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Orchard of Delights 14
£The Spiritual Source The Spiritual Source The Spiritual Source
££
of the Fof the F
of the Four Camps in the Desertour Camps in the Desertour Camps in the Desert
In addition to a lengthy census, Bamidbar also contains an elaborate
description of how the tribes camped and marched in the desert. Most
strikingly, the “camp of the Shechinah” (the camp of the Divine
Presence containing the Tabernacle) was located in the middle of the
encampment. The obvious lesson is that the Jewish people’s spiritual
lives should be the axis around which all other aspects of their lives
revolve. The Tabernacle’s innermost sanctum, the Holy of Holies,
contained the ark, which housed the two tablets of the law upon
which were engraved the Ten Commandments, symbolizing the fact
that Jews entire lives, both spiritual and material, emanate from the
Torah. God’s decision to communicate with Moses from between the
two cherubs that stood on the ark emphasizes that closeness to God
depends on the Torah as well.
The Levites (descendants of Levi’s three sons) were positioned on
three sides of the camp of the Shechinah in their family groups, while
Aaron, Moses, and their families camped on the fourth. This second
encampment was called the camp of the Levites. In the third and by
far the largest encampment, the camp of the Israelites, three tribes
were located in each of the four directions, surrounding the two inner
camps.
Recalling the dictum that the “the actions of the fathers are a
sign to the children” (Sotah 34a), the Midrash teaches us how the
configuration of the encampment in the desert was established.
When Jacob lay on his deathbed and blessed his sons, he instructed
them to carry his body back to Israel for burial. During the march
back to Israel they were to surround his casket in the very same
configuration described in this week’s portion (see Rashi on Genesis
50:13; Bamidbar Rabbah 2:8). Jacob, the paradigm of the Torah
scholar, symbolizes the Tabernacle in the center of the camp around
which his descendants marched.
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Bechukotai
£The Paradigm of Seven Times Seven£The Paradigm of Seven Times SevenThe Paradigm of Seven Times Seven
£
The forty-nine “curses” mentioned in Bechukotai are clearly
connected to the mitzvah to count forty-nine days between Pesach
and Shavuot, when we celebrate the giving of the Torah at Sinai. A
beautiful allusion to this is the fact that Bechukotai is read before
the holiday of Shavuot every year. Demonstrating another link
between the two, the Torah uses the number seven in both instances.
In Bechukotai God repeatedly warns the Jewish people that if they
do not fulfill the covenant they will be afflicted “seven times for your
sins,” and the period of counting the forty-nine days is described
repeatedly in the Torah as “seven times seven weeks.”
The Sabbatical year also partakes in a cycle of “seven times seven”
years, culminating in the fiftieth year, the Jubilee year, when freedom
was proclaimed and all Hebrew indentured servants went free and the
land reverted to its original owners. The formula of seven times seven
years followed by the Jubilee year is mirrored by the counting of
seven times seven weeks that culminates in Shavuot, the fiftieth day.
Shavuot is similar to the Jubilee year in that indentured servants are
freed in the Jubilee year and the Giving of the Torah is perceived to
have been the final act of redeeming the Jewish slaves from Egypt,
for “one can only be truly free when immersed in the Torah.”
The connection between Bechukotai and Shavuot is also alluded
to by the opening words of the portion, “if you walk in My decrees.”
The Jewish people literally walked from Egypt to Mount Sinai.
During this period of forty-nine days they had to cleanse themselves
of the forty-nine levels of impurity they had sunk to in Egypt. Even
today these days are ones of intense spiritual striving as we attempt
to ascend a level each day, exchanging impurity for purity.
In Bechukotai, the Torah repeatedly describes Israel’s dismissive
attitude towards spiritual advancement with the term “keri,”
which, in this context, means casualness and implies a flippant and
irresponsible attitude: “If despite these you will not be chastised
towards Me, and you behave casually with Me” (Leviticus 26:23).
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