BESHALACH: 11.
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12. I
have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, In
the afternoon you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be sated with
bread, and you shall know that I am the Lord, your G-d.
HAFTORAH: because they came not to the aid of the
Lord, to the aid of the Lord against the mighty.
TALMUD SOTAH:
Daf 32 – Entering the Land of Israel; importance of using Hebrew.
GENERATIONS FROM ADAM TO THE LAST KING OF JUDAH: Yishai
JOURNEY IN
THE DESERT:They journeyed from Abronah and camped in Etzion geber.
Like Week 31, Week 32 is also linked
to Yom Ha’Atzmaut and the Land of
Israel. (See explanation in Book 1)
The Torah portion section for this week also speaks of how Hashem heard the
complaints of the people of Israel, and how they were so mercifully and so
miraculously answered.
The Haftorah mentions again those that did not aid Hashem in battle.
Why would Hashem need any aid in battle? Rashi states that “those who aid
Israel are as if they aid the Divine Presence.” In 1948, the nations of the
world did not come to Israel's aid. (See Week 32, Book 1, the mule.) The Jewish
people faced tremendous odds, yet they were successful through Divine mercy.
Daf Lamed Beit (Folio
32) of Sotah discusses invalid witnesses, and certain statements that must
be said in Hebrew in order to be valid. The daf
also discusses the blessings and curses that were said at Mount Grizim and
Mount Eival when the Jewish people entered the Land of Israel. The daf is
connected to the theme of entering the Land of Israel related to this week. It
is also perhaps a reference to the renewal of the common use of the Hebrew
language that took place as well.
Yishai, the
son of Obed, is the father of King David. He was great in so many ways:
Ishai is one
of the “eight princes of man” in Micha 5:4 according to Sukkah 52b. He went out
at the head of a multitude of followers and returned with a multitude and he
taught Torah to a multitude (Brochos 58a). Ishai inspired David to fight
Goliath (Tanchuma Buber Vayigash 8). Four died solely because of the serpent’s
advice to Eve, for they never sinned. Ishai was one of them (Shabbos 55b). “The
Sages said: Ishai lived more than 400 years (Genesis Rabbah 96:4)."[1]
Yishai is
identified (such as in Shemuel I 17:58) as "Beis haLachmi," which is
usually rendered as "from Beis Lechem" (Bethlehem).[2]
It is worth
noting that Radak quotes a Midrashic interpretation of this term. After David
killed Goliath, King Saul asked (Shemuel I 17:55) who David was. This question
is puzzling, for King Saul knew who David was, already. Some read the question
as, "Is he a scion of a powerful line?" Thus David identified
himself, in response (Shemuel I 17:58), as a son of Yishai "Beis
haLachmi," meaning a person of war ("Milchamah"=war).[3]
This is week
32, which has the gematria of lev, heart. Yishai, spelled yud, shin, yud, has the gematria of
320, ten times Lev. His name appears
to be Yesh Yud, “There is Yud,” perhaps a reference to the 32
paths of Chochmah, also connected to Lev. Yishai
laid the foundations for his son, David, to become king. Similarly, the
pioneering generation that made possible the return to the Land of Israel laid
the foundations for the redemption that is still to come. As noted above, Yishai was called Beis HaLachmi. Like Israel's pioneers, he was a man of war.
In the thirty-second
week, the Jews journey from Abronah and camp in Etzion geber. Etzion geber
means the crow of the rooster. It may also mean the wisdom of the rooster. The
personal journey for this week is to internalize the concept of re-establishing
our identity in connection with the land, and now focus on the spiritual
awakening that is Lag Ba’omer, when
we open ourselves up to the inner wisdom of the Kabbalah.
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