Standing Strong |
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Bamidbar— In the Desert
Numbers 1:1– 4:20 Hosea 2:1– 2:22 Luke 3:1– 20 Galatians 1:6– 18 |
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Isaiah 11:6 2 Thessalonians 2:15 |
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This week’s Torah portion allows for reflection on the need for preparation prior to service to the L-rd, and our relationship to G-d as we seek to walk in His way.
Rabbis have expounded on this portion in saying, “Torah was given to the people of Israel in the ownerless desert. For if it were given in the Land of Israel, the residents of the Land of Israel would say, "It is ours"; and if it were given in some other place, the residents of that place would say, "It is ours." |
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Therefore it was given in the wilderness, so that anyone who wishes to acquire it may acquire it.” So G-d’s Torah belongs to all people, and we are all to walk in its way. Yet many try to say to walk in the ways of the L-rd are only for the Jewish People. If the Torah is for anyone to acquire, it must also be for anyone to follow, for to have the teachings of the L-rd G-d and not follow them is foolishness.
It is in the wilderness that there is less to get in the way of study of G-d’s laws and the process of listening to G-d. This time in the desert was a time of study and personal development in our growth in the ways of G-d. I have personally had great times of insight and communication with G-d while in the Negev Dessert. I highly recommend everyone find a time to get away from the place where you have your normal daily activity and spend at least 5 hours in the quiet seeking G-d’s voice. While I had many years of not “hearing from G-d”, when I heard his conviction to not just hear, but to walk in his ways, it opened a whole new phase of life for me and I hear Him more frequently when I find the quiet place of the Desert to seek Him out. We all need this phase of development to grow in the ways of the L-rd .
This leads to the next area of attention this week. Why was the census taken of men who were 20 years of age and older; people who were able to go to war? What is so special about 20 years of age?
The fifth chapter of Ethics of the Fathers includes an outline of the phases of a person's education and life: "At five years of age, the study of Scripture; at ten, the study of mishnah (looking for deeper meaning in the word of G-d); at thirteen, the obligation to observe the mitzvot; at fifteen, the study of Talmud; at eighteen, marriage; at twenty begins the pursuit [of a livelihood]; at thirty, one attains strength; at forty, understanding; at fifty, one can give counsel...''
Prior to reaching the age of 20, the purpose of your life is preparation for the work you are to do. Our pursuit of a livelihood included the ability to serve the nation as called upon for its defense and military needs while following the commands of G-d. To pursue these areas required insight and some wisdom in how to walk in G-d’s way. "Twenty" represents the point at which a person ventures out to the world and begins to concern himself with the material involvements of life.
A period of intense self-development and spiritual self-enrichment is a necessary preparation to life, but it must not be seen as an end in itself. Those who argue, that the students of yeshiva are to never have to work outside of their study, are arguing against this insight given in study of this Parasha. The purpose of the "pre-twenty" times and aspects of a person's life is for the sake of the "pursuit" which must follow: that he or she go out into the world and apply his personal attainments to the development and sanctification of the material reality. One who does not graduate to the "post-twenty" phase of life cannot count himself as a member of the "army of L-rd." |
