Walk Through the Parsha by Rabbi David Walk

Direction
Bamidbar 5768
May 27, 2008
There is a sense that momentous events are immanent each year when we read Parshat Bamidbar. There are a number of good reasons for this. For those of us who pay close attention to the weekly Torah readings starting a new book of the
Torah always carries a certain intellectual excitement (Yes, our lives are that
boring.). Plus, when you live by the academic calendar, this parsha signifies the looming end of the school year. And, finally, our Sages, in their inspired wisdom, arranged the calendar in such a way that Bamidbar always precedes the annual reenactment of the epiphany at Sinai on Shavuot, even though this year there is a week between them.. There is anticipation as we await the renewed acceptance of the Torah. Bearing all this in mind, what guidance can we glean from this sense of standing at the crossroads which permeates the Shabbat of Parshat Bamidbar?

The short answer is: none. (The long answer is, obviously, the rest of this week’s installment of WalkThroughTheParsha.) I say this because normally a crossroads is a choice of two destinations or at least two routes to the same destination. The whole concept of midbar, however, is trackless wilderness. Even though we
tend to translate Bamidbar as in the desert.  That’s only because they were in a desert (duh!), but the word really means anyplace unable to support human settlement. In other words the Himalayas or Antarctica are as much midbar as the Sinai Peninsula, even though they are not deserts. So, here we are reaching milestones, endings and beginnings, but we find ourselves in a place with no clearly marked routes.  Not even a sign post up ahead that reads Twilight Zone.

This is clearly not an accident, and therefore requires careful analysis. A perusal of the parsha informs us that there is no sense of movement or progress in the text. The actual material describes two activities: counting the Jews or assessing the human assets and setting up the camp structure or arranging the assets. Maybe lesson number one is that we shouldn’t set out until we have assessed and organized our resources. Before blazing new trails we must first investigate where we are, who we are, and what we’ve got on hand.

Okay, so we’re anticipating moving forward, but have no clue how to undertake it. I don’t believe that our Rabbis would clearly arrange the problem, through the schedule of Torah readings, and leave us without some crumbs on the ground to follow.  I believe that the clues are embedded in the Haftorah. The institution of the Haftorah has a murky history, but it’s clear that the Rabbis chose them for guidance purposes. This week’s Haftorah comes from Hoshea (chapter 2:1-22). Here’s a quick synopsis. The prophet informs the Jews that someday they will be so numerous that they will be impossible to count. This will happen because they will have forsaken their sinning ways. The exiles will start finding their way back to Israel. Now, the sin that upsets God most is the unfaithfulness represented by idolatry, which sounds and seems a lot like adultery. Finally, we are given the paradigm of faithfulness in marriage and in Divine service. Both relationships require three elements: fairness, compassion and loyalty.

What’s really central to the Haftorah is the idea that after the Jews have strayed from God they must find the way back. How do we do that (assuming that there’s no GPS on the dashboard)? Appropriately we are informed that the way back to God and our homeland is through the desert (verse 16). God will attract us again to our proper relationship and again consummate a tender rendezvous. Why is it necessary to go back to the wilderness? This is a famous idea. The wilderness represents an ownerless tract with no improvements or developments.  It’s stripped bare of all the normal trappings of society and culture. Te get back from our wanderings and infidelities we must also remove all the accumulated shmutz from our bodies, psyches and souls. I can’t come home to my true love with souvenirs from my betrayals in my pocket. The midbar represents this totally fresh start, unencumbered by baggage.

This idea connects our Haftorah to our Torah reading. The real reason we read this on Parshat Bamidbar is that Hoshea explains the importance of the desert experience before reentering history as an independent nation.  We have to strip the veneer of alien civilization from our collective hides. Furthermore, we can connect this to our preparation for commemorating Shavuot.  Just like the Jews came to Sinai through the desert of no encumbering commitments, so, too we must reaccept the Torah annually with no strings or conditions attached. This concept also adds texture to the Shavuot experience, because Hoshea is explaining that the future redemption requires a renewal of the Shavuot event. At the Pesach Seder we not only relive the past, but look forward to the future Pesach of the redemption from both our present situation and the complete redemption from all oppression. At Shavuot we are also foreshadowing a future
encounter with God which mirrors the original Sinai happening.

This brings us to the final thought, espoused by Hoshea. Hoshea was among the first of our authorities to compare the Sinai revelation with a wedding, and, therefore our relationship with God to a marriage. Shavuot represents the renewal of our nuptial vows with God. The prophet beautifully gives us the script for this reenlistment: And I will betroth you to Me forever, and I will betroth you to Me with righteousness and with justice and with loving-kindness and with mercy. And I will betroth you to Me with faith, and you shall know the Lord. And it shall come to pass on that day, that I will answer yes, says the Lord (21-23). With that dedication we will know our route through trackless life, because we will accept God’s Torah, the Divine Road Map.

May we all find our way to God and our own Sinai experience.