Shelach Lecha: expectation

 

 

Shelach lecha repeats a pattern  that was set by Abraham.  In Lech Lecha, when the offer of the promised land is made, Abraham is told to go to Canaan. He moves from place to place in the land . He is forced by famine to go to Egypt and is then expelled for the lie that saved his life [“she is my sister”]. Abraham tours the land, and is told that the acquisition will have to wait for 400 years.  Abraham tries to evade the edict of delay by keeping the son he wants to inherit, Isaac, in the land for all of his life ( While sending his older brother, call him Ishmael, to wander in the desert.). But the prophecy of the long wait was fulfilled.

In this week’s parsha, scouts survey the land. They return with a report of the land’s beauty and plenty… and a warning about its military power.  A delay of 40 years is pronounced; a culture of exile is born that lasts through much of recorded history.

Was the edict of wandering generated by a lack of courage? The scouts themselves were quite brave. They knew that they would be killed if caught.  Moses instructed them to show courage by bringing back (cultivated, hence guarded) fruit from the land; and they carried out their mission. The actions of the spies cannot be criticized. But their words were their downfall. They said that Israel would lose in a battle with the inhabitants of the land. This idea of inferiority was coming from leaders who had just proven their bravery. The message was disheartening; it sucked out confidence; it increased the  likelihood of defeat.

In the haftorah, spies are sent to Jericho by Joshua. They visit with a woman, Rahav, who lives on the fringe of society. This is literally the case: she lives in the wall of the city. She recognizes them as aliens who intend to conquer her people (the Jerichoans who have marginalized her). After hiding them from the authorities [who would have killed them], she tells them that the people of Jericho are terrified of the Israelites and their powerful Gd. This message of an intimidated enemy is what Joshua’s spies bring back (not looking too carefully at its source and her motives). This is the contrasting successful mission.

 The failure of shelach is not a lack of courage, it is a deficiency of encouragement. The spies clearly believed they could survive their dangerous mission. They did not believe that their people could win a war against the enemy they evaded … even with the aid of the Gd who split the sea, etc.  Continuing to wander in the desert was also an impossible alternative… but for Divine intervention. The situation, not Gd, demanded courage.

 

We are about to start the month of Elul, the month of repentance. It is the month of selichoth, the prayers that recall the times when Gd forgave the trespasses of Israel.  The events of this parsha, Gd threatening to destroy the nation and the acceptance of Moshe’s prayer to save the Hebrews, is a prominent part of those prayers. Now I see that the fundamental sin involved a failure of courage,  a lack of faith that Gd’s intervention will save the day. This is also seen in the psalm 27 that we add on the arrival of Elul.

קַוֵּה אֶל יְ חֲזַק וְיַאֲמֵץ לִבֶּךָ וְקַוֵּה אֶל יְ

Hope to Gd., be strong and He will give you courage; and hope to Gd.

Is not an excess of such belief foolish and very dangerous? Where to draw the line? It depends upon the available alternatives… and what lies beyond human understanding.

Behalothecha: Surprise

 Behalothecha: Surprise

The parsha has a long name: בְּהַעֲלֹֽתְךָ֙,  Behalothecha, 6 letters .  The word can be translated as: When you ascend.  The root part of the word,עֲלֹֽ,  al(h), rise up,  is the middle two letters. There is a pictographic element: לֹֽ lamed, is the longest letter, extending above the others, conveying the idea of up. The ayin, עֲ, can be seen as a ladder. 

The word ends with thecha, תְךָ֙, translated as "you."  It really means "your", it is a possessive. The thof ,תְ, adds to the particularity of the ascent.  The translation would not  be be changed if it were  omitted. Without the thof the translation would be, "when  your ascent [is made]" The thof implies that the ascent was instituted for  the you. 

Rashi  quotes the Midrash Tanchuma interpreting the placement of these instructions to Aaron about lighting the menorah (candelabra) immediately after the 12 tribal gifts that end the previous parsha. Aaron, disturbed by the absence of an offering by the tribe of Levi, is reassured by the statement of an ongoing duty, a daily rededication.  The very special possessive quality of the word,  בְּהַעֲלֹֽתְךָ֙,  Behalothecha, supports this interpretation. 

The second letter in the word, הַ, hay, is translated: "the."  I consider it a nearly mathematical symbol, a uniqueness modifier. (∃_{=1  or} ∃! ).  It changes the applicability  of a word from the (default) "a" to the specific "the" Now the translation becomes: "When the (unique) ascent that is yours (alone) is made."

The first letter, בְּ, the beth, implies assumption. The act is, as if, already performed, we are in the midst of it, inside it . This is also a pictograph. 

This interpretation introduces the multiple veiled issues in the parsha. The issues that surround the relationship between Gd and the people, between leaders and followers, are explored. 

The first journey from Mt Sinai to Paran is described in great detail. The cloud lifted, the trumpet blasts were sounded as prescribed to coordinate the movements of the tribes in the camp. The parts of the Tabernacle were embedded within the caravan. After this, Moshe offers his father in law, now called Hovav a position in the nation: 

וְהָיִ֥יתָ לָּ֖נוּ לְעֵינָֽיִם׃,  you will be our eyes.

Who needs these eyes when Gd is the guide? 

Immediately after this offer to the Midianite, seasoned desert pathfinder, we are told:

And they set forward from the mount of the LORD three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting-place for them

This sentence eliminates any ambiguity.  It seems that Hovav was offered a job already taken by a higher authority. 

The fate of the world is controlled by Gd. We feel like we have free will. Is it only the details that are in our hands? 

The  parsha contains the complex story of the slav ( quail). The people express sad disappointment with their diet of manna. The complaints exasperate Gd and Moshe.  Moshe becomes severely depressed. 

וְאִם־כָּ֣כָה ׀ אַתְּ־עֹ֣שֶׂה לִּ֗י הׇרְגֵ֤נִי נָא֙ הָרֹ֔ג אִם־מָצָ֥אתִי חֵ֖ן בְּעֵינֶ֑יךָ וְאַל־אֶרְאֶ֖ה בְּרָעָתִֽי׃ {פ}
If You would deal thus with me, kill me rather, I beg You, and let me see no more of my wretchedness!”

Shared responsibility  is the solution.  A council of 70 elders will ease the burden? 

This short passage is very important. Recovery from depression is possible. Depression, even suicidality,  is not a disqualification. 

The council means that there are now 75 prophets, 75 interpretations of the right path.  The hierarchy is re-established at the close of the parsha when Arron and Miriam makes their claims to prophecy  and the primacy  of Moshe is established. 

Gd  offers to feed the huge nation that is wandering in the parched desert meat for a month. This is an offer that violates Moshe's understanding of the world.  It violates his science.  But Moshe' role will force him to represent this impossibility.  He cannot fathom the details. The solution, the mounds of (toxic) quail are not the expected, but the promise is, indeed, fulfilled. 

We are all in the midst of our private ascents.  Do important things and do them well. Surprise, it may turn out better than you dreamed. 

(Surprise was the first word I learned to read by sounding  out)

naso: burdens

The core of Naso , this week's parsha are the details of the  ritual of the suspected wife and the Nazerite. This is surrounded by details of the Livitical chores, the priestly blessing, and the daily, identical,  initiation gifts of the tribal princes. The details of the priests and princes contrasts with the generic jealous husband, wayward wife, penitent Nazir. The helpers surround the needy. 

The parsha's name, " Naso" means to bear a burden. The word means count: is used to refer to both the number, initially of the Levitical subtribe of Gershom. 

נָשֹׂ֗א אֶת־רֹ֛אשׁ בְּנֵ֥י גֵרְשׁ֖וֹן

Take a census of the Gershonites 

 A few verses later, it means carry.

Nasso, Chap 4,  25:

{כה} וְנָ֨שְׂא֜וּ אֶת־יְרִיעֹ֤ת הַמִּשְׁכָּן֙ וְאֶת־אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֔ד מִכְסֵ֕הוּ וּמִכְסֵ֛ה הַתַּ֥חַשׁ אֲשֶׁר־עָלָ֖יו מִלְמָ֑עְלָה וְאֶ֨ת־מָסַ֔ךְ פֶּ֖תַח אֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵֽד׃

וְנָ֨שְׂא֜וּ אֶת־יְרִיעֹ֤ת הַמִּשְׁכָּן֙ וְאֶת־אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֔ד מִכְסֵ֕הוּ

they shall carry the cloths of the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting with its covering, the covering of dolphin skin that is on top of it, and the screen for the entrance of the Tent of Meeting;

Counting,  recognition as a member of a group that has obligations, is a burden. It is carrying the burden that makes you count. 

The jealous wife is a story of unmet needs.  Regardless of the antecedent facts, this husband and wife have a relationship problem. In the imperial male context of this pre Zelophehad world, it is the expression of the husband's suspicion that initiates the ritual. On some level, he recognizes his inadequacy. That is the fundamental problem. The wife is a victim (as usual). If she had an affair,  she undertook the risk because her condition was so far from satisfactory. Her infidelity  may not have been directed against her husband. She may have been fascinated, or curious, or caught up in the culture. In some way, the bonds of monandry  did not work for her.  There must have been some dissatisfaction with her current situation and some part of it comes from the husband she had once been committed to . 

If this is pure jealousy from the husband, the ritual is driven entirely by insecurity, a feeling of inadequacy.  The sotah, wayward wife, ritual gives this man a renewed sense of magical power.  Such supplements, which include threatening his partner, would not seem likely to work. 

Here is Rembrandt's pictorial take on the scene

I remember seeing it in the National gallery in London with my daughter Elisheva.  I was shocked that Rembrandt would take up this subject.  I think that the painting suggests he disapproved of the ritual. 

The raabis also gave up on it:

. מִשֶּׁרַבּוּ הַמְנָאֲפִים, פָּסְקוּ הַמַּיִם הַמָּרִים, וְרַבָּן יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי הִפְסִיקָן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (הושע ד) לֹא אֶפְקוֹד עַל בְּנוֹתֵיכֶם כִּי תִזְנֶינָה וְעַל כַּלּוֹתֵיכֶם כִּי תְנָאַפְנָה כִּי הֵם וְגוֹ'.

From the time when adulterers proliferated, the performance of the ritual of the bitter waters was nullified; they would not administer the bitter waters to the sota. And it was Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Zakkai who nullified it, as it is stated: “I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery; for they consort with lewd women” (Hosea 4:14), meaning that when the husbands are adulterers, the wives are not punished for their own adultery. 

 The Nazir is looking to escape, The Nazir makes  herself a stranger, a zar. Wine , the deinhibitor that facilitates seduction, is strictly forbidden, grooming is abandoned.  The prohibition on contact with the dead may involve the "now or never" emotions that devolve from realizing mortality,  and lead to hedonism. The  self denial culminates in the feast offering, cooked on a fire fueled, in part by the hair of the Nazir.  Yes, that hair is worth something... but it smells bad. 

Finally , there is the 12 day march of princely gifts : silver, flour, gold, incense, sacrificial animals.  Every gift identical.  The poor are not embarrassed, the ostentation of the rich is limited. Uniform .

The self, especially the sexual self, maybe unique.  For good and bad reasons, these aspects of life are discovered, to a great degree by every individual on their own and the revelations continue through the lifetime. When problems arise, standard solutions might help, but mostly they provide time for repair. 

Bamidbar: assignment

This parsha has one theme. It is the assignment of hereditary roles. Everyone was assigned to a tribe,  Each tribe had  a specified location for camping and travel.  The Levites are assigned to the ancillary temple service. Each subtribe had specific duties based upon family. Every one had his place and the associated status. 

When the parsha begins, the pattern of tribes around the travelling temple was not intended to last long. In a few weeks, they would arrive at the Promised land and conquer it. A temporary structuring of the nation for a limited time is quite different from a structure that lasts for forty years. Would the tribes have agreed to such a long contract initially? Circumstances and inertia are strong forces. 

There was a defensive aspect to the tribal array. There were 600,000 soldiers, relatively evenly dispersed around the  tabernacle in a square  formation.   The number of slavery hardened fighters borders on the incredible. Publicizing the number may have been a strong aspect of the  defense.  Who would confront an army of that size surrounding an entity capable of plagues and splitting the sea?  Even if the trepidation failed as a deterrent, the attacking soldier must have been compromised by fear. The current Israeli army has an active force of 176,500 and 565,000 reserves.  Not much change in 4000 years. ( The US Army, including reserves, is 1,006,000. )

The nation needed the structure. Tasks needed to be performed, and performed well. Youth needed to be trained.  When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, each would be assigned a parcel of land. The structured society would continue. Equality would  take precedence over opportunity. It is hard for me, the beneficiary of opportunity, to condone assignment from birth.

 Escape from the structured society seems to a benefit of the dreaded exile. During the Jewish sojourn, they came to places where the land was claimed; where they usually  could not obtain a share in the land, and never enter the real estate inheritance structure.  From their position, outside of the generations bound to the land, they became traders and advisers. They were outside the feudal system and ready to capitalize on  its collapse. 

In the industrialized (wage slave) society, hereditary assignment persists, but the relevant issues are different.  I can still hear, "Blood and Soil;  Jews will not replace us ." There is a strange mixture of  fear and comfort in hearing the expected.  Exile has its problems. 

We all remain the children of our parents