spirit
torah portion
Desert Transformation
A
Parshat Bamidbar:
Numbers 1:1-4:20;
Hosea 2:1-22.
nd God spoke to Moses in
the Sinai Desert, in the tent
of meeting, on the first day
of the second month, in the second
year after they left the Land of Egypt.”
[Numbers 1:1]
How can we transform a no
man’s land into a domain of
though most commonly
sanctity? The Book of Numbers,
referred to in Hebrew as
which we begin reading this
manhig, our Sages also
Sabbath, provides an answer.
referred to as dabar, fully
In doing so, it addresses the
cognizant of its shared
uncertainties and complexities
Hebrew letter root d-b-r
of transitions: from Egyptian
with midbar. [Babylonian
servitude to desert freedom
Talmud, Sanhedrin 8a]
Rabbi Shlomo
and from abject slavery to
In the Bible, the paradig-
Riskin
the possibility of redemption.
matic position of leader-
Perhaps most importantly, this
ship — as exemplified by
fourth book of the Bible offers
Abraham, Moses and David
a glimpse into the complexities
— is the shepherd. And the
assailing Moses and the chal-
desert is, of course, the most
lenges he faced in leading this trans-
natural place for a shepherd to lead
formation.
his flock; the sheep can comfortably
A fierce advocate for his people
wander in a virtual no-man’s land and
and passionate lover of God, Moses
graze at the various oases or their out-
is a towering persona who reminded
skirts without the problem of stealing
a nation about its mission in the
from private property or harming the
world and inspired humanity with his
ecology of settled habitations.
Perhaps the letter root d-b-r means
clarion call about the human right to
“leader-shepherd” because it also
freedom. Nevertheless, and notwith-
means “word” (dibur). Just as the
standing his stunningly remarkable
shepherd directs the flock using
achievements, Moses left the world
sounds and words, the leader of peo-
frustrated and disappointed, having
ple must also inspire and lead with the
been denied his dream of joining his
verbal message he communicates. The
people in the Promised Land.
Ten Commandments were revealed in
Fortunately, Moses has been vin-
the Sinai desert, and they govern the
dicated by Jewish history. The Jewish
Jewish people — as well as a good part
people’s dramatic and historic return
to the Land of Israel continues to draw of the whole world — to this very day.
Moreover, it is important to note
inspiration from his teachings and
that wherever the Jewish people wan-
longings, as well as from his legacy.
dered in the desert, they were always
Torat Moshe, is humanity’s blueprint
accompanied by the portable desert
for redemption.
sanctuary. However, God was not
It is with this context in mind that
we approach the book of Bamidbar (In in the sanctuary, for even the great-
est expanse of the heavens cannot
the Desert), an apt name for a work
contain the Divine Presence, as King
that documents the Jewish people’s
Solomon declared when he dedicated
40 years of transition between Egypt
the Holy Temple in Jerusalem (I Kings
and the Land of Canaan. Indeed, this
8:27). It was rather God’s word that
desert period serves as the precursor
of — as well as a most poignant meta- was in the sanctuary, in the form of
the Ten Commandments.
phor for — the nearly 2,000 years of
It was by means of these Divine
homeless wandering that character-
words that even the desert — a meta-
ized much of Jewish history from the
destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. to phor for an inhospitable and alien
exile environment can be transformed
the establishment of Israel in 1948.
into sacred space, the place of the
The Hebrew word for desert, mid-
Divine word. •
bar, contains meanings and allusions
that in many ways have served as
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is chancellor of Ohr Torah
a beacon for our exile. An example
Stone and chief rabbi of Efrat Israel.
of this is the word for leader, which,
where there’s a will,
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May 25 • 2017
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