inspiration may fluctuate,
but the time and order of our
prayers do not. As a result, we
can take comfort in our siddur
the way we take comfort in a
loyal companion who sticks
with us when times are good
and steadies us when times
get bad.
This sense of order helps
guide us in all of our endeav-
ors. If we applied ourselves
to our marriages or jobs or
friendships only when we
felt like it, we would surely
struggle to maintain them at
all. If we only give to charity
when we feel flush, few people
would give much of anything.
Life can be very confusing,
and we often feel besieged by
conflicting choices and feel-
ings. So, it can be reassuring
to follow the rules for proper
behavior set out in the Torah.
Such structured guidance for
how to live and what to do can
offer a sense of stability in a
world of uncertainty.
Reb Yerucham Levovitz, one
of the great educators in the
Mir Yeshiva, offers the follow-
ing analogy. When stringing a
necklace of pearls, we typically
tie a knot at the end to keep
the pearls from slipping off.
Reb Yerucham says the value
of order is like that knot. The
individual pearls represent the
many values of Judaism —
devotion to Hashem, prayer,
kindness, charity, Shabbos,
learning Torah, etc. What
holds these values together
is the knot at the end of the
string of pearls — structure
and order.
Most people crave structure
in their lives. Because we like
to know where we are going
and what we are doing, we
tend to find comfort in pat-
terns and routines. Physically,
we function best when our
days heed a certain order, such
as when we go to sleep and
wake up around the same time
every day, and in the same
bed.
Spiritually, too, we are nour-
ished by predictability. Because
prayer and gratitude are baked
into our daily routines — we
know to say the Shema when
we wake up and to bensch
after meals — we are sure to
make time for such things.
Our sages note that one of
the questions we are asked in
heaven is kavata itim laTorah
— “Did you set aside time
to learn Torah?” Notably, we
are not asked whether we
learned Torah but whether
we set aside time for it. This is
because the Torah prescribes
set times for everything: when
a person learns; when a person
davens; when, how and how
much a person gives charity.
All of this goes to the heart of
how important the concept of
seder is to the philosophy of
Judaism. To live as a Jew is to
embed righteousness into the
routines of ordinary life.
This helps us understand
the importance of the encamp-
ments in the desert. Each
tribe had its designated flag
and location, its identity and
sense of duty. In a period of
great change and uncertainty
for the Jewish people, as they
wandered the desert and won-
dered which direction was for-
ward, this sense of order must
have been a source of comfort,
an existential balm of sorts.
In these uncertain times, the
structure and order outlined in
the Torah is no less comforting
today.
Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein is the
chief rabbi of South Africa and the
founder of The Shabbat Project. This
essay was written for the Shabbat
Project in 2017.
JUNE 2 • 2022 | 41
For Team Israel
W
hen my wife,
Susan, and
I moved to
Michigan 24 years ago, one
of the first things we were
prompted to do was to pick
a college team that we could
make our own.
I had what I thought was
a great idea: I would
root for both U-M
and MSU. Little did
I know, it must have
been written some-
where —perhaps in
the charter from when
the state of Michigan
formally entered the
Union on Jan. 26, 1837
— that to root for
both the Wolverines
and the Spartans was
tantamount to treason.
After all, who would I root for
when they played one another
each season?
I actually didn’t realize the
serious intensity of it all until
Michigan and Michigan State
competed for annual bragging
rights and the Paul Bunyan
trophy. During that week in
our first fall, I saw more block
M and block S flags flying
around the region than I had
ever seen to date. Even the
local bakeries were selling
both blue and green bagels to
mark the occasion.
So, too, as we begin the
Book of Numbers this week
with Bamidbar, we are given
a glimpse into the age-old
power and import of getting
behind team colors as a pro-
found expression of human
identity. We read:
“The Children of Israel shall
encamp troop by troop, each
person within their division,
next to their flag and under
the banner of their ancestral
house (Numbers 1:52).”
With 12 tribes making
their way through the desert,
it must have been at least a
little bit easier to keep every-
one together by having them
march alongside their tribal
flag. It also allowed them to
simultaneously take
pride in their extended
familial connections
within the larger
Israelite community;
each of the 12 tribal
groups distinguished
themselves with color-
ful, embroidered flags.
Marching each day
and then camping each
night around their
respective flags allowed
the people to feel con-
nected both individually to
their families and collectively
to the entire community.
The people all stood proudly
beside their tribal banners,
feeling united in their com-
mon purpose and shared her-
itage while never losing track
that as a larger human com-
munity, each person was on
the same squad: Team Israel.
The time has come for
our modern human com-
munity to take a page out of
the playbook of our desert
ancestors. We must find a
pathway for everyone’s voic-
es and opinions to coexist
together in a way that makes
room for everyone. Only then
will we see the day when we
can proudly proclaim in one
voice: “Go blue … Go green!”
and mean it.
Rabbi Joseph H. Krakoff is the
chief executive officer of the Jewish
Hospice and Chaplaincy Network.
TORAH PORTION
Rabbi Joseph
Krakoff
Parshat
Bamidbar:
Numbers
1:1-4:20;
Hosea 2:1-22.