The Book of Bamidbar, or "In-the-wilderness" takes us from revelation at Mount Sinai to the Land of Israel. Known, in English as the Book of Numbers because of the census with which it opens, the disjuncture between these two titles teaches us something critical about the content of the book. In it, over the course of 38 years, the generation that was freed from Egypt and received the Torah dies out completely, and their children, the next generation, are allowed to enter the land. Today, we will discuss why God would not want those who received revelation, those who crossed the sea and who saw God's great acts in Egypt, to enter the Promised Land. Who was this generation that died in the desert?
(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֨ר יְהֹוָ֧ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֛ה בְּמִדְבַּ֥ר סִינַ֖י בְּאֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֑ד בְּאֶחָד֩ לַחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִ֜י בַּשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשֵּׁנִ֗ית לְצֵאתָ֛ם מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם לֵאמֹֽר׃ (ב) שְׂא֗וּ אֶת־רֹאשׁ֙ כׇּל־עֲדַ֣ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֖ם לְבֵ֣ית אֲבֹתָ֑ם בְּמִסְפַּ֣ר שֵׁמ֔וֹת כׇּל־זָכָ֖ר לְגֻלְגְּלֹתָֽם׃ (ג) מִבֶּ֨ן עֶשְׂרִ֤ים שָׁנָה֙ וָמַ֔עְלָה כׇּל־יֹצֵ֥א צָבָ֖א בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל תִּפְקְד֥וּ אֹתָ֛ם לְצִבְאֹתָ֖ם אַתָּ֥ה וְאַהֲרֹֽן׃ (ד) וְאִתְּכֶ֣ם יִהְי֔וּ אִ֥ישׁ אִ֖ישׁ לַמַּטֶּ֑ה אִ֛ישׁ רֹ֥אשׁ לְבֵית־אֲבֹתָ֖יו הֽוּא׃
(1) On the first day of the second month, in the second year following the exodus from the land of Egypt, יהוה spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, saying: (2) Take a census of the whole Israelite company [of fighters] by the clans of its ancestral houses, listing the names, every male, head by head. (3) You and Aaron shall record them by their groups, from the age of twenty years up, all those in Israel who are able to bear arms. (4) Associated with you shall be a participant from each tribe, each one the head of his ancestral house.
(סד) וּבְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ לֹא־הָ֣יָה אִ֔ישׁ מִפְּקוּדֵ֣י מֹשֶׁ֔ה וְאַהֲרֹ֖ן הַכֹּהֵ֑ן אֲשֶׁ֥ר פָּקְד֛וּ אֶת־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בְּמִדְבַּ֥ר סִינָֽי׃
(64) Among these there was not one of those enrolled by Moses and Aaron the priest when they recorded the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai.
אֲמַר לֵיהּ: כֵּיוָן שֶׁעוֹשֶׂה אָדָם אֶת עַצְמוֹ כַּמִּדְבָּר, שֶׁהוּא מוּפְקָר לַכֹּל — תּוֹרָה נִיתְּנָה לוֹ בְּמַתָּנָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וּמִמִּדְבָּר מַתָּנָה״. וְכֵיוָן שֶׁנִּיתְּנָה לוֹ בְּמַתָּנָה — נְחָלוֹ אֵל, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וּמִמַּתָּנָה נַחֲלִיאֵל״. וְכֵיוָן שֶׁנְּחָלוֹ אֵל — עוֹלֶה לִגְדוּלָּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וּמִנַּחֲלִיאֵל בָּמוֹת״. וְאִם הִגְבִּיהַּ עַצְמוֹ — הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַשְׁפִּילוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וּמִבָּמוֹת הַגַּיְא״, וְלֹא עוֹד אֶלָּא שֶׁשּׁוֹקְעִין אוֹתוֹ בַּקַּרְקַע, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וְנִשְׁקָפָה עַל פְּנֵי הַיְשִׁימוֹן״. וְאִם חוֹזֵר בּוֹ — הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַגְבִּיהוֹ
Rava said to him that it means: Once a person renders himself like a wilderness, deserted before all, the Torah is given to him as a gift [mattana], as it is stated: “And from the wilderness Mattana.” And once it is given to him as a gift, God bequeaths [naḥalo] it to him, as it is stated: “And from Mattana Nahaliel.” And once God bequeaths it to him, he rises to greatness, as it is stated: And from Nahaliel, Bamot, which are elevated places. And if he elevates himself and is arrogant about his Torah, the Holy One, Blessed be He, degrades him, as it is stated: “And from Bamot the valley” (Numbers 21:20). And not only is he degraded, but one lowers him into the ground, as it is stated: “And looking over [nishkafa] the face of the wasteland” (Numbers 21:20), like a threshold [iskopa] that is sunken into the ground. And if he reverses his arrogance and becomes humble, the Holy One, Blessed be He, elevates him,
אָמַר לִי תָּא אַחֲוֵי לָךְ מֵתֵי מִדְבָּר אֲזַלִי חֲזִיתִינְהוּ וְדָמוּ כְּמַאן דְּמִיבַּסְּמִי
That Arab said to me: Come, I will show you the dead of the wilderness, i.e., the Jewish people who left Egypt and died in the wilderness. I went and saw them; and they had the appearance of one who is intoxicated,
וְגָנוּ אַפַּרְקִיד וַהֲוָה זְקִיפָא בִּרְכֵּיהּ דְּחַד מִינַּיְיהוּ וְעָיֵל טַיָּיעָא תּוּתֵי בִּרְכֵּיהּ כִּי רְכִיב גַּמְלָא וּזְקִיפָא רוּמְחֵיהּ וְלָא נָגַע בֵּיהּ פְּסַקִי חֲדָא קַרְנָא דִתְכֵלְתָּא דְּחַד מִינַּיְיהוּ וְלָא הֲוָה מִסְתַּגִּי לַן אָמַר לִי דִּלְמָא שְׁקַלְתְּ מִידֵּי מִינַּיְיהוּ אַהְדְּרֵיהּ דִּגְמִירִי דְּמַאן דְּשָׁקֵיל מִידֵּי מִינַּיְיהוּ לָא מִסְתַּגִּי לֵיהּ אֲזַלִי אַהְדַּרְתֵּיהּ וַהֲדַר מִסְתַּגִּי לַן
and they were lying on their backs. And the knee of one of them was elevated, and he was so enormous that the Arab entered under his knee while riding a camel and with his spear upright, and he did not touch him. I cut one corner of the sky-blue garment that contains ritual fringes of one of them, and we were unable to walk. The Arab said to me: Perhaps you took something from them? Return it, as we know by tradition that one who takes something from them cannot walk. I then returned the corner of the garment, and then we were able to walk.
Haim Nachman Bialik
The last dead of the desert
"Moses dies Joshua Leads in"
Haim Nachman Bialik
Arise, desert wanderers, and leave the wilderness,
The road is long, the battles are many.
Cease your rootless drifting in the wasteland,
Before you lies the great, open road.
Forty years we have wandered between the mountains –
Six hundred thousand corpses we have buried in the sand.
Let not the corpses of the falterers delay us,
They died in slavery, let us pass over them!
They shall rot in their shame, sprawled over their parcels
Carried on their shoulders from Egypt.
Let them dream pleasantly of onions, garlic,
Huge tureens of meat.
Today or tomorrow the wind shall share
With the vulture the corpse of the last of the slaves.
And the sun shall joyfully emanate its bliss
For the first-time - shall shine upon a powerful generation.
And for the first-time the generation shall at first
Shout in joy towards the sun and its majestic glory.
Arise, therefore, wanderers! Leave the wilderness!
But do not raise your voices, tread silently!
Lest your footsteps anger the desert and its sleepers –
Let every man hearken in his heart to the echo of his tread!
Let every man hear in his heart the voice of God speak:
"Go! Today you pass to a new land!
No! Not worthless bread, quails and the fruit of the heavens
You shall eat the bread of sorrow, the fruit of your labor!
No, not a flyaway tent, or a heavenly loft,
You shall build a different house, erect an altered tent!
For besides the desert, under the sky,
God's world is vast and wide.
And besides the howl of the desert, the silence of the void,
A beautiful land lies under the sun.
And on the pinnacle of Nevo across the arriving sun,
There in awesome splendor and the face of an angel of battle -
shall stand Joshua son of Nun, whose voice will thunder
over his vast and powerful army.
His voice shall spring forth as a mighty arrow, with vigor,
His words shall burn as a torch, as fire`
Also, the terrible wilderness, the empty desert
Shall echo his call: "Israel, Arise and possess!"
And from the bottom a youthful nation free as a young lion,
A heavy camp with a multitude compared to the sand on the seashore,
Shall listen attentively with holy silence
to the thunderous voice blasting on the leaders of the people.
And they have already blown the horns for the journey, and
among those descended from the Nevo's peak is also the leader –
And why does not Israel travel?
Why do they stand with bent heads across the mountain?
What are they sorry about leaving in this wilderness?
Why do their eyes wander in the gulch?
Why do they weep silently and tear?
Whom do they seek on the peak of Mt. Nevo?
They seek Moses, the dead Moses!
And as one man, all wakes of the nation
Suddenly bowed down to the G-dly man,
To their faithful Sheppard, the exalted one.
The last dead of the desert
"Moses dies Joshua Leads in"
Haim Nachman Bialik
Arise, desert wanderers, and leave the wilderness,
The road is long, the battles are many.
Cease your rootless drifting in the wasteland,
Before you lies the great, open road.
Forty years we have wandered between the mountains –
Six hundred thousand corpses we have buried in the sand.
Let not the corpses of the falterers delay us,
They died in slavery, let us pass over them!
They shall rot in their shame, sprawled over their parcels
Carried on their shoulders from Egypt.
Let them dream pleasantly of onions, garlic,
Huge tureens of meat.
Today or tomorrow the wind shall share
With the vulture the corpse of the last of the slaves.
And the sun shall joyfully emanate its bliss
For the first-time - shall shine upon a powerful generation.
And for the first-time the generation shall at first
Shout in joy towards the sun and its majestic glory.
Arise, therefore, wanderers! Leave the wilderness!
But do not raise your voices, tread silently!
Lest your footsteps anger the desert and its sleepers –
Let every man hearken in his heart to the echo of his tread!
Let every man hear in his heart the voice of God speak:
"Go! Today you pass to a new land!
No! Not worthless bread, quails and the fruit of the heavens
You shall eat the bread of sorrow, the fruit of your labor!
No, not a flyaway tent, or a heavenly loft,
You shall build a different house, erect an altered tent!
For besides the desert, under the sky,
God's world is vast and wide.
And besides the howl of the desert, the silence of the void,
A beautiful land lies under the sun.
And on the pinnacle of Nevo across the arriving sun,
There in awesome splendor and the face of an angel of battle -
shall stand Joshua son of Nun, whose voice will thunder
over his vast and powerful army.
His voice shall spring forth as a mighty arrow, with vigor,
His words shall burn as a torch, as fire`
Also, the terrible wilderness, the empty desert
Shall echo his call: "Israel, Arise and possess!"
And from the bottom a youthful nation free as a young lion,
A heavy camp with a multitude compared to the sand on the seashore,
Shall listen attentively with holy silence
to the thunderous voice blasting on the leaders of the people.
And they have already blown the horns for the journey, and
among those descended from the Nevo's peak is also the leader –
And why does not Israel travel?
Why do they stand with bent heads across the mountain?
What are they sorry about leaving in this wilderness?
Why do their eyes wander in the gulch?
Why do they weep silently and tear?
Whom do they seek on the peak of Mt. Nevo?
They seek Moses, the dead Moses!
And as one man, all wakes of the nation
Suddenly bowed down to the G-dly man,
To their faithful Sheppard, the exalted one.
https://www.jtsa.edu/torah/bialiks-radical-subversion/
The Book of Numbers is the narrative of a great failure. That is, at least, one view of the book. What should have been a brief journey from Mount Sinai to the Holy Land becomes a forty year death march. The story of the Spies brings down God's anger upon the people; this divine anger, even when mitigated by Moses' prayer, is expressed in the decree of an endless journey: For this generation, its only end will be in the sands...
In direct contrast to this narrative is the narrative found in mystical and Hasidic sources. Here, the generation of the wilderness emerges as the generation of extraordinary spiritual experience, receivers of the Torah to the fullest extent, fed on miracles and nurtured directly by God, a generation of ecstatic faith. They are known as dor de'ah -- a generation of special knowledge.
Avivah Zornberg, "Flags in the Wilderness," Bewilderments: Reflections on the Book of Numbers (New York: Shocken, 2015), 3.
In direct contrast to this narrative is the narrative found in mystical and Hasidic sources. Here, the generation of the wilderness emerges as the generation of extraordinary spiritual experience, receivers of the Torah to the fullest extent, fed on miracles and nurtured directly by God, a generation of ecstatic faith. They are known as dor de'ah -- a generation of special knowledge.
Avivah Zornberg, "Flags in the Wilderness," Bewilderments: Reflections on the Book of Numbers (New York: Shocken, 2015), 3.