Transcript
Okay, good morning. We have the privilege of beginning the fourth book of the תורה Torah this שבת Shabbos. We move on. Okay, beautiful. So a new פרשה parsha, a new book represents a new beginning. It's very exciting. Represents a new theme and a new, a new beginning. So פרשת במדבר Parshas Bamidbar is, is a fascinating פרשה parsha, although it is somewhat, it is somewhat data driven, so to say. פרשת במדבר Parshas Bamidbar deals with the census that's taken in the מדבר midbar that רש\"י Rashi, the opening רש\"י Rashi in the תורה Torah mentions, why does God keep counting the Jewish people? That doesn't, God can know the number instantaneously. He's God, he's omnipotent. Why does God keep counting? Because counting is an expression of affection. Counting is an expression of love. A person who has expensive, valuable baseball cards, keep counting their baseball cards. A person who has a lot of money, their portfolio is doing well, they keep going back to look at their portfolio. We count and we evaluate, and we are affectionate towards the things that we love. So הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu loves his people and therefore he counts us as an expression of that affection. So he goes through the נשיאים nesi'im, he goes through the leaders of the tribes, and we go through the tribes themselves, and and then we get to the formulation of the way that we are encamped in the מדבר midbar, that each, each tribe had a flag, we'll talk about, and they were, they were placed around the, the משכן Mishkan itself and where the encampment fell, where everybody was placed and so on as they traveled.Then we have the תורה Torah reminds us about the progeny of משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon. אלה שמות בני אהרן הכהן נדב ואביהוא אלעזר ואיתמר Eleh shmos bnei Aharon haKohen Nadav v'Avihu Elazar v'Isamar. אלה שמות בני אהרן הכהנים Eleh shmos bnei Aharon haKohanim. וימת נדב ואביהוא לפני ה' Vayamas Nadav v'Avihu lifnei Hashem and so on. It's interesting because the תורה Torah says אלה תולדות אהרן ומשה Eileh toldos Aharon u'Moshe, and then it just lists the progeny of אהרן Aharon, doesn't list משה Moshe's kids. So why does the תורה Torah introduce it by saying these are the children of אהרן Aharon and משה Moshe? So again רש\"י Rashi makes a very important comment. נעשו אלו התולדות שלו שלמדן מפי הגבורה Na'asu eilu ha'toldos shelo she'limdan mipi ha'Gvura. Since משה Moshe taught them תורה Torah, they were as if they were his. It's a very important attitude and philosophy in Judaism that כל המלמד תורה kol hamelamed Torah, a person who teaches תורה Torah, so it's as if they are their child. In other words, to be a parent is not the responsibility of a biological parent only. To be a parent is the responsibility of all of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael to transmit the proper Jewish values to the next generation. Okay? Then we have the appointment of the לויים Leviim, and the לויים Leviim take the place of the firstborn, the בכור bechor, were supposed to be the ones who served in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, were supposed to be the כהנים Kohanim, and they were not the כהנים Kohanim, that was replaced. רב שלמה זלמן אויערבאך Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach has a fascinating. See, my this this גלגול gilgul is back. I'm telling you. Every time I give a class, this fly comes back and drives me crazy. No. You know, it's a punishment for me because I gave a whole שיעור shiur on שבת חול המועד פסח Shabbos Chol HaMoed Pesach about how there are no גלגולים gilgulim, so this fly is a גלגול gilgul of somebody who's come back to punish me. Reincarnation. Anyway, so, you have to hear your talk. So, שלמה זלמן אויערבאך Shlomo Zalman Auerbach says the whole reason for the תענית taanis, the fast of the firstborn on ערב פסח Erev Pesach, most people assume the reason the firstborn fast on ערב פסח Erev Pesach is to thank ה' Hashem for the fact that he killed only the Egyptian firstborn, not the Jewish firstborn. But רב שלמה זלמן אויערבאך Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach asks like three or four questions to say that that doesn't really make sense. First of all, you should be fasting the night before, the firstborn daughters should also fast. There's a whole list of questions that he asks. And therefore he comes to a different conclusion. He says it has nothing to do with the fact that God killed the Egyptian firstborn. He says the reason for the firstborn fast is that ערב פסח Erev Pesach was the time the קרבן פסח Korban Pesach was brought. So people, there were lines all over, you know, I felt, when I was at AIPAC just now, the final banquet, which 11,000 people attend and two-thirds of the House of Representative, two-thirds of Senate are there. I mean, it's incredible. It's absolutely incredible who's there. It's a huge גלאט כשר glatt kosher banquet, three course meal for 11,000 people. Anyway, so the because Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke there, the the secret service and the security was incredible. So the line, it literally took me an hour and 40 minutes to get in. The line was insane. It was at the Washington Conference Center. Into the Conference Center. So all I could think about on that line was, okay, this is what it'll be like to bring the קרבן פסח Korban Pesach. A long line, all the Jews coming. All the Jews coming to ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael would be like the קרבן פסח Korban Pesach. So the בכורים bechorim on ערב פסח Erev Pesach would watch as the כהנים Kohanim would bring the sacrifice for every חבורה chabura, for every group of Jews who needed to bring a קרבן פסח Korban Pesach, and they would become, they would be reminded of their own shortcoming and of their own failures and the fact that they were replaced by the כהנים Kohanim, when they were supposed to be the כהנים Kohanim. They were replaced by לויים Leviim, by the tribe of by the tribe of לוי Levi who were the כהנים Kohanim, when they should have indeed been the כהנים Kohanim themselves. And that's why they fast, as an act of כפרה kappara, as atonement for the for the fact that they didn't realize their potential of who they could have been. It's a very interesting suggestion.What do you mean? In terms of the firstborn, if it's a firstborn girl. No. Not in terms of status for. Yeah. Okay. And then the census is taken of the לויים Leviim separately than the rest of the people, which we'll talk about in a moment, and we have the idea of the of the פדיון הבן pidyon haben, for redeeming the firstborn son, and special הלכות halachos that apply to the כהן Kohen and that ends the פרשה parsha. Okay? So that's an overview of פרשת במדבר Parshas Bamidbar, launches the fourth book of the תורה Torah. You could discuss why the פרשה parsha begins במדבר סיני Bamidbar Sinai. Again, the מדרשים midrashim talk about the תורה Torah is only given to somebody who makes himself like a מדבר midbar. What does it mean to make yourself like a מדבר midbar? Why should the תורה Torah only be absorbed by an individual who turns himself into a desert? What does it mean to turn oneself into a desert? Those are all interesting discussions. But for our purposes today, I thought we can study פרק א', פסוק מ\"ח Perek Aleph, Pasuk Mem Ches. פרק א', פסוק מ\"ח Perek Aleph, Pasuk Mem Ches. Again, if you look according to the way that the Christian scholars divided the תורה Torah, so this looks like it's in the middle of nothing. It's just starting in the middle of nowhere. But if you understand, there's a פ' pei, as I remind you often, that our מסורה mesora, our tradition of how the תורה Torah is divided has to do with סתומות ופתוחות stumos u'ptuchos, has to do with where the sentence ends and so on. So it actually, let's go back a פסוק pasuk to מ\"ז Mem Zayin. This is at the end of the beginning of the פרשה parsha where it talks about the census, the Jewish people are to be counted. And indeed, then each there's an instruction to count and the number for each of the tribes, and it says והלוים למטה אבותם לא התפקדו בתוכם V'haLeviim l'mateh avosam lo hos'pakdu b'socham. The Levites, the לויים Leviim, according to their father's number, according to their tribe, their fathers, were not counted among them. The לויים Leviim were not counted. That's how it ends. It goes through all the other tribes, tells us who the נשיא nasi, who the prince was, tells us what the census, what their count was, the data, the statistics, and ends by telling us the לויים Leviim were not counted. New new chapter, וידבר ה' אל משה לאמר Vaydaber Hashem el Moshe leimor, אך את מטה לוי לא תפקוד ואת ראשם לא תשא בתוך בני ישראל Ach es mateh Levi lo sifkod v'es rosham lo sisa b'soch Bnei Yisrael. אך Ach, אך ach comes always, the word אך ach, however, but, comes to exclude, means unlike what you would have thought, however the לויים Leviim, לא תפקוד lo sifkod, don't count them. ואת ראשם לא תשא V'es rosham lo sisa, and don't lift their heads, don't count their heads, בתוך בני ישראל b'soch Bnei Yisrael among the Jewish people. Now, obviously there are a number of questions here. First of all, why? Why shouldn't לוי Levi be counted among the Jewish people? But second of all, the end of the פסוק pasuk just tell us in מ\"ז Mem Zayin, we finished the census by saying לויים Leviim didn't count, they weren't included in the sentence, census. And the next פסוק pasuk is, \"However, don't count the לויים Leviim.\" We just said that. Didn't we just say that? So what's going on here? So look at the רשב\"ם Rashbam. כמו שמפרש והולך K'mo shemefareish v'holeich. Says והלוים למטה אבותם לא התפקדו בתוכם V'haLeviim l'mateh avosam lo hos'pakdu b'socham, the לויים Leviim were not counted. כמו שמפרש והולך K'mo shemefareish v'holeich, אך את מטה לוי לא תפקוד ach es mateh Levi lo sifkod. The next פסוק pasuk is given the reason. In other words, in the first פסוק pasuk, it's a report. Everyone else was counted and within this report, just know, you're looking at the numbers, the data, know that the לויים Leviim, there's no column to list the לויים Leviim. Why? Because אך את מטה לוי לא תפקוד ach es mateh Levi lo sifkod. Since God gave an instruction not to count them. And why? מפרש טעם כי לא יצאו בצבא המלחמה אלא הפקד את הלוים על משכן העדות Mefareish ta'am ki lo yotz'u b'tzava ha'milchama ela ha'pked es ha'Leviim al Mishkan ha'Eidus. Because what's the purpose of this count, says the רשב\"ם Rashbam? For the army. You're now in the desert, you're supposed to go into Israel, and you need to create an army, and in order to know how many eligible soldiers you have, you need to know the count. לויים Leviim did not serve in the army, they serve in a different army. צבאות ה' Tzivos Hashem, the army of השם יתברך Hashem Yisborach, namely they are the ones who supervise the service in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash. So therefore they're counted separately because they have a different service. So all the tribes are counted as one unit, and separately the לויים Leviim are counted as a separate unit. And says the רשב\"ם Rashbam, the second פסוק pasuk is coming to explain the first. The לויים Leviim were not counted, why? Because אך את מטה לוי לא תפקוד ach es mateh Levi lo sifkod, God gave an instruction not to count them. That's his interpretation. The size of שבת לוי Shevet Levi comparable to the other is much smaller? I'm not sure. I'm not sure, I didn't pay attention to the numbers. Look at the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra. אך את מטה לוי פירוש לא התפקדו כי ה' צוה כן Ach es mateh Levi, peirush lo hos'pakdu ki Hashem tziva kein. Similarly he says, they weren't counted because God instructed thus. God said, first we said לוי Levi wasn't counted. Now the פסוק pasuk gives seeks to give a reason why they weren't counted. You know why they weren't counted? Because God said, \"Don't count them.\" In other words, if you look at the explanation, there's a little ח' ches in the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra for the אבי עזר Avi Ezer, which is a commentary on the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra to expand what he says. So he says, הנה דחק לאור אב, מפני שנאמר תחילא והלוים למטה אבותם לא התפקדו ואחר כן נאמר וידבר אל משה, אך את מטה לוי לא תפקוד. Hinei dachak l'Ohr-Av, mipnei she'ne'emar techila v'haLeviim l'mateh avosam lo hos'pakdu v'achar kein ne'emar vayidaber el Moshe, ach es mateh Levi lo sifkod. What bothered the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra was, the פסוק pasuk just said the לויים Leviim weren't counted. The very next פסוק pasuk it says, \"However, don't count the לויים Leviim.\" לכן מפרש הפסוק, מפרש טעם דלעיל, וברם קשה קאי כי אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה ולא צריכים לדבר הרע. Lachein mefareish ha'pasuk, mefareish ta'am d'l'eil, v'varam kasha ka'i, ki ein mukdam u'me'uchar ba'Torah v'lo tzrichin l'davar ha'rav. The commentary on the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra rejects the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra because he says the תורה Torah is not written in chronological order, so it doesn't make sense the second פסוק pasuk would necessarily explain the first פסוק pasuk. Maybe really the second פסוק pasuk came before the first פסוק pasuk. But in any case, the רשב\"ם Rashbam, the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra both give the same interpretation which is, that the second פסוק pasuk is explaining the first. Why weren't they counted? Because God said don't count them. Why would God not want them counted among everybody else? So the רשב\"ם Rashbam himself gave a reason, because they don't serve in the army. רש\"י Rashi gives different reasons. Look at רש\"י Rashi. כדאי הוא לגיון של מלך להיות נמנה לבדו Kedai hu l'gion shel melech l'hiyos nimneh l'vado. רש\"י Rashi quotes the מדרש תנחומא Midrash Tanchuma that God's elite unit deserve to be counted alone. They're distinguished, they're distinct, they're separate. So therefore we don't throw them in with everybody else, all the other lowly soldiers. But rather, these are an elite unit, the לויים Leviim. So this elite children of ה' Hashem, this לגיון של מלך l'gion shel melech deserve to be counted separately, deserve to be counted independently.That's that's his first interpretation. His second interpretation, דבר אחר davar acher. צפה הקדוש ברוך הוא שעתידה ליגזר גזירה על כל הנמנים מבן עשרים שנה ולמעלה שימותו במדבר אמר, אל יהיו אלו בכלל לפי שהם שלי שלא טעו בעגל Tzafa Hakadosh Baruch Hu she'asida l'igzar gzeira al kol ha'nimnim m'ben esrim shana v'lama'ala she'yamusu ba'midbar, amar, al yihyu eilu b'chlal, l'fi she'heim sheli shelo ta'u ba'egel. Then he quotes another מדרש midrash, not the תנחומא Tanchuma, the מדרש רבה Midrash Rabbah. A second reason, רש\"י Rashi says. Since God saw, he has a crystal ball, he is a crystal ball, and he knew that ultimately all people 20 and older would die in the desert. Why? As a result of their חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, because they violated in the golden calf. So therefore, they were going to all not merit to come into Israel. God was going to kill anyone 20 and older, anyone who was involved in the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel died in the desert. It was their children who entered Israel. So since he was going to enact this גזירה gzeira on all of that generation, he didn't want to count the לויים Leviim among that generation because even though they didn't participate in the עגל eigel, they then would have been wiped out as well. So in order to preserve their standing, in order for them to continue to live, he had to count them separately. That's the מדרש רבה Midrash Rabbah. Anything bother you about that מדרש רבה Midrash Rabbah? I thought it was the spies, the sins of the spies that they didn't come. No, it was חטא העגל Cheit ha'Eigel. חטא העגל Cheit ha'Eigel? Yeah. How can they not die? They're going to, they're the same age group, it's not like that. Actually, if you look, I'm sorry, if you look at the ספרי חכמים Sifsei Chachamim, he quotes the מזרחי Mizrachi, a super commentary on רש\"י Rashi. תם תאמר, היה לו למנקט שלא טעו במרגלים? שהרי מה שבמדבר מתו בשביל גזירת מרגלים היה. Temah tam'ar, haya lo l'minkat shelo ta'u ba'meraglim? She'harei ma she'ba'midbar meisu bishvil gzeiras meraglim haya. As your neighbor handy just said. Said why is רש\"י Rashi giving the reason because they didn't participate in the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel? The reason that the generation was killed is because of the מרגלים meraglim. ויש לומר דגם הלוים טעו במרגלים, רק בעגל לא טעו, לכך לא ננשו. V'yesh lomar d'gam ha'Leviim ta'u ba'meraglim, rak ba'eigel lo ta'u l'chach lo ne'enshu. So the מזרחי Mizrachi says because the לויים Leviim did participate in the חטא מרגלים cheit ha'meraglim. It was the עגל eigel they didn't participate in. They had faith that משה Moshe was going to return. They didn't have this tangible need to lock ה' Hashem in a box, to feel ה' Hashem is something physical, to worship something tangible. עגל Eigel, they were able to show restraint. But when it came to the מרגלים meraglim, even the לויים Leviim were guilty. שהרי אפילו ישראל לא ננשו אלא בשביל שתי עבירות. כמו שמפורש ברש\"י בפרשת שלח לך, הלא כעסת עשו וזה, ולא תם עשו וזה, אלא ודאי שתי עבירות עגל ומרגלים. She'harei afilu Yisrael lo ne'enshu ela bishvil shnei aveiros. K'mo she'meforash b'Rashi b'parshas Shlach L'cha, halo ka'as'ta isu v'zeh, v'lo tam isu v'zeh, ela vadai shnei aveiros eigel u'meraglim. So the מזרחי Mizrachi says they were wiped out because of two violations. It was a combination of the עגל eigel and the מרגלים meraglim that that generation did not enter Israel. The רש\"י Rashi didn't give the reason of the חטא מרגלים cheit ha'meraglim because that טאקא taka the לויים Leviim did violate. So he only gave the reason of the עגל eigel because that's where the לויים Leviim distinguished themselves.How can you give people that was the same generation a different decree when we're talking about a time, time limit anyway? So all going to die, but you're going to not die? Right, no one 20 and older is going to die, maybe prematurely. You're all going to die young. You're not going to merit to get into Israel. But if you did not participate in the עגל eigel, then you are going, those who are alive are going to continue to live. That is God, God ordained nature so that people would die before. That's one of the reasons of, of ט\"ו באב Tu B'Av is a happy day, they dug the graves and they would lie in the grave waiting to die until they lived. Anything bother you about this explanation about this רש\"י Rashi? Other than what you asked?So רב חיים שמואלביץ Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, the former ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of the Mir, asks a very compelling question. He says, \"God can't count everyone together but still let the לויים Leviim live?\" What would have been wrong if God continued to include the לויים Leviim in that census, why did he have to conduct two separate independent census? Count them in the one sentence, census, but only kill those who participated in the עגל eigel, let the לויים Leviim live. God is omnipotent, God is infinite, God is perfect. God has to, he could get confused if the lists are together, he has to count them separate to keep the list separate. Why can't God keep them together? God couldn't keep his books straight. Maybe for the people to know that they were separate. So I'll tell you what רב חיים שמואלביץ Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz says, I think that's remarkable, but it really is so important in the philosophy of of, in a תורה Torah philosophy. He says that there's a concept in Judaism that a person can be guilty by association. We don't believe entirely that an individual is evaluated exclusively on their merits. The whole notion he says of תפילה בציבור tefillah b'tzibur, the idea of דאווענען davening with a מנין minyan of connecting with a community, is that when we are alone, when we are alone, isolated, then we are evaluated exclusively based on our merits and demerits. But when we link with a community, we complement one another such that our failures and shortcomings are minimized by the merits of the greater whole. And the opposite is also true. If we associate with the wrong community, then our merits are outweighed by the negative behavior and energy of the greater community. So I say it's like, it's similar to the stock market. There's a remarkable thing in the stock market. You could have a company that puts out no new news, no profits or losses, no revenue, no quarterly statements, it has nothing new to report. And yet the market value of the company can go up or down by a billion dollars in a day, half a billion dollars, the stock could go up whatever percentage because of the sector it belongs to. If the tech sector or biotech sector or bank sector or real estate sector is up, then that stock will go up. It didn't announce any new profits. It didn't have any merits going for it. The stock goes up X percent, 5%, 7%, 10%, 3% in one day just because of the sector it belongs to. And the inverse is also true. The stock says we didn't put out any losses, we don't have any bad news, we're not reporting any failed trial. But the stock can go down 5% or 8% or 10% in a day because it belongs to a biotech sector, people are down on the biotech sector. So you see that what sector you belong to, what associations you have, what neighbors you're with, very much add to your very value, so to say. So רב חיים שמואלביץ Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz wants to say that, yeah, God's not confused. It's not that God couldn't punish the rest of the Jewish people while allowing the לויים Leviim to live had he counted them together. Of course, God can maintain his books. Of course, he knows the count. The message he seeks to send to us is, he didn't want to count the לויים Leviim among the others because yes, they would have then been punished with the others. Who you hang out with, you earn their accountability. There is a notion of collective, not collective punishment that the that the many are punished for the actions of the few, but the few are indeed identified with the actions of the many. So one has to be very, very careful what community, what friends they identify with. And again, you see here he talks about the power of מנין minyan of דאווענען davening with a מנין minyan, that when you דאווענען daven at home, when you דאווענען daven alone, so you know, you're asking for all these things and you're turning to השם Hashem for all these things, and he looks at you and he says, \"Okay, let me see what you have going for you.\" But when you דאווענען daven with a מנין minyan, he looks at that whole room and your shortcomings, they blend in, they're negated by the greater good hopefully of the. It's important also to find a good מנין minyan, so they have a very greater good in the in the room. Yes. Why is it that we are counting when we were talking about death here? You know? We're here we're talk, yeah. So that's the opening רש\"י Rashi. רש\"י Rashi says we're counting because that's an act of affection. God loves his children, so he wants to show he loves his children, he's counting. They're not going to die still for a few years. They have 40 years in the desert that they're wandering. Why are we not allowed to count, like, not one, not two, not three. It's a good question. We have a הלכה halacha that we don't count people. You can't count people, even though it seems in the נביא Nevi tells a story where שמואל Shmuel where that seems to have been, it seems to have been violated the idea of counting people. That's a whole other area of a of a question. But the simple answer basically is that when you when you count people and you assign them a number, you demonize them. You you fail to see their individual worth. And they're now, they now blend into a greater number that they don't have a self-worth. So we don't count people as if to assign them a number and dehumanize them, we count some other aspect because we need to arrive at the data without ever devaluing their individuality.I heard somebody tell me, somebody told me a וורט vort this week that, you know, it's interesting like the מחצית השקל machatzis hashekel, you have to give something to be counted. And the idea is that you can't just, you're not counted just by being. You're not counted just by existing. To count, you have to do. To count, you have to give. To be counted, you have to make yourself count. You can't expect to be counted without making yourself count. Which I think is a very important idea. You can't just be passive and sit back and say, \"Why aren't I counted? Why aren't I, why don't I count? Why aren't I חושב choshev?\" You have to make yourself counted. Not through money. Many people think that it's money is the only way to make yourself counted, but there are a lot of ways to influence. There's money's one of them, work is another one of them, wisdom is another one of them. There's a lot of ways. Okay, says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar. אם לא יפקד לשום שיטה שיקבל שכרו ממניינם, מה טעם לומר ואת ראשם לא תשא בתוך בני ישראל? Im lo yifaked l'shum shita she'yikabel scharo m'minyanam, ma ta'am lomar v'es rosham lo sisa b'soch Bnei Yisrael? If you look back at that פסוק pasuk Mem Ches, it says, אך ach, however, the tribe of לוי Levi, don't count. ואת ראשם לא תשא בתוך בני ישראל V'es rosham lo sisa b'soch Bnei Yisrael. What's the difference between לא תפקוד lo sifkod and ואת ראשם לא תשא v'es rosham lo sisa? What does לא תפקוד lo sifkod mean? Don't count them. And ואת ראשם לא תשא v'es rosham lo sisa, what does that mean? Right. Look at the even the Artscroll struggles. You shall not count the tribe of לוי Levi, and you shall not take a census of them among the children of Israel. What's the difference if that's the כלי יקר Kli Yakar is saying? If you don't count them, then they're obviously not part of the census. Why isn't that repetitive? ומה היה מכריח לומר אך את מטה לוי לא תפקוד בתוך בני ישראל? U'ma haya machriach l'omar ach es mateh Levi lo sifkod b'soch Bnei Yisrael? It should have just said, \"Don't count the Jewish people בתוך בני ישראל b'soch Bnei Yisrael.\" \"Don't count the לויים Leviim בתוך בני ישראל b'soch Bnei Yisrael.\" What did we add with the sense, ואת ראשם לא תשא v'es rosham lo sisa? Good question, right? Again, we're trying to teach a sensitivity to the text. כלי יקר Kli Yakar was reading this פסוק pasuk with a much closer lens than we are. Because we read it and say, okay, nice פסוק pasuk. He read it and said, \"It's repetitive. What's the second clause adding?\" Because it must be adding something. If it added nothing, it wouldn't be there.So he says the following. אלא לפי מה שפירש רש\"י בשמו שיהיה המניין על פי ה', שהשכינה מקדימת לפניהם בבתיהם ויוצא מן האוהל ואומר כך וכך תינוקות יש באוהל. Ela l'fi ma she'peirash Rashi b'shmo she'yihyeh ha'minyan al pi Hashem, she'haShechina makdemes l'fneihem b'vateihem v'yotzei min ha'ohel v'omer kach v'chach tinokos yesh ba'ohel. The census of the tribe of לוי Levi was different than the rest of the Jewish people. The rest of the Jewish people had census takers. The rest of the Jewish people had the מחצית השקל machatzis hashekel. The rest of the Jewish people, there was human initiative in order to arrive at the conclusion of the number. However, when it came to the tribe of לוי Levi, it was divinely given. God simply provided the number, the data of how many לויים Leviim there were. נוחא לומר שבתוך בני ישראל אמר אינו מוסף כי אם אל ואת ראשם לא תשא כי לו אמר אך את מטה לוי לא תפקוד כלל, אפילו שלא בתוך בני ישראל, וכל אך למעט בא, כך בא למעט ולומר דווקא אתה לא תפקוד אותם לבדך, אבל בצירוף השכינה ובאסקול תפקדם. לכך נאמר פקוד את בני לוי היינו על ידי השכינה, אבל אתה לבד לא תפקדם. Nu l'omar she'b'soch Bnei Yisrael omer eino musaf ki im el, v'es rosham lo sisa. Ki lu omer ach es mateh Levi lo sifkod klal, afilu shelo b'soch Bnei Yisrael, v'chol ach l'ma'eit ba, kach ba l'ma'eit v'lomar davka ata lo sifkod osam l'vadecha, aval b'tzeiruf haShechina u'va'askul tif'kedeim. L'chach ne'emar pkod es bnei Levi, hainu al yidei haShechina, aval ata l'vad lo sif'kedeim. So he wants to explain, he wants to explain, you shouldn't count them, but they will be counted. אם די סמך לזה צוה והפקר את הלוים על משכן העדות, נראה הדבר שכל מקום שזכיר סאו נסא כי תשא הכל הוא לשון מעלת נשיאת ראש, הנראה במניינם ביעסער טייס אלזא וסתם כי כל דבר חשוב שרוצים יש לו מספר U'mei d'samach l'zeh tziva v'ha'pked es ha'Leviim al Mishkan ha'eidus, nir'eh ha'davar she'kol makom she'zikir se'u, naso, ki sisa, hakol hu lashon ma'alas n'sias rosh, ha'nir'eh b'minyanam b'yesser se'es al zulasam, ki kol davar chashuv sh'rotzim yesh lo mispar. So ואת ראשם לא תשא בתוך בני ישראל v'es rosham lo sisa b'soch Bnei Yisrael means what it's adding is, לא תפקוד lo sifkod, you shouldn't count them. ואת ראשם לא תשא V'es rosham lo sisa. Now the כלי יקר Kli Yakar posits a very interesting idea. What's the difference between פקוד pkod and תשא tisa? You see these words being used interchangeably to count. If you look in the next paragraph the כלי יקר Kli Yakar develops this. ובזה תראה את התורה טעם בין שניהם כי בישראל נאמר שתי הלשונות שאו את ראש ואחר כך אמר תפקדו אותם לצבאותם ובלויים לא הזכיר כי אם לשון פקידה פקוד את בני לוי ובבכורים חזר והזכיר שניהם פקוד ושא את מספרם. ובאצל בני קהת סוגי הזכיר לשון נשא ולא הזכיר ממררי U'v'zeh tir'eh es haTorah ta'am bein shneihem, ki b'Yisrael ne'emar shnei ha'lshonos se'u es rosh v'achar kach amar tif'kedu osam l'tzivosam. U'v'Leviim lo hizkir ki im lashon p'kida, pkod es bnei Levi. U'v'bchorim chazar v'hizkir shneihem, pkod v'sa es misparam. U'v'etzel bnei Kehas sugei hizkir lashon naso v'lo hizkir m'Merari. Sometimes you see it says, like פרשת נשא Parshas Naso, sometimes you see it says to lift, sometimes it says to count. So which is it? פקוד Pkod or נשא naso? What's the difference between these two languages? So the כלי יקר Kli Yakar says the difference is, נשא, תשא naso, tisa means in contrast to the others. To count means to lift these so that they are elevated, they are distinguished, they are different from the others. It is to create contrast, to elevate them. פקוד Pkod is to give a number. פקוד Pkod is to give a count. פקוד Pkod is purely data. But נשא, תשא naso, tisa means to lift. So he says, that's how you understand the פסוק pasuk now. לא תשא בתוך בני ישראל Lo sisa b'soch Bnei Yisrael. לוי Levi will not be counted in order to distinguish them from everyone else. You don't need to count them to distinguish them because they are automatically distinguished. שהישראלים צריכים לזה להראות חיבתם נגד כל האומות שנמשלו לקש אין לו מספר, אבל הלוים אין צריך להם להראות השנסאותם על ידי מספרם. She'ha'Yisraelim tzrichim l'zeh l'har'os chibasom neged kol ha'umos she'nimshlu l'kash ein lo mispar, aval ha'Leviim ein tzorech lahem l'har'os his'nas'usam al yidei misparam. The Jewish people need to be counted to distinguish them from the rest of the nations of the world. But לוי Levi doesn't need that. כי בלאו הכי יש להם נשיאת ראש במה שהם עוסקים הקדוש ברוך הוא פקידים על ביתו. Ki b'lav hachi yesh lahem n'sias rosh b'ma she'hem oskim Hakadosh Baruch Hu p'kidim al beiso. They already have gained distinction. What is their distinction? That God appointed them in charge of his house, in charge of the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash. Since they have intrinsic distinction by God's having dedicated them for this position, they don't need to be counted. They don't need to תשא בתוך בני ישראל tisa b'soch Bnei Yisrael. They don't need to be elevated. והפקר את הלוים, למה לי? מכל מקום מצד שנשא הפקידים יש לו נשיאות זולת מספר בתוך בני ישראל. כי לגיון המלך הם וכל הרואים יכירום כי הם זרע ברך ה'. אבל הבכורים שנפסלו מן העבודה על ידי מעשה העגל, הוצרך נשיאות ראש על ידי המספר. לכך פרט אצלם שניהם. V'ha'pked es ha'Leviim, lama li? M'kol makom mitzad she'nasa ha'p'kidim yesh lo n'sias zulas mispar b'soch Bnei Yisrael. Ki l'gion ha'melech hem v'chol ha'ro'im yakirom ki hem zera berach Hashem. Aval ha'bchorim she'nifsalu min ha'avoda al yidei ma'aseh ha'eigel, hutzrach n'sias rosh al yidei ha'mispar. L'chach parat etzlam shneihem. When it comes to the בכור bechor, the firstborn, it is both languages. It has a language of פקוד pkod and תשא tisa because since they lost their distinction when they violated the עגל eigel, you need both words in order to give them that distinction back. Okay? That's the כלי יקר Kli Yakar.So when when they really do have it, it never says תשא tisa, right. right, for that reason. Okay, beautiful. Next פסוק pasuk. והפקר את הלוים על משכן העדות ועל כל כליו ועל כל אשר לו, המה ישאו את המשכן ואת כל כליו והם ישרתוהו וסביב למשכן יחנו. V'ha'pked es ha'Leviim al Mishkan ha'Eidus v'al kol keilav v'al kol asher lo, heimah yis'u es ha'Mishkan v'es kol keilav v'heim yisharsuhu, v'saviv la'Mishkan yachanu. We appoint the לויים Leviim over the משכן Mishkan, over all the כלי keilim, the utensils, over everything that belongs to it, they carry the משכן Mishkan, they carry the כלי keilim, they minister to it, and they encamp, their encampment is surrounding, is encircling the משכן Mishkan. In other words, this פסוק pasuk is basically saying, the לויים Leviim have a very intimate, intense connection with the משכן Mishkan. For everyone else, the relationship with the משכן Mishkan is significant. I don't want to say it's casual, but it's less intense. The לויים Leviim, they are synonymous with the משכן Mishkan. They supervise it, they attend to it, they clean it, they carry it, and they encamp around it. They are, I would say, they are the guardians of the משכן Mishkan.Well, the כהנים Kohanim, I mean here we're using the tribe of לוי Levi to include the כהנים Kohanim. It's both, it's both. The tribe of לוי Levi includes the כהנים Kohanim, so it means here not the לוי Levi as we think of a לוי Levi, but it means לוי Levi including the tribe of including the כהנים Kohanim who are part of the tribe of לוי Levi. No, thank you, that was an important clarification. נו\"ן אל\"ף Nun Aleph, ובנסוע המשכן יורידו אותו הלוים ובחנות המשכן יקימו אותו הלוים והזר הקרב יומת. Uvinsoa haMishkan yoridu oso haLeviim, u'vachanos haMishkan yakimu oso haLeviim, v'hazar hakareiv yumas. When the Tabernacle travels, it's the לויים Leviim who disassemble it. And when the Tabernacle arrives at the encampment, it's the לויים Leviim who assemble it. And any זר zar, any non-לוי Levi or כהן Kohen, anyone not from the tribe of לוי Levi, who would, who approaches the משכן Mishkan inappropriately, who seeks to have that growl, so יומת yumas, they're going to die. How do they die? Says רש\"י Rashi, בידי שמים bidei Shamayim. They're not killed, they die בידי שמים bidei Shamayim. ה' Hashem, the heavenly court. The heavenly court. Okay, so again, this very special relationship with the between the לויים Leviim and the משכן Mishkan. So says the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra, actually, I'm sorry, next פסוק pasuk first. וחנה בני ישראל איש על מחנהו ואיש על דגלו לצבאותם V'chanu Bnei Yisrael ish al machanehu v'ish al diglo l'tzivosam. The Jewish people encamp, each according to their flag, and each in their appropriate place. והלוים יחנו סביב למשכן העדות ולא יהיה קצף על עדת בני ישראל ושמרו הלוים את משמרת משכן העדות V'haLeviim yachanu saviv l'Mishkan ha'Eidus v'lo yihyeh ketzef al adas Bnei Yisrael v'shamru haLeviim es mishmeres Mishkan ha'Eidus. There were three tribes in each side of the משכן Mishkan, the north, south, east and west. The לויים Leviim were around the משכן Mishkan. Okay, that's where their encampment was. It surrounded the משכן Mishkan. ועשו בני ישראל ככל אשר ציווה השם את משה כן עשו V'asu Bnei Yisrael k'chol asher tziva Hashem et Moshe ken asu. The Jewish people did everything according to the way Hashem said, כן עשו ken asu, so they did. That also seems repetitive, right? ועשו בני ישראל כן עשו V'asu Bnei Yisrael ken asu. Isn't that redundant? If ועשו v'asu, so obviously כן עשו ken asu. And if כן עשו ken asu, I know ועשו v'asu.Look at the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra. והלויים יחנו סביב V'haLeviim yachanu saviv, ופירש הכתוב למעלה למה יחנו סביב u'feireish ha'katuv l'maalah lama yachanu saviv. שלא יקריב על המשכן אחד מעדת בני ישראל וימות Shelo yakriv al haMishkan echad mei'adat Bnei Yisrael v'yamos. וזה הטעם ולא יהיה קצף V'zeh ha'taam v'lo yiheyeh ketzef, כעוזה שנגע בארון k'Uza she'naga ba'aron, ושם כתוב ויחר אף השם בעוזה v'sham katuv vayichar af Hashem b'Uza. The no one is allowed to touch the ארון Aron. The לויים Leviim are the ones who carried the ארון Aron. And if a non-לוי Levi, not from the tribe of לוי Levi, tries to touch, have contact with the ארון Aron, they die. That's the, that's the story in שמואל ב' Shmuel Beis with עוזה Uza. Is that כהנים Kohanim? I'm not sure. I'm not sure. It's a good question. Yeah, where he where he... Just say the כהנים Kohanim would be... Yeah, in the tribe of לוי Levi. Yeah, I assume that they too are included in this, yeah. Where he reached out and tried to hold up the ארון Aron. Correct. And he died as a result. The story of עוזה Uza, שמואל ב' פרק ו' Shmuel Beis Perek Vav. So, אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra is saying, why is it that לויים יחנו סביב Leviim yachanu saviv? He says read the פסוק pasuk. והזר הקרב יומת V'hazar ha'karev yumas, והלויים יחנו סביב למשכן העדות v'haLeviim yachanu saviv l'Mishkan ha'eidus. You understand the Torah is giving the reason. Since if a non-לוי Levi has contact with the ארון Aron, they'll die, so we put the לויים Leviim as a buffer. Their encampment surrounds the משכן Mishkan, the ארון Aron, as a buffer to protect the other tribes, to make sure no one who's in it for whom it's inappropriate to touch the משכן Mishkan or the ארון Aron, will do so. So אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra explains the succession of the פסוקים psukim that the reason לויים Leviim encamp where they do is to create a buffer zone around the משכן Mishkan and around the ארון Aron in order to protect it. In order to protect it.Okay. Next פרק perek, פרק ב' Perek Beis. This is also a פתוחה psucha, here you have a break. Okay, וידבר השם אל משה ואל אהרן לאמר Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe v'el Aharon leimor. Hashem spoke to Moshe and Aaron, saying, איש על דגלו באותות לבית אבותם יחנו בני ישראל Ish al diglo b'osos l'veis avosam yachanu Bnei Yisrael, מנגד סביב לאוהל מועד יחנו mi'neged saviv l'Ohel Moed yachanu. So, Hashem spoke to Moshe saying, the children of Israel shall encamp, each according to their banner, each according to their symbol, their sign, the insignia of their father's household. Everyone at a distance from the, from the משכן Mishkan. מנגד Mi'neged. מנגד Mi'neged can often mean opposite. But here רש\"י Rashi says, מרחוק מיל mei'rachok mil. A distance of a מיל mil from the, from the משכן Mishkan. From the משכן Mishkan. והחונים קדמה מזרחה דגל מחנה יהודה לצבאותם ונשיא לבני יהודה נחשון בן עמינדב V'ha'chonim kedma mizracha degel machaneh Yehuda l'tzivosam, v'nasi livnei Yehuda Nachshon ben Aminadav. And then the פסוקים psukim now go on and list the encampments where they were. Their flag, their insignia, their symbol, their sign, and where they were north, south, east, and west of the, of the, of the משכן Mishkan. ר' יעקב קמינצקי Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky in his אמת ליעקב Emes L'Yaakov has a beautiful essay where he talks about, you know, we always talk about it's the motto of our shul, the balance of diversity and unity, valuing diversity, celebrating unity. So here you ran the risk, one could look at these פסוקים psukim and say, is that good for the Jewish people? Everyone has their own sign, everyone has their own flag, everyone has to stay in their encampment. It's divisive, isn't it? It's like a, it's like a collective color war in the Jewish people that's perpetual. Everyone's got their own banner. Everyone's got their own symbol. Everyone is under a different unit. Is that good? It's going to end up being divisive. So ר' יעקב קמינצקי Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky says, you know why it wasn't divisive? Yes, that risk ran. You know what is the secret to maintaining unity among that diversity? Says ר' יעקב קמינצקי Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, because what was at the center of the encampment? They were all spokes of a wheel, but what was the core, what was the root? The משכן Mishkan. So as long as everyone is focused on the same goal, you could maintain unity among diversity. It's when people have different interests, and when people have different agendas, and it's when people have different goals, and when people have selfish interests, that's when diversity is divisive. But in order to maintain unity, you have to have the shared goal. That's why the Israeli army works, because you have different units in the army, any army. You have different units in the army. So how do they cooperate? How do they conduct a battle, a war, how are they productive? The answer is because they have a shared goal. They have a shared mission that drives them, that supersedes, that transcends whatever diversity they may have. So ר' יעקב קמינצקי Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky says that's why the encampment, the three, three, three, and three, it wasn't there were 12 tribes and then the ארון Aron. Nor was it there was the ארון Aron and there were 12 tribes. It was specifically designed the encampment in a way that there was everyone around the the משכן Mishkan, the משכן Mishkan was at the center. To make that statement, diversity is not only okay, diversity is wonderful. We have different banners, we have different flags, we have different symbols. But we're all directed and we all nullify our interests to that of Hashem. It's the משכן Mishkan which unites us. Yes. You could say this in a marriage. The the divorce rate is so high, why? Because that's not the focus. When Hashem and your home becomes a משכן Mishkan, and you both have common values and a common mission, you can have the diversity, but everyone's giving to that cause. Same with the children, same with the community, same... Okay, beautiful. Yeah, you can apply the... to everything. To anything, to a business with different units, to anything with different units, that you need to share a mission in order to meet success. Yes, Ruth. That's a beautiful דבר תורה dvar Torah that I read from בני דוד בני לאו Benny David, Benny Lau in Israel. He said there's an expression חושך שבטו שונא בנו chosech shivto sonei vno. If you spare the rod, you hate your son. But the word שבט shevet, it also mean a tribe. And if you deprive your child from their שבט shevet, who they are and their roots, and you know, whether it's לויים Leviim or Moroccans or whatever, if you deny your child his שבט shevet, his origin, then you you really hate him, you're doing a a disservice. That's a beautiful thought. How separated were they? Was it like really they couldn't intermarry? They couldn't hang out together? Or they just slept in that area? They couldn't intermarry. Then they could, they could. Till later, right. Then they had permission and then they banned them again when מנשה Menasheh, when the tribe of מנשה Menasheh carried the פילגש בגבעה pilegesh b'Givah. At this time, it was pretty, it was pretty, you were separate units. The people were were separate and distinguished. Look at look at רש\"י Rashi. Look at רש\"י Rashi. איש על דגלו Ish al diglo. רש\"י Rashi פסוק נ\"ב pasuk nan-beis, כמו שהדגלים סדורים בספר זה, שלוש שבטים לכל דגל K'mo she'ha'degalim sdurim b'sefer zeh, shlosh shevatim l'chol degel. Like the flags are organized in this, in this, in ספר במדבר Sefer Bamidbar. There were three tribes to each banner. באותות B'osos, פסוק ב' pasuk beis. כל דגל יהיה לו אות kol degel yiheyeh lo os. מפת צבע תלוי בו mapat tzeva talui bo. צבעו של זה לא כצבעו של זה tzivo shel zeh lo k'tzivo shel zeh, צבע כל אחד כגוון אבנו הקבוע בחושן tzeva kol echad k'gavon avno ha'kavua ba'choshen. ומתוך כך כל אחד יכיר את דגלו u'mitoch kach kol echad yakir es diglo. No two banners, no two flags look alike. A flag or a banner are significant. They give, they give identification, they give identity. לבית אבותם L'veis avosam, באות שמסר להם יעקב אביהם b'os she'masar lahem Yaakov avihem, כשנשאום ממצרים k'she'nesa'um mi'Mitzrayim, שנאמר ויעשו בניו לו כן כאשר ציוום she'ne'emar v'ya'asu banav lo ken ka'asher tzivam. יהודה ויששכר וזבולון ישאו מן המזרח Yehuda v'Yissachar u'Zvulun yis'u min ha'mizrach, ראובן ושמעון וגד מן הדרום Reuven v'Shimon v'Gad min ha'darom, כדי איתא בתנחומא בפרשה זו k'de'isa b'Tanchuma b'parsha zu. Okay. Look at the כלי יקר Kli Yakar on these פסוקים psukim. כלי יקר Kli Yakar פסוק ב' pasuk beis. מצאנו בכמה מדרשים המגדילים מאוד עניין הדגלים Matzanu b'chama midrashim ha'magdilim me'od inyan ha'degalim. We've seen a number of מדרשים midrashim that really laud, that really praise this concept of having separate flags. ודרשו רבותינו בפסוק ובשם אלוקינו נדגול V'darshu Raboseinu b'pasuk u'v'shem Elokeinu nidgol. And they talk about this פסוק pasuk, with the name of Hashem, נדגול nidgol. שבשעת מתן תורה ראו ישראל למלאכים דגלים דגלים ונתאוו להיות דגלים כמותם She'b'shaas Matan Torah ra'u Yisrael la'malachim degalim degalim v'nisavu lihyos degalim k'mosam. At הר סיני Har Sinai, the Jewish people saw the angels, does this mean literally, does this mean metaphorically, whatever, they saw the angels were divided by flags. And they were jealous. ובפסוק מי זאת הנשקפה כמו שחר ודרשו שהיו אומות מסתכלין במעלתם של ישראל והיו תמהים ואומרים שובי שובי השולמית U'v'pasuk mi zos ha'nishkafa k'mo shachar v'darshu she'hayu umos mistaklin b'ma'alasam shel Yisrael v'hayu t'meihim v'omrim shuvi shuvi ha'shulamis, היא דבק בנו או בנותינו וינשאו ממך דוכסין וגמונים וישראל משיבין מה תחזו בשולמית כמחולת המחניים hi dabek banu o b'noseinu v'yinase'u mimech duchsin v'gomunim v'Yisrael meishivin ma techzu ba'shulamis k'imcholas ha'machanayim. רוצה לומר מה גדולה אתם נותנים לנו ושמא גדולה אתם יכולים ליתן לנו כמו שנתן לנו ה' אלהינו דגל מחנה יהודה מזרחה Rotzeh lomar ma gedula atem nosnim lanu u'shema gedula atem yecholim litain lanu k'mo she'nasan lanu Hashem Elokeinu degel machane Yehuda mizracha, וכל מסע יפה בעיניב מה קול אמו זו, מדוע קול קריאה הומא, אז זה מה יקר גדולה נתן בישראל עד שהתאוו להם כל כך v'chol masa yafeh b'einav, ma kol emu zu, madua kol kria homa, az zeh ma yakar gedula natan b'Yisrael ad she'hisavu lahem kol kach. So the כלי יקר Kli Yakar is quoting all these מדרשים midrashim, what were the Jewish people so jealous of? Among the angels, among the other nations of the world, what is so appealing? What is so appealing about having a flag, about having a banner, about having a sign? והיקר בעיני לומר בזה שעיקר חשקם של ישראל היה להראות לכל העמים כי שם השם נקרא עליהם וייראו מהם V'ha'yakar b'einai lomar b'zeh she'ikar chashkam shel Yisrael haya l'har'os l'chol ha'amim ki shem Hashem nikra aleihem v'yir'u meihem. What the Jewish people were really were desperate for in terms of this identity is to impress upon the non-Jews of the world that we are a righteous, religious, God's chosen and choosing people. ועל ידי זה יישאו דגל הרוממות והניצחון בכל ארבע רוחות העולם V'al yedei zeh yis'u degel ha'romemus v'hanitzachon b'chol arba ruchos ha'olam, כי על ידי שהם מסובבים בכל ארבע רוחות והשכינה והארון באמצע ki al yedei she'hem mesovavim b'chol arba ruchos v'haShchina v'haAron ba'emtza, שכל פניהם אליו she'kol p'neihem eilav, יראו כל העמים כי ילכו בשם השם yir'u kol ha'amim ki yelchu b'shem Hashem. וזה האות אשר אליו ישאו עיני כל אשר יחנו בעיגול סביב V'zeh ha'os asher eilav yis'u einei kol asher yachanu b'igul saviv. Similar to the ר' יעקב קמינצקי Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky. What they wanted a flag for was to show that even though we have diversity, you know what our strength is? It's our unity. It's our togetherness. It's when we are one. כאמר רז\"ל לעתיד יעשה הקדוש ברוך הוא צדיקים מחול בגן עדן וכבודו יתברך באמצע K'amar razal, l'asid ya'aseh haKadosh Baruch Hu tzaddikim machol b'Gan Eden u'chvodo yisbarach ba'emtza. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu ultimately one day is going to make a circle for the righteous in גן עדן Gan Eden, and he will sit in the middle of them. כי כל פני הצדיקים פונים אל כבודו מול פני השכינה וכן בעולם הזה Ki kol pnei ha'tzaddikim ponim el kvodo mul pnei ha'Shchina v'chein ba'olam ha'zeh. What is the symbolism that the righteous all sit in the circle and God sits in the center? What's the symbolism of that? Is that the righteous, what unites the righteous, the common denominator or theme of the righteous is that they conduct all of their affairs and behaviors and actions towards the service of God. God is the center of their circle. God is the center of their circle. וזה אות הדגל כי יסמן הניצחון במחריב הדגל הזה הוא בשם השם כי לא בחרבם ירשו ארץ כי בשם השם V'zeh os ha'degel ki yesamen ha'nitzachon b'machariv ha'degel ha'zeh hu b'shem Hashem ki lo b'charbam yarshu aretz ki b'shem Hashem. וכן המלאכים על ידי שהם סובבים כיסא כבודו יתברך מרום על כל הנמצאים כמו שנאמר איומה כנדגלות V'chein ha'malachim al yedei she'hem sovevim kisei kvodo yisbarach marom al kol ha'nimtza'im k'mo she'ne'emar ayumah ka'nidgalos. כי על ידי סיבוב זה תהיה מוראם על כל האומות כמלאכים שכל ירא מהם Ki al yedei sivuv zeh tiheyeh mora'am al kol ha'umos k'malachim she'kol yarei meihem. So the significance of saying that they were jealous that they desired this, is not for some self-interest, it's not for some self-aggrandizement or identification which would be self-serving. They wanted to impress on the other nations of the world that with our diversity, and that with our differences, and that with our nuances, we are all united to a common cause. Look, we all have separate flags. But look what's at the center of our circle. I would say, and I hope I don't regret saying this now because it would make for a good drasha the Shabbos, but I would say to me that was the most impressive, outstanding, incredible thing of AIPAC. AIPAC is close to 11,000 people, delegates, from every one of the 50 United States of America and other places around the world. There's incredible diversity there. But they're all united for one common cause, and that's caring about Israel, loving Israel. By the way, I'll tell you, it's not only Jews. AIPAC is a pro-Israel event, not a Jewish event. So there was a large delegation of of black people, particularly pastors and their congregants, of evangelical Christians, and as the black pastor said, \"Stand in shoulder to shoulder, arm in arm.\" Anyway, so they were there, there there's you could have different flags and be under different banners, but the message that AIPAC sends to Congress, the message that AIPAC sends to Israel's enemies, the message that AIPAC sends to this administration, is that with all of our differences, here's where we are united and look at our strength. What a message it sent the world, Bibi's speech to Congress. 26 or 27 standing ovations, more than the State of the Union got. Here you have Republicans and Democrats killing each other, killing each other over the budget, the debt ceiling, Medicare, killing each other over everything. And there they were, all collectively standing, applauding when it came to Israel, united. How powerful is that? How powerful is it for the world to see that you have two groups who can't agree on anything, anything, except Israel. Except Israel. When something unites you, that shows a strength, a potency, a power. It's remarkable. It's absolutely incredible. So that's what the כלי יקר Kli Yakar is developing. He was heckled, though, from a man. No, there was a heckler. There was a heckler when Bibi spoke at AIPAC also. The Congress also. Yeah, who do you think the heckler was, by the way? Of course, it was a Jew. A liberal Jew. She follows Netanyahu, it seems. Yeah, it was a group of Jews. Yeah. You know what's great? You know what they did at Congress? The same thing we did at AIPAC. When the heckler started heckling, everyone started getting up and cheering and applauding to drown them out. Even that was intuitively. No, nobody nobody made an announcement, if someone heckles, do that. Intuitively, it got the loudest cheers. It was like the biggest It was amazing. It was incredible. I like what Bibi said back, but when he said In Congress? Yeah, one person, yeah. One person got in. A Jew, of course. Yeah. Yeah. So the כלי יקר Kli Yakar says that's why they wanted separate flags because they wanted to impress upon people, you see, to just be an encampment with no flags and the Mishkan in front of you, okay, so blah, you're what you are. But to say that we all have separate flags, we're not afraid, and this is the beauty of the Jewish people, we're not afraid to have our diversity. We don't shy away from diversity. We don't raise only one banner or one flag. שיבן פנים לתורה Shivim panim la'Torah, there are 70 faces to Torah. There are 12 tribes and they're each different and different leadership. And they are where they are by designation. יהודה Yehuda is the first tribe, they're the front. Why is יהודה Yehuda the front tribe? Because נחשון בן עמינדב Nachshon ben Aminadav. That's פסוק ג' pasuk gimmel. והחונים קדמה מזרחה דגל מחנה יהודה לצבאותם V'ha'chonim kedma mizracha degel machane Yehuda l'tzivosam. ונשיא לבני יהודה נחשון בן עמינדב V'nasi livnei Yehuda Nachshon ben Aminadav. It makes sense. ר' אביגדור נבנצל Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl writes in a ספר sefer that these tribes earned their spot. They weren't arbitrarily or randomly designated by God, they earned their spot. יהודה Yehuda had נחשון בן עמינדב Nachshon ben Aminadav. That leadership of נחשון בן עמינדב Nachshon ben Aminadav earned his tribe to be the front tribe when they would journey. Who was the last tribe in the back? דן Dan. You know why? Because when עמלק Amalek attacked from the rear, it was דן Dan who was back there. עייף ויגע Ayef v'yagea, they were tired, they were exhausted, they were wavering in their faith. They were the most vulnerable. They didn't secure the rear. So therefore God says to them, when we journey, when we travel now, you're going to be in the back. These tribes were not randomly placed. But one earns their place. One is placed in the where they earn. And the message they send. So the כלי יקר Kli Yakar says they wanted their own flags to say that we are a people of diversity, we value diversity, but watch out for us because the משכן Mishkan is at our center. Israel's at our center. And while we have tremendous diversity, there's one thing that unites us. And when we allow that diversity to create divisiveness, we are the most vulnerable and the most fragile that we can ever be. We're the most vulnerable and fragile that we can ever be. Maybe I'll speak about this on Shabbos anyway. So please, nobody here remember that I said anything. Forget whatever I said. We'll be like in the desert. The כלי יקר Kli Yakar... Yeah, there you go. Be like a desert. Forget it by tomorrow. The כלי יקר Kli Yakar in פסוק ג' pasuk gimmel. כלי יקר Kli Yakar says, טעם לסדר הדגלים הזה, האופן כבר דיברו בו הראשונים איש לפי שכלו Ta'am l'seder ha'degalim ha'zeh, ha'ofen kvar dibru bo ha'rishonim ish l'fi sichlo. The כלי יקר Kli Yakar says, the reason they were organized according to these encampments has to do with four different qualities. הקרוב אלי לומר בזה שהם על סדר ארבע מעלות הכוללים כל שלמות האנושי והם Ha'karov eilay lomar b'zeh she'hem al seder arba ma'alos ha'kol'lim kol shleimus ha'enoshi v'hem: There are four qualities which capture the idea of perfection within the human spirit. And they are: קנין החכמה kinyan ha'chochma, acquiring wisdom, and then comes קנין המידות kinyan ha'middos, developing character. Then comes קנין הגבורה kinyan ha'gvura. Comes גבורה gvura is strength, valor for lack of a better word. And then קנין העושר kinyan ha'osher. Then is wealth. כי כך סידרם הרמב\"ם Ki kach sidram ha'Rambam. אין השכינה שורה כי אם על חכם, גיבור ועניו Ein ha'Shchina shora ki im al chacham, gibor v'anav. That's how the רמב\"ם Rambam organizes it. When God talks about who can be a נביא navi, who is a candidate for God's presence to dwell, to be a נביא navi? They have to be a חכם chacham, they have to be wise, they have to be wealthy, they have to be a גיבור gibor, they have to be strong, and they have to be modest and עניו anav. ענווה ראש לכל המידות Anava rosh l'chol ha'middos. ענווה Anava, modesty, is the head, he says, of all character. So modesty is the symbol of character development, because modesty is the core of all character development. על כן הדגלים אלו שבאו להשרות שכינה בסוכם, סידרם על זה האופן איש איש על מחנהו Al ken ha'degalim eilu she'ba'u l'hashros Shchina b'socham, sidram al zeh ha'ofen ish ish al machanehu, לומר לך ראויים אלו שתשרה עליהם השכינה lomar lecha re'uyim eilu she'tishreh aleihem ha'Shchina, כי כל ארבע מעלות אלו נמצאים בהם ki kol arba ma'alos eilu nimtza'im ba'hem. So that's why the the four, the 12 tribes were divided into four groups, north, south, east, and west, and those are symbolic and divided among these four attributes of חכמה chochma of wisdom at the forefront, then מידות middos, character, and then גבורה gvura, strength or valor, and then finally עשירות ashirus is is is wealth. And that's how they are organized. Yes. You don't mean literally or you didn't when you talked about them seeing the angels with their flags. What what does that mean? You know, far be it from me to say it means metaphorically. Maybe it does mean literally. You know, that's always a running debate in the Torah between the, you know, different meforshim. You know, there's a reflection of what's happening in שמיים Shamayim here. And the angels are in that formation with banners. Right, but what that means exactly, what does it mean for are angels are not physical figures. So what does it mean for angels to be in a formation? What does it mean for angels to have banners? It's got to be worked out. There must be some symbolism that's meaningful there. So the כלי יקר Kli Yakar continues. Not every tribe had those, not each tribe had those four qualities. All tribes have the four qualities in different degrees. So the ones who excel in each of the four qualities. Right. Look what he says, that's how he continues. יהודה יששכר וזבולון ראשונה יסעו Yehuda, Yissachar, v'Zvulun rishona yis'u, כי מהם תצא תורה ki meihem teitzei Torah. על כן נמר קדמה, קדמה מזרחה Al ken ne'emar kedma, kedma mizracha, להורות כי מהם תצא אור התורה l'horos ki meihem teitzei or ha'Torah. יהודה, יששכר וזבולון Yehuda, Yissachar v'Zvulun, we know have this partnership of Torah, as well as יהודה Yehuda. His leadership is David, his מלכות malchus. So they represent Torah. From them Torah will emanate, will flourish. So that's why it says from them, תצא אור התורה teitzei or ha'Torah. כי ביהודה נאמר לא יסור שבט מיהודה ומחוקק מבין רגליו Ki b'Yehuda ne'emar lo yasur shevet mi'Yehuda u'mechokek mi'bein raglav. אלו ראשי גליות ונשיאי ארץ ישראל Eilu rashei galyos u'nesi'ei Eretz Yisrael. יהודה Yehuda will be the leadership of Torah. ומחוקק על התורה u'mechokek al ha'Torah, שנאמר משה שכן מחוקק ספון she'ne'emar Moshe shachen mechokek safun. It goes on all these פסוקים psukim, he's going to prove with each of these tribes. Like in the next paragraph. דגל מחנה ראובן שמעון גד יסעו תימנה Degel machane Reuven Shimon Gad yis'u teimana, שנקרא דרום על שם שדר רום she'nikra darom al shem she'dar rom, שהשמש דר ברומו she'ha'shemesh dar b'rumo, כך כל הנכנע בטבע לסוף הקדוש ברוך הוא מביעו להכנעה ראש כל המידות הטובות kach kol ha'nichna b'teva l'sof haKadosh Baruch Hu m'vi'o l'hachna'a rosh kol ha'middos ha'tovos. These three tribes, ראובן, שמעון וגד Reuven, Shimon v'Gad are in the south because says the sun lives in the south, whatever that means. And that's a notion of humility. South is low, humility. ומדה זו היתה עיקר אצל ראובן כי הוא בוש ולא בוש במעשה בלהה U'mida zu haysa ikar eitzel Reuven ki hu bosh v'lo bosh b'ma'aseh Bilha. And then he uses all the פסוקים psukim to prove that these three tribes symbolize the quality synonymous with the quality with מידות middos, with the quality of ענווה anava, with humility. Then the כלי יקר Kli Yakar then goes on and says, דגל מחנה אפרים מנשה בנימין ימה שלושה מסע degel machane Efraim Menashe Binyamin yama shlosha mis'a, כי מעלת הגבורה שלישית ki ma'alas ha'gvura shlishis. And then he goes on to the next, and he says, אפרים, מנשה, בנימין Efraim, Menashe, Binyamin symbolize גבורה gvura, strength, and he proves how. And then finally, מחנה דן אשר נפתלי צפונה machane Dan Asher Naftali tzafona, and again he proves, he proves with that. So he goes through each of the tribes' location and proves that you could divide them among these four qualities, three to each quality: חכמה chochma is wisdom, and then מידות middos is character, and then גבורה gvura, strength or valor, and then finally, עשירות ashirus is is is wealth. And that's how they are organized. Why wealth? Yeah, that's a good, it's a good question. It's wealth as a source of influence. So wealth is not inherently intrinsically bad. Wealth is an incredible tool. Right. I mean you could use wealth to to influence a lot of policy. But it's not a character trait. No, that's, that's true, unlike the other three. No, but Peggy, what one does with it reveals a lot about one's character. So wealth is not a character trait, but what one does with their wealth reveals a lot about their character. That's true. Interestingly that last group by the way, דן Dan, you know what they did that last group in the back? They, they, it would, רש\"י Rashi quotes the מדרש Midrash, they were involved in השבת אבידה hashavas aveida, because when they would encamp, they were the final tribe. Everyone in front of them would drop a pen and drop the keys and would drop the this and would drop the that, and every time they would encamp, they would pick up all of the things and they would, and they would return them. They would return, they would fulfill the מצווה mitzva of השבת אבידה hashavas aveida. And there's significance to that as well. Okay, we're going to stop here. Very nice.
