Kaisipang Hudyo sa Mga Awit 68:13: Akeidat Yitzchak

Midrash Rabbah Numbers 2, comments in connection with Psalm 20,6, "we shall shout for joy and rally around our banner in the name of G'd," that at the time G'd revealed Himself to Israel at Mount Sinai to give them the Torah, twenty two thousand angels descended with Him. The Midrash quotes Psalms 68,13, as proof for its assertion. All of these angels were waving banners, flags, as it says (Song of Songs 5,11) "surrounded by myriads of banners." As soon as Israel saw these flags, they became anxious to make flags for themselves, similar to those of the angels, as it is written in Song of Songs 2,4, "He brought me to the house of wine, and waved the banner of love over me." G'd responded to this request by saying "Indeed, I shall make flags for you as you desire." It says in Psalms 20,6, "the Lord will fulfil all your requests." Immediately thereafter, G'd said to Moses: "Make flags for them just as they want." This is the meaning of "each according to his flag and his ensign."

Solomon, in Proverbs, is a leading exponent of the significance of this structure. In chapter 30,21, he says "For three things the earth does quake, four it cannot endure. A slave when he becomes king; a scoundrel sated with food; a loathsome woman who gets married and a handmaid that is heir to her mistress." He describes natural processes as being a model for mechanical, artificial processes employed in the running of a household. There are four basic forces that need to be present and employed properly to ensure that a household runs smoothly. The body requires food to ensure its proper function. To that end, 1) the food needs to be channelled to all parts of the body. 2) There has to be a storage area for this food to preserve it in prime condition until it is needed to perform its function. 3) There is need for the power to break down the food, digest it etc. 4) There is need for the power to distribute the usable part of the food and expel the unusable part from the body. One may conceive of these four mechanisms as ministers who preside over a household. As long as each minister performs his specific function, the household will run smoothly. Neglect of his duties by even one of the ministers, brings in its wake disease and eventual collapse. (see Kohelet 12,3) In the mechanically operated household, there have to be four forces corresponding to those present in the natural household, i.e. the body, in order to ensure its smooth operation. Amongst men, four categories of vocations correspond to the four categories in the household team described. There is the hunter, who ensures the availability of a food and clothing supply. There are storage experts who know how to preserve supplies in good condition until these supplies are needed. There is need for a cook, i.e. a person who knows how to prepare the food so that it is both edible and digestible; clothing has to be made fit to wear. Finally, there is need for someone to distribute food and clothing fairly to all members of the household, and to arrange for disposal of any excess or waste products. Solomon refers to the inadequacies of three of these "ministers" when he says "the earth quakes." He refers to the failure of the fourth "minister" when he describes the earth as collapsing. Having established the principle, Solomon elaborates. Concerning the failure of the first "minister," he says "when the slave becomes the ruler." The slave's function is to go out and get supplies for the house to make these available to the household members. When he remains inside, instead of performing his duties, this act of insubordination is the first link in a chain leading to the breakdown of the whole meshek, economy. Jacob sent his sons to Egypt in order to forestall such a breakdown. The second "minister," if absent or inefficient, is "a miser who claims to be sated." When the one in charge of supplies is miserly in allocating same, he endangers the well being of all those entrusted to his care. When he who always claims not to have enough, claims to have ample, that is a reversal of his traditional function and signals danger. This was Jacob's complaint when it seemed to him that his sons were delaying the return trip to Egypt unduly, appearing to consider their supplies as ample. (Genesis 43,2) The third "minister" that must not be upset, is the wife of inferior status, the concubine. When a man has more than one wife, the task of grinding, cooking and baking is generally allocated to the less favoured of his wives, whereas his favoured wife is pampered, not having to perform menial tasks. When this arrangement is upset, and the concubine competes with her rival, both being idle, the kitchen will be neglected in the process. The whole household is then threatened with collapse. The fourth "minister" is the maid. When she, instead of performing her duties of disposing of waste products etc., assumes the function of her mistress and distributes supplies to each member of the household, the household will break down in short order, since there is no one to perform the menial tasks. Moreover, as soon as distribution of the supplies is entrusted to the hands of the unqualified, the deserving will wind up getting less than their fair share, whereas the undeserving will receive more than they can usefully absorb. This undermines everyone's well being, of course.

The seven days of consecration which Aaron and his sons spent in isolation, away from their respective families, prior to assuming their priestly functions, were to prepare them spiritually for their task. While they had to remain on the threshold, they were neither to enter the sanctuary nor to leave the holy courtyard. This clearly demonstrated that these seven days were preparatory to their sacred task, but that until the eighth day their preparations would not be complete. Symbolically, these seven days represented the entire life cycle. Just as life on this earth is viewed as an antechamber to the world to come, (Rabbi Yaakov Avot 4,21) so Aaron and sons were to view themselves as dedicating themselves for their lives' destiny. Wherever and whenever we encounter the number seven, it is to remind us that perfection is capable of being achieved at the end of a cycle of seven. Even when we observe a period of mourning, we do so for a seven day period. We have learned this from G'd Himself, who had observed seven days of mourning for mankind when He brought the deluge upon the earth. (Genesis 7,4. see commentary of Rabbi Zeyra in Moed Katan 3,5) He who fails to observe the seven days of preparation, is as if he were already mourning his own demise during the seven days that should have prepared him to attain his goal, his purpose.