a servant. There isn't a higher level than being a servant. It's like we have avdei Paroh [servants of Pharaoh] — servant in this sense means something more closer to ministers, people I trust. It's not saying Moshe is something low, it's saying Moshe is something high: he is mine.

So servant — or we can interpret this as saying that the word eved [servant/slave], which of course does mean slave in different contexts — but what it's talking about is the belongingness of the slave, more than the lowliness of the slave in which it doesn't have agency. That's not the point. The point in these descriptions of slavery is the belongingness of the slave, the closeness. It highly belongs to me. And belonging is of course something that can be very intimate, can be loving. It doesn't need to be out of fear. It's saying you should be fearful of speaking of Moshe because he is not in your level.

And that's the statement, that's what he says, answering their arguments. And this might be interesting because there might not be — we have to be mediocre, we have to read all the other complaints. In many of them at least God doesn't entirely answer the complaints, we did see that. Like when Moshe complains and he says I can't carry all this, this will give a great of a burden for me, and Hashem sort of agrees and gives him people to help with his burden. But that's also in an angry way. This is also somewhat in an angry way, but there is an answer to the complaint. It's not like — to the extent that the complaint is not just complaining, it's not just whining, there is some content in it — God answers that content.

God's Anger and Its Expression in Miriam's Affliction

And then, Hashem is mad at them and he leaves, he goes away. And of course this angriness, this anger that is angry at them, in them, is not explained — what does it mean? Where I think we're supposed to explain that what happens in the next moment is the expression of God's anger. So that's what happens. And in other words, this passage — both the anger and the [departure] are spelled out in the next passage.

The cloud disappears, it raises up from the isle [Ohel], so that's — and where is the af Hashem [anger of God]? And here Miriam is in the cloud, and suddenly Miriam has the cloud as snow. So snow is maybe a nice thing, but it's interesting that in the Torah at least, I think snow is only used as an image, an image of whiteness. So this white leprosy or whatever it is, the disease that is the cloud, it's just compared to the whiteness of snow, or maybe the texture of snow or something like that. But so, that's Miriam.

Why Only Miriam Is Punished

And Aaron turns to Miriam and he sees that. So there is something unclear here, because why would only Miriam be punished if Aaron is also speaking with her? Maybe the vayifen Aharon [and Aaron turned] — Miriam is trying to show that in some sense Aaron is included in the punishment. There is like, Miriam suddenly being metzora'at [afflicted with tzara'at], and Aaron turning to her and seeing her metzora'at — maybe that bothers him too.

Aharon's Confession and Plea for Forgiveness

So they understand that they have sinned against Moshe, they have not respected him. And therefore Aaron turns to Moshe and he tells him, and he begs him for forgiveness. Says, Bi adoni [Please my lord], don't put a sin upon us. In other words, don't blame us, we've been silly and we've sinned.

So this is like a vidui [confession], this is one of the very explicit instances of a kind of vidui. We had something like that by the brothers talking to Yosef and other places, but this is one of the instances — of course there is also Moshe speaking to Hashem. In any case, there is an admission of guilt, a taking of responsibility of the yourself is one of the important parts of reconciliation. But they are saying also don't blame us, don't punish us, don't put our sin on us, which means something like don't let the results of our sin stay on us.

The Enigmatic Appeal to Sibling Solidarity

And then here there is a very enigmatic passage, the second half. Nobody really knows the meaning of it. It says, Do not be like a dead person, like a dead something, which as he leaves his mother's womb, half of his flesh is eaten.

The most plausible or somewhat close reading to this would be something like: look, we're your brothers, we both came out of the same womb, and so therefore we're like half your flesh. So having Miriam literally being afflicted in her flesh, right — tzara'at is something that's sort of a disease of the flesh — is eating her up. So don't be like that. So you hurting us is also hurting yourself in some sense, since we're siblings. So this is like the reason why you should forgive us.

Moshe's Prayer — The Shortest Prayer

And Moshe forgives. Moshe, like he does to the people always, he goes to Hashem and eats [pleads] like Moshe to Hashem. He prays or demands from God: El na refa na lah [God please heal her]. Famously this is the most, the shortest prayer. It's a five word prayer, and that was more than enough. He really got what he needed.

So from here we learn in the Talmud [Bavli Masechet Berakhot], that there is no prayer too long and no prayer too short. Once Moshe prayed for forty days, once he prayed for five words. How do we know which is which? We don't know. But sometimes that's all that's needed, and sometimes forty days are not enough.

Hashem's Compromise Response — Seven Days of Segregation

Hashem answers Moshe, also something somewhat enigmatic. Again, the enigma in both has to do with this family relation going on. And obviously it's enigmatic — probably when the Pesach [text] was written, people understood what this means. It's enigmatic to us because we lost the language, we don't know the idioms, what they mean. There's in every language and every culture, there's these idioms that don't literally mean what they mean, but everyone knows what they mean. And many of the terms in the Torah we forgot, so we don't really know what this means. But we can see from the words that there's some expressions that are probably expressing how people should interact with their siblings or with their parents and so on.

And Moshe — Hashem tells Moshe something that is halfway answering. He's saying, yes, I will forgive her, I will heal her, but also not entirely. So there should be something in between.

The Cultural Idiom of Shame

And He says, if her father would have spit on her face, she would have been embarrassed for seven days. So in other words, yes, ok, al na sik hamet [do not be like the dead], very good, but there's some — you should take this more seriously. You should somewhat like if your father spits on a daughter's face, she's embarrassed for seven days. Maybe that's also like a cultural thing, like for seven days you act in mourning, like we have mourning for seven days, things like that.

Hasgara as an In-Between State

So therefore, she should be tisageh [segregated] — I don't think we should read this as being locked, but something like locked out or put out or put in some kind of segregation outside the camp for seven days. And then tell us if she will come back, gathered back into, become back part of the thing.

Of course, what I'm saying is that this is a kind of in-between situation, because earlier, in Parashat Metzora, we already had this concept of l'hasgir et hanega [to segregate the affliction], to segregate the nega [affliction], or to quarantine the nega for seven days, explicitly as a kind of in-between state. Right? We don't know if it's tamei [impure] — if it's tamei, then there's something worse than seven days being musgar [segregated]. You have to go entirely out of the camp and so on. And if it's tahor [pure], if there's not a problem at all, there's no hasgara [segregation]. It's good as some in-between state, like we see it as a waiting state, or like a quarantine state, like to see if the sickness will spread or something like that.

But here also, here it is given a moral meaning. Maybe it means also she will like — she should have literally this halakha of hasgir [segregation] for seven days to see if the tzara'at that she got will last. And obviously the implication is that it won't last. It's a one-time thing, it will be going away, it will stop being infectious or whatever, it will disappear after seven days. But she deserves this because of this reasoning.

So that's Hashem's answer.

Miriam's Leadership Status Revealed

And that's what happened. Miriam gets musgar [segregated] outside the camp for seven days, and the people are waiting for her until she comes back. Adi yosef Miriam [until Miriam was gathered back].

So here we see, of course, Miriam's position. Ha'am lo nasa [the people did not travel] — also ha'am [the people] always, as we said earlier, ha'am means everyone, also including the low class at least. Some people always say whenever it says ha'am it means the low class. That might not necessarily be correct, but at least includes everyone. It's not saying Moshe told them not to travel until Miriam comes. It's saying the people didn't travel until Miriam came back. And that shows us that she had some leadership here. She wasn't just a passive player in this whole story, and that's why they wouldn't agree to leave her outside of the camp.

Conclusion — Departure to Midbar Paran

And after those seven days they left Chatzerot — of course this story started with them getting to Chatzerot — and they moved to Midbar Paran [the Wilderness of Paran], which is the next stop, and that's where we have the next story.