Parshat Bamidbar 5784
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We begin reading this week sefer Bamidbar which begins with the words, וידבר ד' אל משה במדבר סיני. The Medrash Rabbah (1, 7) teaches on this pasuk that the Torah is acquired in three ways, with fire, with water, and with the Midbar. The connection to Midbar, or desert, is that only one who makes himself hefker, ownerless, like the Midbar is capable of receiving the Torah. One has to be humble and totally subjugate himself to the word of Gd in order to receive the Torah. The simple, desolate state of the desert is the metaphor for how one must view himself in order to truly receive the Torah from Hashem.
Rav Tzadok asks, what does this Derashah have to do with parshat Bamidbar? The connection to Torah to fire and water is brought from pasukim which are not in our parsha. And even the connection to the desert would seem to be better suited for the pasuk in parshat Yisro by Matan Torah (Chapter 19, Pasuk 1), ביום הזה באו מדבר סיני. Why is this Medrash in our parsha and not in parshat Yisro?
This week’s parsha begins with a counting. And the Gemara in Yuma 68B refers to sefer Bamidbar as Chumash HaPekudim. The counting of Bnei Yisrael is definitional to the essence of this sefer in the Chumash. And what is the significance of this counting? The Zohar Hakadosh teaches that Hashem wanted to know the number of חיילין דאורייתא, soldiers of Torah, and the number of חיילין דמשכנא, soldiers of the Mishkan. In other words, how many people were worthy of receiving the Torah, and how many people were worthy of having the Shechinah reside in their midst.
In describing the counting process, the Torah states (Chapter 1, Pasuk 18), ויתילדו על משפחתם לבית אבותם. The word ויתילדו needs explanation; what does their birth have to do with counting? Rashi explains that this refers to the fact that Bnei Yisrael, when being counted, brought with them their documentation of family lineage. And the Ibn Ezra teaches that they needed to know when they were born in order to make sure they were over the age of twenty.
Rav Tzadok teaches a different p’shat. He explains that the word ויתילדו means that when Bnei Yisrael were counted, and their names and their father’s names were mentioned, they were reborn. They became a בריה חדשה. They were being noted as worthy of receiving the Torah and having the Shechinah in their midst. They achieved a new status, Rav Tzadok says they received a new Neshamah, and this new reality was confirmed by them being counted. This is why it is precisely in the beginning of Chumash HaPekudim that Chazal teach that being like a Midbar is necessary to receive the Torah.
The Mishnah in Avos (Chapter 2, Mishnah 17) teaches in the name of Rabbi Yossi,התקן עצמך ללמוד תורה שאינה ירושה לך. Prepare yourself to learn Torah, for it is not an inheritance to you. The Sfas Emes asks, how could he say it’s not an inheritance? The pasuk says explicitly (Devarim, Chapter 33, Pasuk 4),תורה צוה לנו משה מורשה קהילת יעקב. Torah is an inheritance to the descendants of Yaakov.
The Gemara in Megillah 31B teaches that Ezra established that the Kelalot, curses, of sefer Devarim should be said before Rosh Hashanah, and the Kelalot in sefer Vayikra should be said before Shavuos. The reason given is תכלה שנה וקללותיה, תחל שנה וברכותיה. Let the year’s curses end, and the new year’s blessings begin. The Gemara asks, this is certainly relevant to the end of sefer Devarim which falls out near Rosh Hashanah; but what year is ending when we read the end of Vayikra? The Gemara answers that the Mishnah in Rosh Hashanah teaches that on Shavuos the fruits of the tree, פירות האילן, are judged; Shavuos is also a Rosh Hashanah.
The Sfas Emes teaches that there is great symbolism to this. The Torah is called Eitz Chaim, as the pasuk says in Mishlei (Chapter 3, Pasuk 18), עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה. And just as the fruits of a tree regrow every year, so too on Shavuos there is a regrowth, a התחדשות of Torah. And just as we are judged every year on Shavuos whether we will receive fruits for that year, we need to make sure we partake in the regrowth of Torah which takes place every year.
This is what Rabbi Yossi is teaching us. Surely the Torah is an inheritance which belongs exclusively to Clal Yisrael. But each individual needs to prepare himself and make sure he is receiving his share in Torah. And in particular on Shavuos, when there is a regrowth of Torah, one needs to make sure he is able to receive his portion. There are no guarantees for the individual; each person has to prepare himself. And just as each member of Bnei Yisrael became a בריה חדשה upon being counted as a result of being deemed worthy to receive the Torah, so too every Shavuos we need to accept upon ourselves our share in the התחדשות of Torah.
The Gemara in Shabbos 86B teaches הכל מודים שבשבת ניתנה תורה. Everyone agrees that the Torah was given on Shabbos. Shabbos is the day when we receive a Neshamah Yeseirah, an additional soul. Shabbos is the ultimate day of renewal, which is why it was the day of Matan Torah. And every year, on Shavuos, there is another renewal of Torah and we need to make sure we are part of it. And the only way for us to continue and maintain freshness and newness in our lives is through the study of Torah. And this is why when Bnei Yisrael were counted in the desert and deemed worthy of the Torah, it was the ultimate renewal. ויתילדו על משפחתם לבית אבותם.
Good Shabbos and Good Yom Tov
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