Why The Ancient Marks in the Torah Scroll? (Parashat Beha'alotcha) | Land of Israel Fellowship

At the heart of the Torah portion, in the Torah scroll itself, there's something that really just draws your attention. And it's in Parashat Behaalotecha. There are two unusual symbols written in the Torah scroll itself. And there are two inverted backwards letter nuns surrounding these verses. When the ark would journey, Moses would say, "Arise, Hashem, and let your enemies be scattered." And when it rested, he would say, "Return, Hashem, to the myriads of thousands of Israel." And so I just want to show you for a moment what it looks like in the Torah scroll, when when what it also looks like in a regular printed book. But do you see how there are those two backwards nuns that almost act as brackets over those two sentences. It's in the middle of the actual Torah scroll, and then in the Hebrew books, it's written there marked as well. And, you know, it's just unique. The sages say that the marking is so unique and so significant that it actually divides the book of Bamidbar, the book of Numbers, into three different books. And that's the first half of the book of Numbers, those two verses are a book, according to the sages, and the last half of the book of Numbers. And so what it means about different books is a little bit unclear, especially a book that's only two verses. Like, I'm sure there's a lot of wisdom into that. But I don't want to go too deep into that right now. But what's clear is that the sages of Israel are putting this marker as the division point, the turning point, in the book of Numbers. It's like part one ends, and then another part begins, and there are these brackets about the ark that holds the covenant, that holds the Torah, that separates it. And so, um, the very next verse, right after the brackets, and you'll notice it's like the children of Israel start to complain. Chapter 11, verse 1. And now when the people of Israel complained, when the people complained, it was evil in the eyes of Hashem. And [snorts] Hashem heard, and his wrath was flared. And so, what's so strange here is that the complaining seems to come out of nowhere. They just start complaining. The art scroll actually translates the verse, "The people took to seeking complaints." It's like nothing apparent happened. It's like they took to seeking complaints. And really, from that point on, it's pretty much until the end of the book of Numbers, they complain, they stumble, they rebel, they fall. It's pretty much all downhill from that moment. From the sin of the spies to Korach's rebellion, to the tragic fall of Israel seduced by the Moabite women sent by Balaam that caused them to sin, it all starts to turn right here. And so, on one hand, you can totally understand why those backwards and nun brackets, um why they're there. Because until now, the book of Numbers was pretty good. We're counting the people, the leaders of each tribe were bringing their sacrifices. And then after the brackets, the Israelites start complaining, and the drama never ends. And so, what I want to understand is that what happened? Their complaining comes out of nowhere. It's not like they were thirsty, there was water. There was like there were Egyptians that were chasing them on their tail. And I think that coming out of nowhere is exactly the point. It's on purpose. And so, what is the Torah teaching us? Why did they just start complaining now? And how is that really connected to the holiday of Shavuot? If we can answer that question, we can understand the backwards nun brackets and the division of the book. And so, I think in order to really understand those brackets, we have to look at the verse right before those brackets. And so, coming off of Shavuot, now it's clear to me that those last verses, although they seemingly have nothing to do with it at all, they're key to understanding the first part of the book of Numbers and why the second half of the book of Numbers starts with complaining the downfall of Israel in their journey in the desert. So, let's just take a look at the last brackets chapter 10 verses 29 and 30. This is Moses as he's about to part from Ethro Jethro and his children. And Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law. So, that's another name for Ethro, Reuel. We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, "I will give to you. Come with us and we will treat you well for the Lord has promised good things to Israel." And he said to him, "I will not go, but I will depart on my own to my relatives, to my own land and to my relatives." So, Moses said, "Please do not leave in as much as you know our encampments in the wilderness and you can be like our eyes. And it shall be if you go with us, indeed it shall be that whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same he will do to you." And so, that's the last story of the first part of the book of Numbers. That's the last story before Israel starts to complain and starts to fall. And to me, that is huge. And so, Ethro Jethro is the paradigmatic righteous among the nations. He's the prototype. He joins Israel. He guides Moses how to properly govern in the people. He's so honored that the Torah portion of the 10 Commandments is named after Ethro himself. But here it seems as though Israel fails him and fails their mission. Moses, rightfully so, invites the righteous among the nations to join Israel, but he refuses. And he says he wants to go back to their own land, to their people. And Moses, trying to convince him, says, "Please don't leave. Hashem will bless you as he blesses us." And Moses has the right instincts. He tries to bring them in, but the Torah is left unclear. Does Jethro and his descendants join Israel on their journey or not? And so, of course, there are commentaries that say that he didn't join. Some say that he did. Some say that Jethro's children followed Israel, but Jethro himself returned to the land. But what I want to point out is that this mishap is the beginning of the fault. And the fact that Israel didn't bend over backwards to invite Jethro, not force them, just don't let them go. That's the mistake that triggers all the other catastrophes. And so, we don't hear another story about Jethro or his descendants again in the Torah. And so, no one can argue that. It's as if they're left the story. They just fell off the map. And the next time we read about them, it's in the prophets when King Saul is commanded to attack Amalek. He first goes down and makes sure the Kenites, the descendants of Jethro, leave from among the Amalekites to ensure that they don't get hurt or killed in battle. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 15 verse 6. And Saul said to the Kenite, "Go. Depart. Go down from among the Amalekites lest I destroy you with them, for you showed kindness to the children of Israel when they came up from Egypt." So, the Kenite departed from Amalek. And so, Jethro comes, leaves his idolatry behind, is righteous as he can be, and Israel drops the ball and doesn't bring him in. And what happens? The Kenites, his descendants, end up living among the Amalekites. That is unbelievable. I mean, talk about never leaving a vacuum. If we don't reach out to the righteous among the nations, they will end up dwelling among the Amalekites. I mean, there's only two people that meet Israel as they leave Egypt. Amalek, who represents the evil among the nations, and there was Jethro, who represents the righteous among the nations. And the fact that the Kenites dwell among the Amalekites is such a powerful message. If Israel doesn't fulfill the responsibility to the righteous among the nations, they will end up dwelling among evil. And you can see that prophecy manifest today. The best people, people that would naturally stand with Israel because they believe in God, because they honor the Bible, they've been ignored spiritually by the Jewish people and by Israel. And now so many of them have chosen to dwell with Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens and the haters of Israel, and they're influenced by them. I mean, if Israel doesn't nourish them with Torah, and we don't reach out to them and invite them to join Israel's destiny, they'll end up being influenced by the forces of evil. You see the template right there. It's right there in the Torah itself. And when Israel is defined in the Torah, we're defined as an am cohanim, a priestly nation, a nation of priests among the nations of the world. That means by definition that Israel is called to serve, to bless, to teach the nations. The like the priests serve, bless, and teach Israel. And so the last story of the first part of the book of Numbers was our first opportunity to fulfill our mission, and we let it slip away. And then what happens? We become a nation that's entirely focused on ourselves. We entirely go inside, insular. We like then we just like worry about ourselves, think about ourselves, and without our mission, without our purpose of being a light unto the nations, what do we do immediately? We start to complain. Focused only on ourselves, focused inward, we begin complaining, we begin rebelling, we start losing it. Once Israel loses its North Star, we start wandering and stumbling for 40 years in the desert. Moses literally says, "Ve hayita lanu le'einayim." You'll be like our eyes, because you are the ultimate goal that we should set before ourselves. How we treat the Kenites, how we treat the righteous among the nations. Without our goal to the nations of the world in front of us, it's as if we can't see. And then symbolically, we end up just wandering around the desert like blind people that can't see. And so on the heels of Shavu- Oh, the day of the giving of the Torah, we're learning this profound message encoded in the Torah in these unique brackets that appear only here in the Torah. And it's as if it was encoded for our generation to unlock. And in so many ways, this fellowship is fixing that. It's like we're learning Torah from the land of Israel that's universal. It's meaningful to Jews, it's meaningful to the nations. We're inviting the righteous among the nations to join us. Every new member that writes me, I always say to them, "Welcome to the family." Hey, that was a highlight from this week's Land of Israel Fellowship. If you liked that highlight, you'll love the Land of Israel Fellowship. Find out more on the landofisrael.com. Join our global community from over 50 countries around the world that gather together every Sunday live from Israel. Check it out in the link below. >> [music]