Study this week's Parashah with Ellen Miriam Brandwein, a second year rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City, where she lives with her husband, Adam Rosenbaum, another JTS rabbinical student.

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Naso	Archived Parashiyot

Parashah: Naso (Numbers 4:21-7:89)

OVERVIEW

Parashat Naso continues the description of the duties of the priests, detailing the three types of ritual impurity which could contaminate the camp. It continues with procedures for the suspected adulteress and the Nazir, a person who has taken special vows of dedication to God. Then the heads of the tribes bring gifts for the dedication of the Mishkan (compare this section to Parashat Vayakhel). The very last verse has Moshe hearing the Voice of God in the Ohel Moed, or "Tent of Meeting" at the heart of the Mishkan.

IN FOCUS

On the day that Moses finished setting up the Tabernacle, he anointed and consecrated it and all its furnishings, as well as the altar and its utensils (Numbers 7:1).

PSHAT

The text above begins the longest chapter in the Torah by number of verses. The length of the chapter itself highlights the significance of the dedication of the Mishkan. It also emphasizes the entire people's communal responsibility for the Mishkan. The alter is specifically mentioned, according to Ibn Ezra, because the chapter continues with the presentation of gifts by each of the heads of the twelve tribes, brought directly to the alter.

DRASH

Many of our sages, including Rashi and Ramban, are concerned with the details of "the day" and the ceremony Moshe initiated. They wonder why the date isn't specified, and debate over whether "the day" is the first or the eighth day of the Hebrew month of Nissan. Furthermore, Rashi explains why the Torah reads, "Moses finished," when in fact Bezalel and Ohaliav are assigned the actual building tasks. He says that Moshe devoted himself wholeheartedly to the task of building the Mishkan, relaying all the specific details of its structure and contents to the builders exactly as God had told him. Moshe was so involved in its creation that the Torah credits him here.

In reading this verse, I admit that I was not concerned about which day was meant, or even why Moshe was given credit for finishing the task. What caught my attention was the similarity of this verse to Genesis 2:2-3: God ceased on the seventh day from all the work which God had done. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy.... Just as God made holy the day when God finished the initial creation of the world, so also Moshe sanctifies the Mishkan upon its completion. Moses kashers, (makes kosher) if you will, the Mishkan, marking in time its transition from a work-in-progress to a completed masterpiece.

The need to designate transitions is a strong force in Judaism. We have elaborate ceremonies after children are born to bring them into the Brit - the Covenant with God; we celebrate a child's transition into adulthood by the rite of passage of B'nai Mitzvah. Wedding ceremonies, marking the transition into marriage, are repleat with majestic customs and beautiful imagery in our tradition. These ceremonies help us recognize the effects of the passage of time, reminding us that our lives are a gift from God and that we are moving on to new phases of our being with God along side.

There is another connection between the transition ceremony Moshe performed and the Jewish wedding ceremony. Rashi points out that the word meaning "finished" - kalot - is very similar to the word kallah, meaning "bride". The Israelite people become like a bride on the day of the Mishkan's completion. So, on that day, Moshe performs a ceremony to mark the transition in time. Moshe performs the wedding ceremony between the People of Israel and God.

With the Mishkan completed, the Israelites could now worship God and feel God's presence in a way that was meaningful to them. That was an important transition. Now, in our time, we have other ways to approach God. Often we feel God's presence strongest at a time of vulnerability, of transition, and so we bring God's presence into the world through ritual and ceremony.

Ritual can be a way of reconnecting with the wonder and awe that the Israelites must have felt in the splendor of their practice. Moshe was wholeheartedly committed to the Mishkan because he knew it would benefit the relationship between God and the People of Israel. We, too, can use ritual to reach out to God and connect at the same time with our historical roots and with God who enables us to fly. May we all find the thrill of connecting with God through ritual, and may our hearts and spirits soar.

Shabbat Shalom,

EMB