EACH ONE BY ITS CONTINGENT, UNDER THE INSIGNIAS OF THE FATHERS' HOUSE, SHALL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL ENCAMP, AT A DISTANCE, AROUND THE TENT OF APPOINTMENT, SHALL THEY ENCAMP.

(Bemidbar 2:2)

 

"Each one by its contingent, under the insignias" - According to the arrangements which their father gave them regarding the carrying of his bier.

(Rashi, Bereishit 50:13)

 

"Of their fathers' house" seems superfluous; it would have been sufficient to say, "Each with his standard under the insignias shall Children of Israel camp."

What does "their fathers' house" come to teach? It is that which is written (Job 36) "I will make my opinions known from afar; I will justify my Maker." When God told Moshe to assign them contingents as they desired, Moshe began to worry - he said: Now there will be dissent among the tribes; if I tell the tribe of Yehuda to be stationed in the East, he will argue 'I must have the South', and so with Reuven and with Ephraim and every tribe - what shall I do?

Said The Holy One, Blessed Be He: Moshe, why do you worry? They don't need you, for they themselves recognize their place. They hold a will left by their father Yaakov, telling how the contingents are to arrange themselves, I need not add anything; they already have ceremonies from their father Yaakov, e.g., as they carried him and surrounded his bed, so shall they surround the Mishkan, for it was said by Rabbi Chama bar Chanina: When the time came for our father Yaakov to depart this world, he called for his sons, as is written (Bereishit 49), "And Yaakov called for his sons" and he blessed them and commanded them in the ways of God, and they accepted upon themselves the Kingdom of Heaven. In conclusion he said to them: When you carry me, accompany me with awe and respect, let no other man touch my bier... How did he charge them? He told them: The sons of Yehuda, Yissaschar, and Zevulun will carry my bier from the East, Reuven, Shim'on, and Gad will carry my bier from the South, Ephraim, Menashe and Binyamin will carry from the West, Dan Asher, and Naftali will carry from the North. Yosef will not carry, for he is a king, and you must honor him. Levi shall not carry. Why? For he will carry the Ark, and he who carries the Ark of He Who Lives Forever, does not carry the coffin of a dead person. If you follow my instruction, and carry my bier as I have commanded you, God will award you insignia, and when he died they carried him as he instructed, as is written, "And his sons did so as he charged them". This is the meaning of "I will make my opinions known from afar; I will justify my Maker." From Yaakov they knew how to arrange the contingents - "I will justify my maker" - this is The Holy One, Blessed Be He, who did favors for Israel, and in order to give them a favor - a reward for having carried out their father's bequest - He did not order them to arrange their contingents other than the way ordered by their father. In this He justified them, He made no changes so as not to provide cause for dissention, therefore it says "Of their father's house" - just as they surrounded their father's bier, so shall they encamp, thus "Of their father's house shall the Children of Israel encamp".

(Bemidbar Rabba 2)

 

 

Said Rabbi Yochanan in the name of Rabbi Shim'on Bar Yochai: Every scholar whose words are presented by others in his name - his lips speak from the grave. In memory of my father-in-law, Dr. Emanuel Halpern, z'l, a God-fearing physician. (In the writing of this article I was assisted by my father-in-law's commentary: E. Halpern, Hoshea; An Attempt At a New Explanation,, Kiryat Sefer, 5737)

 

 

AND I WILL BETROTH YOU TO ME FOREVER;

I WILL BETROTH YOU WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUSTICE,

AND WITH GOODNESS AND WITH MERCY,

AND I WILL BETROTH YOU WITH FAITHFULNESS,

THEN SHALL YOU BE DEVOTED TO THE LORD

 

Yehudah Pinchover

 

True, we will not read the regular Haftara of Parashat Bemidbar this week, but still I have chosen to discuss it so that we not miss out on it completely. Chapter 2 of Hoshea was chosen as the usual Haftara because Parashat Bemidbar, the first in the Book of Numbers, deals with the number of the Children of Israel in the desert, whereas the second chapter of Hoshea begins with the verse:

"The number of the Children of Israel shall be like that of the sands of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted..."

The prophet Hoshea was considered by Chazal to be the outstanding prophet of his time. It may be said that, like the Song of Songs, the Book of Hoshea, too, deals with love and fidelity. But, as with all prophetic texts, it contains admonition, demand to return to God, and even torment - the suffering of the prophet, messenger of God.

The book begins with a prophecy of admonition and of comfort, anchored in, and symbolized by, the prophet's personal life. God commands Hoshea to marry a 'wife of whoredom', and to father three 'children of whoredom'. In addition, he is to give these children symbolic names: Yizra'el, Lo-Ruchama, and Lo-Ami.

God's command is, without doubt, difficult and strange. God forcibly isolates him not only from his social environment, but also even from his independent personality and from his feelings. Is the prophet really obligated to cut himself off? And to what purpose?

Hoshea's marriage to an adulteress, his fathering of the children with their curse-laden names, can, of course, be seen as allegory or example. Some commentators maintain that this was intended to shock the people. But it can also be explained as a terrible educational act imposed upon the prophet, so that he learn and internalize that there is hope for every man who repents from his past ways and changes, and that Hoshea can fulfill his mission in the light of this outlook.

The Midrash explains Hoshsea's marriage in a fashion similar to that presented above. According to this view, the prophet is not a shofar, a passive messenger; he is charged to be independent. He must oppose the message which he delivers. (A similar idea is known to us from the story Yonah and the castor tree, and also from Avraham's encounter with God before the destruction of S'dom). The Midrash relates:

"Said The Holy One, Blessed Be He, to Hoshea: Your sons have sinned. He should have replied: They are your sons, children of the subjects of your mercies, children of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, have mercy upon them!

Not only did Hoshea did not say that, but he said before Him: Master of the entire Universe, the entire world is Yours - exchange them for a different people.

Said The Holy One, Blessed Be He: What shall I do with this old man?

I will tell him: Go and take an adulterous woman, and father adulterous children, and afterwards I will tell him, Send her off. If he will be able to send her off, then I will send off Israel.

After two sons and a daughter were born to him, said The Holy One, Blessed Be He, to Hoshea:

Should you not have learned from Moshe, your teacher, who, from when I began to speak to him, separated from his wife? So you, too, separate yourself from her!

He replied: Master of the Universe, I have children from her, I cannot divorce her, and I cannot expel her!

Said to him The Holy One, Blessed Be He: If this be the case with you, whose wife is an adulteress, and your children were born of an adulteress, and you know not if they are your children or the children of others...

Israel, who are my children, the children of my chosen, children of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, one of the four possessions/creations which I possess/created in my world: Torah... Heaven and Earth... the Bet Hamikdash... Israel...

And you say exchange them for a different people!?

Realizing that he had sinned, he stood to beseech mercy for himself.

Said to him The Holy One, Blessed Be He: Before you request mercy for yourself - ask for mercy upon Israel, upon whom I decreed three decrees because of you.

He stood and pleaded for mercy, and the decree was rescinded, and he began to bless them."

                                                                        (P'sahim 87b)

According to Halpern's interpretation, the emphasis in the story is not upon the not sending off the adulterous wife, Gomer, but rather in the taking back the woman who was unfaithful to him, as commanded by God, as an act of love, tolerance, hessed, and mercy.

The Bemidbar Haftara begins immediately following the description of Hoshea's marriage and the birth of his children, and with the terrible prophecy of admonition which accompanies and is interwoven with this painful betrothal.

"I will soon punish... for the bloody deeds at Yizrael... for I will no longer accept the House of Israel or pardon them... for you are not My people, and I will not be your God. "

Immediately following this, it says:

"The number of the people of Israel shall be like that of the sands of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted; and instead of being told, "You are Not-My People", they will be called Children-of the Living-God. The people of Yehudah and the people of Israel shall assemble together and appoint one head over them; and they shall rise from the ground, for marvelous shall be the day of Yizrael. Call your brothers "My People" and your sisters "Lovingly Accepted."

These passages raise many difficulties. Rashi asks: Why are calamity and consolation juxtaposed in a single unit?

Halpern butresses Rashi's question. He shows that the content of the prophecy is in direct contradiction to both the prophecy of tribulation of Chapter One, and to the prophecy of Consolation at the end of Chapter Two. The misfortune is galut, exile; the redemption comes unconditionally in a process of unity and war. More questions: Why, in this speech, is there no direct second-person speech, and why does Scripture not speak in the name of God?

It should be remembered that the covenant between God and His people remains in effect forever; but the covenant is two-directional, and two-sided. When the people violate the covenant, Israel is no longer the nation of God. So that the covenant can be renewed and reactivated, the nation is charged with a difficult, on-going mission, and a constant goal. Therefore these verses which begin the Haftara, which are usually quoted as passages of consolation, cannot have been said by God and His prophet. Ibn Ezra, one of the outstanding plain-meaning commentators, negates commentary which sees these passages as prophecy of consolation. Halpern argues that this passage is the response of the false prophets to the prophecy of calamity - primarily their responses to the names given Hoshea's children - which greatly angered the false prophets. In their outlook, it is unthinkable that Israel should not be the people of God, that God should not have mercy on them, that He should abandon His people.

Hoshea reacts immediately with a demand for change:

"Rebuke your mother, rebuke her - for she is not my wife and I am not her husband; And let her put away her harlotry from her face and her adultery from between her breasts."

There can be no hope for the nation without it undergoing a basic change.

What are the promise and the consolation which the prophet of truth and justice brings in the name of God? How can the covenant be renewed and maintained? The Haftara of Bemidbar concludes with the following wonderful passages:

"And I will banish bow, sword, and war from the land. Thus I will let them lie down in safety. And I will espouse you forever: I will espouse you with righteousness and justice, and with goodness and mercy, And I will espouse you with faithfulness. And then you shall be devoted to the Lord."

The prophet Hoshea teaches that the covenant of betrothal and the love between God and Israel - exemplified in the Song of Songs as the love of the beloved for his darling - are conditional upon righteousness and justice, goodness and mercy, truth and peace. If we possess these attributes, we can be certain that we will know God.

 Yehuda Pinchover is a founder of "Netivot Shalom"

 

 

 

"And in that day - declares the Lord - You will call Me Ishi, And no more will you call me Baali".

You will serve me out of love, not out of fear. Ishi - connotes matrimony and youthful love; Baali - connotes mastery and fear. And our Sages explained "like a bride in her father-in-law's home, and not like a bride in her father's house."

 (Rashi)

 

Seven qualities serve before the Holy Throne, and these are:

Wisdom, Righteousness and Justice, Goodness and Mercy, Truth and Peace. As is written:

And I will betroth you forever;

I will betroth you with righteousness and justice,

And with goodness and with mercy,

And I will betroth you with faithfulness,

Then shall you shall know the Lord.

Rabbi Meir said: What does Scripture mean to teach us with "And you shall know the Lord?" It teaches that every man who possesses these qualities is of one mind with the Omnipresent.

(Avot D'Rebbi Natan 37:8)

 

"Pray for the Well-being of Yerushalayim" - The Well-being of Yerushalayim and It's Unity Depend Upon Those Who Love Her

Said Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: Said The Holy One, Blessed Be He, to Israel: You brought about the destruction of My house and the exile of my sons. Pray for her peace, and I will forgive you. What is the message of "Pray for the peace of Yerushalayim" (Psalms 122) and of "May there be well-being within your ramparts", and "For the sake of my kin and friends, I pray for your well-being"? [The lesson is] whoever loves peace, and pursues peace, and greets with peace and replies with peace, The Holy One, Blessed Be He, bequeaths him life in this world and in the world to come "... the lowly shall inherit the land, and delight in abundance of peace."

 (Tractate Derkh Eretz Zuta, Perek HaShalom, Mishna 15)

 

In the world to come, when The Holy One, Blessed Be He will bring the exiles back to Yerushalayim, He will return them in peace, as is written, "Pray for the well-being of Yerushalayim; May those who love you be at peace" (Psalms 122:6). And it is also written, "I will extend to her peace like a stream" (Isaiah 66:12)

 (Midrash Tanchuma Tsav, 7)

 

Peace is not just a matter of an ethical tendency. Working for peace is a constant cultural effort, sublime and powerful, work towards which all the most productive forces of the nation should be directed. We must consider: What will be the end result of all the ever-increasing divisions - the parties, the federations and the factions, the organization and the minyanim, the ideological streams and the platforms - if we do not find a single Tel-Talpiyot [Mound of trophies - a poetic reference to Yerushalayim] which will hold high the banner of all the people, and which will unceasingly and effectively promote the unity of the nation, smoothing out of the rifts, and the bonding of aspirations. Just as we recognize and believe that the salvation of Israel will come through beginning the overt end, - which will be done by us, with the strength which God has given us to succeed - to purchase the land, to redeem it, to work it and build it up, to conquer it with cultural and practical conquests. So must we become more and more aware that the spirit of God which was upon Eliyahu, "to reconcile parents with children and children with their parents", to make peace in the world, to resolve all controversies - of which must be revealed also in our spiritual action, action of the entire nation, by its finest forces, scholars who increase peace in the world.

(From a letter to the representatives of the Mizrachi to the Zionist Congress, Iggarot Ha'Raiya of Rav Kook, zt"l, letter 671)

 

 

 

 

Correction and Apology:

In preparing the translation of the Behukotai issue, two names were misspelled:

The author of the main article was Debbie Weissman - not Devorah Waysman. (I imagine that many readers - by the identification of the writer as head of Kerem Institute, and by the article's message of humanism and tolerance - made the correct identification).

The author of a passage quoted in the article was Dr. Jacob Agus.

 

 

Editorial Board: Pinchas Leiser (Editor), Miriam Fine (Coordinator), Itzhak Frankenthal and Dr. Menachem Klein

Translation: Kadish Goldberg

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