We finished the Book of Leviticus while we were at Mount Sinai, and we begin a new book where we descend from the mountain into the desert:
And God spoke to Moses in the Sinai desert in the tent of meeting.
A book in the desert opens a new era. From the peaks of the giving of the Torah and the building of the tabernacle we pass to a tedious period of wandering. This is a transition period as stated in the Midrash, which gives definitions to the various parts of the Torah
Rabbi Simon said: G-d has twice written here a light against the five pentagrams of the Torah:
“And God said, Let there be light” – against the book of Genesis, in which the Almighty got busy and created his world; “And there was light” – against the book of And these are the names, in which Israel came out of darkness into light; “And God saw the light, for it is good” – against the book and called it full There are many laws; “And God made a difference between the light and the darkness” – against a book in the desert that distinguishes between those who came out of Egypt and those who came to the land; “And God called the light of the day” – against a book of Mishna Torah (Deuteronomy) which is full of many laws (Bereishit Rabbah 3, God).
A book in the wilderness is a book of transition – between Egypt and the Land of Israel, between generation to generation, and according to the Midrash also between two books full of laws, Leviticus and Deuteronomy, while a book in the wilderness is almost empty of them, as the Ramban also points out in the opening of the book:
In this book there are no mitzvot for generations, except for a few mitzvot regarding the sacrifices that began with them in the book of the priests.
So what is the importance of this book? Why should an entire book be devoted to such a period?
Each student has a role
I would like to follow in the footsteps of the Sages, who called Chumash in the desert “the five commandments”, and offer three interpretive directions for the concept of “commandments”, directions that will accompany us during our study of the passages in the Book of the Desert:
The simplest interpretation explains “commands” from the word “commands”. The book begins with a census, and towards the end there is another census. In addition there is a census of the Levites, a census of the first born and more. The census also includes the counting itself, and in addition the organization of the camp in an orderly and clear manner, “a man on his flag”.
The founding journey of the people of Israel passes through the desert, a land of obedience and desolation, a land of desolation and disorder. Within such an area, we learn in the course of the book how important order, hierarchy, and adherence to the exact instructions are – in order to succeed in preserving in the desert the normative framework we were ordered to follow. This explanation reminds us of the military command “Iron scissors to function!”, which is usually said during a night journey, when it is very easy to get scattered and lose the desired order.
A second interpretation will explain “commands” from the language of functions. In the book in the wilderness, many roles are given: the role of the Levites that appears at the beginning of the book, “and you are in charge of the Levites”; Significant roles for the heads of the tribes, the presidents and representatives of the tribe – in the census itself, in the sacrifices of the presidents, in going to wars, in the expedition to survey the land, in the parshath of the vows and more; The role of the seventy “the elders of the people and their elders”; The role of the “commanders of the army” – aka the ministers of the army; And, of course, the role of the future leader after Moses, towards the end of the book: “The Lord God of Spirits will command all flesh and man over the congregation.” The possible with responsibility for the state of the people.
The boys’ book
A third and renewed interpretation better explains “commands” from the word commandments, that is, instructions or instructions. Although the book has almost no mitzvot for generations, it has a lot of morals that can be learned from the similarity between the stories here and the stories in the Book of Genesis.
The journeys of the Israelites in the desert are reminiscent of the journeys of Abraham and Jacob; The hunger and thirst of the people of Israel remind us of the fathers’ struggle with similar problems; The spies, the slanderers of the land, mention Joseph who brought the slander of the brothers; The dispute between Korah, the cousin of Moses and Aaron, over the honor and birthright, reminds us of the disputes within the Jacob family (we will also mention the punishment of being swallowed up in the ground, which reminds us of Joseph being thrown into the pit); Balak riding his horse is a mirror image of Abraham riding his donkey; And the sons of Gad and Reuben, who think about the multiplicity of their inheritance, separate from the rest of the tribes and take the eastern side of the land – reminiscent of Lot who carries his eyes and his inheritance eastward to Sodom and separates from Abraham.
Of course, there are many differences and the stories also end differently, but through the stories of journeys and dealing with difficulties, internal wars, faith and its lack, the choice between possessions and brotherhood and more – we learn a lot about what the Sages call “the way of the land”.
The Gemara in Tractate Avoda Zerah calls the book of Genesis “the book of the righteous”, and explains: “This is the book of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who were called righteous.” Accordingly, the saying “Derech Eretz Kdema Le Torah” can also be interpreted: the stories of the fathers in the book of Genesis teach “righteous” values and practices, that is, morality and Eretz Gehr, before the book of Exodus where we will receive the Torah.
“The act of the fathers is a sign for the whites,” the Ramban taught, and it seems that Sefer Bamadbar is the book of the sons that corresponds to the book of the fathers, Sefer Hasher. In this sense, just as Genesis is a prelude to Exodus, so Sefer Bamadbar is a preface to Deuteronomy, a Mishna Torah book. We learned how to behave in the way of the land as individuals, a book in the wilderness teaches how to conduct oneself in the way of the land as a people – how to form a society around the sanctity of the tabernacle and listening to God’s word, and from this lead a people, succeed in crises, resolve conflicts and reach agreements. Perhaps this is alluded to by the verse in the Psalms: “My commands The Lord is righteous and gladdens the heart.”
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