I have been working especially hard this week -- not only on my usual job at Breitbart, but also on Rhoda Kadalie's biography. I discovered a new trove of her files when my wife and I pulled our remaining boxes out of storage on Friday -- remnants of our 2019 move that we could never unpack for lack of space. (We finally had the garage redone, and closets installed. It looks and feels amazing.)
In the interim between handing in what I thought was the final draft of the book, and finding the boxes, my publisher received criticisms from a reviewer of an early draft that were quite negative and strident. Rather than getting upset, I decided to focus on the constructive criticism and improve the draft. And in the interim, I found documents that addressed the criticisms, almost exactly.
So now I am working on what will be a much better final draft, aiming to finish by the end of October. Not only am I proud of the way I handled the situation, but I am actually glad for the negative comments, because they contained some good ideas and they delayed the completion of the project long enough for me to find ways to ensure that it is a truly extraordinary tribute to Rhoda.
This week'd portion begins the book of Numbers. Interestingly, the Hebrew name for the book is "In the Desert," not "Numbers." The portion, which happens to be my bar mitzvah portion, focuses almost as much on the names of the princes of each tribe as the number of soldiers it fielded. It also focuses on the configuration of the tribal camps around the central Tabernacle and the Levites.
So why "Numbers" instead of "Names" or "Places"? The numbers are, to be sure, a unique feature of the opening of this Biblical book -- but they are not the focus of the rest of the narrative. The Hebrew focuses on the place where the events in the book take place, because essentially this is the narrative of the Israelites' wanderings from Egypt to Israel, across 40 years. We move from the giving of the Torah and the construction of the Tabernacle in Exodus and Leviticus, to the final valediction of Moses in Deuteronomy -- Bamidbar is the story of wandering that happened in between.
The question of ...
This week's portion begins with the laws of the Sabbath and the Sabbatical year, and the Jubilee year that restores all land to its original (tribal) owners. It also explores laws of property and labor that will apply in the Land of Israel, and the laws of vows and inheritance.
The Israelites are presented -- not for the last time -- with the essential moral choice that they must face, and the rewards for choosing well, along with the consequences for choosing poorly.
We learn that doing good things will earn God's protection from enemies. That does not mean that victims of terror, God forbid, were sinful. But it does mean that we can respond to evil by committing ourselves to a higher path.
This week's portion describes the major sacrifices that are to be offered by the Jewish people, including those that are offered only by the priestly Kohen class, and physical requirements of the people (men) who serve in that role.
Inter alia, there are interesting commandments -- such as an injection to treat animals with respect and care, first, by letting a mother animal nurse her offspring for a week before being offered in any sacrifice; and second, by refraining from slaughtering an animal and its offspring on the same day.
The commandments regarding animals remind us of the purpose of those regarding human beings: to uphold a divine connection, through ritual.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111878/jewish/Rabbi-Isaac-Luria-The-Ari-Hakodosh.htm
