Things to Note
- Name of the Parsha and the whole book in Hebrew is Bamidbar (not Numbers, as in English). In Judaism--unlike in Shakespeare ("what's in a name")--the name says it all, so Bamidbar/Desert must have some significance if they are naming the whole book Desert.
- We always read this Parsha before Shavuot. What's the significance in that?
- This book was written/said in the month after the Mishkan was built, and was the beginning of round II of the G-d-Israel relationship. The time in which they started their 40-year journey in the desert. What's the significance in that?
(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֨ר יי אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֛ה בְּמִדְבַּ֥ר סִינַ֖י בְּאֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֑ד בְּאֶחָד֩ לַחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִ֜י בַּשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשֵּׁנִ֗ית לְצֵאתָ֛ם מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם לֵאמֹֽר׃
(1) On the first day of the second month, in the second year following the exodus from the land of Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, saying:
דָּבָר אַחֵר, לָמָּה נִתְּנָה בַּמִּדְבָּר, שֶׁאִלּוּ נִתְּנָה לָהֶם בָּאָרֶץ, הָיָה הַשֵּׁבֶט שֶׁנִּתְּנָהּ בִּתְחוּמוֹ אוֹמֵר אֲנִי קֹדֵם בָּהּ, לְכָךְ נִתְּנָה בַּמִּדְבָּר שֶׁיִּהְיוּ הַכֹּל שָׁוִין בָּהּ.
1) The Torah was given to them in the desert because were it to be given to them in the cultivated land of Israel, the tribe in whose territory it was given would have staked a claim to it. So it was gifted in the desert to indicate that all were equal.
- Another question would be why it was not given in the land of Israel, since the plan was to take the Jews into the land right away anyway. It was given in the desert and outside of Israel. Perhaps this is an indication that the Torah is available to any who wants it, be it Jew or Non-Jew.
- Although there is a law in the Talmud against teaching a non-Jew Torah, one can assume that that is referring to one that has not the patience and presence of mind to to actually study it, similar to the way the word Akum throughout the Talmud refers to pure Idol Worshipers.
וְעוֹד לָמָּה נִתְּנָה בַּמִּדְבָּר, כְּשֵׁם שֶׁמִּדְבָּר לֹא נִזְרָע וְלֹא נֶעֱבָד, כָּךְ הַמְקַבֵּל עֹל תּוֹרָה פּוֹרְקִין מִמֶּנּוּ עֹל דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ. כְּשֵׁם שֶׁמִּדְבָּר אֵין מַעֲלֶה אַרְנוֹן, כָּךְ בְּנֵי תּוֹרָה בְּנֵי חוֹרִין בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה.
2) Or, just as a desert is fallow and uncultivated, so too he that accepts the yoke of Torah has the yoke and burden of the physical world removed from his load.
(ב) אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי, בְּכָל יוֹם וָיוֹם בַּת קוֹל יוֹצֵאת מֵהַר חוֹרֵב וּמַכְרֶזֶת וְאוֹמֶרֶת, אוֹי לָהֶם לַבְּרִיּוֹת מֵעֶלְבּוֹנָהּ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה. שֶׁכָּל מִי שֶׁאֵינוֹ עוֹסֵק בַּתּוֹרָה נִקְרָא נָזוּף, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (משלי יא) נֶזֶם זָהָב בְּאַף חֲזִיר אִשָּׁה יָפָה וְסָרַת טָעַם. וְאוֹמֵר (שמות לב) וְהַלֻּחֹת מַעֲשֵׂה אֱלֹקִים הֵמָּה וְהַמִּכְתָּב מִכְתַּב אֱלֹקִים הוּא חָרוּת עַל הַלֻּחֹת, אַל תִּקְרָא חָרוּת אֶלָּא חֵרוּת, שֶׁאֵין לְךָ בֶן חוֹרִין אֶלָּא מִי שֶׁעוֹסֵק בְּתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה
(2) Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Each and every day a heavenly echo goes out from Mount Horeb, and announces and says: "Woe to the creatures for disparaging the Torah;" for anyone who does not involve himself in the Torah is called "rebuked," as it is said (Proverbs 11:22): "A ring of gold in a swine's snout is a beautiful woman who turns from discretion," and it says (Exodus 32:16): "And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tablets," do not read "graven" (harut) but rather "freedom" (herut), for there is no free man except one that involves himself in Torah learning; "
- Not literally, but figuratively. If one approaches the Torah in the correct manner, the things in life that bother most people won't bother her.
- It's not the quantity of the Torah--as an amount is not proscribed--but the quality. Each in their own way to bring that freedom to the person.
דָּבָר אַחֵר, בַּמִּדְבָּר, מִי מְקַיֵּם אֶת הַתּוֹרָה, מִי שֶׁמֵּשִׂים עַצְמוֹ כְּמִדְבָּר וּמַפְלִיג עַצְמוֹ מִן הַכֹּל. (במדבר כא, יט):
3) Or, the Desert indicates that one will only be able to fulfill and abide by the Torah fully if he conducts himself like a desert and divorces himself from all.
This probably means that in order for one to fully appreciate the Torah in its entirety, one must come at it with a blank slate, without placing any preconceived notions on it. Torah is pure for each person in each generation who studies it, and one must approach it like a desolate desert to fully appreciate it. Once you start defining it, you'll have the problem of appreciating it.
Professor Abraham Joshua Heschel put it this way:
"Why does the Bible surpass everything created by man? Why is there no work worthy of comparison with it? Why is there no substitute for the Bible, no parallel to the history it has engendered? Why must all who seek the living G-d turn to its pages?
"Set the Bible beside any of the truly great books produced by the genius of man and see how they are diminished in stature. The Bible shows no concern with literary form, with verbal beauty, yet its absolute sublimity rings through all its pages. Its lines are so monumental and at the same time so simple that whoever tries to compete with them produces either a commentary or a caricature. It is a work we do not know how to assess. Other books you can estimate, you can measure, compare; the Bible you can only extol. Its insights surpass our standards. There is nothing greater. In three thousand years it has not aged a day. It is a book that cannot die. Oblivion shuns its pages."
Absolute sublimity. Such a work must be taught and transmitted in a desert. A desert is not associated with any particular culture or form of living. A desert is barren, raw, plain. A desert is not sophisticated; It is real. (G-d In Search Of Man pp. 240-242)
A Chassidic interpretation about the Torah in the desert
If it was given in a very civilized and classically beautiful place, one might think that the Torah was merely a tool to live a comfortable and beautiful life. It is, but it is much more than that. We all know that life is very complicated and that hurdles come up all the time.
Torah was given to fight these battles too. Like a desert that is harsh and barren, the Torah was given to specifically fight that harshness.
It's similar to the idea of why the Torah was given on a mountain and not in the flat plains. A mountain is essentially "raised" earth. The message being that Torah has come to help one battle the dirt and the filth, the toughness, and the grit of this world. It's come to elevate all, including the "earth and the dirt" of this world.
G-d wants unholy people becoming holy, not holy robots becoming holier.