{"id":46093,"date":"2018-07-09T18:51:31","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T15:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1024\/"},"modified":"2022-07-22T14:21:35","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T11:21:35","slug":"wall-1024","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1024\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20220717-to-20220723"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1024","date_from":"20220717","date_to":"20220723","book":"Numbers","books_group":"Torah","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"106551","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"2","name":"Parashat Pinchas: Loving the Land ","post_title":"Parashat Pinchas: Loving the Land","slug":"parashat-pinchas-loving-the-land","old_id":"106551","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":106552,"post_title":"Talia Weisberg","slug":"talia-weisberg","old_id":"106552","first_name":"Talia ","last_name":"Weisberg","description":"Talia Weisberg is currently a student at Yeshivat Maharat, and previously served as the Director of Academic Affairs at the Consulate General of Israel to New England. She earned her Bachelor of Arts at Harvard University in the comparative study of religion with a secondary field in women, gender, and sexuality. ","short_description":"Talia Weisberg is currently a student at Yeshivat Maharat, and previously served as the Director of Academic Affairs at the Consulate General of Israel to New England. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":106553,"alt":"","title":"-62d8e49ca3e00--62d8e49ca3e01talia weisberg.JPG","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62d8e49ca3e00-62d8e49ca3e01talia-weisberg.JPG.jpg","width":248,"height":324,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62d8e49ca3e00-62d8e49ca3e01talia-weisberg.JPG-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62d8e49ca3e00-62d8e49ca3e01talia-weisberg.JPG-230x300.jpg","medium-width":230,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62d8e49ca3e00-62d8e49ca3e01talia-weisberg.JPG.jpg","medium_large-width":248,"medium_large-height":324,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62d8e49ca3e00-62d8e49ca3e01talia-weisberg.JPG.jpg","large-width":248,"large-height":324,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62d8e49ca3e00-62d8e49ca3e01talia-weisberg.JPG.jpg","1536x1536-width":248,"1536x1536-height":324,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62d8e49ca3e00-62d8e49ca3e01talia-weisberg.JPG.jpg","2048x2048-width":248,"2048x2048-height":324,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62d8e49ca3e00-62d8e49ca3e01talia-weisberg.JPG.jpg","post_full_size-width":248,"post_full_size-height":324,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62d8e49ca3e00-62d8e49ca3e01talia-weisberg.JPG.jpg","home_baner-width":248,"home_baner-height":324}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1024","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"If we lived our love for land - whether in Israel or elsewhere in the world - how different would our world look?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Parshat Pinchas* is, at its core, about loving the Land of Israel. The first major event of the parsha is a census, which is conducted in order to apportion land to the tribes based on demographic need. Then we read about the daughters of Tzelophehad, who successfully petition to receive their late father\u2019s portion in Israel in the absence of sons. God then tells Moses that he will die in the wilderness, and Moses asks for God to appoint someone to lead the Israelites into the Land in his stead. Specifically, Moses asks for someone \u201cwho shall go out before them and come in before them, and who shall take them out and bring them in, so that God\u2019s community may not be like sheep that have no shepherd\u201d (Num. 27:17).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is meaningful that Moses analogizes the Jewish people to sheep in this moment. Sheep are grazing animals and thus especially reliant on land, sustaining themselves exclusively through what grows in their vicinity. Throughout their wanderings in the desert, the Israelites became accustomed to eating manna and relying on God\u2019s grace alone. As they prepare to enter Israel, they are also readying themselves to begin a new way of life where they must rely on what the land produces, instead of depending directly on God. Their ancestors had been more shepherds (and slaves) than farmers: this is the first time that they will have access to land of their own, where they can learn what it means to cultivate the land and be in symbiosis with the earth.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The laws of shmita that we observe today are also predicated on loving the land that God has given us. We allow it to rest every seven years out of respect, in order to show it the reverence it deserves. Through shmita, we humbly recognize that we are stewards of the Land of Israel, doing our part to care for it in gratitude for the way that it nourishes us. If we channel this energy today and live our love for land - whether in Israel or elsewhere in the world - how different would our world look?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

*This is the Torah reading for Diaspora communities. Israeli and Diaspora communities will become \"synced\" again at Parashat Devarim.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

This year is the shmita year: Shmita means a sabbatical year for the Earth but also for ourselves, our communities, and our world. Each week we continue to share thoughts on how the weekly parsha can help guide our thinking around shmita themes of work and rest, wealth and debt, responsible land use, fair labor practices, private and public property ownership, and physical and spiritual revitalization.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

See here for more information on the Hazon Shmita project, and its blogs.<\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":81608,"alt":"","title":"shmita","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","width":711,"height":708,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","medium_large-width":711,"medium_large-height":708,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","large-width":711,"large-height":708,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","1536x1536-width":711,"1536x1536-height":708,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","2048x2048-width":711,"2048x2048-height":708,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","post_full_size-width":711,"post_full_size-height":708,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-422x420.jpg","home_baner-width":422,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"A Weekly Series: The \"Shmitah Parasha\" Blog","tile_main_caption":"Parashat Pinchas*: Loving the Land","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"in conjunction with Hazon.org","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":81608,"alt":"","title":"shmita","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","width":711,"height":708,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","medium_large-width":711,"medium_large-height":708,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","large-width":711,"large-height":708,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","1536x1536-width":711,"1536x1536-height":708,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","2048x2048-width":711,"2048x2048-height":708,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","post_full_size-width":711,"post_full_size-height":708,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-422x420.jpg","home_baner-width":422,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1024"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"360","name":"Nature\/Environment","old_id":"760"},{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"494","name":"Shmita","old_id":"894"}]},{"order":2,"id":"46308","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Journey To ","post_title":"The Journey To","slug":"the-journey-to","old_id":"46308","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33923,"post_title":"Jonathan Sacks","slug":"rabbi-lord-jonathan-sacks","old_id":"33923","first_name":"Jonathan ","last_name":"Sacks","description":"An international religious leader, philosopher, and award-winning author of over 35 books, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the International President of 929.\r\nRabbi Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth years between 1991 and 2013, and was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 2005 and made a Life Peer. 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She reads biblical narratives through the prism of midrash, literature, philosophy and particularly psychoanalysis.\r\nShe was born in London and grew up in Glasgow, where her father was a Rabbi and the head of the Rabbinical Court. She studied Torah with him from childhood. Her PhD in English Literature is from Cambridge University, England. She taught English literature at the Hebrew University before turning to teaching Torah. She now teaches throughout the Jewish world, at synagogues, universities, and psychoanalytic institutes.\r\nShe is the author of five critically acclaimed books. Her latest book, Moses: A Human Life, was published by Yale University Press.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg lives and lectures on Torah in Jerusalem. She is the author of five critically acclaimed books. ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34006,"alt":"","title":"Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","width":454,"height":359,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg-300x237.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":237,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","medium_large-width":454,"medium_large-height":359,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","large-width":454,"large-height":359,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","1536x1536-width":454,"1536x1536-height":359,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","2048x2048-width":454,"2048x2048-height":359,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","post_full_size-width":454,"post_full_size-height":359,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","home_baner-width":454,"home_baner-height":359}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"118","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Indicating both continuity and rupture, the book yields an implicit narrative of catastrophe.","post_main_content_content":"

The book begins with a census of the people. With ceremonious precision, the masses are tallied and choreographed for the march into the Land of Israel. Entry into the Land is imminent; the people the people are arrayed for battle. At the beginning of the book, this is the immediate future of the narrative.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The name of the book, therefore\u2014in English (Numbers), in Latin <\/span>(Numeri), <\/span><\/i>in Greek <\/span>(Arithmoi)\u2014<\/span><\/i>conveys <\/span>just this memory of a moment of preparation for the fulfillment of God's grand narrative. The people are counted twice, once in chapter 1, and once toward the the end, in chapter 26. These two moments are thirty-eight years apart; and both, ironically, are in preparation for the imminent wars of conquest of the Land of Israel. Between these two moments, a whole generation dies. What separates the two moments of counting is a total shift in population. The double census lends the Hebrew name a sinister cast. A book that begins in optimism shifts its meanings as the original generation is condemned to die in the wilderness for their sins. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The double census intimates a great failure: an entire generation, with all its expectations, with the presence of God it its midst, has vanished into the sands. The book of Numbers is a narrative of great sadness, in which the <\/span>midbar<\/span><\/em>, the wilderness, swallows up all of the aspirations of a generation--people who experienced the Exodus, the Revelation at Sinai, and the creation of a sanctuary for God. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As a collective, of course, the people of Israel continues. It is constituted by the young (under twenty) of the previous generation and by the new generation. In terms of sheer numbers, there has been no loss. Strikingly, however, there is no mention of births. In a sense, the apparent continuity only serves to emphasize the terror that is encompassed in this narrative. The living presence of <\/span>numbers<\/span><\/em> is transformed in the second census into the record of <\/span>absences<\/span><\/i>. The tale of numbers, therefore, indicates both continuity and rupture, yielding an implicit narrative of catastrophe. In this sense, the book is well named Numbers, as though to indicate the tragic irony of altered expectations.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: Valentin Drull\/shutterstock<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":46345,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_228394381","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381.jpg","width":4167,"height":4157,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-768x766.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":766,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-1024x1022.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1022,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1532,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":2043,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-1200x1197.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1197,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-421x420.jpg","home_baner-width":421,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Deeper Meaning of Numbers","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Indicating both continuity and rupture, the book yields an implicit narrative of catastrophe.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":46345,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_228394381","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381.jpg","width":4167,"height":4157,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-768x766.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":766,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-1024x1022.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1022,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1532,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":2043,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-1200x1197.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1197,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-421x420.jpg","home_baner-width":421,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"118","date":"20260210","wall_id":"118"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"689","name":"Census","old_id":"1089"},{"term_id":"788","name":"Desert","old_id":"1188"},{"term_id":"789","name":"Numbers","old_id":"1189"}]},{"order":4,"id":"46299","color":"#efefef","size":"1","name":"Belonging Is More Profound Than Being ","post_title":"Belonging Is More Profound Than Being","slug":"belonging-is-more-profound-than-being","old_id":"46299","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46249,"post_title":"Gil Troy","slug":"gil-troy","old_id":"46249","first_name":"Gil ","last_name":"Troy ","description":"Gil Troy is a Distinguished Scholar of North American History at McGill University, has written ten books on the American presidency. 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In 1973, in his Pulitzer-Prize winning history, <\/span>The Americans: The Democratic Experience<\/span><\/i>, Daniel Boorstin incorporated a beautiful teaching that essentially contrasted modern Americans with the Children of Israel in Numbers, chapter 1. Boorstin appreciated the delightfully democratic impulse behind our constant counting: X percent of Americans belong here! Do this! Believe that! Americans rejected the Old World\u2019s \u201cinvidious distinctions,\u201d rooted in class snobbery, Boorstin explained. \u201cNumbers were neutral.\u201d The \u201cnumbering of people (one person, one vote)\u201d symbolized democratic equality.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As an objective historian assessing pros and cons, Boorstin also identified the damage \u201cstatistical communities\u201d caused. Obsessively slotting individuals into categories made membership so passive the relationship risked becoming meaningless. \u00a0These \u201csupermarket of statistics\u201d offered no \u201cmoral guide.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Having coined the phrase \u201cpseudo-events\u201d to identify PR stunts staged just to get media coverage, Boorstin essentially, presciently, warned against pseudo-communities too. \u00a0Decades later, our lives are filled with superficial associations: Facebook \u201cfriends\u201d we\u2019ve never met, trends that define us simply by clicking or \u201cliking.\u201d We don\u2019t even notice that a \u201cvirtual community\u201d is an oxymoron \u2013 even as many American Jews seek a Jewish community with no red lines, no meaningful boundaries or definitions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

By contrast, unlike our hollowed-out communities, <\/span>Numbers <\/span><\/i>begins with a powerful moral process of community-building. The children of Israel are not mere numbers. They are not just counted passively, logged into a statistical community. They \u2013 we \u2013 are challenged to count, because in this community you only count by standing up for one another.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Far beyond being tabulated in a census, and even more profound than ponying up a shekel to be counted, Verse 45 proclaims the children of Israel \u201cwere counted according to their fathers' houses, from twenty years and upward, all who were fit to go out to the army.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Those who contribute count: creating meaningful communities not statistical communities.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Boorstin and <\/span>Bamidbar<\/span><\/i> help correct the common mistranslation of verse 2, which is often rendered as: \u201ctake the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel.\u201d \u00a0The Hebrew proclaims: \u201cSe\u2019u et rosh kol eidat b\u2019nai yisrael<\/em>.\u201d The first word -- \u201cSin-Aleph-Vav <\/em>-- is related to carrying, lifting up, leading, marrying \u2013 transcending through committing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Torah \u2013 and Reb Boorstin -- teach that belonging is more profound than being. True belonging entails investing, embracing, truly joining. From that I-thou relationship \u2013 or those relationships with others and with shared ideals \u2013 we catapult toward becoming better people and bettering the world.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104621,"alt":"","title":"-6276db5b1c9b7--6276db5b1c9caex17-community 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Illustration for Numbers chapter 2:<\/p>\r\n

Moses and Aaron are told to arrange the Israelite encampment according to a divine plan: \u201cThe Israelites shall camp each with his standard, under the banner of their ancestral house; they shall camp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance\u201d (Num. 2:2). How was the encampment set up? How can we discern the appearance of the tribes\u2019 standards as they are not described in the text?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

My painting for <\/span>Parashat Ba-midbar<\/span><\/i> suggests answers to both these questions. The \u00a0portrayals, which seem to be modeled on the fourteenth-century <\/span>Duke of Sussex Pentateuch<\/span><\/i> tradition and later illustrated <\/span>ketubot<\/span><\/i> (marriage contracts) and synagogue decorations, reflect Jacob\u2019s blessings to his sons from the Book of Genesis. The individual images are arranged in the order of the encampment, divided into four sections, each one displaying one large banner representing the major tribe of the section and two smaller ones for the two associated minor tribes.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From right to left, we first meet the camp of Judah, on the east side of the Tabernacle. Its emblem \u00a0is a lion: \u201cJudah is a lion\u2019s whelp\u201d (Gen. 49:9). Under it are the banners of the other two tribes. Issachar\u2019s is a donkey: \u201cIssachar is a strong boned ass\u201d (Gen. 49:14), and Zebulun\u2019s emblem is a boat: \u201cZebulun shall dwell by the seashore. He shall be a haven for ships\u201d (Gen 49:13).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To the left of Judah is the banner of Reuven\u2019s tribe, south of the Tabernacle. Pictured are the mandrakes that Reuven brought to his mother (Gen. 30:14), and Jacob, furious at him for bedding his concubine (Gen. 49:4). Below is the banner of Simeon, holding a knife to kill Hamor, who defiled his sister Dinah (Gen. 34:26); and an angry Jacob referred to that episode: \u201cSimeon and Levi are a pair; their weapons are tools of lawlessness\u201d (Gen. 49:5). The tribe of Levi is not shown as it was not part of the encampment, but occupied an area adjacent to the Tabernacle. Next to Simeon is Gad, whose temporary dwellings were attacked: \u201cGad shall be raided\u2026but he shall raid at their heels\u201d (Gen. 49:19).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The third camp, that of Ephraim, on the west side, is marked with the figure of a bull, based on Moses\u2019 blessing: \u201cLike a firstling bull in his majesty\u201d (Deut. 33:17). Manasseh and Benjamin, the other of Rachel's descendants, are together with Ephraim. Manasseh is figured as a stylized deer in accord with Moses\u2019 words: \u201cHe has horns like the horns of the wild ox\u201d (Deut. 33:17). Benjamin\u2019s symbol is a wolf: \u201cBenjamin is a ravenous wolf\u201d (Gen. 49:27).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The fourth camp is that of Dan on the north side: \u201cDan shall be a serpent by the road\u201d (Gen 49:16). With him are the tribes of Asher, represented by an olive tree: \u201cHe shall yield royal dainties\u201d (Gen. 49:20), and Naphtali, symbolized by a gazelle: \u201cNaphtali is a hind let loose\u201d (Gen. 49:13).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Artwork by: Avner Moriah, by courtesy of the artist<\/p>\r\n

Text by: Dr. Shulamit Laderman, who holds a\u00a0<\/span>PhD in Art History and has published extensively on Jewish and Christian influences on biblical interpretive illustration.<\/p>\r\n

For the entire weekly portion series, please visit: <\/span>https:\/\/avnermoriahprints.com\/collections\/parasha<\/span><\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":46423,"alt":"","title":"Avner Moriah - Bamidbar","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Avner-Moriah-Bamidbar-1.jpg","width":2001,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Avner-Moriah-Bamidbar-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Avner-Moriah-Bamidbar-1-240x300.jpg","medium-width":240,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Avner-Moriah-Bamidbar-1-768x960.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":960,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Avner-Moriah-Bamidbar-1-820x1024.jpg","large-width":820,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Avner-Moriah-Bamidbar-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1229,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Avner-Moriah-Bamidbar-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1639,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Avner-Moriah-Bamidbar-1-960x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Avner-Moriah-Bamidbar-1-336x420.jpg","home_baner-width":336,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Chapter Illustrated","tile_main_caption":"Tribal Symbols and Identities","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The many within the one: 12 dimensions of the Israelite camp","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":46423,"alt":"","title":"Avner Moriah - Bamidbar","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Avner-Moriah-Bamidbar-1.jpg","width":2001,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Avner-Moriah-Bamidbar-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Avner-Moriah-Bamidbar-1-240x300.jpg","medium-width":240,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Avner-Moriah-Bamidbar-1-768x960.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":960,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Avner-Moriah-Bamidbar-1-820x1024.jpg","large-width":820,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Avner-Moriah-Bamidbar-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1229,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Avner-Moriah-Bamidbar-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1639,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Avner-Moriah-Bamidbar-1-960x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Avner-Moriah-Bamidbar-1-336x420.jpg","home_baner-width":336,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"119","date":"20260211","wall_id":"119"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":6,"id":"46529","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"We Are All Individuals ","post_title":"We Are All Individuals","slug":"we-are-all-individuals","old_id":"46529","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33859,"post_title":"Avidan Freedman","slug":"avidan-freedman","old_id":"33859","first_name":"Avidan","last_name":"Freedman","description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. He is an activist advocating for moral limits on Israeli arms exports, and on behalf of African refugees, and a proud husband and father of 5. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, and from the Israeli chief rabbinate.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. ","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33860,"alt":"Avidan Freedman","title":"Avidan Freedman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","width":856,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-768x919.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":919,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-856x1024.jpg","large-width":856,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","1536x1536-width":856,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","2048x2048-width":856,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"119","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The Jewish people doesn't have one flag, it has twelve, each one proudly expressing the uniqueness of each tribe","post_main_content_content":"

The books of Numbers is certainly living up to its name. Chapter 2 not only repeats the final count of adult males for each tribe, it saves us the trouble of doing the math, adding up the totals of each group of three tribes that camped together. Even more repetitive than this, the Torah then totals these numbers to give us the sum of all the tribes, a number that we already saw in the last chapter.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It seems like the Torah could have chosen a much simpler path, especially for the mathematically challenged. As we are organizing ourselves into a nation, you would think the number we most want to emphasize is the number one. \"One flag, one land, one heart, one hand. One nation, evermore,\" wrote Oliver Wendell Holmes. To form diverse groups made up of diverse people into a unified nation, you would think that what's needed is to create a singular identity that all can partake in.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This was the approach of the young Jewish state as it tried to erase the exilic identities of its returning sons and daughters and transform them into New Jews. Although it had the best of intentions, it was an attitude that burdened Israel with deep, persisting wounds, with suffering, discrimination and hatred of the other, while depriving it of cultural richness.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Jewish people doesn't have one flag, it has twelve, each one proudly expressing the uniqueness of each tribe. Each tribe has an identity, the groupings of tribes have an identity, the nation has an identity, and every individual has an identity that should not be erased by any of those groups.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After all, if there is something that the Torah is counting, apparently, we are meant to understand that - it counts.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":51432,"alt":"","title":"dt23-community","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-community-1.png","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-community-1-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-community-1-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-community-1-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-community-1-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-community-1.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-community-1.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-community-1-1200x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-community-1-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"We 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Biological And Spiritual ","post_title":"Descendants, Biological And Spiritual","slug":"descendants-biological-and-spiritual","old_id":"46465","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46169,"post_title":"Shanee Banafshe Michaelson","slug":"shanee-banafshe-michaelson","old_id":"46169","first_name":"Shanee Banafshe ","last_name":"Michaelson ","description":"Shanee Banafshe Michaelson is an attorney, teacher, and a long-time resident of Los Angeles.","short_description":"Shanee Banafshe Michaelson is an attorney, teacher, and a long-time resident of Los Angeles.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":46170,"alt":"","title":"shanee 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can be a way to take people from slavery to freedom, from oppression to liberty","post_main_content_content":"

From the first verse in Bamidbar 3 we learn that it will be all about the descendants of Moses and Aaron. Yet as the chapter gets underway, only the sons of Aaron are mentioned. Why then are they described as Moses\u2019 descendants? Shouldn\u2019t they have been referred to solely as Aaron\u2019s line?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rashi says that because Moses taught Aaron\u2019s sons Torah, they became his descendants. Moses, sometimes described as the great lawgiver, is said to be our greatest teacher. This exemplifies the high regard which Jewish tradition holds for teachers of Torah. Indeed, teaching Torah to children is Talmudically equivalent to having given birth to them (Sanhedrin 19b). Teachers can have an immense impact on their students.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Many people can remember the names of their childhood teachers, even after multiple decades have passed. The best teachers are not only learned in their subjects, but have a spiritual impact on their students. They teach enthusiasm and a positive attitude (or not). My high school art teacher taught me to have patience, my English teacher taught me to carefully value my words, and my childhood Hebrew teacher taught me to love the language in a way I have never forgotten. We have all had teachers who were so enthusiastic about their subject that they inspired us to want to learn more; and unfortunately we may also have experienced quite the opposite.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Teachers may also learn from their students, when they are themselves open to receiving wisdom. Perhaps Moses learned to be a stronger leader by teaching Aaron\u2019s sons, his nephews, during their meandering journey between Egypt and the Holy Land. Education can be a way to take people from slavery to freedom, from oppression to liberty. And one of those people can be your very own self.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: Christian Chan\/shutterstock<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":46466,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_243736828","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_243736828.jpg","width":5184,"height":3456,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_243736828-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_243736828-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_243736828-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_243736828-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_243736828.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_243736828.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_243736828-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_243736828-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Descendants, Biological And Spiritual","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Education can be a way to take people from slavery to freedom, from oppression to liberty","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":46466,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_243736828","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_243736828.jpg","width":5184,"height":3456,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_243736828-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_243736828-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_243736828-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_243736828-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_243736828.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_243736828.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_243736828-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_243736828-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"3","chapter_main_number":"120","date":"20260212","wall_id":"120"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"366","name":"Commentators","old_id":"766"},{"term_id":"399","name":"Education","old_id":"799"}]},{"order":8,"id":"46470","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"The Fatal Gaze ","post_title":"The Fatal Gaze","slug":"the-fatal-gaze","old_id":"46470","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33877,"post_title":"Marc Bregman","slug":"marc-bregman","old_id":"33877","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Bregman","description":"Marc Bregman received his Ph.D. from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1991. He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"120","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Another intriguing explanation of the untimely demise of Nadav and Abihu","post_main_content_content":"

Our chapter begins by again mentioning the tragic death of two of the sons of Aaron. \u201c\u2026Nadav and Avihu died by the will of the Lord, when they offered alien fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai\u201d (Numbers 3:4). The question has often been asked: Why exactly did Nadav and Avihu die \u201cby the will of God\u201d? What it only because, with every good intention, they made an offering apparently of regular man-made fire? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Midrash (Numbers Rabbah 2:25, Leviticus Rabbah 20:10) offers an additional reason by first noting that Nadav and Avihu are specifically mentioned among those who, according to Exodus 24:1-11, ascended Mount Sinai and there \u201csaw the God of Israel. Under His feet, there was the likeness of a pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for purity\u2026they beheld God, and they ate and drank.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is specifically stated there that God did not, at that time, \u201craise His hand\u201d against those who partook of this extraordinary vision. But the Rabbinic sages connected the participation of Nadav and Avihu in this Sinaitic vision with their subsequent tragic demise. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

What could be meant by the phrase \u201cthey ate and drank\u201d while beholding God? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rabbi Hoshaia asks: Did provisions, like cakes, go up with them to Mount Sinai? No! Rather what must be implied is that they \u201cfeasted their eyes on the Shekhinah\u201d like one who discourteously stares at his fellow while eating and drinking together. Rabbi Tanhuma adds that they also uncovered they heads, stood on their feet and haughtily feasted their eyes on the Shekhinah. Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin replies that Moses, on the other hand, resisted the temptation to behave in such a disrespectful manner, for it says that, in a previous similar situation at the Burning Bush, \u201c\u2026Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God\u201d (Exodus 3:6). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Midrash here teaches that taking advantage of mystical vision, by staring unrestrainedly at the Divine Presence, may eventually result in the most fateful consequences.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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