Summary
This parasha contains a number of threads that seemingly do not connect – we begin with the instruction to Aaron about how to light the 7 branched menorah in the tent of meeting, and then Moses sprinkles the Levites with the water of purification, making them shave their bodies and wash their clothes in preparation for their ordination by Aaron in the sight of the people. The Levites were now ready to do service in the Tent of Meeting. The text then changes its focus to the observance of Pesach on the 14th day of the first month of the second year after the Exodus. Should someone be ritually unclean and unable to offer the Pesach sacrifice then, they could offer it also on the 14th day of the second month.
From the day the Tabernacle was established, the presence of God hovered over it as a cloud by day and as fire by night. And whenever the cloud lifted the Israelites would follow and make camp once the cloud settled. God instructed Moses to have two silver trumpets made to summon the people and to signal the time to break camp. The trumpets were also to be blown at times of war, and also on joyous occasions, festivals, new moons, as a reminder of God’s acts of deliverance.
The people set out from Sinai on a three day journey. They complain before God and God causes a fire to break out and destroy the outskirts of the camp. Moses prays to God and the fire dies down. They complain again, contrasting the food they ate in Egypt, in particular the meat, with the blandness of the manna. Moses is upset and cries to God that he cannot cope with such a people by himself. God tells him to gather 70 elders to help him lead the people. The appointed leaders are told to advise the people that God will give them meat to eat for a whole month until it becomes loathsome to them. When Moses asks how there could be enough animals for this, God answers “Is there a limit to God’s power?”
Two of the 70, Eldad and Medad begin to prophesy in the camp, and when this is reported to Moses he replies “Would that all God’s people were prophets, that God put the divine spirit upon them”. A wind then sweeps quail around the camp and the people gather it and eat it. While the meat was still between their teeth, God strikes them with plague and many Israelites died.
At Hatzayrot, Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses, complaining that he married a Cushite woman, and that they too are prophets of equal stature to Moses. God rebukes them saying that Moses is special “he is trusted in My household. With him I speak mouth to mouth, plainly and not in riddles, and he beholds the likeness of God”. The presence of God lifts and Miriam’s skin is snow white and scaly. Aaron pleads with God to intercede for her and Moses does so, praying “El na, r’fa na la – God please, heal her please”. God agrees Miriam must be out of the camp for only seven days, and the people wait for her to be readmitted until they leave for the wilderness of Paran.
This parasha contains a number of threads that seemingly do not connect – we begin with the instruction to Aaron about how to light the 7 branched menorah in the tent of meeting, and then Moses sprinkles the Levites with the water of purification, making them shave their bodies and wash their clothes in preparation for their ordination by Aaron in the sight of the people. The Levites were now ready to do service in the Tent of Meeting. The text then changes its focus to the observance of Pesach on the 14th day of the first month of the second year after the Exodus. Should someone be ritually unclean and unable to offer the Pesach sacrifice then, they could offer it also on the 14th day of the second month.
From the day the Tabernacle was established, the presence of God hovered over it as a cloud by day and as fire by night. And whenever the cloud lifted the Israelites would follow and make camp once the cloud settled. God instructed Moses to have two silver trumpets made to summon the people and to signal the time to break camp. The trumpets were also to be blown at times of war, and also on joyous occasions, festivals, new moons, as a reminder of God’s acts of deliverance.
The people set out from Sinai on a three day journey. They complain before God and God causes a fire to break out and destroy the outskirts of the camp. Moses prays to God and the fire dies down. They complain again, contrasting the food they ate in Egypt, in particular the meat, with the blandness of the manna. Moses is upset and cries to God that he cannot cope with such a people by himself. God tells him to gather 70 elders to help him lead the people. The appointed leaders are told to advise the people that God will give them meat to eat for a whole month until it becomes loathsome to them. When Moses asks how there could be enough animals for this, God answers “Is there a limit to God’s power?”
Two of the 70, Eldad and Medad begin to prophesy in the camp, and when this is reported to Moses he replies “Would that all God’s people were prophets, that God put the divine spirit upon them”. A wind then sweeps quail around the camp and the people gather it and eat it. While the meat was still between their teeth, God strikes them with plague and many Israelites died.
At Hatzayrot, Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses, complaining that he married a Cushite woman, and that they too are prophets of equal stature to Moses. God rebukes them saying that Moses is special “he is trusted in My household. With him I speak mouth to mouth, plainly and not in riddles, and he beholds the likeness of God”. The presence of God lifts and Miriam’s skin is snow white and scaly. Aaron pleads with God to intercede for her and Moses does so, praying “El na, r’fa na la – God please, heal her please”. God agrees Miriam must be out of the camp for only seven days, and the people wait for her to be readmitted until they leave for the wilderness of Paran.
(לג) וַיִּסְעוּ֙ מֵהַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה דֶּ֖רֶךְ שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֑ים וַאֲר֨וֹן בְּרִית־יְהוָ֜ה נֹסֵ֣עַ לִפְנֵיהֶ֗ם דֶּ֚רֶךְ שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֔ים לָת֥וּר לָהֶ֖ם מְנוּחָֽה׃ (לד) וַעֲנַ֧ן יְהוָ֛ה עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם יוֹמָ֑ם בְּנָסְעָ֖ם מִן־הַֽמַּחֲנֶֽה׃ (׆) (ס) (לה) וַיְהִ֛י בִּנְסֹ֥עַ הָאָרֹ֖ן וַיֹּ֣אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֑ה קוּמָ֣ה ׀ יְהוָ֗ה וְיָפֻ֙צוּ֙ אֹֽיְבֶ֔יךָ וְיָנֻ֥סוּ מְשַׂנְאֶ֖יךָ מִפָּנֶֽיךָ׃ (לו) וּבְנֻחֹ֖ה יֹאמַ֑ר שׁוּבָ֣ה יְהוָ֔ה רִֽבְב֖וֹת אַלְפֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (׆) (ס)
(33) They marched from the mountain of the Eternal a distance of three days. The Ark of the Covenant of the Eternal traveled in front of them on that three days’ journey to seek out a resting place for them; (34) and the Eternal’s cloud kept above them by day, as they moved on from camp. (35) When the Ark was to set out, Moses would say: Advance, O Eternal! May Your enemies be scattered, And may Your foes flee before You! (36) And when it halted, he would say: Return, O Eternal, You who are Israel’s myriads of thousands!
The two prayers of Moses -- when the ark set out and when it rested -
These prayers are contained in the scroll inside two "nun" leters written backwards.
There is a tradition that this is a book within its own right.
(כג) עַל־פִּ֤י יְהוָה֙ יַחֲנ֔וּ וְעַל־פִּ֥י יְהוָ֖ה יִסָּ֑עוּ אֶת־מִשְׁמֶ֤רֶת יְהוָה֙ שָׁמָ֔רוּ עַל־פִּ֥י יְהוָ֖ה בְּיַד־מֹשֶֽׁה׃ (פ)
(23) On a sign from the Eternal they made camp and on a sign from the Eternal they broke camp; they observed the Eternal’s mandate at the Eternal's bidding through Moses.
(יג) וַיִּסְע֖וּ בָּרִאשֹׁנָ֑ה עַל־פִּ֥י יְהוָ֖ה בְּיַד־מֹשֶֽׁה׃
(13) When the march was to begin, at the Eternal’s command through Moses,
תנו רבנן ויהי בנסוע הארון ויאמר משה פרשה זו עשה לה הקדוש ברוך הוא סימניות מלמעלה ולמטה לומר שאין זה מקומה רבי אומר לא מן השם הוא זה אלא מפני שספר חשוב הוא בפני עצמו כמאן אזלא הא דאמר רבי שמואל בר נחמן אמר רבי יונתן חצבה עמודיה שבעה אלו שבעה ספרי תורה כמאן כרבי
Apropos the portion: “And when the Ark traveled,” the Gemara cites that which the Sages taught in a baraita. It is stated: “And when the Ark traveled and Moses proclaimed: Rise up, God, and Your enemies will scatter and those who hate You will flee from before You.” And The Holy One, Blessed be He, made signs in the Torah for this portion, above and below, i.e., before and after it, in order to say that this is not its place, as the previous portion does not discuss the nation’s travels. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: It is not for that reason that signs were inserted. Rather, the signs are there because this portion is considered a book unto itself. The Gemara asks: According to whose opinion is that which Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said that Rabbi Yonatan said, that with regard to the verse: “With wisdom she built her house, she carved its seven pillars” (Proverbs 9:1), these are the seven books of the Torah? According to whose opinion? It is according to the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, as by his count there are seven books of the Torah: Genesis; Exodus; Leviticus; Numbers until: “And when the Ark traveled”; the portion: “And when the Ark traveled,” which is considered its own book; the remainder of Numbers; and Deuteronomy.
Why is it a separate book?
Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel disagreed with Rabbi Yehuda haNasi. The talmud records him as saying it is not in its proper place yet in the torah - As it was taught in a baraita that Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: In the future, this portion will be uprooted from here, where it appears, and will be written in its proper place. And why was it written here, even though it discusses the travels of the children of Israel, and the portion before it does not? It is in order to demarcate between the first punishment and the second punishment. What is the second punishment that appears immediately afterward? It is the verse: “And the people complained wickedly in God’s ears, and God heard and became angry, and the fire of God burned in them and it consumed the edge of the camp” (Numbers 11:1). What is the first punishment? It is the verse: “And they traveled from the mountain of God [mehar Hashem] for three days” (Numbers 10:33), and Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: That they turned from after God [me’aḥarei Hashem] and hurriedly fled Mount Sinai. The Gemara asks: And if so, where is the proper place for this paragraph? Rav Ashi said: In the portion of the flags, where there is a description of the manner in which the Jewish people traveled through the desert. (Shabbat 116a)
These are referred to as “nun mezuneret” (“isolated nun”) or “nun hafucha” (“inverted nun”). There are nine inverted nuns in the Masoretic text of the Tanakh; all the others appear in Tehillim 107. There is another inverted nun in the Torah attested to by Rashi that does not appear in our textts The appearance of the flipped nun varies from text to text (and possibly from printer to printer). ...
What is the meaning of these strange markers (“simaniyot” in rabbinic literature)? The mishna brings a halakhic ramification regarding this section:
A book that became erased and there remain in it 85 letters, like the section “And it was when the Ark was carried,” renders hands impure. (Yadayim 3:5) (Rabbi Yaakov Beasley, vbm etzion on beha'alotecha)
What is the meaning of these strange markers (“simaniyot” in rabbinic literature)? The mishna brings a halakhic ramification regarding this section:
A book that became erased and there remain in it 85 letters, like the section “And it was when the Ark was carried,” renders hands impure. (Yadayim 3:5) (Rabbi Yaakov Beasley, vbm etzion on beha'alotecha)
Looking at the content of these two verses closely, we sense the triumphant move of a people on the go, trumpets blaring. Moshe’s invocation to God to “rise up” when the aron moved forward and to “return” when it rested gives the impression that Moshe determined the journeys and resting places of the aron. This contradicts what was previously stated - that it journeyed only in accordance with God's command. This point is made in the Sifrei:
“And Moshe said, ‘Rise up, Adonai:’” And another verse says, “At the commandment of God they rested and at the commandment of God they journeyed.” How can these two verses be reconciled? To what may this be compared? To a king who was going on a journey accompanied by his bosom friend. When he resumes his journey, he says: I shall not go forward until my friend gives the order. And when he halts, he says: I shall not halt until my friend comes along. This reconciles the verses “And Moshe said, ‘Rise up, Adonai’” and “At the commandment of God they journeyed…”
“And Moshe said, ‘Rise up, Adonai:’” And another verse says, “At the commandment of God they rested and at the commandment of God they journeyed.” How can these two verses be reconciled? To what may this be compared? To a king who was going on a journey accompanied by his bosom friend. When he resumes his journey, he says: I shall not go forward until my friend gives the order. And when he halts, he says: I shall not halt until my friend comes along. This reconciles the verses “And Moshe said, ‘Rise up, Adonai’” and “At the commandment of God they journeyed…”
The verses "bookend" the torah service in synagogue - the central ritual of the service which also imitates the events at Mt Sinai, open with a reference to God scattering enemies, and closes with a reference to God returning to us:
When we open the ark to take out the Torah, we recite vihi binsoa haaron, “when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Adonai, and let your enemies be scattered.” Before we close the ark after having placed the Torah in it after the reading, we say uv’nuchu yomar, “And when it rested, he said, Return, O God, to the many thousands of Israel.”
When we open the ark to take out the Torah, we recite vihi binsoa haaron, “when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Adonai, and let your enemies be scattered.” Before we close the ark after having placed the Torah in it after the reading, we say uv’nuchu yomar, “And when it rested, he said, Return, O God, to the many thousands of Israel.”
Q. Why were these verses chosen for this important and central ritual? What does it mean to refer to enemies at this point in our prayer service? Whose enemies are they anyway?
Some Reform prayerbooks excised these verses from the torah ritual.
The Song of the Ark, evidently part of a Mosaic tradition, is a type of victory song praising God as a divine warrior, the defender of Israel. Its insertion here may be related to the first word of the song “binsoa” which picks up on the key word of this subsection “travel” of the Ark. Here the Ark can be understood as God’s chariot. “myriads of thousands” is an epithet of God as a warrior similar to the more common biblical epithet “Adonai Tzeva’ot” (1.Sam 17:45, Isa 1:24; 21:10….) (Jewish Study Bible)
- The first verse – Numbers 10:35 is repeated almost verbatim in Psalm 68:2 and both verses are condensed in Psalm 132:8.
- Was Psalm 68 associated with the Ark? The Ark was taken out to battle at the head of the troops. But why should this imagery be brought into the synagogue as part of the surrounding liturgy of the Torah service? What does the Torah represent here? A talisman that will be held up to keep Israel’s enemies at bay? Or are the enemies from within the community? Is it a warning against those who would deny Mosaic authorship of the Torah? Are the enemies, foes of the Torah? There’s a mediaeval tradition (C11th Cairo) that these verses are excerpts from a source known as ‘The Prophecy of Eldad and Medad’ – a book that existed but was suppressed. Does this suggest an acknowledgement that there are parts of the Torah that are not Mosaic, or an awareness that there were texts that were rejected from being part of the Torah? The image that comes to mind - and please excuse this – is of someone holding up [religous symbol/artefacts] to keep away evil forces. Is the Torah being taken out of the Ark and held up to demonstrate its integrity, God’s integrity – hold on to this tree of life, or else…. Your life will be in danger?....... Although these two verses form a unit inside the two inverted nuns, maybe a clue as to why they are included in the Torah service can be found in the preceding verses, Numbers 10:33 – ‘They marched from the mountain of Adonai a distance of three days. The Ark of the Covenant of Adonai travelled in front of them on that three days’ journey to seek out a resting place for them; and Adonai’s cloud kept above them by day, as they moved on from camp.’ How do you retain the immediacy of revelation, of Sinai, as you move away from the place where it occurred? Perhaps what is important here is not the imagery of God’s enemies being scattered and His foes fleeing, but rather the image of marching/journeying – the root nasa is used four times in three verses (10:33, 34, & 35) – contrasted with the theme of rest ‘to seek out a resting place for them’ (v. 33) and u’v’nucho yomar (v. 36). (Rabbi Alexandra Wright)
"The Sages instituted many things in order to prevent the quarrelling and bickering that result from envy and pursuit of honour, from financial affairs or from neglect of social etiquette. Such institutions were done to promote "ways of peace" . They went so far as to say "The entire Torah exists only to promote ways of peace, for it is written 'her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peaceful" (Proverbs 3:17) (BT Gittin 59b). "All that was written in the Torah was written for the sake of peace; and although wars are written about in Torah, even they were written of for the sake of peace" (Tanchuma Tzav 3) (from Heavenly Torah as refracted through the generations" AJ Heschel
What is the central message of the Torah? ... Over and over the Torah teaches about human dignity. It says countless times to care about the stranger for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. It speaks of caring for the poor, the widow, and the orphan. It teaches that all human beings, not just Jews but everybody, were created in the image of God. This is the message that goes out every time we read from the Torah.
So who are the enemies we want scattered? The enemies are all those who would subtract from human dignity. The enemies are the anti-Semites, the racists, the bigots, the homophobes, the misogynists, the haters of the world. The enemy is anyone who fails to see the dignity of other human beings. ... If the Torah is about loving your neighbor, then the enemies are those who hate their neighbor.
So what is the message at the center of our Torah service? Let those who practiced hate be scattered and let love pour out. Let love overcome hate. As the Avot of Rabbi Nathan teaches, “Who is strong? Someone who turns an enemy into a friend.” The message when we take out the Torah is not to kill the enemy. Rather it is to transform the enemy. It is to take a message of hate and overpower it with a message of love.
We often sing our prayers without considering what we are singing. But as we sing about scattering our enemy, perhaps we need to remember to overpower hatred with love. (Rabbi Michael Gold)
So who are the enemies we want scattered? The enemies are all those who would subtract from human dignity. The enemies are the anti-Semites, the racists, the bigots, the homophobes, the misogynists, the haters of the world. The enemy is anyone who fails to see the dignity of other human beings. ... If the Torah is about loving your neighbor, then the enemies are those who hate their neighbor.
So what is the message at the center of our Torah service? Let those who practiced hate be scattered and let love pour out. Let love overcome hate. As the Avot of Rabbi Nathan teaches, “Who is strong? Someone who turns an enemy into a friend.” The message when we take out the Torah is not to kill the enemy. Rather it is to transform the enemy. It is to take a message of hate and overpower it with a message of love.
We often sing our prayers without considering what we are singing. But as we sing about scattering our enemy, perhaps we need to remember to overpower hatred with love. (Rabbi Michael Gold)
Elkan Adler published an eleventh century manuscript which he had discovered a year earlier in the Cairo Genizah. It contained the following passage:
Some midrashim …state:”why did the sages place inverted nuns before the verse “The people took to complaining (Num. 11:1)? The sages thereby declared:
The entire Torah consists of the prophecy of Moses except for these two verses (i.e. Num. 10:35-36) which are from the prophecy of Eldad and Medad. Therefore they were enclosed with a curved nun, and inserted into the torah.
Leiman continues. In the light of the Adler manuscript which clearly ascribes Num. 10:35-36 to Eldad and Medad…Lieberman somewhat reluctantly proposed in 1950 that the Midrash Mishlei passage be rendered as follows:
“[these two verses] stem from an independent book which existed but was suppressed (i.e. declared apocryphal)…..
This is a sensational claim. If it is true, and the Song of the Ark is not only a discrete scroll or book but was written by a hand other than that of Moses, and was interpolated into the Book of Numbers, we have here what would appear to be prima facie evidence that the Torah text as we read it now was not cut from whole cloth, but is rather an assemblage of texts. How many texts….
From: “Scribal Secrets: Extraordinary Texts in the Torah and Their Implications” James S Diamond
Quoting Leiman “inverted nuns”
Some midrashim …state:”why did the sages place inverted nuns before the verse “The people took to complaining (Num. 11:1)? The sages thereby declared:
The entire Torah consists of the prophecy of Moses except for these two verses (i.e. Num. 10:35-36) which are from the prophecy of Eldad and Medad. Therefore they were enclosed with a curved nun, and inserted into the torah.
Leiman continues. In the light of the Adler manuscript which clearly ascribes Num. 10:35-36 to Eldad and Medad…Lieberman somewhat reluctantly proposed in 1950 that the Midrash Mishlei passage be rendered as follows:
“[these two verses] stem from an independent book which existed but was suppressed (i.e. declared apocryphal)…..
This is a sensational claim. If it is true, and the Song of the Ark is not only a discrete scroll or book but was written by a hand other than that of Moses, and was interpolated into the Book of Numbers, we have here what would appear to be prima facie evidence that the Torah text as we read it now was not cut from whole cloth, but is rather an assemblage of texts. How many texts….
From: “Scribal Secrets: Extraordinary Texts in the Torah and Their Implications” James S Diamond
Quoting Leiman “inverted nuns”