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The Power of Flags: Bamidbar, Identity, and the Soul of Jerusalem Day - Tehila Gimpel:
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Guys, this week's coming portion is
Bameidbar Numbers. The first the first
portion in the book of Bameidbar
Numbers. Now, this portion poses a
challenge because you guys know I love
teaching about the portion. On the other
hand, we have Jerusalem day now. And on
the third hand, we have Shàuote coming
up and we're not going to get to meet
because that comes out on Sunday night
next week. And
Let's be honest, Bidbar, this first
portion of numbers doesn't uh let's say
seem at first glance to have a lot of
story to it. It's mostly counting and
numbers. And it it it kind of reminds me
of a meeting of like the city planning
council about like how to plan out a
suburb. Like, okay, this tribe is going
to sit over here and this tribe is going
to sit out over here. We have this many
people here and this many people there.
it doesn't really lend itself to uh to
much storytelling at first glance. So, I
felt like I really had my work cut out
for me, but the Torah does not
disappoint us. And so, I will try to
touch on all of these coming out of our
portion. Let's see if I can do it. So,
buckle up, guys. Okay. So, this week's
portion, we are in the second year. The
tabernacle has been made and now
seemingly it's time to get organized as
an encampment.
Um, now see it would look like from
reading the Torah that up until now we
just have a giant blob of people. There
seems to be a giant blob moving through
uh the sea when the sea splits and then
just a very big blob of people when uh
they're at Mount Si. We don't really
hear about any great amount of uh order
in the living
arrangements. So this portion is all
about how everyone situates themselves.
Now, the first thing that we
notice is that the tabernacle isn't
exactly where you would necessarily
expect it. We're talking about a
traveling group of people. If you were
to imagine what would be and you hadn't
read the Torah, where would you sort of
imagine the
tabernacle? I would imagine the
tabernacle like up ahead and then like
the priests and then the Levites and
then like the more important tribes and
maybe the less, you know, significant
tribes. I would kind of have a a
procession going behind it because
that's how they travel. We always have
the tabernacle and its and its and its
articles up front when we're traveling.
So, you know, when we settle down, you
would think we would just kind of settle
like that and that would kind of be
pointing us in the right direction. But
in fact, we get a square encampment with
these four flanks of three tribes on
each side. And then each
tribe. So we have these groups of three.
And then it says that each tribe dwells
within itself. So kind of you can look
here at at an example of a picture. You
can see like tribe tribe tribe on each
side. And then
uh it says that within each tribe you
have each family unto their father's
house uh dwelling sort of like a
miniature encampment within each
encampment.
Um, so that's interesting. Now, what's
also interesting is the tremendous focus
that we get in this portion on
flags. It's not not odd, right? It says
here, God, just this is one example.
There's so many times that this portion
mentions flags. In chapter 2, uh, verse
one, God spoke to Moses and Aaron
saying, the Israelites must camp each by
his division's banner. So, we have these
three tribes. That's like your division
by the insignias
uh on the flags of each house, right? Uh
um you have these they have to camp
around the tent of meeting at a distance
and those camping in the front in the
east will be under the flag of the
division of Judah organized according to
their troops. The prince of the tribe of
Judah was Nakshon the son of Aminadav.
And it goes on again and again telling
us that there are going to be these
flags or
banners that keep repeating themselves
like it's really important that each
group has a flag. Why is that
important now? Like it almost seems like
I when I when you think about it, it's
like is this like is it color war? Is it
capture the flag? The whole idea of
flags is sort of interesting. You know,
I was reading in one of the classical
interpreters of the Torah, the says that
from these verses in this Torah portion,
the nations of the world began making
flags. Nations began identifying
themselves with flags. And I read that,
I was like, hm, that might need a fact
check. But I did fact check it. And lo
and behold, if you look up in Wikipedia
or in Encyclopedia Bratannica, they'll
all say that the that flags were
invented in China in the 11th century
BCE. But the Torah here is telling us a
story that takes place hundreds of years
before that. So it would seem that the
biblical flags are indeed the first
flags known in history. What does that
mean? And there's so much talk about the
flags. You have the main flag of each
group of three. So like let's say if
you're in like the Judah team, then you
have the Judah flag. If you're in the
Ruven team, you have the Reven
flag. For like three tribes, three
tribes, three on each side. And then
within each flag, it seems that the
Torah is telling us that each tribe has
a flag. Maybe even each family has a
flag. What's up with all the flags?
So there's this really interesting kind
of odd, I don't want to say odd, kind of
surprising, unusual midash. And the
midash actually connects these flags to
the revelation at Sinai. Listen to this
midrash. It says in the midash of
Bidaba, a great love did Hashem show
Israel by making them into camps with
flags. So why? It's like a sign of
Hashem's love for us that he gave us
flags.
Okay. Says when Hashem revealed himself
at Hari at Mount Si, he descended with
220,000 angels. As it says in
Psalms, the chariots of God are myriads
upon myriads, thousands of thousands.
And all of them were arranged in groups
with flags. As it says in Shir Sharim,
the Song of Songs 5:10, bannered among
10,000. And using the word for here for
flag in the Hebrew it has the word flag.
When Ben Israel when the children of
Israel saw the angels arranged with
flags they began to desire flags for
themselves. Doesn't that happen to you
guys on a day-to-day basis? You run into
some angels and the angel is waving a
flag and you say if only I had like the
first thought that comes to mind is like
gee I really need a flag. I really need
a flag like that
angel. And they started to desire flags
for themselves. And they said, "Would
that we too be arranged with flags like
them." And Hashem said to them, "You
desire to have flags. I swear I will
fulfill your desire as it says in the
Psalms, may Hashem fulfill all your
desires." And then immediately Hashem
informed Moses and said to him, "Go and
make the flags as they have desired."
So for some reason the midash is
connecting this arrangement of flags
with the revelation at Sinai and the
angels that were accompanying God's
entourage as he revealed himself in the
world. So let's think about that for a
second. Let's unpack it. When Hashem
reveals himself, he has this entourage.
We see this in many places. He has this
entourage of angels that come and now
the midash tells us they're carrying
flags. Well, what are angels? How are
angels different from human beings? It's
like besides her not having physical
bodies. You know what's interesting in
Hebrew, the word angel, the word for
angel malak and the word for messenger
are the same
word to be I even if when our when our
patriarchs sent out messengers often it
will describe the messengers as angels
even though they're just regular people
being sent on a mission. So to be an
angel fundamentally is to be
single-minded in the mission God gave
you. us as humans, we get distracted. I
want to serve God, but on the other
hand, I want to serve me and my physical
desires. Like, what's going to be my
main thing? I'm pulled in this
direction. I'm pulled in that direction.
The angels don't struggle with that. The
flags symbolize that. They come into the
world at the revelation and each one of
them has a flag. What is what is a flag?
A flag is like something that you rally
around. When you're lost, you look up
and you see this flag. You know what
direction you're going. It identifies
you. It makes sure it's it ensures that
you don't get lost. You look where your
flag is and you know where you need to
go. It's like each angel knew their
precise place and their precise
direction and their job. And
Israel, this band of freely
released slaves sees these angels and is
so inspired. It's like the inner calling
of us at the revelation was like we have
an inner desire to be closer to that
angelic state where you can actually
know your purpose. Why did Hashem send
me to this world? It's like
metaphorically they were saying we want
flags too. Hashem, show us our mission
in life. Like we want to also be like
angels. We want to be single-minded in
focusing on doing your will. It's this
beautiful kind of
missiondriven god- centered life that we
want to have. And that's something that
they realize at
Sinai. That's like the besides for
receiving the Torah, they had they had
they didn't only receive laws and words,
but they had an experience of seeing
what a person like what what they could
strive to be like. And so essentially
this encampment that's being created in
our
portion, you know, it's interesting that
this portion of this week is always the
portion that you read right before
shaveote. It's like it's like there's
some kind of connection. This
encampment, it seems when you first read
it so technical, but actually it's an
embodiment of the Sinai experience. And
that helps us really understand the
whole structure of the encampment
because the center of the encampment is
the tabernacle. In the center of the
tabernacle are the tablets inside the
ark. And above them are the cherubs
where we have ongoing revelation. So you
have the revelation of Si and the
ongoing relationship that makes itself
manifest through the cherubs. We have
this kind of mobile mount si. That's
really what the tabernacle is. And the
people are essentially organizing their
lives around the tabernacle. The
tabernacle is not in front where it's
like, okay, I have this on one side of
me, but I have also all my other
inclinations on my other side. I maybe I
could move backwards, forward, sideways.
Everyone is facing inwards towards the
tabernacle. It's not one part of our
life. It's not on one direction of our
life. We all want to be like angels.
They their inner desire was to be like
angels looking single-mindedly towards
this center to focus their life on
Hashem's commandments and his ongoing
revelation. So now, what did these flags
actually look like? The Torah says that
there were flags and on each flag there
was a symbol. But the Torah doesn't tell
us what the symbol was. Seemingly
whichever tribe was the dominant tribe
of
that trinity would, you know, probably
have some kind of symbol relating to
them, but it doesn't tell us what it is.
But here's the
thing. Our forefathers were actually
there. And that's the power of the oral
tradition. like my grandfather's
grandfather's grandfather's
grandfather's grandfather was actually
there and saw those flags. Like do we
believe that that actually happened?
These stories were passed down to us.
And we have a tradition going back
countless generations of what the actual
symbols were on the flags. You can see
it in many sources, but I'll give you
one example that was just worded really
clearly inades known in Hebrew as the
Ramban. So he says on the flag of Judah
there was an image of a lion based on
the verse Judah is a lion club. So on
the Judah side, the Judah team where he
has Judah, Yesahar and and and Zevulun,
they had the lion flag. On the flag of
Ruvane, there was the image of a man.
Based on the story of the Judaim, the
Mandre story in Hebrew, the word for
Mandrekes, Judaim is the same letters
as the letters of the word Adam, man. On
the flag of Ephraim was the image of an
ox based on the verse his firstborn bull
majesty is his. On the flag of Dan was
the image of an eagle and the reason is
based on the verse like an eagle
arousing its nest because the tribe of
Dan traveled last gathering all the
camps like a rear guard. Therefore Dan
would rouse and motivate the others
helping keep the camp moving
together. Okay, so that's interesting.
We have
this ancient ancient tradition telling
us what the flags look
like. Do these symbols sound familiar?
Are they ringing a bell to
anybody? I'm going to see all the chat
popping up. Right. In the vision of
Ezekiel of Yezgel in the first chapter,
he sees the heavenly entourage, the
carriage, the throne of God. And what
does it say? says, "The likeness of
their faces was the face of a man, the
face of a lion,
uh, the face of the lion was on their
right to the four of them, and the face
of an ox to the left to the four of
them, and the face of the eagle was to
the four of them." So, you have these
like the throne of God with these four
faces. Seemingly, we know at the
revelation, everyone who was at Mount Si
saw this complete revelation just like
Ezekiel saw. So when they're making
their flags, they know what they're what
they've seen. I won't go into all the
details in Hebrew, but you can take my
word that many of the phrases described
in Ezekiel's vision are also used here
describing the structuring of the
camp. So if we put everything together,
this encampment is not just like a
suburban planning meeting. This is
essentially an earthly physical
replication of the heavenly throne and
chariot. When the people say we want
flags, maybe they're not just saying we
want to be angelike in our
personalities. Maybe they're actually
saying we want the whole kitten
kaboodleoodle. We actually want to
create a dwelling place on earth for
Hashem that is like his dwelling place
in heaven. We want to organize our
entire lives such that we
ourselves become the bearers of Hashem's
presence. We have this replica with
these flags but the flags representing
the essence of what we are trying to be.
We are trying with our lives, with our
tents, with our homes, with our families
to actually live in such a way that we
can be a bearer, a chariot for the
throne of Hashem, which is symbolized in
the tabernacle as the location of
Hashem's presence as it can be revealed
in this actual physical world. And it's
really beautiful when you think about
the implications because here they are
in this chaotic world symbolized by the
desert. The desert is a place where
there's no order. You have Amalcch
trying to kill you and Midian trying to
tempt you and Balum trying to curse
you. Not so different from the world
that we live in maybe. And with all that
chaos, within all that chaos, the Torah
is telling us you can actually organize
yourself, your life, your family, your
community in such a way that invites
Hashem's presence into your midst. It
seems to be a recipe to organizing
yourself as a person with a mission
that's located within a family. A family
within the context of a larger family. A
larger family in the context of a
community. And that community in the
context of a greater national commitment
that decides to center and orient itself
with Hashem and Hashem's commandments
and presence at the center of the
center.
And you know, I promised you something
cool for Jerusalem Day. And you're
saying, "Well, I don't know." Okay,
listen to this. Jerusalem is a tricky
Jerusalem Day is a tricky holiday
because you know in Israel, everyone
celebrates Independence Day. But somehow
the six- day war got kind of forgotten,
marginalized primarily because of the
ongoing argument between the left and
the right that also kind of breaks down
on lines of religious and non-religious
people as to what should really be the
status of Judea and Samaria and
ultimately the Temple Mount. And because
it's such a let's say controversial
issue, I hope less so now since the
beginning of the war, but who knows,
Jerusalem Day doesn't get all of the
hype that um let's say Independence Day
gets. And so even though we're
celebrating the redemption of Jerusalem
and the holy places and the biblical
heartland, the celebrations became
mostly relegated to religious Zionists
and not so much in the secular world and
definitely not in the world of the
Israeli left who actually strives or
strove to give those places to the
Arabs. So it never really developed any
major traditions. There's really only
one tradition that is consistently
celebrated on Jerusalem Day and that is
the flag march. Now, I don't think that
when anyone started out marching with a
flag and like kind of picked up
grassroots like you know more more and
more people joined, I don't think
anybody thought that that would even
become the main event of the day. And I
for sure don't think that they thought
about the portion of Bidbar and the
flags in uh in the encampment that comes
out every year on the week of Jerusalem
day. But here we are and in the very
portion of Bidbar that focuses so much
on these flags, we have the flag march
where thousands and thousands of people
come and take Israeli flags and march
around the old city ending up ultimately
at the Western Wall facing the Temple
Mount. It's like almost unknowingly but
through some kind of prophetic intuition
even we were challenging channeling
excuse me not challenging channeling
this idea that
says our flag orients us to our purpose
and with our flags we organize oursel
ourselves around Hashem's revelation
which is ultimately going to be in the
center of the old city of Jerusalem at
the temple mount and so in this kind of
grassroots intuition ition. Exactly. In
this week's portion, we're going to see
tomorrow thousands and thousands of
young people circling the old city and
coming to face physically and
spiritually the temple mount and say
this is what this is our flag and this
is what we want to orient our lives to.
This is what we want to dedicate
ourselves to. So with that, I wish you
guys a happy Jerusalem day. I wish you a
meaningful shàvuote and that may you
just connect with that we should all
connect with
our mission our flag nestled within our
families within the communities that we
build and facing our hearts fully and
completely to orient ourselves towards
the tabernacle towards the ark of the
covenant and ultimately towards the
temple that should be rebuilt in our
days. Amen.
[Music]