ParshaBehalotcha/The Holy Ark Travel and Noahides
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Rabbi Z Aviner
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Noahidesevencommndments.com
Today we will learn about the journey of the Holy Ark
Yitro -The Seventh Wing
And Moshe said to Chovav… We are driving to the place that God has said
Go with us and we will do you good…
And he said to him, “I will not go, but I will go to my land and to my homeland.”
And he said, Do not leave us, for you know our camp in the wilderness, and you are our eyes.
(10:29-31)
Yitro, Moshe’s father-in-law, who is considered a “Son of Noah,” came to visit the camp of Israel.
Moshe asks him to join. The camp has six wings: four toward the four winds of heaven,
in the middle was the camp of the Levites- the fifth,
and in the middle of it was the Mishkan and the priests-the sixth camp or wing.
Yitro marks another camp enveloping Israel, and he is the seventh.
Everything that concerns Yitro is in the number seven. He had seven names,
seven daughters, and seven commandments of Noah
At this moment, he is one person in the enveloping Seventh Camp.
In the future, it will be the largest camp made up of the nations of the world (we will see this in the parasha)
The camp of Israel was fixed against the four winds of heaven, as if inviting all the nations to join Jethro
It is not written here that Yitro returned to his place. The commentators argue about this as well as the question of whether he has undergone conversion. Here in the parasha he is saying that he is returning to his homeland. He stays as he is – a Noahide.
And as such, he continues to travel with Israel “to give them eyes.”
To get to the place God wanted
Two Holy Arks
And they traveled from the mountain of the Lord through three days
And the ark of the covenant of God goes before them through three days to seek their rest (31-33)
It’s amazing. The ark leaves the Mishkan and sets out for a three-day journey!
How did he travel? by the Levites. In fact, the ark carried them. He knew the way on his own.
Rashi says there were two Arks. One with the keruvim remained in the Mishkan, and the other went out of the camp to look for “rest.”
Inside it were the fragments of the Tablets of the Covenant that Moshe broke after the sin of the golden calf, while the second tablets apparently remained in the Ark in the Mishkan. Also was there the Torah scroll that Moshe began to write. At least it had the book of Genesis. An important point.
And this second Ark was probably the one that went out at the head of Israel’s camp to war, as described in the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings.
Thus, the ark in the Temple was a source of prophecy,
and the one in Moshe’s tent symbolizes Torah.
Besides the Ark there was-
The Cloud
“And the Lord clouded them day by day
as they journeyed from the camp” (10:34)
We have already learned about the cloud from previous chapters
that he would lie on the camp when they did not travel.
When the cloud rose, the camp drove in the direction shown by the Ark
Rashi says that the cloud would kill snakes and scorpions, cross mountains and level hills.
And here we come to the Song of Moses, which is the center of our discussion today
The Song of Moses
And it came to pass, when the ark was traveling ,
that Moses said, “Arise, O Lord, and your enemies shall be scattered.”
And they will flee from your haters from you.
And when he rested, he said,
“The Lord has returned, tens of thousands of children of Israel” (10:35-36).
It is not written that Moshe sang when the camp was traveling, but rather when the Ark was traveling.
As stated, we are dealing with the second ark that came out before the camp, even three days before.
According to the plain sense of the word, therefore, when Moshe says
“Rise, Hashem” he may be referring to the cloud, which has truly destroyed natural and human enemies as the song implies.
The question is, after all, it is written above that “According to God, they traveled and encamped.” Why then does Moshe call upon Hashem to arise?
Before we answer the question, let’s discuss this song
Separate Book
Note that the section of the song is closed between two signs, such as the inverted letter Nun
Our sages hav said that this is a sign that the poem is a separate book in itself.
If Moses put in the Ark the book he began to write, then the poem itself is a separate book
And its importance, then, is great (Rav S.R. Hirsch)
And there is a great deal of wisdom in it, for the letter Nun signifies fifty degrees of wisdom and wisdom.
Distinguishing between calamities
What is the function of the ark above the role of the cloud?
Rashi says that the place of the passage should have been in a previous parasha that describes the journey. Why was it written here?
Moshe wrote to separate between calamities
Indeed, the Parsha as a whole is in a sea of calamities
Before the passage, it is told that they traveled from Mount Hashem – Chazel relates that “they fled from Mount Hashem as children from school.”
And after the passage it is written about the Sanhedrin that was burned out of lust
Therefore, Moses song and the Ark separate calamities
Rarshi adds that this is also true for the continuation of the entire Torah
And in our parasha there is a chain of calamities: the elders who ate when the glory of God was revealed to them, and Eldad and Meidad, and the story of the tzara’at of Miriam. It is as if Moshe gathered the calamities here (Ibn Ezra) to be separated from one another.
If the cloud destroyed, the ark and the poetry and the Torah within it at least helped to separate the calamities, which come either naturally or by enemies and haters
The ark travels until Shabbat
According to Rashi, the ark – or song – travels through the Torah to its end.
In reality, the ark traveled in the wilderness, and then in Eretz Yisrael – Joshua and Judges and Shmuel
The ark would go before the camp of Israel to war not only against the Amalekites in the wilderness, but even during the time of the prophet Samuel and King David, for example against the Philistines
The ark knew the way back from the Philistine camp (the cows went straight)
Thus, the Torah in the closet continues to travel with us until
The End of Days – throughout entire Human History (Shimshon Raphael Hirsch)
And ‘rest’ until Shabbat, as in chapter 1
welcoming the Sabbath
This idea is the base of our custom to welcome the Sabbath on Friday’s night by
chanting seven Psalm songs that call on all the nations to come and join us in observing the Sabbath
The message is that this camp includes the children of Noach who embrace the camp of Israel and fulfill what Moses said, “And you shall be our eyes.”
What will stick the details in the camp to one?
Do His Will as Your Will
Chazal asked: Why does Moshe tell Hashem to get up? It is written that they traveled according to Hashem!
Rabban Gamliel’s answer: Moshe knew God’s will, and he also felt that Hashjem was waiting for His words
Like a king waiting for the words of his beloved advisor
Moshe knew that God was waiting for him – for Moshe – to express his will – which was equal to God’s will
Like a king waiting for his beloved advisor to say his opinion, which is also the king’s opinion
Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said, “Do your will His will, so that he will do his will your will
Moshe identifies with God’s will as if it were his own will
As an example –
Don’t say I can’t go to Las Vegas with you, because it is against Commandment number 2 that prohibits sexual immorality. Instead, just say: I don’t want to. Make His will your will.
Don’t say I’m not allowed to hunt on the weekend. Just say I don’t want to hunt.
You know what God wants, but you attribute it to yourself
But on condition that you do not lie – says Rav Sefat Emet
You really need to feel that you identify with Hashem’s will
How do you achieve this?
How do we know God’s will?
The book of Genesis opens with the great journey to Shabbat. Man was created to enter Shabbat, or rather, to bring Shabbat to our world
And the Book continues to tell you what God’s will is,
the Six Commandments of Adam one by one, and the Seventh added by Noah
Learn them over and over again all our lives to the point that
you truly feel that they are yours. Your own will.
idolatry – Chapter 1
adultery- eden
bloodshed – From Cain who killed his daughter until the Flood and the Covenant of Noah’s Rainbow
Theft – Abraham’s Stories
justice – Yaakov
Desecration of God’s Name – The Sale of Yosef
They must be studied and re-studied until all the Klipot fall and the true desire reaches the ground
And one more thing – from the parasha you know that
TO God will is that the Children of Noach would travel to the Sabbath with the camp of Israel, like Yitro
For this is what Moses said, “And you shall be our eyes.”
Israel alone cannot reach the “end of days” trial.
The children of Noach are eyes for Israel, guiding them on the way in the world
In science, medicine, economics, politics…
Your enemies – politically, like Babylon
Ones who hate you -they hate Israel and You.
That humanity will connect to God as He really is, and not as He is being lied to.
When this hatred stops, when the lies stop,
The world will be able to continue to travel towards Noah’s resting day -the Sabbath
There is hope that this will happen, because humanity’s true desire is to succeed in the journey and reach Shabbat
At the beginning of the journey, the BN’s wing is one person
Then tens of thousands,
For Moses says: Returns Hashem Ten of thousands and Tousands..
The large number refers to Noahites
The small one to Israelites (R Hircsh)
Tens of thousands – the sons of Noah,
Together they will arrive at the Sabbath