illustration credit: Rivka Tsinman
Prayer in the Parashah תְּפִלָּה
When Benei Yisrael traveled through the wilderness, the אָרוֹן (aron, ark) went first.
וַיְהִי בִּנְסֹעַ הָאָרֹן וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה קוּמָה יהוה וְיָפֻצוּ אֹיְבֶיךָ וְיָנֻסוּ מְשַׂנְאֶיךָ מִפָּנֶיךָ׃
וּבְנֻחֹה יֹאמַר שׁוּבָה יהוה רִבְבוֹת אַלְפֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃
When the aron would set out, Moshe would say:
“Arise, O God!
May Your enemies be scattered,
And may those who hate You flee before You!”
And when the aron came to a rest, he would say:
“Return, O God,
The many thousands of Yisrael.”
Are these pesukim familiar to you from shul? They are both part of the Torah service! We say (and often sing) the first pasuk when we take the Torah out of the אֲרוֹן קֹדֶשׁ (aron kodesh, holy ark), and we say the second pasuk when we put the Torah away after reading from it.
Our פַּרְשָׁנִים (parshanim, commentators) wonder about the second pasuk.
What exactly are we asking for when we say these words?
ר. סעדיה גאון
הָשִׁיבָה יהוה שְׁכִינָתְךָ אֶל רְבָבוֹת.
R. Saadya Gaon (Egypt and Baghdad, 1,100 years ago)
Return, God, Your Presence to the thousands (of Benei Yisrael).
יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁיָּשׁוּבוּ כָּל הָאֲלָפִים וְכָל הָרְבָבוֹת לִמְקוֹמָם בְּמִסְפָּרָם וְלֹא יִפָּקֵד מֵהֶם אִישׁ.
May it be Your will that all of the thousands and all of the tens of thousands (of Benei Yisrael) should return to their place in their number, and not one of them should be missing.
According to R. Saadya Gaon, we’re asking for God to return to the Jewish people.
According to Bekhor Shor, we’re asking for the Jewish people to return to where they belong.
- According to both opinions, it seems that Moshe is talking about a time that would only happen many, many years later, after the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash. Why is that? How would the aron coming to rest in the wilderness make Moshe think to pray for a time when the Jewish people would need God to return to them, or would need help returning to where they belong?
- Try it out! When you hear these words in shul, think about their two possible meanings. What would it be like for God to return to the Jewish people today? What would it be like for God to return the Jewish people to where they belong?
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