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Torah Portion
Desert Dreaming
And A People's Journey
A salient motif of BaMidbar is
that for the generation that left
Egypt and experienced Sinai, the
Promised Land would remain;
unreachable, like a desert mirage.
Moses', Miriam's and Aaron's fates
are sealed in this book — there shall
be no homecoming for them. The
si begin to write today's
book's Hebrew title refers not only
dvar Torah (Torah discus-
to its physical locale but also to the
sion), I am sitting at the
base of a narrow wadi of
existential state of the Israelites —
rootless people in search of a home.
smooth, simmering stone near the
southwest corner of the Dead Sea.
Given this context, the laws
decreed in these portions have spe-
Our band of teenagers (Bus 6 of
Teen Mission 2000 to
cial poignancy. In them, a
Israel) has just rappelled
model society is described
down a jagged cliff face,
in which high standards of
guzzling prodigious quanti
justice are demanded. Land
ties of water in the intense
is to be apportioned equi-
desert heat. Soon we'll
tably according to need.
regroup and head for
Six cities of refuge are to
be established for the most
Mitzpe Ramon, a dramatic
plateau town overlooking
friendless and unsympa-
thetic person in society —
the Great Crater, and then
the manslayer. Courts must
we shall conclude the day
RABBI DANIEL hear evidence to distin-
in Eilat.
NEVINS
guish between negligence
The past two weeks have
Special to the
and malice and to adminis-
been full of adventures as
Jewish News
ter justice.
280 teens from Detroit and
40 Israelis from the Galilee
Should Israel fail in its
together form a communi-
duties to establish a right-
eous society, God declares that the
ty, learning more about themselves,
land will be defiled and their posses-
each other and their physical and
sion of it will be terminated, "You
spiritual heritage.
shall not defile the land upon which
What could be a better setting for
you dwell, for I dwell in its midst;
contemplating our pair of parshiyot
for I the Lord dwell
among the children of
Israel" (Numbers
35:34).
Even before Israel's
possession of the land,
the pain and shame of
exile are anticipated.
You can sense the
yearning for Zion in
these words and the
appreciation for the
high standards of
morality that living in
the Holy Land
requires.
During this trip to
Israel, my attention
has naturally been focused on the
(Torah portions) that together con-
daily needs of dozens of teen-agers.
clude the fourth volume of the
Yet I am keenly aware of the rapid
Torah, BaMidbar (In the Desert),
growth of painful divisions in Israeli
also known as Numbers. The past
society. Settlers are demonstrating
few portions have chronicled great
daily and calling for hunger strikes
challenges and failures of our ances-
against the government's presumed
tors. Their journey has been both
territorial concessions in a peace
physical and spiritual, and yet their
agreement.
destination has remained elusive.
A Conservative synagogue was
torched and the Reform movement's
Daniel Nevins is a rabbi at Adat
Jerusalem campus was vandalized,
Shalom Synagogue.
Shabbat Matot-Masei:
Numbers 30:2-36:13;
Jeremiah 2:4-28, 3:4.
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Voices in
•
emsh
ca an
Israel looks magnificent;
the people are warm;
the tensions in the
young democracy
are alarming.
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Issue Date:
August 25, 2000
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