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Orchard of Delights Bamidbar 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 14 - A | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Cyan
nations where God, your God, has dispersed you; and you Jewish people’s aspiration to fulfill their holy mission to be a light
will return unto God, your God, and listen to His voice, unto the nations, a nation of priests and a holy people.
according to everything that I command you today, you
and your children, with all your heart and all your soul.
Then God, your God, will bring back your captivity and
have mercy upon you, and He will gather you in from all Jerusalem – The Heart of the Worldorldorld
£Jerusalem – The Heart of the WorldJerusalem – The Heart of the WorldJerusalem – The Heart of the World
the peoples to which God, your God, has scattered you. £ ££Jerusalem – The Heart of the WJerusalem – The Heart of the W£
(Deuteronomy 30:1-3)
The portion of Bamidbar is usually read the week before Shavuot.
In some sense, Judaism is founded on three paradoxes. We are free Therefore, it also falls in close proximity to Jerusalem Day, which
to choose whether to observe the Torah or not, but once we choose occurs a week earlier. Jerusalem Day commemorates the day during
positively we are commanded to obey certain Divine decrees (chukim) the 1967 Six Day War on which Jewish rule returned to the unified
whether we understand them or not; we are free to choose but the holy city for the first time in almost two thousand years. The flags or
choice not to follow the Torah brings with it clear and disastrous banners mentioned in this portion – “Every man by his banner, with
consequences; and we are free to choose but God has already foreseen the insignia of their father’s house … they shall camp” (Numbers 14
(and basically even told us) what will happen. Anyone even vaguely 2:2) – allude to Jerusalem Day in several beautiful ways.
familiar with Jewish history will be well aware of how the events
and curses mentioned in Bechukotai and Deuteronomy in fact came The Torah relates that the tribes camped “every man by his flag.”
true. Throughout the Torah, and implicitly in Bechukotai, there is a The numerical value of the Hebrew word for flag or banner (degel) is
paradoxical tension between free choice and a certain fate or destiny thirty-seven, the same as the numerical value of the Hebrew phrase
set for the Jewish people on both private and communal levels that “the heart” (halev). Since antiquity Jerusalem has been termed “the
we cannot and dare not escape. heart” of the Jewish people, the place that most symbolizes the
Jewish nation’s collective purpose and mission. The reunification of
As Rabbi Akiba articulates in Pirkei Avot (3:19-20): Jerusalem truly captured the collective imagination of the Jewish
people as many of the prophecies of old predicting this awesome
Everything is foreseen, yet the freedom of choice is
given. The world is judged with goodness, and everything event were fulfilled.
depends on the abundance of good deeds. Everything is Furthermore, as we discussed in the previous section, the flags in
given on collateral and a net is spread over all the living. the desert represent the individual’s deepest longing for meaning and
The shop is open; the Merchant extends credit; the ledger purpose in life – his or her heartfelt desire. The phrase “his flag”
is open; the hand writes; and whoever wishes to borrow, let (diglo) has the numerical value of forty-three, the very day in the
him come and borrow. The collectors make their rounds counting of the omer (the days counted from Pesach to Shavuot) that
constantly, every day, and collect payment from the Jerusalem was reunited. On this day the Jewish people as individuals
person, whether he realizes it or not. They have proof to and as a collective regained their hearts’ desire.
rely upon; and the judgment is a truthful judgment; and In the Song of Songs (2:4) the following verse appears: “He brought
everything is prepared for the [final festive] banquet. me to the house of wine and his banner over me was love.” The Sages
read the entire book as a divinely inspired allegory symbolizing the
love between God (the lover) and the Jewish people (the beloved).
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