(1) The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: (2) Each person shall camp with his/her flag, under the signs of their ancestral house; the Children of Israel shall camp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance. (3) Camped on the front, east side: the standard of the division of Judah, troop by troop. Chieftain of the Judites: Nahshon son of Amminadab. (4) His troop, as enrolled: 74,600. (5) Camping next to it: The tribe of Issachar. Chieftain of the Issacharites: Nethanel son of Zuar. (6) His troop, as enrolled: 54,400.
באתת WITH THE SIGNS — Each flag shall have a different sign — a piece of coloured cloth hanging on it, the colour of the one not being the same as the colour of another, but the colour of each tribe shall be like that of his stone that is fixed in the breastplate (Exodus 28:21), and by this means everybody will be able to recognise his banner. Another explanation of "with the signs of their ancestral houses" is: by the signs which their father Jacob passed on to them when they carried him out from Egypt, as it is said, (Genesis 50:12) “And his sons did to him exactly as he had commanded them”. For he had commanded that Judah, Issachar and Zebulun should carry him, having their position at the east side of the bier, Reuben, Simeon and Gad at the south side, etc., — as it is related in Tanchuma on this section (Midrash Tanchuma, Bamidbar 12; cf. Rashi on Genesis 50:12).
~ According to Rashi, there are two ways of understanding "signs". What are they?
~ To what the position around the mishkan is compared, in the second opinion?
איש על דגלו באותות לבית אבותם וגו' (במדבר ב ב). זש"ה נרננה בישועתך ובשם אלקינו נדגול וגו' (תהלים כ ו), אמרו ישראל ה' אלקים אנו מרננים בישועתך מה שעשית לנו בשמך, נרננה בישועתך, שנאמר ויושע ה' ביום ההוא את ישראל (שמות יד ל), (וישע) [ויושע] כתיב, כביכול, ישראל נגאלים, וכאילו האלקים נגאל, ובשם אלקינו נדגול, שקבל האלקים שמו] בשמותינו ועשה אותנו דגלים, שנאמר איש על דגלו באותות. חיבה גדולה חיבב הקב"ה את ישראל כי עשאן דגלים כמלאכי השרת, כדי שיהו ניכרים, בני ראובן לעצמן ובני שמעון לעצמן, ומנין שהיה אוהבן, שנאמר [הביאני אל בית היין] ודגלו עלי אהבה (שה"ש ב ד), למה הדבר דומה, לעשיר שהיה לו אוצר מלא יין, נכנס לבודקו ומצא אותו חומץ, בא לצאת מן האוצר, מצא שם חבית אחת יין [טוב], אמר חבית זו עומדת עלי כמלא אוצר, כך ברא הקב"ה שבעים אומות, ומכולן לא מצא הנייה אלא בישראל, שנאמר הביאני אל בית היין, יו"ד יו"ד עשרים נו"ן חמשים הרי שבעים, ומכולם לא אהב אלא ישראל, שנאמר ודגלו עלי אהבה, ואומר ששים המה מלכות וגו' אחת היא יונתי תמתי (שם ו ח ט).
(Numb. 2:2:) <THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SHALL CAMP,> EACH WITH HIS STANDARD, UNDER THE BANNERS FOR THEIR FATHERS' HOUSES…. This text is related (to Ps. 20:6 [5]): LET US SHOUT FOR JOY IN YOUR SALVATION, AND IN THE NAME OF OUR GOD LET US SET UP OUR STANDARDS…. Israel said: Lord God, we are shouting for joy IN YOUR SALVATION, which you have brought about for us in your name. (Ps. 20:6) LET US SHOUT FOR JOY IN YOUR SALVATION. Thus it is stated (in Exod. 14:30): SO THE LORD SAVED ISRAEL ON THAT DAY [VYVSh', voweled as vayosha']. The written text reads [VYSh' voweled as vayivasha in the passive] SO THE LORD WAS SAVED - as it were! - Israel was redeemed; and God was redeemed, as it they were.
(Ps. 20:6 cont.:) AND IN THE NAME OF OUR GOD LET US SET UP OUR STANDARDS, for God has inserted God's name] among our names and has appointed us standards, as stated (Numb. 2:2): EACH WITH HIS STANDARD, UNDER THE BANNERS. The Holy One cherished Israel with great love, in that he appointed them standards like those of the ministering angels, so that they would be recognizable, the children of Reuben by themselves, the children of Simeon by themselves, <etc>; but where is it shown that he loved them? Since it is stated (Cant. 2:4): [HE BROUGHT ME TO THE BANQUET HOUSE,] AND HIS STANDARD OVER ME IS LOVE. To what is the matter comparable? To a rich person who had a storehouse full of wine. The person went in to inspect it and found it to be vinegar. When the person went to leave the storehouse, s/he found there one cask of [good] wine. The rich one said: 'this cask is worth as much to me as the full storehouse!' Similarly the Holy One has created seventy nations, but of them all God has found pleasure only in Israel, as stated (Cant. 2:4): HE BROUGHT ME TO THE BANQUET HOUSE (literally: HOUSE OF WINE [YaYiN]). Now Y (yod) plus Y (yod), equals twenty, plus N (nun), fifty, results in seventy; and of all those seventy nations he loved only Israel. It is so stated (Cant. 2:4): AND HIS STANDARD OVER ME IS LOVE. It also says (Cant. 6:8-9): THERE ARE SIXTY QUEENS…. ONE IS MY DOVE, MY PERFECT ONE.
~ Composed in Talmudic Israel/Babylon (c.150 - c.750 CE). “Tanchuma Buber” refers to a version of Midrash Tanchuma published by Solomon Buber in 1885, based primarily on a manuscript that he discovered.
~ Solomon Buber is the grandfather of Martin Buber, and helped raise him from the age of 3 due to the divorce of his parents.
~ This is a fascinating Tanchuma. What are its theological ideas? What happens when God saves Israel?
~ Look at the date of this compilation. Why is love so important? Where in the Torah do we find that God loves the Jewish people? Where in the siddur do we find that?
~ How often have you heard that the Jewish people are loved? Why is that important?
Come and see how twisted we are, human beings, that we do not want to follow the ways of life that the Holy One of Blessing has taught us, God's children, the God warned us and said "and meditate upon this day and night" (Joshua 1:8) - we don't have the permission to split day from night. And so too with Yehudah, even though he separated himself and worked in the West which is [called] Night, the rest of the travels of his tents were turned to the East, which is [called] Day. And the Holy One of Blessing indicated it to him, and said "and you shall choose life" (Deut. 30:19), meaning, he should not split day from night, and a person who does so brings about death. And because of that obligation his sons died, since they sickened their ways and did not combine Day with Night, and so they did not win favor, just as one who sees white [compassion] in the red [judgment] on one's friend, in that one can save one's friend's obligation but splits from the friend at the outset.
In that same way a righteous person, who is called Day, cannot split from the Congregation of Israel which is called Night. And the hint is given by the Holy One of Blessing, to bring East and West close to one another, and said to the righteous: "Camped on the front, east side, the flag of the camp of Yehuda" - to bring East and West close, bringing to him the Flow of Blessings from Above.
~ What do human beings tend to do, according to this piece in the Zohar, that we shouldn't? How do you understand it, according to the text?
~ How does the Zohar understand Yehudah losing his two sons (prior to the episode of Tamar)? How did he split himself from the rest of the family?
~ Why shouldn't a righteous person split from the congregation? Why would the righteous want to do that?
~ What is choosing life, according to the Zohar? Why?
Since they established the Torah and the Mishkan, the Holy One of Blessing wanted to count
the [army] soldiers of Torah, how many are there in Torah, and how many soldiers in the Mishkan . Come see: every word/thing that needs to inhabit [the world] cannot inhabit until it is explicitly said by the mouth, and it is counted by it. Here too, the Holy One of Blessing wanted to count the soldiers of the Torah, and the soldiers of the Mishkan, and all were like one and did not split from one another, just like it is above: the Torah and the Mishkan are not split from one another, and go as one.
~ This piece assumes that you know that the sum of the letters of the Torah is the same as the countings in Bamidbar.
~ How do you understand the idea of counting and saying it out loud as making something inhabit this world? How does that affect prayer? How does that affect other words we say?
~ What is the idea behind God wanting to count each soldier in Israel related to bringing down Torah to the world?
איש על דגלו באתת לבית אבתם יחנו בני ישראל. דגל מורה על ההכרה והפרסום בעולם, והורה השי"ת בזה אף שבחניית הדגלים היה מדרגות, שבמזרח היה דגל יהודה ובצפונה היה דגל דן לאחרונה יסעו לדגליהם, ובאמת אליאב בן אחיסמך למטה דן נשא לבו אותו בדעת ובחכמה כמו בצלאל משבט יהודה, ובזה מורה לנו השי"ת שלא יהרהר אליאב ויאמר מדוע בצלאל יגביה לשבת ואני אסע לאחרונה, לזה כתיב איש על דגלו, היינו במקום שרצון השי"ת ששם יהיה ההכרה שלו בכבוד שמים שם יחנו ואל יקנאו זה בזה, ובכל מקום הוא כבודי ...
Each person shall camp with his/her flag, under the signs of their ancestral house the Children of Israel shall camp - The flag teaches recognition and publicizing to the world, and the Holy One of Blessing taught that even in the encampment of the flags there are levels, that in the East was the flag of Yehudah, and in the West the flag of Dan, which were the last ones to move to their flags. And truly, Oholiav ben Achisamach of the tribe of Dan lifted his heart in knowledge and wisdom just as Betzalel of the tribe of Yehudah. And through this the Holy One of Blessing teaches us that Oholiav did not entertain the [bad] thoughts [such as] 'why is Betzalel first and i have to go last?' And regarding this it is written "a person with his/her flag" - that is, that each person has the recognition of the honor of Heaven and there one should one camp, and not feel jealousy towards one another - in every place there is My honor.
Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica, or the Ishbitzer rebbe, Poland 1801-1854
~ What is the basic teaching of the Mei Hashiloach in this piece?
~ Do you know the midrash of the letters complaining? How does that relate to this very common tendency in human beings?
המדרש מאריך יותר מכ"מ. ובזוה"ק האידרא. ולמה. נראה לפי שבכל שנה הפרשה בחג שבועות שניתנה לנו התורה ומתחדש בטוב השי"ת נתינת התורה על כל השנה ובנקודה שנקראת ראשית תלוי כל מה שאח"כ והמדרש הוא שדורש וחוקר מהתורה והזוה"ק מאיר אור התורה ואומר תא חזי. ובעת שהשי"ת מחדש ונותן בטובת עין מתפשט שנוכל לידע ולדרוש ולחקור גם האור מאיר ביותר. ומועיל לכל ימי חיינו במה שמאיר עינינו שעי"ז ידבק לבינו במצותיו כמו שמתפללין בנוסח אהבת עולם והאר עינינו בתורתך. ולא שחפצנו באור הזה להנות ממנו רק כדי שתדבק לבינו במצותיך כמ"ש אחרי לבבכם כו' עיניכם שורייקי דעינא בלבא תלוי כן לטובה ילך הלב אחרי העינים כשמאיר להם אור התורה. ובשבועות יום הביכורי' הוא משער הנ' אחר ספירת ז' שבועות ונקרא לאור יום שמאיר הביכורים כל מה שהוא ראשית מהתורה שנקרא ראשית ולישראל קודש כו' ומזה יכול כל א' מישראל ליקח הנקודה שהוא ראשית ויחדשה לעבודת השי"ת לבדו וזה שמעצרת כו' מביא וקורא שיחיד א"י. שבפרט מה בשר ודם נחשב שיהי' אפשר לו ליקח עצמו להשי"ת רק ע"י הכלל ישראל שנק' כנ"י החביב בכל מיני חיבה לפני השי"ת שכל מיני הבריאה עבור זה כמ"ש יום הששי כו' וזהו ב' הלחם מנחת ציבור שהוא סולת והוא ע"י חורש קוצר דש בורר כו' וע"י הבירור נעשה סולת וזהו הנק' אשת חיל היא זיו יקרי' ששורף כל הפסולת שבכל דבר ונשאר הולת ולכך עשירית האיפה שהוא העשרון דקדושה וזה אין בשום קרבן שהוא בשר כמו שהוא ובמנחה סולת ע"י הבירור ונעשה הקדושה מבורר ונקי וזהו ע"י מסירת הנפש שכ' ונפש כו' במנחה מה דרכו של עני כו' נפשו כו' שאין לו מה להקריב ומקריב עשרון שהוא מאכל אדם ליום. כמ"ש העומר עשירית כו'. והוא כל חיותו. ובזה עצמו הוא הבירור שיכול כל א' מישראל הגם שהוא עני ואביון יש לו אחיזה בכלל ישראל. ויתיישב תמיהת התוס' למה נקרא מנחה תפלה זו שהוא ע"י עסק האדם כל היום לברר הקדושה בכל המעשים ולדחות הפסולת שבכל דבר שאינו לרצון השי"ת נעשה מזה סולת מנחת ציבור של הבירור של כל ישראל ומנחה הוא ריח הקודש שהוא הנייחא כמ"ש ומנוחה כו' מצאתי ודוחה המוץ כמ"ש כמוץ אשר כו' רוח ועי"ז בסוטה מנחת קנאות שמתברר ודוחה הרע מנחת זכרון כו' ואליהו ע"ה שאמר קנא קנאתי במנחה נענה לבטל ולשחוט נביאי שקר ושיתברר הטוב אצל ישראל ה' הוא אלקים כמו שאינו יכול יחיד להקריב קודם התמיד רק כשיקריב עולת הציבור שוב עלי' השלם. כל יחיד יקריב ליכלל בכלל ישראל כמו כלל ופרט. ופרט וכלל וכן ב' הלחם מנחת ביכורים מתיר אח"כ לכל יחיד כו'. ועתה שאין ביכורים תיקן משה רבינו ג' תפילות במקום ביכורים כמ"ש במדרש כי תבא על פסוק היום הזה כו' מצוך בואו נשתחוה ונכרעה כו' ע"ש. ממילא מן ב' הלחם שבעצרת יכולין אח"כ להתפלל הג' תפלות שבכל יום שמתקנין הזמן שיהי' נקרא היום הזה:
The midrash explains more in several places. And the Zohar in the Idra section. And why is it, that this portion always comes before the Festival of Shavuot, when the Torah was given to us and the goodness of the Holy One of Blessing was renewed with the Giving of the Torah at every year? And in the point that is called "Reshit"/Beginning all is dependent. And the midrash and the Zohar are illuminated with the light of Torah and says "come and see!" And in the moment that the Holy One of Blessing renews and gives expansion with a good eye we are able to know and explain and research also the light that illuminates the most. And this helps every day of our lives in that our eyes are illuminated since through that our hearts will cling to mitzvot, just as when we pray "With a great love" [Ahavat Olam]: 'and illuminate our eyes with Your Torah.' And the point is not to want this light for our own pleasure, but to connect our hearts to Your mitzvot, as it is written "after your hearts ...after your eyes" because 'the tendons of the eye are dependent on the heart' [Avodah Zarah 28b:11] - so too the heart goes after the good when the eyes are illuminated with the light of Torah. And on Shavuot, the Day of the First Fruits, the 50th gate after the counting of 7 weeks, when the Light was called Day that illuminates the First Fruits, all that is 'reshit'(beginning/first) from the Torah that is called 'reshit'/Beginning - and Israel is called 'holy' - and every individual in Israel can grasp this point that is Reshit/Beginning, and renew it solely for the service of the Holy One of Blessing, and this is "one brings from Atzeret [until Chanukah], and reads individually[the declaration of first fruits]. And it is astounding - what is it that a single person, flesh and blood thinks that it is possible to bring oneself to the Holy One of Blessing?! Only through the community can that happen, through Klal Yisrael that is called The Community of Israel, which is loved with all sorts of love ... This is hinted through the two loaves of the communal offering [minchah] that is made of refined flour, that comes through the sower, the harvester, the thresher, the separator [39 melachot] and because there is choosing [refining] they are called Eshet Chayil, that through examining and refining and choosing they can get rid of all the unusable parts that exist in every thing ... And through choosing, every one, even the most poor and destitute in Israel is able to seize something in the Community of Israel. ... And every individual is connected to the Community of Israel, just as every specific rule is connected to a major rule and a major rule is connected to a specific rule ...
Yitzchak Meir Rotenberg-Alter, Poland 1799 – 1866; the first rebbe of Gur/Ger.
~ How does the Rim understand the connection between Shavuot to our portion?
~ How inclusive is his understanding?
~ How do you see the connection now? What is your place in Torah?