Learn from Moses: even a central government must delegate powers

And another question: two details are mentioned here in connection with the raising of the candles – that the candles should be lit facing the face of the menorah (that is, in the center), and that the menorah should be all in one piece. Why are these details important here?

If we take a general look at the topics of the parshah, it seems that it is divided into two parts: the first part continues the previous parshahs, in which we read about the end of the process of preparations for the departure – the parshat of the Levites and their training for the work of the Mishkan, the offering of the second Passover sacrifice, the trumpets prepared for the gathering of the people and going to war, the pillar of the cloud The line on the camp and directs it on its way, the order of departure and the order of walking, etc.

In the second part we are already in the middle of the journey, where we meet the complainers, the complainers, Moshe is almost desperate and needs the reinforcement of the seventy elders, and Aaron and Miriam fall into the sin of slander. What happened? Although there is always a gap between the vision and reality, we are facing a dramatic gap and a very rapid fall. We would like to hope that the multiple preparations and the organization of the camp will be able to prevent such cases.

The coffin is outside the camp

The answer may lie in the transition between the two parts, by means of a short verse that separates them, and is even separated in an unusual way from before and after it by means of two reversed N letters, aka the verse “And it shall be in the journey of the Ark”. At first reading – this is a solemn and very beautiful episode, but the verses before it are already starting to raise question marks:

And they traveled from the mountain of God for three days, and the ark of the covenant of God traveled before them for three days to give them rest.

The Ark of the Covenant, which according to the previous provisions was supposed to be in the center of the camp, is now outside the camp. He does outline the way, but it does not seem to be his place. Later in the parable we discover that there is another thing that is outside the camp, which is the tent of meeting, as it appears from the parable of Miriam and Aaron: “Then the Lord said to Moses, and to Aaron, and to Miriam, you three go out to the tent of meeting.”

There were commentators who interpreted that a tabernacle is not a tabernacle. Indeed, the simplification of the case shows that the structure called Mishkan is inside the camp, while wherever a tabernacle is mentioned one has to go to it outside the camp. We heard about this tabernacle in the book of Exodus, after the sin of the calf:

And Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the Tent of Meeting. (Ex. 3:7).

If so, the tent of meeting where Moses meets with God, and the ark of the covenant where the tablets (or the fragments of the tablets according to Rashi) are placed, are both outside the camp during the journey, and it is assumed that they move together. It is Moshe who accompanies the ark by chanting “Arise O Lord and let your enemies be scattered” when he walks in front of the camp.

Perhaps the cause of the great rift that occurs between the festivities and the idyll of going on a journey, and between the many complaints and difficulties that arise right at the beginning, lies in the fact that the Spirit of God is not in the camp at the stage of setting off.

In the previous chapter we saw that the structure of the camp is supposed to reflect the spread of holiness from the tabernacle to all the ends of the camp. The problems begin when the source of holiness is not found inside, in the center, and then the edges do not receive God’s spirit and begin to falter. And indeed, the first mourners were probably at the edges: “And let the fire of God be kindled in them, and it shall be eaten at the edge of the camp.” The complainers in the second story were also probably marginalized people: “And the crowd that was in his midst.”

Aimed at the center

The answer to this problem should be the return of God’s spirit to all parts of the camp. That is why God commands Moses to gather seventy men from the elders of the people – six from each tribe, representing the seventy faces and shades of the people. These are supposed to receive from the spirit and pass it on: “And I am relieved of the spirit that is upon you and I put it upon them, and they shall carry you in the burden of the people, and you shall not carry it alone.”

In the model renewed here, the spiritual “cargo” we talked about in the previous paragraph not only starts in the center and spreads to all the corners, but it has a kind of “sub-anchors”, scattered within the tribes and maintaining the spiritual tension in all parts of the camp. Thus, even if the leader sometimes has to go out and pull forward, he will not accidentally discover that there is no one behind him. Paraphrasing our day; Even a central government, however strong it may be, must delegate powers to a significant local government.

From here we can explain the compromise of the candle raising affair. The role of the menorah and its representation throughout Jewish history symbolizes the divine wisdom and spirit that runs through the people of Israel. The ark contains the Torah but is closed in the Holy of Holies, while the menorah is what spreads God’s light outward.

The candles shining in front of the face of the menorah symbolize the attunement of the people of Israel from all sides to the center – to the Tabernacle, while the fact that the menorah is one piece, “as far as its thigh as far as its flower”, symbolizes the need to unite and consolidate the whole nation, so that it will receive a part of this light. This is the role of Aharon HaCohen, who was “a lover of peace and a pursuer of peace, a lover of humanity and a sacrifice to the Torah”.