God commanded the people to encamp in the wilderness by tribe: "The Israelites shall camp, each person near his banner, according to the signs of their fathers' house." (Numbers 2:2)
What were these ancestral signs? The Sages wrote that the exact arrangement of the twelve tribes around the Tabernacle was in fact a 200-year-old family tradition. Once before, the Jewish people had marched through the wilderness, from Egypt to the Land of Israel. Then, each of the twelve sons of Jacob had taken his place around his father's coffin, as they brought their father to burial in Hebron. Before his death, Jacob informed his sons where each one would stand around his coffin. This arrangement set by Jacob was the "sign of their fathers' house" that determined the position of each tribe around the Tabernacle, as they traveled in the wilderness. (Bamidbar Raba 2:8)
Why did the tribes need separate encampments? Why was it Jacob who determined the arrangements in the wilderness?
We find that the Torah is associated in particular to two great souls: Moses and Jacob. "Moses prescribed the Torah to us, an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob." (Deuteronomy 33:4) Yet, their relationship to the Torah was not identical. The Zohar states that Jacob's connection to the Torah is "from the outside", while Moses connected "from within". What does this mean?
In any area of study, we can distinguish between two ways in which the student is connected to the material studied. First, there is the natural interest and talent that the student has for that particular subject. And secondly, there is the bond created from the actual study of the subject material. So too, our relationship to Torah contains two aspects. The first is an innate readiness and inclination to assume the 'yoke' of Torah study. This preparation to accept the Torah is rooted in our souls, "an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob". Through his holiness, Jacob was able to transmit to his descendants a natural receptiveness to Torah. This property of the soul is like a handle, enabling us to 'grasp' the Torah. The Torah itself, on the other hand, relates to Moses. "Remember the Torah of Moses, My servant". (Malachi 3:22) The soul's predisposition towards Torah is like a outer garment when compared to the Torah itself. Therefore, the Zohar refers to our spiritual inheritance from Jacob as being external, "from the outside". The connection through Moses is internal, "from the inside".
The Torah itself is unified. "There shall be one Torah and one law for you." Within the Torah itself, there are no divisions; there is no place for divergent paths. The Torah reflects the inner soul, which is indivisible. The soul's innate readiness to the Torah, on the other hand, is related to our individual character and personality traits. Here, there exist numerous paths. In these external aspects - in the ways we choose to approach the Torah and fulfill its mitzvoth, in the kavanot and intentions through which we focus our minds - there can be diversity.
When Jacob's twelve sons brought their father back to the Land of Israel, each one found his own place around the coffin, in accordance to his soul's natural disposition. Jacob's holiness imprinted upon each son a special connection to Torah according to his individual nature. That holy procession determined the future arrangement of the tribes of Israel as they marched to Sinai to receive the Torah, each tribe with its own special flag and unique place within the encampment of Israel.
[Based on Midbar Shur pp. 26-7]
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Chanan Morrison, of Mitzpeh Yericho, runs a website (RavKook.n3.net) dedicated to presenting the Torah commentary of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, first Chief Rabbi of Eretz Yisrael, to the English-speaking community.
What were these ancestral signs? The Sages wrote that the exact arrangement of the twelve tribes around the Tabernacle was in fact a 200-year-old family tradition. Once before, the Jewish people had marched through the wilderness, from Egypt to the Land of Israel. Then, each of the twelve sons of Jacob had taken his place around his father's coffin, as they brought their father to burial in Hebron. Before his death, Jacob informed his sons where each one would stand around his coffin. This arrangement set by Jacob was the "sign of their fathers' house" that determined the position of each tribe around the Tabernacle, as they traveled in the wilderness. (Bamidbar Raba 2:8)
Why did the tribes need separate encampments? Why was it Jacob who determined the arrangements in the wilderness?
We find that the Torah is associated in particular to two great souls: Moses and Jacob. "Moses prescribed the Torah to us, an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob." (Deuteronomy 33:4) Yet, their relationship to the Torah was not identical. The Zohar states that Jacob's connection to the Torah is "from the outside", while Moses connected "from within". What does this mean?
In any area of study, we can distinguish between two ways in which the student is connected to the material studied. First, there is the natural interest and talent that the student has for that particular subject. And secondly, there is the bond created from the actual study of the subject material. So too, our relationship to Torah contains two aspects. The first is an innate readiness and inclination to assume the 'yoke' of Torah study. This preparation to accept the Torah is rooted in our souls, "an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob". Through his holiness, Jacob was able to transmit to his descendants a natural receptiveness to Torah. This property of the soul is like a handle, enabling us to 'grasp' the Torah. The Torah itself, on the other hand, relates to Moses. "Remember the Torah of Moses, My servant". (Malachi 3:22) The soul's predisposition towards Torah is like a outer garment when compared to the Torah itself. Therefore, the Zohar refers to our spiritual inheritance from Jacob as being external, "from the outside". The connection through Moses is internal, "from the inside".
The Torah itself is unified. "There shall be one Torah and one law for you." Within the Torah itself, there are no divisions; there is no place for divergent paths. The Torah reflects the inner soul, which is indivisible. The soul's innate readiness to the Torah, on the other hand, is related to our individual character and personality traits. Here, there exist numerous paths. In these external aspects - in the ways we choose to approach the Torah and fulfill its mitzvoth, in the kavanot and intentions through which we focus our minds - there can be diversity.
When Jacob's twelve sons brought their father back to the Land of Israel, each one found his own place around the coffin, in accordance to his soul's natural disposition. Jacob's holiness imprinted upon each son a special connection to Torah according to his individual nature. That holy procession determined the future arrangement of the tribes of Israel as they marched to Sinai to receive the Torah, each tribe with its own special flag and unique place within the encampment of Israel.
[Based on Midbar Shur pp. 26-7]
--------------------------------------------------------
Chanan Morrison, of Mitzpeh Yericho, runs a website (RavKook.n3.net) dedicated to presenting the Torah commentary of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, first Chief Rabbi of Eretz Yisrael, to the English-speaking community.