In this week’s Torah portion, of the many occurrences that take place, there is one episode in particular worthy of discussion. As the entire Jewish nation was journeying through the desert and was on its way to entering the land of Israel, two and a half tribes (Reuven, Gad, and half of Menashe) of the twelve national tribes decided that they did not want a share in the land of Israel. They felt that they needed to settle in the land on the east bank of the Jordan. When they approached Moshe about their request he grew angry with them. Moshe believed that, instead of aiding the rest of the nation in the conquest of Israel, they wanted to abandon their brethren. He was also afraid that this decision of theirs might influence other tribes to back out of the war as well and forget about entering the land altogether. [Numbers: 32: 1-15]
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At the end of this week’s parshah, we read about the ending of Moshe’s (Moses’) career as leader of the Jewish people. In the same conversation that God tells Moshe about his impending death, God also tells Moshe to appoint Joshua as the new leader of the nation. The Torah then describes the whole ceremony in which Moshe assigns Joshua as the new leader of the Jews. Immediately after this, however, the next chapter seems to discuss something totally unrelated. At this point the Torah begins a long description of all the different sacrifices offered in the Temple at different times of the year (e.g. Sabbath and the Festivals). So, what is the connection between Moshe’s appointment of Joshua and the sacrifices?
Let us examine the chapter dealing with the sacrifices on its own. We may ask: Is there a particular order between the various sacrifices listed in this section of the Torah?
The chapter opens up with a discussion of the daily sacrifice brought to the temple. Therefore, once the Torah details the daily offering, it then goes on to describe the weekly (Sabbath) offering, then the monthly offering, and eventually the annual offerings that were offered during all the special days of the year. Clearly, the chapter discusses the sacrifices according to the gradual increase of time-spans throughout the year: Day, Week, Month, and Year.
Let us say that the focus of the chapter is its opening: the daily offering. And therefore, once the Torah has mentioned the daily offering, it then goes on to discuss the sacrifices associated to the other time-spans of the year. According to this assumption, the Torah juxtaposes Joshua’s appointment not to the sacrifices (in general), but to the daily offering (in particular). Therefore, to rephrase our above question: What is the connection between Moshe’s appointment of Joshua and the daily offering in the Temple?
The actual name for the daily offering is the Tamid offering. Tamid is Hebrew for “continual” or “constant”, which makes sense because the daily offering is brought continuously, i.e. every day. No matter what may happen, even when the Sabbath or a Festival occurs, the Tamid sacrifice is always offered in the temple. Therefore, we can say that the Tamid sacrifice symbolizes constancy; something that never changes.
The Torah clearly states “Never again will there arise in Israel a prophet like Moshe” [Deuteronomy: 34: 10] Moshe, by far, had reached the highest spiritual summit anyone could ever achieve, to the point where he literally spoke with God “face to face”. Losing a leader like Moshe was certainly devastating and it would most definitely serve a great blow to the nation, on both a national and individual level. There were certainly many who felt that losing a spiritual leader like Moshe would affect their service to God. They would no longer have that same role model in their lives as a living inspiration to help them grow spiritually and it would ultimately lead to a distinct change in their religious service.
However, this of course was untrue. Although the nation may have lost their leader, nothing should change in their connection to God. This is precisely why the Torah places the Tamid offering immediately after the transmission of Moshe’s leadership to Joshua. It was to represent that just as the Tamid sacrifice is a symbol for consistency and stability, so too the Jews would remain consistent and stable in their service to God even after losing their cherished leader.
Throughout our lives we gain great amounts of inspiration from family members, friends, and role models that we have established strong relationships with. But all too often, we have to move on from these special relationships due to many different reasons. However, we should never think that being without these people in our day-to-day lives forces us to change our characters and values in any way. Although, they may not be with us forever, the lessons they may have taught us and the tremendous influence they may have bestowed upon us will remain throughout our lives and ultimately lead us to increase our awareness and connection to God. May we all be able to recognize the true role models in our lives and seek inspiration from them on a continual basis.
Good Shabbos,
NZL
A very peculiar episode occurs in this week’s parshah. In chapter 21, the Torah tells us that upon journeying through the desert:
“The people spoke against God and Moses: ‘Why did you bring us up from Egypt to die in this wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul is disgusted with the insubstantial food!’ Hashem (God) sent the fiery serpents against the people and they bit the people. A large multitude of Israel died. The people came to Moses and said ‘we have sinned, for we have spoken against Hashem and you! Pray to Hashem that He remove from us the serpent’, Moses prayed for the people. Hashem said to Moses ‘Make for yourself a fiery serpent and place it on a pole, and it will be that anyone who was bitten will look at it and live.’ ” [Numbers: 21: 5-8]
Firstly, what was so great about the nation’s sin that it warranted such a great plague? Secondly, what is the symbolism behind the nation’s punishment? Why did Hashem specifically send down a serpent to carry out the plague? And thirdly, how do we understand the prescribed remedy for the plague? What is the meaning behind the fake serpent on the pole?
The primary event in this week’s parshah is the revolt that is held against Moshe and Aharon. Led by a man named Korach, the rebellion stemmed from jealousy towards Moshe and Aharon because of their elevated status among the nation (Moshe was the nation’s leader and Aharon was the high priest). The following verse depicts Korach’s statement to Moshe and Aharon:
“… the entire assembly all of them are holy and Hashem (God) is among them, so why do you exalt yourselves over the congregation of Hashem?” [Numbers: 16: 3]
Korach believed that every individual in the entire nation was on the same spiritual plane, and that no one should be more privileged than anyone else. At first glance, his logic seems well in place. Everybody in the nation does have his or her part to play and no one should be considered superior in any way. But from the great divine punishment that befell these rebels, it is clear that Korach’s argument was indeed flawed. So what was the root of his error?
