Original Torah: Ancient Words in a Modern Light

Shabbat Shalom-

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” Elizabeth
Barrett Browning

Seven days after Pentecost (Shavuot=weeks)=50 days from Passover we read a
story about counting the Israelites leaving Egypt. The root for number, SFR,
in modern Hebrew has many meanings including a number, to number, a scribe, a book, a
library, a story, or telling a story. These two distinct roots of counting
and recounting have their origins in how the ancient Hebrews treated numbers. Counting
communicates care or concern. If we have 30 sheep and count 29, we will be
concerned for one (viz. I Samuel 25:29). Perhaps the scribe/SoFeR was a counter of letters, so
scrupulous in counting the letters of scriptures, that a counter became the word
for scribe. A parent doesn’t remember how many children he/she has out of
a sense of statistics, but of love, for each one is special.*

Counting can also become a sign of religious torpor. When religion becomes
a mere counting of blessings, sins, and inches, it becomes stale. Abraham
Joshua Heschel writes in his introduction to God in Search of Man, p.3
“Religion declined not because it was refuted, but because it became
irrelevant, dull, oppressive, insipid…. [W]hen religion speaks only in the
name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion– its message becomes
meaningless.”**

If we reduce religion to a mere ritual without spirit, it is a dead
thing. We can pray three times a day, but prayer must be with God,
oneself, or ones community– not fulfilling ones obligation to say certain words
in a certain order at certain times. Religion is a structure for spiritual
and communal fulfillment, not a calculus of actions and creeds. Yet,
Maimonides writes that fixed prayer was established to help people pray (Laws of
Prayer 1:1-10[8]). So
what of counting? Do we advocate randomness and arbitrariness?

To distill these various ideas, we would have to say that counting must be
done in moderation. If we wait for a spiritual moment to pray, when will
we pray? There is a story of a secular Israeli soldier wounded and dying
in one of Israel’s many wars of self-defense. He calls a rabbi and tells
him he wants to pray but he doesn’t know the words. Could the rabbi please read
some psalms with him and say some prayers? Practice with prayer prepares
you for the moment when you need it. But though we might maintain the same
structure, we are required to make changes to keep our spirits alive as we read
the old words (M Ber. 4:4, Avot 2:16[13]). Repetition of a lesson
first strengthens the lesson in one’s mind, then begins to dull it with
monotony. It is then that the spice of changes keep the lesson alive,
often by applying it to new situations.

Counting can also tell a story. In our reading, though the number of people
counted in the
exodus is contested (see Olam HaTanakh below***), it is commonly understood that
Bible uses the numbers to show God’s concern for
His people, Israel. The counting can be a snapshot of the people in their
history, a marker of its growth and journey.

Numbering a people does not give them a higher status. It only
gives us a sense of magnitude. “A single death is a tragedy; a
million deaths is a statistic, ” says Stalin. Large numbers of people
can blind us to the individuals in the crowd. Perhaps this is meaning of the
blessing upon seeing a large crowd “Blessed are you Lord, our God Ruler of
the World, sage of secrets”.

Things exist even if they are not counted, remembered, or retold. Things exist even if they
are not immediately present. Babies forget you are there when you cover your
face, but you are there. An inscription left by a Holocaust victim reads “I believe in
the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I do not feel
it. I believe in God even if he is silent.” The multiple meanings of
SFR, counting through telling, remind us that perception is so much a sense of
what is immediately around us. Without taking the time to count, we may
become slowly oblivious to the larger world around us. Without taking the
time to reinvent the repeated lesson, we may forget it. Without retelling
the stories of our people, how can they dwell in our souls?

Knowing your
numbers might mean to know your limits and weaknesses, but it also gives you a
sense of history, community, and continuity.

Have a caring week!

Benjamin Fleischer

* In Biblical times, counting people (men) was often seen as a bad omen, a
sign of impending war and thus death and destruction. Counting people was
also a way of dividing up the land equitably. Though both these cases occur in
the Torah, they do not detract from the general thrust of this paper.

**Assorted Abraham Joshua Heschel Quotes:

http://www.dap.nl/God%20Brieven%20van/Heschel.html

It is customary to blame secular science and antireligious philosophy for the
eclipse of religion in modern society. It would be more honest to blame religion
for its own defeats. Religion declined not because it was refuted, but because
it became irrelevant, dull, oppressive, insipid. When faith is completely
replaced by creed, worship by discipline, love by habit; when the crisis of
today is ignored because of the splendor of the past; when faith becomes a
heirloom rather than a living fountain; when religion speaks only in the name of
authority rather than with the voice of compassion-its message becomes
meaningless. p.3 God in Search of Man

—

***Olam HaTanakh on Numbers (Translated by Benjamin Fleischer, in an attempt
to capture the nuances of the Hebrew)

“Six Hundreds Thousand (‘eLeF) and Thirty Thousands (‘aLaFiYM) and Five
Hundreds and Fifty” (Num 1:46)

This number is identical to the number that was received in the previous
accounting, which was carried out in the first year that Am Yisrael (People of
Israel) was in the wilderness (Ex 38:26). Another accounting, that was
carried out in the fortieth year, arrived sum total of the accounted to six
hundreds and one thousand and seven hundreds and thirty souls [601,730] (Num
26:51). These numbers fit other traditions regarding the number of mature
males that left Egypt (compare Ex 12:37, Num. 11:21). They obligate us to
assume that there was a population of more than two million souls, which
sustained itself during forty years in the Sinai peninsula. This great
number creates a serious difficulty. It doesn’t sit well with the other
demographic conditions of early Israel. For example, in Deborah’s song,
that was written cerca one hundred years after the wandering in the wilderness,
we find, that six tribes could draft only forty thousand warriors [40,000], while those
tribes numbed two hundred seventy three thousand men [273,000] in the accounting
in the Numbers 1 and three hundred and one thousand [301,000] in the census in
Numbers 26. Moreover, these numbers don’t stand on one leg with other
numbers taken from that very accounting. For example, regarding the number
twenty and two thousand and two hundred seventy and three [22,273] first-born
males (Num 3:40-43), if we set out from the assumption that the number of
females in the population was identical to the number of males, then only one in
thirteen females [1 in 13] over the age of twenty were mothers of children.

The fact that the word ‘eLeF means both ancestral house and also the number
thousand, brings a suggested solution to the problem: If ‘eLeF can be
linked to the military strength of the ancestral house, it is possible the
“hundreds” could be linked to the number of males that is possible to
draft. Therefore, the tribe of Reuben, that counted, as it were, forty and
six ‘eLeF and five hundred men [46,500 men], includes practically forty and six
units [46 units], that the sum of their men is five hundred [500 people]
(1,21). Every unit includes on average ten to eleven men. Until the
time of the monarchy this unit grew to over a thousand men, and its number ['eLeF]
became “fixed” [at 1,000]. The principal difficulty with this
theory is, that in the earlier writings, ‘eLeF is the name of an entire
ancestral house, and not the warring strength alone (see, for example, I
Samuel 23:23, Micah 5:1). Another theory opines that, ‘eLeF is a naming
for any large number, and that “Six Hundreds” is the naming for a
basic army unit. According to this theory, the number six hundred ‘eLeF
means a large number of army units (every one of six hundreds men).
However, this theory doesn’t stand on one leg with the sums of tribal numbers in
the accounting and also with the number of draftees in early Israel: the two of
them aren’t divided into six hundreds (for example, Jud. 20:16). p.19-10

…However, all these solutions don’t hold satisfactorily to the scriptures,
and many researchers posit that the source of the accounting in our chapter [26]
served as a list of tribes in Israel by their families, that became only in a
later working more of a listing of the accounting [i.e. that the numbers
are from a later period]. p156

[I add, not to mention that the 70 families must have multiplied to this
600,000 men over three generations of slavery, or =Jacob (147 yrs., 17
in Egypt), Levi (137 yrs, maybe 100 in Egypt), Kehat (133 yrs.), Amram (137
yrs.), Moses (120 yrs., 80 in Egypt) (I Chron 5:27-29, Ex 6:17-20, Gen 47:28,
Num 26:57-59) for a total of maybe 450 years if they had their children at the
end of their lives, which they would have to do if the slavery was supposed to
last either 400 (Gen 15:13) or 430 (Ex 12:40-41) years at an absurd growth rate
of some thirty-fold per tribe per generation, I estimate.]

“a little philosophy inclineth men to atheism, but depth in philosophy
bringeth man’s mind about to God.” -Bacon

Shabbat Shalom-

A particularly interesting thought occurred to me this week while reading the
portion, and though not yet entirely flushed-out, I thought it worthy of
mention. At the end of the double-portion, the non-Israelite Bil’am ben
B’or is called to curse the nearby-settled Israelite tribe, of whom the Moabite
King Balak ben Tsipor is afraid. The story comes amidst stories of poor
Israelite behavior yet is entirely in praise of Israel. Bil’am has 7
altars built three times, offers Israel 4 or so portents, and 7 total
speeches. In the second speech, he proclaims “He did not see foulness
in Jacob, and did not see foul-play in Israel. YHWH, his God, is with him,
and the blaring of the king in him. Mighty-God brings them out of Egypt,
as the appearance of the (magnificently-horned) wild-ox to him. For there
is no soothsaying in Jacob, and no sorcery in Israel. Immediately it is said to
Jacob, and to Israel what God does. Lo, a people like a female lion goes
up, and like a male lion is raised. He shall not lie till he eats torn
(beasts), and blood of fallen (beasts) he shall drink”. (Num
23:21-24)

This last line is striking in imagery. This people, not only forbidden to eat
animals with the blood still in them (Lev 19:26, also I Sam 14:32-35, Gen 4:10)
but to cover the blood (Lev 17:12-14), are here described as violently drinking
it in war-like gusto. One could claim this is the non-Israelite’s twist on God’s
word, or that that was the language of the time, but I will focus on the sense
of the phrases juxtaposed.

Can we use metaphors we don’t mean to instill? Is it appropriate to
call upon the blood-fervor of the beast though we ourselves never harness nor
experience it? Can one make good of evil, describe ultimate victory in
unjust terms? It seems to me a most dangerous game to speak in violent rhetoric
like this, to use powerful but inappropriate images to our advantage.

It is important that we take our words to task not just in what they convey
but in how they do it. Powerful metaphors and images, whether in
marketing, politics, or discussion, should not be used out of context for their
emotional charge, devoid of ethical connection. People might get the wrong
idea!

Have a caring week!

Shabbat Shalom-

I sit here with the book “Aravit le-Refuah” on my lap, and I am in
pain. It is a book I purchased while in Israel last year when considering
becoming a doctor, eventually an Israeli doctor, and that I’d need to learn to
deal with Arabic-speaking patients. The intifada had already begun by
then, of course, but it was only tonight that the significance of this book hit
me. I am holding a book of dialogue and healing. Someone at Hebrew
University put together a book to teach the Hebrew-speaking physician to help
the Arabic-speaking patient. We are all people in the end, this book says,
people that need healing. If only language were our only barrier with our
Arabic-speaking neighbors.

If I could break down this week’s portion, I would call it a random
collection of stories and laws interspersed with travelogues and
complaints. The first complaint is by the people that they are being
inadequately fed (10:1-3). The people are decimated in response (11:5-10),
are brought by wind an unreal amount of quail (11:18-22), and are smitten again
for their lust in eating it (11:31-35). The second complaint is by Moses
that he can no longer deal with the responsibility of caring for the Israelites
as a wetnurse does for a suckling child (10:11-15). In response God offers to
take some of his spirit off of Moses and place it on 70 elders (11:16-17), does
so (11:23-25), though some people received the prophesying spirit outside of the
Tent resulting in a worry that Moses might lose all authority (11:26-29).
The third complaint is by Miriam and Aaron, Moses’ siblings, that he is hoarding
power in God’s authority (12:1-3). God responds by affirming Moses’
specialness (12:4-8) and afflicting Miriam with ‘leprosy’, as confirmed by Aaron
(12:9-11). Moses then pleas for Miriam’s healing (12:13) and the people wait
seven days for her to heal while her disgrace wanes (12:14-15).

What I would like to focus on here is how this chain of evil complaints are
healed. At first, as God is wont to do, the rabble-rousers are
killed. This leaves Moses frustrated with the responsibility for the lives
of people, whose name is now tied up with his and God’s (Ex 32:9-12). As
Moses/God begins to delegate authority, to keep the people on a tighter leash,
some worry that giving too many people power will lead to a corruption even
worse than currently. Moses wishes everyone would be able to make their
own responsible decisions (11:29). But, after more crackdowns on the feral
instincts of the people, other leaders fear Moses has not really given up any
power, but still maintains a selfish relationship with God. For this, God
punishes them. What began as immature lack of restraint in the populace
infected the leadership with a jealousness that threatened to destroy the entire
‘government’. With the leadership now paralyzed by loss of a major leader,
only Moses can save the situation. He prays, “Mighty-God, quickly,
heal quickly her” (12:13). Moses has the presence to know that things
have gone too far, and that they can be repaired only by reaching out to the
other. With these five brief words of supplication, sanity returns to the
people. The disgrace is let to heal with time, and the people, reconciled,
return on their journeys together to the border of the promised land (12:14-16).

As Golda Meir sagely stated in 1972, “We
will have peace with the Arabs when they will love their children more than they
hate us.” Where is my dream of returning to my
homeland to live with my people, speaking my people’s language today? It
is still alive and vibrant, but still a dream. I am scared for my country.
I am scared for my people. I am scared for myself. I am not a hateful or
vengeful person, yet when I watch tapes of terror and victims such as at Israel’s Ministry
of Foreign Affairs I don’t know if I should cry or shout. I can
imagine myself before a mob, speaking angry, hate-filled words, calling for vengeance
on these heartless beasts. But then, I remember that each ‘beast’ is a
human being, no matter how misguided, and that not all of them are guilty of
these crimes. Should we punish the innocent along with the guilty?
Can we judge others by a different standard than ourselves? (Gen
18:23-25). No. There are good people out there. We just need to find them
and make their voices heard. I believe passionately and painfully that so
much is TV and media. The everyman wants peace. He doesn’t care where his
borders are or which politician rambles on the television. He wants peace,
justice, and security for his family. He wants a good job.

We are living in a world of manna and seeing nothing. The world around
us is so sweet should we just work together. There’s a man who worked in
the building I studied in last year who couldn’t come to work any longer due to
the violence– and his Arab identity. We loved him, were friends with him,
but the alienation of our communities kept us apart. Even during the
Middle Ages, which many Jews see as times of complete separation and hatred between Jews
and gentiles, people in towns still ate together and worked together most of the
time. Israelites even lived and worked in the houses of the Egyptians
under Pharaoh! (Ex 3:22).

Could someone please stand up and say the truth: We want peace; we want
peace with you. We want a country; we want a country with you. We need to
work together, discussing our goals and fears to make this work. There will be
extremists that we have to fight and destroy. A man determined to kill you
must be neutralized else he will in the end succeed. What principles are
worth dying for? Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for every
person.

All it takes is a leader to utter the right words to the right people, and
the healing process can begin– our journey to the “promised land”.

Have a caring week!

Guide for the Perplexed, Moses Maimonides (Rambam)

Translated into English from the Hebrew translation of Yosef Qapah, 1977
English translation by Benjamin Fleischer. Not to be construed as a scientific translation, but as an amateur attempt to convey the philosophy of this sage into the English idiom, 2002.

Section 1, Chapter 54
What Moses our Rabbi requested in his saying ‘Make me know, pray, your ways’, ‘Make me see, pray, your glory’, and on what he was answered, and in what he was answered.– An explanation of the descriptions of actions that are related to H’, and that are to Men results of personal reflections(?).– It is fit to the ruler to be similar in attributes in which H’ is described, not due to reflection but in fitting the need.

Guide 1:54

Know that the Rabbi of the Sages, Moses our Rabbi, upon him peace, requested two requests, and the response came to him for his two requests. The first request is, that he requested from Him, supernal, the He make him know Himself and his veracity. The second request and it is that which he requested first, that he make him know his descriptions. And He responded, supernal, on his two questions in that He promised to make him know all His descriptions and that they are His actions, and to make him known that his Self cannot be perceived as it is, but suggested a place of contemplation to perceive from it the end which Man can perceive, and that which he perceived, upon him peace, no Man perceived before or since. His request knowing His attributes is they said ‘Make me know, pray, Your ways that I know you etc.’, and consider what is included in this phrase, this is from the wonders, they said ‘make me know, pray, Your ways that I know you’ teaches on his being, supernal, known in his descriptions that if one knows his ways he knows him. And they said ‘that I may find grace in your eyes’, teaches that he that knows H’, he will find grace in His eyes, not he that fasts or prays alone, but all that know Him, he is the desired and closened, and he that flouts his knowledge*, he is disdained and distanced; according to the value of knowledge and flouting will be the desire/pleasure and disdain, and the closening and the distancing. And we have already displaced from the goal of our chapter, and I will return to the issue.

And when he requested knowing the descriptions and requested the forgiveness on the nation and was answered on the forgiveness of them, after that he requested perceiving himself, supernal, and he said ‘make me see, pray, your glory’, he was answered on the first request and that is ‘make me know, pray, your ways’, and it is said to him ‘I will pass all my goodness before you/on your face’, and it is said in response to the second question ‘you cannot see my face etc.’ But they said ‘all my goodness’ it hints to what he stands up before him all that exists and that upon it is said ‘and God saw all that he did and it was very good’, I intended in their standing up before him that he should perceive their nature and their connections this to that, that then he will know

Notes:

H’ is an abbreviation for the Divine Name YHWH, and may be pronounced here ‘ha-Shem’=the Name.

*directs his intelligence towards unimportant tasks