Musar sobre Números 7:90

Rabbenu Bachyah comments on the repeated use of the word משכן in 38,21, that this is a hint that the Tabernacle in our world stood "opposite" the Sanctuary in the Celestial Regions. We know this also from Exodus 15,17: מכון לשבתך פעלת ה', "You have made a place for You to dwell in." The word מכון should be read as מכוון, "corresponding" to the Sanctuary in Heaven. This places the importance of the Tabernacle on earth on a par with the creation of the universe. In connection with the universe, Isaiah 40,22, speaks about G–d "who spread out the skies like gauze, stretched them out like a tent to dwell in," whereas in connection with the Tabernacle on earth the Torah says: "You shall make cloths of goats' hair for a tent over the Tabernacle." In connection with the creation of the universe the Psalmist (Psalms 104,2) speaks about נוטה שמים כיריעה, "He stretches the heavens like a tent-doth." During the process of creation we read (Genesis 1,9) "Let the waters concentrate in one place," whereas in connection with the construction of the Tabernacle the Torah instructs the making of a copper basin to contain all the water used in the Tabernacle by the priests. During the creation the Torah speaks about the creation of luminaries, whereas during the construction of the Tabernacle the making of a candlestick is commanded. The winged creatures mentioned during the process of creation are matched in the Tabernacle by the cherubs spreading their wings over the Holy Ark. Whereas the creation of Adam represented the highlight of the act of creation, the highlight of the construction of the Tabernacle was reached when G–d told Moses to appoint Aaron as High Priest (Exodus 28,1). The completion of the work of creation was announced by the words: ויכלו השמים והארץ, whereas the completion of the work on the Tabernacle was described by the Torah as ותכל כל עבודת משכן (39,32). Whereas the Torah reported that G–d blessed the seventh day (Genesis 2,3), Moses blessed the Tabernacle and sanctified it and all its utensils (39,43). The Torah reported G–d as resting on the seventh day, (Genesis 2,3), whereas in connection with the Tabernacle the Torah stated: "You shall perform your work during six days and the seventh day shall be holy" (35,2). After all this the Torah said: "Take from yourselves a donation" Thus far the comment of Rabbenu Bachyah.

Once Jacob died, Moses became the second "husband" of the relevant שכינה [presumably the "upper" one, בינה, seeing that Moses had attained 49 of the 50 levels of בינה Ed.]. However, this union could last only while Moses lived on this earth, since upon the death of a wife's second husband she "returns" to her former husband, having only been on "loan" during the interval. Since Jacob was by then in the Holy Land, Moses, automatically had to remain outside the Holy Land. The reason that Jacob was buried body and bones in ארץ ישראל is that he represented the גוף, body, of the ארץ של ישראל סבא, as we have mentioned before. Joseph, being the extension of his father, was the extension of the גוף, limbs or bones. These "bones" symbolize the spiritual forces or permutations of G–d's Ineffable Name that radiate in all directions from the emanation בינה, enabling a physical universe to take shape. A צדיק, as such is also called צבאות, part of G–d's armies or executive arm. It was therefore appropriate that Joseph's bones rather than his entire body were interred in ארץ ישראל. None of this reflects negatively on Moses. On the contrary, whereas Moses was able to establish a union with the "upper" level of the שכינה during his life on earth, Jacob established his union with that level of the שכינה only after he had departed. We find an allusion to Moses' intimacy with that part of the שכינה in Numbers 7,89, where the way the Torah describes Moses' being at home in the אהל מועד, the visible manifestation of the בינה on earth, is most striking. Moses did not need to be invited in; he acted as if he were the owner of that domain. The author finds in the number of the 600,000 Jews that left Egypt allusions to the radiations of the various combinations of G–d's Name in all the six directions of the compass, proof that Moses led the people by means of the power inherent in the emanation בינה. If Moses was already on such a level while his soul was still enshrined in his body, it is clear that once Moses died, his soul would ascend to an even higher region than the level represented by בינה. That level, which we have described elsewhere as יובל, is beyond any level associated with any of the three levels to which the term ארץ can be applied. Moses' being "buried" in what we commonly call חוץ לארץ is a compliment to him thus rather than a reminder of some inadequacy on his part. In fact, once Moses' life on earth had come to an end, he joined the souls of "his" 600,000 people who also had not been buried in the Holy Land. If we find that Moses separated from his terrestrial wife Tzipporah –something used by his sister Miriam as an accusation against him in Numbers 12,1 – the reason was simply that Moses had already "used" [in the sense that one has relations with one's wife. Ed.] the spiritual light from extra-terrestrial regions as we know from Exodus 34,29 where Moses is described as emitting supernatural light from his face. Having a "wife" in those regions, it is easy to understand that Moses could no longer share life with a wife on earth. Jacob, on the other hand, had married four wives and had shared a fully terrestrial life with them, one of the reasons that his bed, מטה, was called שלימה, "complete" by our sages. This means that only upon his death did his רוח ונשמה, soul and spirit, merit entry to the seventh level i.e. בינה.

All our sages agree that the Tabernacle was a microcosm of the macrocosm, that it reflected to the extent possible, structures and concepts and their development prevalent in the Celestial Regions, though those "structures" and concepts are, of course, abstract. Midrash Rabbah Terumah 33,4 commenting on Chronicles I 29,11: "Yours, O Lord are greatness, might, splendour, triumph, and majesty-- yes all that is in Heaven and earth," quotes Rabbi Berechyah; he sees this as proof that G–d transferred His residence to the Tabernacle. There is also a Midrash Tanchuma on Parshat Pekudey which quotes Psalms 26,8: "O Lord, I love Your temple abode, the dwelling-place of Your glory," as proof that the residence of G–d on earth corresponds to the one He has in the Celestial Regions. Its construction was also a repetition of the process of creation. This is derived from the text of the Bible in Genesis 1,1: "At the beginning G–d created the heaven and the earth," whereas we read in Psalms 104,2: "You spread the heavens like a tent cloth." The Tabernacle was also covered by tent cloth as per Exodus 26,1: "You shall make the Tabernacle from ten strips of tent cloth." When describing what happened on the second day of creation, the Torah speaks about a firmament which is to separate the "upper" waters from the "lower" waters (Genesis 1,6), whereas when giving the instructions for building the Tabernacle the Torah directs that the "curtain shall divide between the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies" (Exodus 26,33). The Torah, relating the work G–d performed on the third day of creation, mentions that the waters are to be gathered into one area (Genesis 1,9), whereas during the construction of the Tabernacle the Torah commands the construction of a copper basin into which all the water is to be poured (Exodus 30,18). On the fourth day of creation the Torah reports the construction of the great luminaries (Genesis 1,14), whereas the Torah commands the construction of a lampstand as part of the furnishings of the Tabernacle (Exodus 25,31). On the fifth day of creation G–d created the birds, etc. (Genesis 1,20), whereas in the Tabernacle the Torah commands that the cherubs on the lid of the Holy Ark be equipped with wings, bird-like (Exodus 25,20). Sacrifices of birds are also prescribed to be offered up in the Tabernacle. On the sixth day of creation G–d created man in His own image to reflect the glory of his Creator (Genesis 1,27), whereas in the Tabernacle a human being, the High Priest, was to be anointed and consecrated to parallel in this microcosm the function of man in the macrocosm in this microcosm. On the seventh day of creation, the universe is described as having been completed (Genesis 2,1); we find a similar expression when the Torah describes the construction of the Tabernacle as having been completed (Exodus 39,32). When the universe was completed G–d blessed it (Genesis 1,28-2,3), whereas when the Tabernacle was completed Moses blessed it (Exodus 39,43). When the universe was completed the Torah uses the term ויכל to describe the completion (Genesis 2,2); when the Tabernacle was completed the Torah uses the same expression (Exodus 40,33 and Numbers 7,1). When the universe was completed G–d sanctified it (Genesis 2,3); when the construction of the Tabernacle was completed the Torah also relates that Moses anointed and sanctified it (Numbers 7,1).

When we keep this in mind we can understand the Midrash Rabbah 3,1 on Song of Songs 3,9 אפריון עשה לו המלך שלמה, that "King Solomon made for himself a canopy," as referring to the construction of the Tabernacle. Rabbi Yehudah bar Ulla explains this by means of the following parable: A king had a young daughter. As long as she did not reach the age of puberty, he would meet her in public and speak with her both in public and private. Once she reached the age of puberty the king said to himself that it was no longer seemly that he should converse with his daughter in public. He therefore constructed a pavilion for her so that whenever he felt the need to converse with his daughter he could do so within this pavilion. We find an allusion to this in Hoseah 11,1: "For when Israel was still a child I fell in love with Israel." As long as the people of Israel were in their national infancy in Egypt, they saw manifestations of G–d all around them such as when G–d smote the Egyptians both in Egypt and later on when He drowned them in the sea. This was a public manifestation as testified to in Exodus 14,31: "Israel saw the great hand of the Lord and what He did to Egypt". Even infants would point with their fingers declaring "This is my G–d I shall glorify Him" (Exodus 15,2). At Sinai they beheld G–d "face to face," as we know from Deuteronomy 33,2: "He (Moses) said The Lord came from Sinai, He shone upon them from Se-ir; He appeared from Mount Paran." At that point Israel received the Torah and declared כל אשר דבר ה' נעשה ונשמע, "All that the Lord has said, we shall do and hear." As a consequence Israel became G–d's nation in the fullest meaning of the word. G–d next said Himself that it was no longer seemly that He should speak to them in public, without the benefit of privacy, so He instructed them to build a Tabernacle so that whenever He wished to speak to them, He would do so from the interior of the Tabernacle. This is the meaning of Numbers 7,89: "Whenever Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, he would hear the voice of G–d addressing him from above the cover that was on top of the Ark of the Covenant between the two cherubim; thus He spoke to him." Thus far the statement of Rabbi Yehudah bar Ulla.

We have a clue to this in verse 7,84: "זאת חנוכת המזבח ביום המשח אותו." "This is the consecration of the altar on the day it was anointed." It is strange that the verse should commence with the feminine זאת, whereas it concludes with the masculine "אותו." Why did the Torah not simply say "זה חינוך המזבח ביום המזח אותו?" The reason for this unusual combination is that we view the Tabernacle on earth as essentially feminine, i.e. receiving its input from the Tabernacle in the Celestial Regions which is viewed as masculine. The relationship between the two is analogous to the relationship of man and wife. In the future, everything will be masculine as our sages have said, because G–d Himself will build the Third Temple. This is the meaning of the שיר חדש new song, (masculine) with which we will greet that event (compare Psalms 33,3, Isaiah 42,10). At that time, G–d will "lower" the Temple from the Celestial Regions and establish it here on earth. This is what the Zohar says in Parshat Pinchas where he adds that this is the way it should have been after the Exodus from Egypt, a plan thwarted only on account of the sin of the golden calf. In the messianic era, however, this original intention will be carried out.

קח מאתם …. ונתת אותם אל הלוים . Why are the Levites suddenly mentioned here again in 7,5,? At this point the Levites had not yet been chosen. They had only been chosen after the Israelites had been counted, and that count had not taken place until the first day of lyar. Only then had G–d said: "Do not count the tribe of Levi with the other tribes," and had said that they would be counted separately. The offerings that the Princes brought had been brought a month earlier, on the first day of Nissan. The fact is that G–d had already then given Moses an indication that in the future He would appoint the Levites to perform the Service involving the Tabernacle. This is similar to what we read in Parshat Tetzaveh, where the Torah speaks about Aaron lighting the candelabrum, the kind of oil to be used, etc., and the Torah says: "Bring close Aaron your brother and his sons from the midst of the children of Israel, etc." (Exodus 28,1). Rashi explains there that the appointment of Aaron and his sons, and his daily duties, etc., did not become a commandment until after the completion of the building of the tabernacle, though the Torah wrote it in this connection. Actually we find the commandment as such only at the end of Parshat Emor at the beginning of chapter 24. Nonetheless G–d had informed Moses much earlier of what was to become a commandment at a later stage, so that preparations could be made. We find the same thing regarding the appointment of the Levites.

Concerning this inseparable bond, the Torah says in Exodus 19,5 prior to the revelation at Mount Sinai: והייתם לי סגלה, "You will be My treasured possession." The means by which Israel becomes G–d's most treasured possession is the Torah. The word, i.e. vowel, סגל is comprised of three sounds, i.e. three times the letter י. Between them they represent the ten emanations, the ten commandments and the ten directives by means of which G–d created our universe. The Zohar at the end of Parshat Nasso where the offerings of the princes are described, comments that the verse עשרה עשרה הכף, (Numbers 7,86) "ten, ten the כף" which at first glance seems superfluous, for who does not know that twice ten equals twenty, means that the first ten represent מעשה בראשית, whereas the second ten represent the Ten Commandments when the Torah was given. The Torah wishes to tell us that the creation of the universe was justified only when Torah was revealed and accepted by the Jewish people. Together these "twenty" formed a unit, seeing that when one spells the letter י ten, as a word i.e. יוד, the numerical value is 20, i.e. כ. The inseparable relationship between G–d, Israel and Torah is thus amply documented. Israel is attached to these "twenty," as is mentioned in Deut. 4,4: ואתם הדבקים בה', "as for you who cleave to the Lord etc." The congregation of Israel, עדת ישראל, are ten (i.e. the minimum number of a quorum amongst which a part of the Presence of G–d can be found is ten). This number applies both to the spiritual part of the people, נשמה, as well as to their bodies, since the Talmud Nidah 31 tells us that there are three partners in the creation of a human being, G–d, father and mother. G–d's input is described as comprising ten parts, the soul and its various potentials. Father and mother between them also contribute ten components, the body and the materials it is formed of. This makes man a partner of G–d in the Creation of the universe in a manner of speaking Just as the purely spiritual world, עולם האצילות, had been "born," so now the אדם תחתון, man of the lower world was "born" in order to get to know G–d. This is what is meant by the Talmud Shabbat 119 saying that whoever says his prayers on the Sabbath Eve including the recital of Genesis 2,1-3, becomes a partner of G–d in His work of Creation. It is well known that this is the night our sages especially recommend for man and his wife to cohabit and fulfill the commandment to procreate.

The symbolisms expressed by the use of בת-אחות-אם "daughter-sister-mother" relationship between G–d and the Jewish people, or the matriarchs and G–d, which we have described on page 137 and later, may be alluded to in the way the Torah divides the number of years Sarah lived into three distinct periods, i.e. "one hundred years, twenty years and seven years" (Genesis 23,1). Bereshit Rabbah 58,1 explains that Sarah was as beautiful at twenty as she had been at seven years of age, whereas she was as free from sin at a hundred years of age as she had been at twenty. The number seven may allegorically be explained as referring to the seven days of Creation (including the Sabbath) before the original light was withdrawn. This association gives Sarah the אם כל חי, "Mother Superior" image. When the Torah was given to the Jewish people and the serpent's pollutant was neutralised, the world was restored to a state when כתנות אור, garments woven of light, could have been worn. The passage dealing with the creation of light in Genesis 1, 3-5, mentions the word אור, light, five times, an allusion to the five Books of Moses, as pointed out in the Midrash. The Zohar sees in the verse commencing with Hashem Hashem in Exodus 34,6 an allusion to the number twenty, i.e. the Ten Commandments and the ten directives by which the universe was created. These complemented each other. When you spell the two letters Yud as words, i.e. יוד, their combined value is also 20. This idea is reflected in the "twenty years" the Torah here speaks of. Although the universe did not actually revert to the condition it had been in prior to withdrawal of the אור בראשית, the original light, the precondition existed, and, but for the sin of the golden calf, Israel would have achieved that status through Torah study and observance, and the original light would have been revealed to them. At the moment the Torah was revealed, the light appeared to them just as it had been during the seven days of Creation. This is the deeper meaning of Proverbs 7,4: אמור לחכמה אחותי את, "Say to wisdom 'you are my sister.'" Israel, due to the Revelation and Torah study, was on the level we have described as אחות. Afterwards, when the people made the golden calf, they ruined even that level of closeness to G–d with the result that the כ in 23,2 became reduced in size. When the Temple, which was one hundred cubits high, was built, this provided some degree of rehabilitation for the opportunity lost through the golden calf. [The Temple the author refers to must be the one of Herod; Solomon's Temple was only thirty cubits high. Ed.] When Bereshit Rabbah 58,1 on our verse next compares Sarah's innocence at one hundred to her innocence at twenty, this is an allusion to the partial rehabilitation during the period of the second Temple. There were public offerings which achieved atonement for the people. Nonetheless, the people were only on the level of בת, (the lowest of the three levels described on pages 137/138). This is why we find Israel referred to as בת ציון, בת ירושלים in Isaiah, Lamentations and elsewhere. The small letter כ in the word ולבכותה is a clear allusion to the aforegoing. When you remove the letter כ completely, you are left with the word לבתה, "to her daughter," i.e. the word בת, daughter. When the Temple was destroyed, the letter ק was also reduced in size, as pointed out by the Baaal Haturim in his commentray on Genesis 27,46 where Rebeccah expressed disdain for her own life if Jacob, too, were to marry a Canaanite girl. The cause of Rebeccah's desperate outcry, according to Baa l Haturim, was that in her mind's eye she saw the destruction of the hundred-cubit high Temple. When the Temple was destroyed the Jewish people forfeited even the status of בת in their relationship with G–d. For some time after that the most they could achieve in the way of direct communication with G–d was the בת קול, an echo of their former relationship. Nowadays, due to our sins, we do not even experience that form of communication with G–d. This situation will not improve until the Messiah will come, hopefully very soon. At such a time, אור חדש will shine over Zion.

Before explaining the Midrash itself, I have to demonstrate how the paragraph relates to the משפטים which form the principal subject matter of our פרשה. We have stated previously that the letter ו before the word אלה המשפטים establishes a linkage with the subject matter discussed previously. Just as the subject matter discussed in the Ten Commandments was revealed at Mount Sinai, so everything that follows in this פרשה, was revealed at Mount Sinai. This is why the number "ten" plays a significant role in דינין, at least at the mystical level. When the Hebrew number ten is spelled in writing, i.e. יוד, it equals 20 (the combined value of these three letters). In other words: "ten" spelled out is really "twenty." The Zohar points this out in connection with Numbers 7,86, where the Torah repeats עשרה, עשרה בשקל הקודש. The idea is that the "whole" שקל, equals twenty geyrah as we know from the half shekel legislation of פרשת שקלים in Exodus 30,13. It is appropriate to refer to that concept, since this portion is read on שבת פרשת שקלים, and the latter is usually read on the same שבת as our פרשת משפטים. Seeing that ten geyrah represent half a שקל הקודש, we view the legislation in פרשת יתרו as "half" a legislation that is being complemented here in our פרשה through the introductory letter ו.

As soon as Israel left Egypt, the Psalmist tells us: בצאת ישראל ממצרים … היתה יהודה לקדשו, ישראל ממשלותיו. "When Israel went forth from Egypt,…. Yehudah became His holy one, Israel His dominion" (Psalms 114,1-2). Later in Numbers 10, 14, when the people were divided into four camps, Yehudah again was the first army to break camp and march ahead of the people. Yehudah was also the first of the twelve princes to offer his offering in honor of the dedication of the Holy Tabernacle (Numbers 7,12). This pre-eminence of the tribe of Yehudah also continued after the people inherited the land of Israel, until the days of Samuel, when the people demanded to be led by a king, and the choice fell on Saul from the tribe of Benjamin. As already explained, the position of king was only on loan to the tribe of Benjamin, as apparent from the very name שאול, "something borrowed." Within less than a generation, a scion of the tribe of Yehudah, David, became the king of Israel. Ever since, Jacob's blessing in Genesis 49, 10 that "the scepter of Royalty will not depart from members of the tribe of Yehudah" has been fulfilled.

I have seen a tremendous stumbling block among the charity officers of the Polish provinces. The system in those lands is that each officer serves for only a single month, to be relieved by another officer the following month. Then when the months of Nissan and Tishrei arrive, at which time the needs of the poor are particularly great, each of the officers excuses himself from the task, telling the supplicants who come before them, “What do you want with me? Here is the officer of the month. It is his responsibility to fulfill his obligation this month!” Such conduct is very unworthy, for in fact it is incumbent upon all the officers to carry out this holy task. Bekasef yisa’u — “Let them bear the burden of the money!” [this is a play on the words of the verse in Bamidbar 7:9, “They (the holy vessels) bear upon the shoulder,” which is pronounced the same in Hebrew]. What is the officer of the month supposed to do? Sometimes he lacks the resources to lend the money for the distribution out of his own pocket, but neither is there enough money in the charity fund. This holy task should be treated as of no less importance than the service of a human king, which is incumbent upon his subjects every day, week and month. No one would think of saying to a human king, “I am exempt this month. I am responsible for a different month.” Why, then, should one speak this way regarding the service of the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One Blessed is He, Heaven forbid?

Reuben, for instance, believed that from a strictly legal point of view Joseph deserved to be executed because he rebelled against the concept that Royalty was reserved for the house of David, i.e. the tribe of Yehudah. On the other hand, he considered the legislation in Numbers 35,24 and 25, according to which one must try and find every possible extenuating circumstance before subjecting the accused to the ultimate penalty. In actual fact, however, Joseph was not guilty at all, since he neither coveted Royalty for himself nor tried to deny Yehudah's claim to Royalty. Quite the contrary, he tried to advance Yehudah's cause so that the kingdom of David would come about sooner. We have explained earlier that there were three "crowns" to be acquired, the "crown" of Torah being primary. Since Joseph symbolized the "crown" of Torah, the other two "crowns" could be acquired only by means of Joseph paving the way for such a development. Joseph's being the antithesis of Esau enabled the Jewish people to develop, and in due course helped the other two "crowns" to become meaningful. Perhaps this is the reason why the Jewish people carried two arks with them during their trek through the desert to the land of Canaan. One ark contained the tablets with the Ten Commandments as well as the original Torah scroll, the other contained the remains of Joseph. The people paid Joseph a tremendous compliment by carrying both arks side by side, since this conveyed the idea that "this one (Joseph) observed what is recorded in the other one (Torah)." The ark was carried on the shoulders (בכתף ישאו, Numbers 7,9). Because of this little detail, the Midrash phrased the enthusiasm imputed to Reuben, had he been aware of the Torah's compliment to him, in the words: "He would have carried Joseph back to his father on his shoulders."

To get back to the subject of the cruse made of earthenware to be eventually exchanged for the קרן, horn. Not only will the פך be traded for a קרן in the future, but even the כף will undergo תיקון, metamorphosis, and instead of representing כף חובה, the side of the scale containing our debits, will become כף זכות, the side of the scale containing our merits. When the princes each brought their offerings on the occasion of the dedication of the Holy Tabernacle recorded in Numbers chapter 7, each one of them brought כף אחת מלאה קטורת, one spoonful of incense. The princes alluded to the תיקון, rehabilitation of original man, by each one including in their offering a bowl of silver weighing 130 (unspecified units of silver) thus alluding to the 130 years that Adam had failed to perform the commandment to be fruitful and to multiply. Rashi elaborates on this theme in Numbers 7,19. In Psalms 139,5: ותשת עלי כפכה, "You have laid Your hands upon me," we find an allusion to the diminution of man to the numerical equivalent of one hundred=כף, something caused by the serpent, as we know from Exodus 4,4 when G–d showed Moses that his staff turned into a serpent while in his כף. In the future we will witness fulfillment of Kings II 11,12: ויכו כף, ויאמרו יחי המלך, "They clapped their hands and shouted "long live the king!" (The subject dealt with is the crowning of Yoash, last surviving member of the Davidic dynasty after Athaliah had murdered all the others. Yoash's reign ushered in a rejuvenation of the kingdom of Yehudah under a king loyal to G–d and tutored by a pious High priest Yeho-yadah.) The כף in the verse quoted symbolizes the positive aspect of the word, and is an allusion to a similar event of far greater dimensions in the future. The כף full of incense, would be offered by Aaron (or his sons if suitable) in the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. The כף will be כפופה, closed, because when we are worthy we will experience the blessing of Deuteronomy 15,4 that there will not be anyone who is destitute (in need of a כף פתוחה, a handout from an open hand). The פ in that word which is open, will reflect the emotions expressed in Psalms 126,2 which deals with the return of G–d to Zion, and which describes our mouths as filled with laughter and joy.