In the
desert (bamidbar)
is the name of the fourth book of the Torah and also the name of its
first portion. There are circumstances in this book that make
our sages reflect on, and one of them is the meaning of the phrase in the desert.
"And God spoke to
Moses in the desert of Sinai." (Numbers 1:1)
Some reflect on the apparent
redundancy in the words "desert" and "Sinai", considering
that Sinai is located in the desert, and they understand this
in several ways.
In the
desert we were constantly
before our Creator whose presence dwelt in Sinai where He communicated directly
with Moses, our teacher. Both places mentioned imply the unity of the people of
Israel with God, that later continues with the tabernacle as the intermediary.
In the
desert we are separated from
our mundane life, a place where there is nothing to depend on or to
be attached in order to live according to what we choose to do in
life. Indeed the desert is where we briefly dwell because there is nothing there
except what we carry to sustain us while we are there.
In the
desert there are no
materialistic illusions that we may desire to have or to be, and no chance for
idol worshiping because there are no images to bow to (unless we make
them): The perfect circumstances to conceive God and be aware of His love that
created us and sustains us, the "place" to receive His Torah.
If we don't clear our
consciousness from materialistic desires and attachments, we will never be the
empty vessels to be filled with the permanent awareness of God's love. This
awareness is the marriage of God and Israel, the eternal bond of love evoked in
the Song of Songs and in the haftarah we read along with this
portion.
"I will marry you to
Me forever. I will marry you to Me with righteousness
and with justice, and with loving kindness and compassion. I will marry you to
Me with faithfulness, and you will know the Lord." (Hosea 2:21-22)
These verses are preceded by
the times when the idols as ego’s desires and materialistic illusions do
not fulfill the true meaning of life.
"And she shall run
after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them, and she shall seek them, but
shall not find them. Then shall she say: 'I will go and return to my first
husband, for then was it better with me than now'." (Ibid. 2:9)
As soon as we are finally
willing to return to God, He will embrace us.
"Therefore, behold, I
will allure her, and bring her in the desert, and I will speak to her heart.
(…) as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt." (2: 16-17)
"I remember the loving
kindness of your youth, your bridal Love, your following after Me in the desert,
in an unsowed land." (Jeremiah 2:2)
Once again the Torah reminds
us that it is our choice to return to love as God's
legacy, and also as our permanent connection with His ways and attributes.
"Take a head count
(lit. "raise the heads") of all the congregation of the children of
Israel (…)" (Numbers 1:2)
This "head count",
according to our sages represents how precious every soul is for our Creator.
"Raising the heads" to Him is how we make ourselves aware of this.
Why could it be otherwise? How can we conceive God's love without loving all
His creation? When we look around and see the perfection of that He has created
we realize that what we make imperfect is the way we conceive it, and the way
we relate to it and to our fellow man.
After this head count, the
Torah mentions the way the tribes of Israel settled every time they encamped in
their journeys by the desert.
"The children of Israel
shall encamp, each man by his division with the flag staffs of their
fathers' house; at some distance from the Tent of Meeting they shall
encamp." (2:2)
The tribes represent traits
and qualities that combined into their service of the Creator achieve the
mission for which Israel was chosen to be and to do. These traits are the
blessings they received from their father Jacob and from Moses (Genesis
49:3-27, Deuteronomy 33:6-29)
"All these are the
twelve tribes of Israel, and this is it what their father spoke unto them and
blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them."
(Genesis 49:28)
These blessings are the
qualities that we elevate to God in order to make a place for Him to dwell in
this world. Judah, the one that has encompassed all the Tribes for more than
two thousand years, as the one chosen to bring redemption to the world, is
represented by a lion and a precious stone that shines in darkness: Light in
the darkness of the world.
While describing the way the
tribes encamped around the Tabernacle, Levi is not mentioned because their
space, their land, is with God.
"Behold, I have taken
the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be
Mine." (Numbers 3:12)
As we mentioned throughout
our commentaries on the book of Leviticus, the high priest as part of the tribe
of Levi are our higher consciousness always close to God.
The idea of the way the tribes
encamped is that all must be united around a center, the tabernacle, and close
to those who serve in it: the Levites who encamped in its grounds.
The mission of the Levites
is emphasized by being counted separately as part of God, the ones that lead
our consciousness to His domains. Our sages say that Levi and his descendants
were blessed by his father to be the teachers for his brothers.
"I will divide them in
Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." (Genesis 49:7)
This to keep them always
close to love's ways and attributes as the higher consciousness the Levites
represent, including safekeeping peace among their people.
"And the Levites shall
pitch round about the tabernacle of the testimony, that there be no wrath upon
the congregation of the children of Israel, and the Levites shall keep the
charge of the tabernacle of the testimony." (Numbers 1:53)
The portion ends with
instructions for the high priest and his sons to care for the duties inside the
tabernacle, and instructing those who will carry it when moving in the desert.
"Aaron and his sons
shall first come and appoint each man individually to his task and his
load." (4:19)
With this we learn again
that every aspect of consciousness serve accordingly as a vessel of God's ways
and attributes. They are taken into account based on their particular
qualities, either it be thought, emotion, speech, action, feeling, passion or
instinct as it is mentioned later in parshat Naso.
"According to the commandment
of the Lord they were appointed by the hand of Moses, everyone to his service,
and to his load; they were also counted as the Lord commanded Moses." (4:49)
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