[Par-lite] For Parshat Bamidbar
Menachem Leibtag
tsc at bezeqint.net
Wed May 21 11:56:38 EDT 2014
This week's TSC shiurim are donated in memory
of Shmuel Aharon Ashkenazie ....
"ha'ish hakasher vehayshar beenav rav pealim
Gomel hasadim" .
niftar be 24 iyar. Yehi zichro Baruch.
*********************************************
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THE TANACH STUDY CENTER
[http://www.tanach.org]
In Memory of Rabbi Abraham Leibtag
Shiurim in Chumash & Navi by Menachem
Leibtag
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PARSHAT BAMIDBAR
The twelve tribes are listed numerous
times in Chumash,
yet for some reason, each time that they are
listed in Parshat
Bamidbar - their order seems to change!
In this week's shiur, we attempt to
explain why.
PART I - THE ORDER OF THE SHVATIM
In Parshat Bamidbar, the "shvatim"
[tribes] are listed in
three different instances - when the Torah
discusses:
(A) The LEADERS (see 1:5-15);
(B) The actual CENSUS of the shvatim
(1:20-43);
(C) Their ARRANGEMENT surrounding the
Mishkan
(see 2:1-31).
Based on these three sources, the
following table
compares the order of the shvatim in each
respective list.
[A star -*- next the name of a tribe will
note a significant
change from one list to the next:]
# (A) (B) (C)
1) Reuven Reuven * Yehuda
2) Shimon Shimon * Yisachar
3) Yehuda * Gad * Zevulun
4) Yisachar Yehuda Reuven
5) Zevulun Yisachar Shimon
6) Ephraim Zevulun Gad
7) Menashe Ephraim Ephraim
8) Binyamin Menashe Menashe
9) Dan Binyamin Binyamin
10) Asher Dan Dan
11) Gad Asher Asher
12) Naftali Naftali Naftali
Review each of these lists, noting how
(and where) the
order changes from one list to the next.
Before we suggest a
reason for these changes, let's begin by
explaining what each
list is about.
THE COMPARISON
The first list - column (A) - appears to
be the most
logical. Note how the leaders of each tribe
are presented:
First - the children of Leah (eldest
first),
Then - the children of Rachel,
Then - the children of the 'shfachot' (the
maidservants)
(Bilha & Zilpa).
The second list (when the census is
taken) - column (B) -
is almost identical, but with one very
peculiar change: GAD
has 'moved up' from position #11 to position
#3!
For no obvious reason, it appears as though
Gad has been
'adopted' by the children of Leah.
In the third list (when the shvatim are
organized
surrounding the Mishkan) - column (C) - we
find once again
that Gad is placed with "bnei Leah".
However, this time we
find yet another very peculiar change: The
tribes of Yehuda,
Yisachar, and Zevulun - the YOUNGEST children
of Leah - have
'jumped' to the top of list (i.e. ahead of
their older
brothers Reuven and Shimon)! Even though
there is not obvious
reason for this change, we should expect it
to be significant,
for this final list reflects the actual
formation in which
Bnei Yisrael travel through the desert on
their journey to
Eretz Canaan (see Bamidbar 10:13-28).
With this in mind, we will now attempt
to explain the
logic of this 're-organization' by
considering the purpose of
the Mishkan, and its strategic location
within the camp of
Bnei Yisrael.
DIVINE DIVISION
Recall God's original commandment to
Bnei Yisrael
concerning the purpose of the Mishkan:
"v'assu li MIKDASH v'shachanti b'TOCHAM"
"They shall make for a sanctuary that I
may dwell
AMONG THEM..." (see Shmot 25:8)
Note how this pasuk could be understood as
a commandment as
well - i.e. to erect the Mishkan in the
CENTER of the camp.
Therefore, to enable this placement, the
twelve tribes are
divided into FOUR DIVISIONS. In this manner,
the Mishkan will
be surrounded equally in all four directions
(East, South,
West, and North) by groups of three tribes
each. In other
words, to create four 'divisions' from twelve
tribes, the
shvatim must be divided into four groups of
THREE tribes each.
However, each group of three also requires
a leader -
therefore four leadership tribes must be
chosen, one for each
division.
Now we must explain which tribes are chosen
to lead these
four groups (and why)?
As family leadership is the
responsibility of the "bchor"
- the first born son - we find that the four
leadership
"shvatim" are simply the four sons of Yaakov
who possess a
certain aspect of being the 'first born' -
namely: Reuven,
Yehuda, Ephraim and Dan. Let's explain why.
REUVEN
Reuven was the first son born to Leah,
therefore, his tribe
obviously becomes one of the leaders.
YEHUDA
Recall from Sefer Breishit, that because of
Reuven's sin
(taking the maidservant of his father/ see
Br. 35:22), Yaakov
decided to award the family leadership to a
different son. As
Shimon & Levi had also angered their father
(at the incident
at Shechem/ see Br. 34:30), Yehuda was chosen
as the family
leader for the children of Leah.
[See also Yaakov's blessing to his children
in 49:3-12 &
Divrei Hayamim I 5:1-2!]
EFRAIM
Even though Leah was Yaakov's first wife to
bear children,
he still considered Rachel as his 'primary'
wife. Therefore,
Rachel's first child - Yosef - is also
considered a "bechor".
In fact, at his deathbed blessing to Yosef,
Yaakov awards him
with a 'double portion' (see Breishit 48:5),
the portion set
aside for the first born son. However,
because of this
'double portion', both of Yosef's sons -
Efraim and Menashe -
are considered as tribes. Even though we may
have expected
the "bechora" to be granted to Menashe, as he
was the eldest
son of Yosef, Yaakov awarded the "bechora" of
the children of
Rachel to Efraim instead, as explained in
Breishit 48:17-19.
DAN
The children of the "shfachot"
[maidservants] also became
an integral part of Yaakov's family, and
therefore, the
firstborn of these children is also awarded
the status of
"bechora". Dan becomes the obvious choice,
as he is the first
born of Bilha, the "shifcha" of Rachel, the
first maidservant
to give Yaakov a child.
[Note that the four leadership positions are
divided
equally between Yaakov's two wives: Rachel -2
and Leah -2.]
WHO BELONGS WITH EACH LEADER
Once these four leadership tribes have
been designated,
each must be joined by two additional tribes
in order to form
the necessary four groups of three.
Considering that the leaders are chosen
based on the first
born children of Yaakov's wives, it is only
logical that each
leader should be joined by his closest
brothers.
Therefore:
* Reuven should be joined by Shimon and
Levi, his two
younger brothers. However, Levi has a 'new
job' and must
encamp in closer proximity to the Mishkan
(see Bamidbar
chapter 3). Thus, Reuven is joined only by
Shimon and remains
one tribe 'short'.
* To make Yehuda's group complete, he is
joined by his two
younger brothers: Yisachar and Zevulun.
* Efraim, the "bechor" of the 'house of
Rachel', is joined
by his brother Menashe, and his uncle
Binyamin, (Rachel's
youngest son). Thus, the group of "bnei
Rachel" - is also
complete.
* Dan should be the leader for all of
children of the
shfachot, i.e. his brother Naftali, and the
two children of
Zilpa: Gad and Asher. However, had this been
the case, his
group would have too many for it totals four!
Therefore,
Dan's group has one 'extra' tirbe.
Considering that Reuven is 'short' one
tribe and Dan has
one too many, it is only logical that one of
Dan's 'extras'
moves to Reuven's group. For this reason,
Gad 'moves' from
his 'home camp' to join the camp of Reuven.
But why was specifically Gad chosen?
Naftali remains with Dan, for he is
Dan's full brother.
Therefore, we are left to choose between Gad
and Asher, the
two children of Zilpa. One could suggest
that Gad is chosen
for he is the eldest son of Zilpa, and hence
given the
'privilege' to join the camp of Reuven, while
his younger
brother Asher remains with the camp of Dan.
HOW THEY TRAVELLED
Now that we have explained how and why
the tribes are
organized into four groups, we must explain
the direction in
which they travel (as detailed in Bamidbar
2:3,10,18,25):
EAST - Yehuda, Yisachar, and Zevulun
[Bnei Leah]
SOUTH - Reuven, Shimon, and Gad [Bnei
Leah +Gad]
WEST - Ephraim, Menashe, and Binyamin
[Bnei Rachel]
NORTH - Dan, Naftali, and Asher [Bnei
ha'Shfachot]
As Bnei Yisrael must now travel from Har
Sinai (through
the desert) toward Eretz Canaan, the basic
direction of travel
is eastward. Therefore the camp in the East
travels first.
It would appear that Yehuda is chosen for
this direction
because of his leadership qualities. Recall
that he was
originally chosen by Yaakov for his
leadership (he took
responsibility for Binyamin), and later they
are known for
their strong army (see Yehoshua chapters
14->15).
The group of Reuven follows (to the
south), as they are
the other tribes from Leah. Efraim follows
(to the west), as
he leads the children of Rachel. As we would
expect, the
children of the "shfachot" (led by Dan)
travel last.
With this background, we can now return
to our original
question and explain the logic behind the
three conflicting
orders of the shvatim:
LIST (A) - The Leaders
The presentation of tribal leaders (A)
follows the most
logical order: by mother/ by birth, i.e. the
children of Leah
- followed by the children of Rachel -
followed by the
children of the shfachot.
[For some reason, the children of the
shfachot are not
listed by the order of their birth. It
seems that
Naftali must always be last, and Asher
precedes Gad for
he will remain within the camp of "bnei
ha'shfachot."]
LIST (B) - The Census
The census (B) follows basically the same
order as (A),
however it already reflects the 'transfer' of
shevet Gad into
the camp of Reuven, placing him in the
position of Levi (#3).
Most likely, this is because this census will
be the basis for
the organization of the tribes into groups of
three.
LIST (C) - Surrounding the Mishkan
The organization of the shvatim around the
Mishkan (C)
reflects not only Gad's new position within
the camp of
Reuven, but also Yehuda's leadership role in
travel formation,
for he is destined to be the leader of all
the shvatim. [See
Breishit 49:10 - "lo yasur shevet
m'yudah..."] Therefore, this
list begins with Yehuda, followed by the
tribes of his camp,
then Reuven and his camp, etc. etc.
Up until this point, our discussion has
been rather
technical. In Part II, we discuss this
significance of this
special manner by which the tribes encamped
around the
Mishkan.
PART II - WHEN AND WHY
The opening pasuk of Parshat Bamidbar
informs us that
this organization of the shvatim and the
census took place on
the first day of Iyar (in the second year,
see 1:1). However,
in the details of the Mishkan's dedication
ceremony, as
recorded Parshat Naso, we find an apparent
contradiction.
Let's explain.
Recall how Parshat Naso describes the
dedication of the
Mishkan with special korbanot offered by the
"nsiim" [the
tribal leaders], that took place during the
first twelve days
of Nisan (see 7:12-83). However, when you
review the list of
"nsiim", you'll notice that their order is
exactly the same as
the order of list (C)!
In other words, the order by the which the
"nsiim" offered
their korbanot (on the first of Nisan), was
exactly the same
as the order by which the tribes encamped
around the Mishkan,
as established on the first of Iyar.
This proves that the special order of the
tribes (C) already
existed on the first of Nisan, a month before
the census was
taken on the first of Iyar! This suggests
that this order was
already significant, even before Bnei Yisrael
prepared for
travel to Eretz Canaan!
To explain why, we must recognize that this
special
organization of the shvatim served a double
purpose - both
military and spiritual:
* MILITARY - To prepare the camp for
travel in military
order, in anticipation of their conquest of
Eretz Canaan.
* SPIRITUAL - To emphasize to the entire
nation that the
Mishkan is located at the CENTER of the camp,
in order that
they recognize the God's SHCHINA dwells among
them.
Let's explain why:
(1) The census in Parshat Bamidbar is of
military nature, for
it counted all the males above the age of
twenty - "kol yotze
tzava b'Yisrael" - because they will be
fighting the battle to
conquer Eretz Canaan (see 1:3).
Furthermore, the subsequent organization of
the twelve
tribes into four divisions, was also of a
military nature.
Finally, the census is taken on the first of
Iyar, for only 20
days later Bnei Yisrael will actually leave
Har Sinai (see
10:11) and begin their journey to conquer
Eretz Canaan.
(2) One month earlier, when the Mishkan was
dedicated, we
find that this same order of the shvatim
already existed.
This implies that even before the census, the
camp of Bnei
Yisrael had already been organized in a
manner so that the
Mishkan would be located at its center. To do
so, it was
necessary to divide the twelve tribes into
four groups of
three, with each group flanking the Mishkan
in a different
direction.
This would imply that even when Bnei
Yisrael were still
encamped at Har Sinai, it was already
important that they be
reminded (by placing the Mishkan at the
center) that God's
presence was in their midst, and act
accordingly.
THE SHCHINA RETURNS
To appreciate the additional importance
of the location
of the Mishkan at the center of the camp, we
should also
consider the events which took place after
"chet ha'Egel" -
the sin of the Golden Calf.
Recall that in response to "chet
ha'Egel", God had
instructed Bnei Yisrael to remove their
'crowns' that they had
received at Har Sinai (see Shmot 33:5-6), a
sign that He is
removing His shchina from their midst. For
the very same
reason, God then instructed Moshe to move his
tent (the site
where God speaks to Moshe) OUTSIDE the camp:
"And Moshe took the Tent, and pitched it
OUTSIDE the
camp, at a FAR DISTANCE from the camp, and
called it
'OHEL MOED', then whoever sought God would
have to go
to the 'Ohel Moed' located OUTSIDE the
camp." (Shmot
33:7)
The very location of this "ohel moed"
[tent of meeting]
OUTSIDE the camp served as a constant
reminder to Bnei Yisrael
that God had removed His shchina from their
midst. In order
for His shchina to return, it was necessary
for Bnei Yisrael
to build the Mishkan:
"And they shall build for Me a Mishkan, and
I will
DWELL IN THEIR MIDST [v'shachanti
b'TOCHAM]" (see
Shmot 25:8)
Therefore, the re-organization of the
camp of Bnei
Yisrael in such a manner that the Mishkan is
located at its
center serves as a sign to the people that
God has indeed
returned His shchina to the camp.
Because of its significance, a 'remnant'
of this camping
arrangement of the tribes 'around the
Mishkan' continued even
after the forty years in the desert, when
Bnei Yisrael finally
conquer and settle the land.
To explain how and why, we must consider
the blessing of
Moshe Rabeinu in Parshat v'Zot ha'Bracha to
the tribe of
Binyamin:
"And to Binyamin he said: "ydid Hashem
-yishkon l'vetach
alav..." [the dear tribe of God - upon
whose territory His
Presence will dwell... ] (see Devarim
33:12).
For this reason, Chazal consider the tribe
of Binyamin as
"nachlat shchina" [the territory of God], for
it is destined
to house the Bet ha'Mikdash.
If so, then the following parallel emerges.
Recall from Sefer Yehoshua, that when the
tribes receive
their "nachalot" (as described in chapters
13->19), we find a
very similar configuration!
IN THE DESERT IN ERETZ YISRAEL
Dan Efraim
| |
Efraim -Mishkan- Yehuda| Dan -Binyamin-
Reuven
| |
Reuven Yehuda
Note how in both configurations the site
of the SHCHINA -
be it the Mishkan in the desert, or the
Mikdash in "nachalat
Binyamin" - is surrounded by the same four
'leadership'
tribes! [The directions have simply rotated
90 degrees (and
inverted).]
One could suggest that the Torah
dedicates such minute
detail to this manner of travel, to emphasize
how the Mishkan
serves this double purpose:
1) It acts as a symbol of God's presence
within the camp of
Israel (see Shmot 25:8 and above), and...
2) It functions as a constant reminder to
Bnei Yisrael, as
they travel, of their Divine purpose.
As Bnei Yisrael prepare their departure
from Har Sinai
towards the conquest of the Land of Israel,
they will face new
challenges. For example:
Can they translate what they have learned
at Har Sinai into
the norms of the daily life of a nation?
Will they be capable of fulfilling the
mundane tasks of
fighting battles, establishing a nation, and
cultivating the
land etc., while at the same time remaining
on the spiritual
level of Har Sinai?
This week, as we celebrate Yom
Yerushalayim, this
challenge takes on special significance. Can
we, the nation
of Israel, continue our battle for
Yerushalayim and the
mundane chore of maintaining a secure and
prosperous state,
without compromising on the spiritual ideals
of Har Sinai?
Can we maintain Yerushalayim not only as
a unified capital
city, but also as a city characterized by
"tzedek u'mishpat"
(justice and righteousness)?
Although the Bet-Mikdash, the symbol of
this challenge, was
destroyed some two thousand years ago - both
Parshat Bamidbar
and Yom Yerushalayim can serve as a yearly
reminder of this
eternal challenge.
shabbat shalom,
menachem
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