Parshas Bamidbar

This is in the merit of my Grandmother, Esther bat Mazal. May she have a complete and speedy recovery.


Today is Yom Yerushalayim, the date the Old City was reunited. Many have the custom to recite Psalm 122:

1. A song of ascents of David. I rejoiced when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord."
2. Our feet were standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.
3. The built-up Jerusalem is like a city that was joined together within itself.
4. There ascended the tribes, the tribes of God, testimony to Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5. For there were set thrones for judgment, thrones for the house of David.
6. Request the welfare of Jerusalem; may those who love you enjoy tranquility.
7. May there be peace in your wall, tranquility in your palaces.
8. For the sake of my brethren and my companions, I shall now speak of peace in you.
9. For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I shall beg for goodness for you.


Question:
This question was asked by Mashciach, Rav Dov Moshe Lipman. Why are the results of all the censuses in this week’s parshah divisible by ten?


The Power of Flags

The second chapter of this week’s Parshah (and thus the book of Numbers) discusses the formation of the Jews’ camp in the desert and divides the twelve tribes under flags. For what reason is all this information written in the Torah, what are we to gain by learning where the tribes camped, how they traveled, and what flags they were under?

In the medrish, there is a comment by our Sages, which may help shed some light. They said:

“When G-d revealed Himself at the Mountain of Sinai, 220,000 angels descended with Him as it says ‘G-d’s entourage is twice ten thousand, thousands of angels’ [Psalms 68:18] and they all had made flags as it says ‘preeminent [from the root deled gimel lamed, the same root for flag] among ten thousand’ [Song of Songs 5:10]. The Jews [seeing how the angels served G-d with flags] began to crave to make flags [to serve G-d] and said G-d, similarly we will make flags just like [the angels’]…” (Bamidbar Rabbah 2:3).

We see that the Jewish flags corresponded to the celestial angels’ flags. But what is the significance of this parallel between the Jews and the angels? And furthermore, why would the angels have flags?! [And certainly we know G-d does not ascend or descend, He created space and time! Neither does G-d sit on thrones, etc. Everything is a metaphor, for something. Also, I do not believe that the angels had flags just like humans have flags, however since G-d cannot in any way be compared to angels, the metaphor of angels with flags cannot be compared to G-d and His Throne.]

The Ramban, who not only was a huge talmudic scholar but was also a Kabbalist, comes to our aid and revealing a surface understanding of all this, he says:

“…[The Jews] made the flags, modeled after the Chariot which Ezekiel saw [Ezekiel chapter 1 and 10], to rest the Divine Presence [in Hebrew the Shchinah] on them [the Jews] in the [physical realm] just as [the Shchinah] dwells in the [spiritual realm]…” (Ramban on Numbers 11:16).


This concept of the chariot requires further elaboration. In Ezekiel, the prophet records his vision of the Divine Chariot (as the chapter is referred to in Rabbinic literature). Most likely, the true and deepest understanding of this has been lost. What is relevant is that Ezekiel saw many angels doing all sorts of different things. From what we can understand, these angels were part of G-d’s royal escort. Thus the Ramban writes:

“…And furthermore I saw in a medrish that just as G-d created four winds in the world, similarly He surrounded His throne with four chayos [a type of angel seen by Ezekiel in chapter 1, the vision of the Chariot], and above all of [the angels] was the Throne of Glory, and corresponding to all of them G-d arranged the flags to Moses…” (Ramban on Numbers 2:2).

Both my Rav, Rabbi Mayer Pasternak, and my Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, explained that the meaning of a person being G-d’s Chariot is that such a person facilitates the revelation of G-d’s Presence in the world. However, this is still very unclear. Again, we turn to the Ramban:

“…And behold the redemption [from Egypt] was incomplete until [the Jews] came back to their place and returned to the elevated level of the Patriarchs. And when they left Egypt, even though they left slavery, they were still considered exiles because they were in a land not their own, trapped in the desert. When they came to the Mount of Sinai and made the Tabernacle and G-d returned and His Divine Presence rested among them, and the mystery of G-d rested upon their tents, and they were the Chariot, then they were considered redeemed…” (Ramban, introduction to the book of Exodus).

In Rav Chavel’s notes on this Ramban, he quotes another relevant Ramban:

“[Our Sages’] intention in their statement that the Patriarchs were the Chariot to mean that only the Patriarchs [were G-d’s Chariot], rather [it refers to] any righteous person who clings to one G-d’s characteristics… [to the extent that we say G-d has characteristics]” (Ramban, Sefer Emuna Vi-HaBitachon, chapter 15).

It would appear to me that the Ramban is saying that by emulating G-d and making ourselves resemble G-d’s actions, (and thus living the way G-d wills us to live,) we reveal G-d’s Presence in the world.


Now that we have at least some understanding of what it means for a human to be G-d’s Chariot and that the Jewish camp was organized for this purpose, we must return to the question of the flags. What was their purpose, why did even the angels have flags?

Until now, we have been discussing the concept of G-d’s Chariot on an individual level. However, I believe it is clear that the flags involved groups, just as teams or armies have flags, so did groups of angels and Jewish tribes have flags. So what is different between an individual and a group? In Parshas Lech Lecha, the Ramban gives one such difference. He explains that when the Torah says that Abraham and Isaac each called out in G-d’s name (see for example Genesis 12:8), it means that they went around teaching about G-d and His ways. He then explaining, why the Torah does not ever say that Jacob called out in G-d’s name, says:

“It did not say this with Jacob because he gave birth to many children, all servants of G-d, and it was for [Jacob] a great community named the Congregation of Israel, and [Jacob] publicized the faith among them, and they made it known to every nation…” (Ramban on Genesis 12:8).

A true congregation of G-d, by the very fact of its existence spreads G-d’s name far and wide. No active efforts are required. The influence of a unified community cannot be compared to the influence of individuals; the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. The unity around G-d is key. But if such unity brings influence, and Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky explains that the Jews were indeed unified around the Tabernacle (Emes L’Yaakov, page 413), why multiple flags which would seemingly disrupt this unity?

Rav Dessler gives a wonderful answer. He says that there are three levels of order:

1. Order for its own sake
2. Order for the sake of its results. For example, a unorganized library of 50 books can be a pain while those 50 books organized are much easier to use. And if the number of books is say 2000, unorganized, one cannot find anything without expending significant effort, but individual books can be found. When those same books are shelved neatly, they are far more useful.
3. Order for the interaction between the individual elements. This type of order is found in machines. Each part of the machine on its own has some value, a motor might be worth $100 and a small screw might be worth ten cents, and together, all the parts make the machine. However, when you remove a part, any part, regardless of its value, is useless. The machine lacking even the most insignificant component will not function at all.

Rav Dessler explains that the Jewish nation is like the third level of order. Each person, each family, each tribe, has its own purpose, and even its own priorities. The flags order the camp so all the groups keep to their purpose. Thus Rav Dessler writes:

“Each tribe camped under its own banner, as the [medrish] says. so that ‘each could be recognized independently:[Rueben]distinct from [Simon] and [Simon] distinct from [Rueben].’ And yet all were grouped in a unified scheme around the Mishkan. They were able to combine according to their individual natures and environments with the utmost precision. There was a precise significance in their grouping…” (Strive for Truth, volume 1, page 264, by Rav Eliyahu E. Dessler, translated by Rav Aryeh Carmell).

Similarly, all the angels have their own unique purposes, and hence their own flags.

May we merit for G-d to give us our unique portion in His Torah.


The Ramban http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/rabbis/ramban.htm
Rav Dessler http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/rabbis/dessler.htm


Have a good Shabbas,
Mordechai