The following essay is from the book "Text Messages: A Torah Commentary for Teens." Jeffrey Salkin, editor. Jewish Lights Publishing, 2012). The hardcover edition comes out on June 12, 2012, and the Kindle edition is already available. Click here for details.
BEMIDBAR
Standing Guard
by Rabbi Jonathan E. Blake
“The Levites, however, shall camp around the Tabernacle of the Pact…” (Numbers 1:53)
What, or who, represents the greatest threat to you as a Jew today?
There are two possible answers.
On the one hand, you might believe that the greatest threats to the Jewish people today are external threats: anti-Semitism, “anti-Israelism,” and the threat of a nuclear Iran, whose president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who denies that the Holocaust happened and who would like to see Israel disappear from the map.
On the other hand, perhaps internal threats to the Jewish people are more dangerous. Jews from different streams of Jewish life, like the ultra-Orthodox and the non-Orthodox, are constantly going at it. Some Jews don’t even like it when other Jews express different opinions on Israel and what it means to be Jewish.
And then, there’s that old threat – assimilation. There are many Jews who just want to be like everyone else in America. Throw in rising rates of intermarriage, and the fact that fewer people are choosing to join synagogues. Each of these, and all of these together, might lead to the weakening of the Jewish community – not because of external factors, but from the inside out.
So which type of threat is more dangerous to us as Jews – the external, or the internal?
In our Torah portion, we read that the Levites, the biblical priests, took on the responsibility to “stand guard around the Tabernacle” (Numbers 1:53), the central shrine in the wilderness. The Levites served as the Tabernacle’s security force!
When you consider what we know about the Levites, it’s an intriguing choice. While other tribes consisted of warriors, the Levites were religious professionals. They ministered to the ancient sacrificial system; conducted communal rituals and celebrations; taught sacred texts, and even composed and performed religious poetry and music.
Perhaps the Levites’ main function in guarding the Tabernacle had nothing to do with their skills as security guards, and everything to do with promoting a vibrant Jewish life for the entire community. After all, the entire Tabernacle was already fortified with a heavily armed military encampment, comprised of all the other tribes.
What was the job of the unarmed Levites? Teaching holy words; bringing uplifting music and ritual to worship, and ministering to the needs of the people.
I imagine the Levites made it their top priority to ensure a thriving Jewish congregation, aware that no external threat could ever destroy a community that was strong and united from within.
Rabbi Blake, you say, "... like the ultra-Orthodox and the non-Orthodox, are constantly going at it".
ReplyDeleteMay I challenge your sentiments? Why are ULTRA-Orthodox CONSTANTLY going at it? I happen to represent what you call "the ultra-orthodox" and on occasion, certainly not constantly, I express a contra-opinion. Is that "constantly going at it"? Anyhow, you probably just used the term rhetorically to make another point.
But I do want to try and dissuade you from using the prefix "ultra". How about just calling the likes of me - a chassid - as, simply, orthodox? Does my beard make me "ultra"? Does my mostly black (and white) wardrobe make me "ultra"? Or are you referring to something of my spirituality that you find extreme?
If your answer to the latter is "Yes", remember you sit diametrically opposed to me in your Jewish outlook, so - to be fair - should you not call yourself too "ultra", as in "ultra-unorthodox"? You can see thereby how ludicrous the term becomes, no?
Surely you are not so arrogant to believe that ONLY YOUR Jewish beliefs are "normal" and mine are "extreme", and the tables can never be turned around?
I maintain adding the ultra prefix belies more libel than it is does honesty. You and I perceive differently and separate into orthodox and reform. That ought to be enough, unless it's you who wants to keep "going at it".
You may still try to rationalize into your lexicon the justification for branding us "ultra", but, when you do, tell me why, therefore, you too should not be branded with the same prefix. Otherwise you hold a deep bias.
I dare say, few orthodox Jews can keep to their best behaviors without violating any Torah observances, so orthodox of the "right" or of the "left" are really no different - in that we all subscribe to orthodoxy!
Perhaps it plays into your hand to separate orthodoxy into layers because reformists do just that, calling themselves "reform", or "conservative" or "reconstructionist", for example. And since reformists do it, why then reformists will find it awkward if their opposing camp is all united!
The truth is reformists too are all united and need not separate themselves into different categories. You are all, simply - reformists. It's just that some of you regard Talmud or Torah with more sanction, some with less; Some of you want to keep more of tradition, some of you less; Some of you want to improvise more, some of you, less, etc. But the common denominator among reformists (whether they wish to "conserve" some tradition, or "reform" some of it, or to "reconstruct" some of it) - is, the belief that the behavior of reform, in and of itself, is acceptable.
Orthodoxy, which believes Torah is divine and absolute, and that the Talmud was derived of Ruach Hakodesh (a form of prophecy), believe that NO reform is acceptable.
Again I plead with you not to call me an "ultra-orthodox" Jew, because I am a simple, simply orthodox Jew.
God bless you and thanks, Rabbi Blake.
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ReplyDeleteYou stand to be corrected on, Rabbi Blake, on this statement:
ReplyDelete"... the entire Tabernacle was already fortified with a heavily armed military encampment, comprised of all the other tribes."
Not at all! The configuaration of the camp the Torah spells out for us. There were 4 sides, each with 3 tribes in linear formation, the 4 corner areas allocated for their herds, and in the middle of this surrounding "square" was the Levite camp, in the middle of which was the "island" of the sanctuary.
The Levites, who encircled the priestly camp, therefore served as the border encampment between the Israelites and the holiest of the 3 camps. No real "guards" were necessary except alert Levites to tell some wandering, perhaps groggy, Israelites they are trespassing; And certainly there was no "armed military" deployment standing guard for the purpose.
Only with such a camp configuration would other matters make sense. For example, when a person suffered from certain diseases, like "tzara'at", they had to be expelled from the outer, Israelite, camp, whereas other lesser diseases would only be prohibited from entry into the Levite camp and, of course, the holiest camp.
This encampment arrangement also coordinated well with their getting into proper formation for leaving the camp, or upon entering a new one.