יִפְקֹ֣ד יְהוָ֔ה אֱלֹהֵ֥י הָרוּחֹ֖ת לְכָל־בָּשָׂ֑ר אִ֖ישׁ עַל־הָעֵדָֽה׃
“Nawa'y magtalaga ang Walang-Hanggan, ang Diyos ng mga espiritu ng lahat ng laman, ng isang lalaki na mamumuno sa kapulungan,
Kedushat Levi
Numbers 27,16. “let the Lord, source of the breath of all flesh , appoint someone over the community."
We abide by a rule that when we observe someone who does not carry out all of G’d commandments, that we search for a legitimate reason for such a person’s failure to have ignored G’d’s decrees. In other words, we give such a person the benefit of the doubt as long as this is reasonable. The best known excuses made for such people who do not observe G’d’s laws with the same degree of perfection as do the angels, is that they are so involved in having to secure their livelihood that this is the reason they are sometimes lax in observing G’d’s commandments.
Moses’ appeal to G’d in the verse quoted above is based on this argument that due to the need for human beings to toil in order to earn their livelihood, they are at a disadvantage when competing with the angels about who can serve G’d best. G’d being the G’d who has complete insight into each individual’s mind, רוח, “spirit, surely is aware of man’s difficulties. He is aware of the fact that G’d therefore looks for reasons to interpret Israel’s failures benevolently, treat them as existentialist problems of all creatures who live on earth.
We abide by a rule that when we observe someone who does not carry out all of G’d commandments, that we search for a legitimate reason for such a person’s failure to have ignored G’d’s decrees. In other words, we give such a person the benefit of the doubt as long as this is reasonable. The best known excuses made for such people who do not observe G’d’s laws with the same degree of perfection as do the angels, is that they are so involved in having to secure their livelihood that this is the reason they are sometimes lax in observing G’d’s commandments.
Moses’ appeal to G’d in the verse quoted above is based on this argument that due to the need for human beings to toil in order to earn their livelihood, they are at a disadvantage when competing with the angels about who can serve G’d best. G’d being the G’d who has complete insight into each individual’s mind, רוח, “spirit, surely is aware of man’s difficulties. He is aware of the fact that G’d therefore looks for reasons to interpret Israel’s failures benevolently, treat them as existentialist problems of all creatures who live on earth.
Kedushat Levi
Another way of interpreting the verse commencing with the words: יפקוד ה' אלוקי הרוחות לכל בשר, understands Moses as referring to G’d in His capacity of bestowing His largesse on all His creatures be they in the celestial regions, such as the seraphim (angels of the highest category) or the chayot, (angels of a slightly lower category) [the word רוחות referring to disembodied spirits. Ed.] These “spirits” in turn are viewed as transmitting of the largesse they have received from G’d directly, to inhabitants of the lower regions of the universe, primarily to Israelites. G’d Himself is perceived as having ensured that His largesse will be channeled to the Israelites via these angels. Moses requests that the transmission of G’d’s largesse be in the form that the Israelites can appreciate and make full use of. This is why he emphasizes G’d’s capacity of being G’d of all flesh, i.e. אלוקי הרוחות לכל בשר. Seeing that this בשר, “flesh,” i.e. human beings is a composite of flesh and spirit, he appeals to G’d to tailor the channeling of His largesse with this consideration in mind. The new leader that is to be appointed for the Jewish people with his own departure from the scene should also be one who is fully appropriate for this congregation. He should be someone familiar with the peoples’ strengths as well as their weaknesses.
When we interpret the paragraph in this vein we can understand the word לאמור in the line: וידבר משה אל ה' לאמור in verse 15, as any reader is bound to wonder about the meaning of this word. Did Moss give G’d instructions to relay his words to someone and if so to whom? Our author therefore sees in the word לאמור in that line a request by Moses to provide suitable leaders for the Jewish people not only during the generation following him, but to all the generations throughout history.
When we interpret the paragraph in this vein we can understand the word לאמור in the line: וידבר משה אל ה' לאמור in verse 15, as any reader is bound to wonder about the meaning of this word. Did Moss give G’d instructions to relay his words to someone and if so to whom? Our author therefore sees in the word לאמור in that line a request by Moses to provide suitable leaders for the Jewish people not only during the generation following him, but to all the generations throughout history.