How can we stop arguing and start loving each other?
Table for Five: Bamidbar
In partnership with the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles
Edited by Nina Litvak & Salvador Litvak, the Accidental Talmudist
God spoke to Moses and Aaron saying: The children of Israel shall encamp each man by his division with the flag staffs of their fathers’ house; some distance from the Tent of Meeting they shall encamp. -Num. 2:1-2
Rabbi Elliot Dorff
American Jewish University
The Torah here describes “the Children of Israel” as one community but divided into subgroups, not only of their tribes, but even of their families, each with its distinctive flag. This should be a model for us in our time, both as Americans and as Jews.
“E pluribus unum,” a Latin phrase meaning “out of many, one,” is the motto of the United States, symbolizing the nation’s formation from the union of the original thirteen colonies. The phrase appears on the Great Seal of the United States and appears on U.S. coins and currency. Especially in these turbulent times, with deep political divisions among us, we Americans must recommit ourselves to being a united nation.
We Jews must also learn from this verse that while all the many varieties of Jews may and should cherish their unique identities and customs, we must also stand together as a Jewish People. Differences over politics or Jewish law must not undermine our inherent unity as Jews. On the contrary, now more than ever we must emulate God who, according to our evening liturgy, “loves His People Israel.” We certainly may argue with each other in good Jewish tradition, but that must never stop us from loving each other as Jews, with all the commitments to all the members of our People that that love requires of us.
Rabbi Eliot Malomet
Host of Parasha Talk on YouTube
Around the time of my bar mitzvah, I wrote away for a set of Israeli stamps to start a stamp collection. The Israel Philatelic Service sent me a set of definitive stamps called “The Tribes of Israel.” Those stamps, designed by Hungarian Holocaust survivor, Georg Hamori, were in circulation from the late 50’s through the mid-60’s. Simple, elegant, beautiful, they were tiny pieces of art. Each ancient Israelite tribal flag stamp had the distinctive color and emblem of its tribe, stylized by Hamori’s proud and resilient mid-century hand.
Philately is the love of stamps. Vexillology is the study of flags. Put the two together and you get “vexillately” – the joy of collecting of stamps depicting flags. In 1976, the USPS issued an innovative, yet unimaginative, single-pane of the 50 state flags to commemorate the Bicentennial. Canada followed suit in 1979, with its own unimaginative, yet history making single-pane of the 12 provincial and territorial flags. In contrast, Israel’s mid-century vexillately was something else! It was imaginative, informative and inspirational. It was, you might say, Torah study on a stamp! Each stamp’s unique “tab” contained a fragment of a biblical verse, for example, from Jacob’s blessing. Each stamp’s color matched the imagined color of the tribe’s gemstone on the High Priest’s breast-plate, following the Midrash. Thus, when you received mid-century mail from Israel, you got more than mail. You got a miniscule portal into the world of Torah study. One might call that Torah vexillately. I would call it, joy.
Rebbetzin Miriam Yerushalmi
CEO S.A.N.E.; Author, The Temple Within
Despite their distinct strengths, Moshe and Aharon worked together in unity. The brothers served Hashem with their unique wisdom and soul powers: Moshe personified emes, emphasizing truth even though it might disrupt the peace, while Aharon was the model oheiv shalom, rodef shalom, loving and pursuing peace even if that meant bending the truth to achieve it.
King David says (Psalms 133: 1-2), “How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron, that runs down on the edge of his garments.”
Oil represents wisdom; the beard, growing from the face toward the body, represents the connection between thoughts and actions; “midosov, his garments,” can also mean “his character traits,” i.e., garments of the soul. Chabad commentators learn from the words “the edge (“pi,” literally, the mouth) of his garments” that the oil was drawn miraculously upwards, toward Aharon’s mouth. This was a sign to both brothers, who worried that they had somehow defiled the oil– misused their wisdom–that actually they had elevated it, to G-d’s pleasure.
At some point, brothers must assert their independence, only flying “the flag of their fathers’ house” as each encamps individually “by his division,” surrounding but at a distance from the communal Tent–yet they are still united as “the children of Israel.”
From Moshe and Aharon, each of us children of Israel can learn to apply our unique wisdom in the service of Hashem.
Rabbi Nicole Guzik
Co-Senior Rabbi of Sinai Temple
While the Jewish people make up .2% of the global population, within that percentage is a diverse, multi-heritage, varied group. The jokes about Jewish disagreements abound: Two Jews, three opinions. Another famous one: There is one Jew on an island and two synagogues. The one he attends and the one he won’t step foot in. The Torah teaches that from the moment of receiving the Torah, our conception as a Jewish people is marked by division. This tribe goes with this flag, this tribe with another and so on. However, division does not necessarily mean disunity.
The Shnei Luchot HaBerit, a 17th century mystical work cites Isaac Luria’s commentary on this verse. Luria explains that the flags in the camps are similar to what he sees in his own time. The Arizal explains, “Jewish people are made up of four ‘classes,’ each one observing their own respective customs.” Luria was referring to the Sefardim, Ashkenazim, Catalonians, and Italians. He comments, “Each group remains loyal to the customs handed down by its ancestors, and each set of customs is valued equally in the eyes of God.”
Whether it is Pico Blvd or Broadway—peek into any shul and you will see a myriad of Jewish customs. While we may eat different food on Shabbat and holidays, the essence and values we uphold are the same. In God’s eyes, we add beauty and depth through our diversity.
Perhaps one day, we will follow God’s example and see holy merit in our differences.
Nina Litvak
Screenwriter, Co-creator of accidentaltalmudist.org
With antisemitism on the rise, once again it’s popular to blame “the Jews” for all the problems in the world. Our haters speak about “the Jews” as a monolith, revealing how little they understand us. From the beginning, the Children of Israel were divided into 12 tribes, each with its own character, banner, land (except the Levites, who had their own holy destiny) and precious stone in the High Priest’s breastplate. Today we are the most diverse of all nations, spanning the globe and encompassing a multitude of ethnicities, nationalities, languages, and ways of being Jewish. During our 40 years in the desert, each tribe had its own encampment with an identifying flag. The Levites were placed around the holy Tabernacle. Divided by tribes, unified by covenant with God.
The tribes were 2000 cubits apart (about a mile). Rashi explains that “the reason for this distance, which was that of a Sabbath’s day journey, was that they might be able to come unto the vicinity of the Tabernacle for instruction on Sabbath, for Moses, Aaron and his sons and the Levites were encamped quite close to it.” Each tribe dwelled separately from the other tribes, yet they weren’t so far that they couldn’t celebrate Shabbat and learn Torah together. In the words of Hebrew writer Ahad Ha’am, “More than the Jewish people kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath kept the Jewish people.” Division into tribes protects individuality, but we come together once every week and that unity is our superpower.
With thanks to Rabbi Elliot Dorff, Rabbi Eliot Malomet, Rebbetzin Miriam Yerushalmi, Rabbi Nicole Guzik, and Nina Litvak.
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