I'm writing this from the hospital, where I spent the night with my wife and newborn baby, whose name is Amira Leah. Though it is a happy time, I will be fasting today for the Jewish day of mourning known as Tisha B'Av.
I tried scheduling a post for Saturday, which was the Sabbath before Tisha B'Av. Though it is also notable for the fact that synagogues around the world begin the Book of Deuteronomy ("Devarim" ), the Sabbath before Tisha B'Av is also known as Shabbat Chazon, the Sabbath of Vision, so named because of the reading that traditionally accompanies the the first portion of Deuteronomy, which is the first chapter of the Book of Isaiah. Isaiah has a vision that begins with destruction but ends with salvation, and notes that salvation is within the people's own power to bring about: "Learn to do good, seek justice, strengthen the robbed, perform justice for the orphan, plead the case of the widow." (1:17)
That's the kind of vision from which, at its best and most sincere, the idea of "social justice" draws its inspiration. But that justice does not come at the expense of faith, or freedom; rather, it must be the expression thereof.
https://www.breitbart.com/faith/2020/07/29/tisha-bav-jewish-holiday-mourns-national-destruction/
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/703951/jewish/Shabbat-Chazon.htm
https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/15932/jewish/Chapter-1.htm
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
