With The Commentary of the RABAM
Bamidbar = In the Wilderness; no charts, lost, wandering for years - too busy fighting Moses to find the map. Probably he lost it, it wasn’t us! The first Parshas in Sefer Bamidbar (Numbers), detailing the counting of all males by family, clan, and tribe, excluding the Eirev-rav, and separating the Levites and Kohanim.
Midbar = Wilderness. But ‘midbar’ also suggests 'to speak', 'to say', and 'to lead' - all meanings derived from the shoresh (root) D.B.R. - Dalet Beys Resh. So by extension, bamidbar can mean ‘to be spoken to, to be lead by speech’ (passive verb formation).
The wilderness is where Bnei Yisroel were lead by, and accepted, both Torah (the law) and Shechina (the Presence). Only here, according to a medrash, was there such achdus (unity) that the people merited Matan Torah the receiving of the law.
Unity, on what is this based? In Parshas Yitro it says that the people encamped (vayichan – singular form of the verb) before the mountain, which Chazal explain as being of ‘one heart and one mind’. Chazal had perhaps a nasty sense of humour. One heart one mind? Hoo ha! For forty years the Bnei Yisroel didn’t stop quarreling! Some achdus! Bitches!
One could, however, argue that disputation is a part of Torah she ba’al peh (the spoken law), the verbal transmission necessary for comprehensive ‘doing of Torah and harkening of Torah’; na’aseih ve nishmah = we shall do and we shall harken (Shemos, Parshas Mishpatim, 24:7 “Vayikach sefer ha beris va yikra be aznei ha am va yomru 'kol asher diber Adonai na'ase ve nishma.” - He (Moses) took the book of the covenant, and recited read aloud) in the hearing of the people, and they said 'all that the LORD said will we do and obey.)
With only the Torah she biktav (written law) and without the verbal component, much validity is lacking, certainly much understanding. As it says in the Shma Yisroel (BaMidbar, Parshas Naso, Possook 6:7) “Ve dibarta bam be shivteicha, be beiseicha, u ve lechteicha ba derech, u ve shachbeicha u ve kumecha – And you shall speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk along the road, and when you lie down and get up.
So dispute, argue, quarrel. Discuss among yourselves. How else can you learn? Just don’t you dare ever disagree with me.
Eirev rav = The mixed (eirev) multitudes (rav) who come out of Egypt with the descendants of Jacob; fellow-travelers, representing both the best and worst among the goyim, including both the righteous AND that bunch of hosers whom many prefer to blame for the Eigel HaZahav (Golden Calf).
In this week's Parsha, Bamidbar, there isn't all that much that happens. You may want to take advantage and catch up on your sleep, so long as your snoring isn't louder than the Rabbi's.
“Catch up on sleep” = chap a shluf, and be wide awake after tsholent. Opportunity!
In the Parsha, the tribes are counted, one by one -- all the males -- as the Bnei Yisroel's ability to make war is gauged. But the Bnei Layvee, we are told, are not to be counted amongst the rest of the nation, as they shall not be soldiers, but should instead serve as the spiritual frontline through their activities within the Priesthood.
Counting the fighting men, preparing for war, and organizing into ranks. Plus very nice banners in all colours of the rainbow, suitable for parades and pep rallies.
Bnei Levi = The Levites, who have a monopoly on temple service. Why? Some explain the separation of the Kohainim (a particular lineage of the Bnei Levi) and Layviyim as reflecting a foreign element; the name 'Moses' is distinctly Egyptian, and Moses survived when other newborn males did not, which suggests a non-Jewish element and the active involvement of interested parties from outside the tribe - Moses was raised and educated by Egyptians to boot. Others would argue that precisely because he was set apart and survived symbolically means that he and his kin are to be separated, as priests among a priestly nation.
Now I know where the ultra-Orthodox in Israel get the inspiration!
Certainly, the Reboinoisheloilum intends that one tribe should tend to the moral fiber, maintain the facilities, carry out the practices of the spiritual institutions, and suck up all the booty in the national coffers, while the rank and file get shot at.
Ultra-Orthodox, who refer to themselves as Hareidi, meaning the ones who tremble (in awe of the Aimishteh), who consider non-orthodox variants of Judaism to be eccentric and heretical. They be holier than thou, and daren’t thou forgettest. Both a blessing and a curse.
The Brisker Rov (Yoshua Loib Ben Benyamin Diskin, 1818 – 1898, onetime rabbi of Brest-Litovsk, hence the appellation) maintained that any Jewish activity in the Holy Land should accord ONLY with the commandments, and quotes the Rambam’s statement in discussing the halachois of shmita and yoivel that those who dedicate themselves to Toirah should be entirely supported by klal Yisroel.
The tribe of Levi were not fighters, but had charge of the stylish furniture and lovely cloths and draperies of the tent of meeting, along with nice decorative touches and beautiful art objects. For the maintenance of which they were paid handsomely on a retainer-basis by each of the other tribes.
Based on the Haluchois of Milchemess Mitzvah as understood by the RAMBAM, I personally believe that the ultra-Orthodox should never be exempt from serving in the army. Indeed, the Aimishteh needs every possible warrior in Eretz Yisroel, since the Toirah is opposed to any sort of compromise with our enemies. No political agreements are possible. And even if we could, why should we?
Haluchois = Halachos; Laws, rules.
Milchemes Mitzvah = A war which is a commandment; also an obligatory war (milchemes chovah).
According to the Shulchan Aruch (the Set Table, a codification of Halacha by Yosef Karo, 1488 - 1575), when one has good reason to believe that the enemy will invade or strike, one must attack. This presupposes several things: an enemy, land, and conflict; it also presupposes that there have been good faith efforts to engage the other side in dialogue which have already failed, and that there will be loss of life if one does not act.
According to the Rambam (Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon), the enemy must accept, or be forced to accept, Jewish sovereignty over the Holy Land. See the ‘Laws of Kings’.
How can you have sovereignty without living in the land? The Ramban (Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman) says that living (and using in a positive manner - mere squatting is not enough) in the land is a commandment (the Rambam disagrees, and does not list living in the land as a mitzvah in his Sefer HaMitzvos), and states further that none of the land can be surrendered to Amalek - not one dunam (one thousand square metres, not an inch, is negotiable, wherefore any occupation of any part of the Holy Land by Goyim qualifies as an invasion (and if so for the land, how much more so for the Ir Ha Koidesh, Yerushalayim?). One must ‘conquer it, and not abandon it to the nations’.
The Rambam disagrees - if they have accepted Jewish sovereignty, and the authority of the 'Noahide laws' (a debatable intellectual construct by the mediaeval Rabbis, for which there is scant supporting material), then they cannot be expelled from land that they have come into peacefully – de facto, they are ‘ger toshav’ (resident non-Jews who adhere to a certain minimum of acceptable Jewish practices, in the narrowest sense by being peaceful and contributing to Israeli society).
But if instead of being a peaceful member of society, the stranger become a rodef (pursuer, oppressor, one who threatens the life of another by his actions), then one is, according to a gemara in Mesekhes Sanhedrin required to use any means necessary (but no more than necessary) to prevent death or danger to the nirdaf (victim).
Use of excessive force, however, changes everything – for Hashem sides with the oppressed.
In order not to be a chillul HaShem, warfare clearly requires participation by strictly observant Jews - it is not even debatable whether a milchemes mitzvah can even be waged by an army sodden with apikorsus and kofrus (heresy, unbelief).
Can an army have kedusha if there are no shomrei mitzvois (guardians of the commandments) among its ranks? Indeed, if there is more than one non-observant Jew to sixty shomrei mitzvois, it is impossible!
And as we cannot know for sure who is and who isn't properly shomer mitzvois (you want we should take their word for it?!?!), it is best to err on the safe side, and draft every single ultra-orthodox male over thirteen years of age, no exceptions! Only that way can true achdus Yisroel (unity of Jews) in the face of Amalek be achieved.
Opposed to any sort of compromise = The Ramban regards it as obligatory to hold on to every scrap of the Holy Land, without yielding and without concessions, whereas the Rambam and other Halachic authorities permit territorial flexibility in order to secure safety, especially if not doing so will cause deaths.
Contrariwise, the Satmarrer (Satmar Chassidim, after the Krulyer rebbe, Rav Yoel Teitelbaum (1887 – 1979), who became Rebbe of Satmar in Hungary in 1929, and reconstituted his community in the U.S. after the war), hold that the entire place should be given up; the Pelishtim were doing just fine, and until the Mosheach engineers his hostile takeover, no one with even a scrap of yiras shomayim should have any part of this apikorsishe state! Accordingly, the Satmarrer Rebbe denounced the nascent state of Israel in the strongest terms in 1948, as an abomination against the divine plan.
Neturei Karta go even further, and actively support the Pelishtimi enterprise. But we don’t accept their minhag, wouldn’t be caught dead in their shuls, and are this close to considering them rodef! This close!
In fact, we must never compromise with any of our enemies anywhere.
We are surrounded by them. Our neighbors. Our co-workers. The guy in the gas station. The bus driver. The newsman on TV. That little kid sitting in the shopping cart on line in front of you at Gristedes.
They are either members of your Shul, or they are anti-Semites or self-hating Jews!
Gristedes = A supermarket chain which carries kosher food. Those shrimp look awfully yummy....
How much more so in Eretz Hakoidesh. So I intend to start a letter campaign from here in my office in New York at Yeshivas Chipass Emess. No exemptions! We here in the golus will provide the spiritual safeguarding of the State, while our brethren in Eretz Yisroel must be prepared to fight to the last man.
Eretz Ha Kodesh = The land (eretz) which is holy (kodesh); The Holy Land.
Fight to the last man = Every male Israelite from bar mitzvah to the kever. In Parshas Bamidbar it is clear that only men from the age of twenty are to be counted as soldiers; what does that make the teenagers? Gofers? Baggage boys? Bitches? How Greek!
Indeed, it would not be unprecedented if we were to take over the role of spiritual safeguard. Because, also in this week's Parsha, we see the descendants of Aron Hacoihain appointed as the principal Priests of Klal Yisroel, while Moisheh Rabbeinu's descendants are relegated to support positions. Why does Aron Hacoihain get to steal away the spiritual leadership of the nation from Moisheh?
According to Reb Hai Gaon, Aron was able to engineer a boardroom takeover after securing support of several key institutional investors. But Rabeinu Tam holds that Aron won the Kehunah during the regular Wednesday night poker game in which Aron, Moisheh, Yehoshua, and Kulayv Ben Yefuneh were members.
Rav Chai Gaon = Chai Ben Sherira Ha Gaon (939 – 1038), a multi-facetted scholar who spoke both Arabic and Persian, as was necessary for leaders at that time in Bavel under the Abbasids. Rav Chai was the last great head of the Babylonian Talmudic Academies, where Jews at that time where finding it more and more difficult to maintain both lives and their intellectual standards in the face of Islamic persecution and fanaticism (Europe was any better?). One of the key ideas advocated by Rav Chai was that Jews should avoid reading philosophy and the writings of the Goyim, in order to maintain the discipline and faith necessary to be good Jews in an increasingly hostile world. On the other hand, he also opposed the use of names, amulets, and similar superstitious mumbo jumbo – these are avodah zarah, and there is no reason Jews should help gentiles destroy Bnei Yisroel.
Avodah zarah = Idolatry (strange service; the service or worship of other deities). We are commanded “Lo yiheyeh leicha elohim acherim al Panai” (You shall not possess any foreign god-thingies to My Face).
One who is witnessed in the act of avodah zarah be-mezid (intentionally), and having been warned against it, must be punished by sekilah (stoning). One who commits avodah zarah be-shogeg (unintentionally), must offer a korban chatas – a sin offering for an unintentional sin (Rambam, Hilchos Avodas Kochavim 3:1). Enablers of Avodah Zarah must be punished by malkus (lashes – a good whipping).
The Rambam states in the Yad Ha Chazaka that those who write the names of malachim (angels) on doorpost not only lose a share in the world to come (Olam Ha Ba), but erroneously take a command regarding the achdus of G-d and make it into a amulet - the act is avodah zara (Rambam, Hilchos Avodah Zarah), as are magic, and consulting fortune tellers.
But according to the RAMBAM, the Reboinoisheloilum gave Aron the Kehuna to keep him out of trouble. The last thing Klal Yisroel needed was for Aron to get involved in complex decisions. According to the Medrash Rabbah, he couldn't even program his own VCR.
“Gave Aron the Kehuna to keep him out of trouble” = In hopes that the fancy duds, and lovely decor of the mishkan, would keep him permanently distracted. “Oooh, jewels! What a darling breastplate!” Sadly, it didn't work.
Of even more concern, Aron Hacoihain led the Bnei Yisroel into the Chayt HaEygel. He was also a poor spokesman for Moisheh who never kept his rolodex up to date with key press contacts. The idea was to put the minuval in a position where he couldn't cause too much damage to himself. Or to Klal Yisroel.
Chait HaEigel = The sin of the calf. When Moishe stayed too long on the mountain, the Bnei Yisroel persuaded Aaron to make them an idol. But some mefarshim (commentators) seek to cast the larger share of the blame on the Eirev Rav, the mixed crowd that came out of Mitzrayim with the Bnei Yisroel.
Indeed, this is partly correct – some people always avoid any dealings with the doubtful crowd, and will huffily refuse to eat any of 'their hechsher', or worship 'their eichel', or commit 'their aveirah', because 'they' don't have the proper minhag, and we wouldn't be caught dead in 'their' place of worship. So not all of Klal Yisroel actively took part.
But the abstainers did not stay away from the sin of the Eigel so much as compound it with pirud ha levavos (a separation of hearts; disunity). For which, in every generation, some of the punishment for the sin of the Eigel is still exacted – those who were not guilty of the sin itself, were as guilty! guilty! guilty! as the folks dancing around the bull, whooping it up, and getting high on life in the midbar, mom, the flag, and magic-manna, damned hippies!
Aron Hacoihain led the Bnei Yisroel into the Chayt HaEygel = Aaron let himself be talked into the golden calf business; stop fixating on who thought of it – that isn’t important! What kind of a commanding officer is this? At the first sign of machloikes he caves in? Not only surrenders to the heretics, but designs the beastly thing, AND takes care of all the arrangements for the party?!?! Caters yet?!?!? That we need from our leaders? What a putz!
But, unfortunately, things did not quite work out as planned.
Case in point: the descendants of Aron finally did steal the malchus, the political leadership embodied by the kingdom of Israel, during the days of the Chashmonaim, and the result was the most corrupt regime in the history of the sovreignty of Klal Yisroel. In the generations after the miracle of Chanukah, the regime was corrupt and brutal: They abused their power, persecuted the Pharisees (the precursors of Rabbinic Judaism), and forced the religious conversions of neighboring peoples (including the father of the later-despised King Herod). These actions ultimately led to the Romans being invited into Eretz Yisroel by the opponents of the Chashmonaim.
Malchus = Kingship. The only legitimate kingship is the Davidic line, not that they were such a blessing.
Which brings us back to the ultra-Orthodox in Israel. The best thing you can say about them is they have nice, full beards. And some of those women look really hot with their heads shaved. But they don't serve in the army, they don't pay taxes, they have fourteen kids each (kenaina harah), and they use every opportunity to use their political power to their own community's advantage.
“Nice full beards” = Vayikra (Leviticus) 19:27 "Lo takifu peyat roshchem ve lo tashchit et peat zakanecha”(you shall not round the corners of your heads nor futz with the corners of your beard). Shoyn, shoyn, gnug, na’aseih ve nishmah, yada yada.
“Those women” = Tehilim (psalms 45:14) says “kol kevudah bas melech penima” (the glory of the king’s daughter is within), which is taken to mean that women should be restricted in their sphere of activity and modest in dress, even to the extent that showing their hair in public is considered immodest, bordering on harlotry - a sentiment that Saul of Tarsus wholeheartedly supports.
But why do Hareidim make their wives look like Arab men in mourning?
It is written in Yeshayah (Isaiah) 15:2 "Ala ha Bayit ve divon ha bamot le vechi al Nebo ve al medeva, moav yeyelil be chol roshav karcha kol zakan gerua" (He has gone up to Beis and to Dibon, to the high places to weep - on Nebo, and Medeba, Moab wails like banshees; on all their heads is baldness, every beard is shaven); in Yeremayah (Jeremiah) 16:6 it says “…e lo yispedu lachem velo yitgodad velo yikareach lachem” (…neither shall people lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them).
From this we know that shaving the head is a sign of mourning among the heathen in the land, and remember, we are instructed to NOT be like them.
Shaving one’s wife is open to any number of interpretations, all of them disturbing.
But on the other hand, “Hot with their heads shaved” = Smooth, shiny, round, ooooh! Yes!
Fourteen kids each = In reference to the command to be fruitful and multiply. It is a mitzvah to enjoy obeying the mitzvahs.
Kenaina harah = Kein ayn hara - (let there be) no evil eye.
“Use every opportunity” = They will vote, they won't contribute, they shall demand all manner of subsidies and special treatment - because they are holy, and without them true yiddishkeit would not survive, and you're all a bunch of nasty apikorsim polluting the tribe by getting it on with those shiksas! These boys invented guilt; usually it is to be their only stock in trade.
Perhaps we here in the golus should emulate their activities, rather than criticize them. We should refuse to pay our taxes. We should apply for every possible state benefit because they are available: welfare, medicaid, affirmative action, farm subsidies, nuclear waste management, needle exchange programs, and free school lunches (even if they are traifus!)
Golus = Exile.
Refuse to pay our taxes = Like the Bnei Levi, who were neither taxed nor drafted, but set apart to serve in the temple. Apply for every possible benefit = Remember the guilt mentioned earlier? Very useful. Levitical leverage.
Because what matters most is not the here and now -- the Oilam Hazeh. What matters most is the Oilam Habbah -- the world to come. And since none of the amhoratzim of the world -- including you, you shaygitz -- will be priveleged to join the Aimishteh in Gan Eiden, they just don't count. Only I and my closest associates will have earned the right to sit next to the Reboinoisheloilum on His heavenly throne. And if He doesn't behave Himself, we'll throw Him out too.
Amhoratzim = Several Hareidi authorities opine that those who do not obey the Rebbe (that is, the Rebbe whom they call the Rebbe, not your Rebbe) are not only amhoratzim, but also eirev rav. But others reserve that last malediction for Shinui.
“None of the Amhoratzim” = Suffice to say that only a chosen few will be allowed into Gan Eiden, in order not to devalue the property. The rest of you will have to make do with postcards and action figures (Adam, Chava, Snake, and the Cherubim With The Twisty Flaming Sword © (ha keruvim ve et lahat ha cherev ha mithapechet™); durable, non-toxic flexi-plastic, fabricated in China. Inquiries welcomed.
