When we open the Ark and take the Torah out, everyone recites a verse from this week’s Torah portion: “And it was when the Ark traveled, Moshe said, ‘Arise Almighty and disperse Your enemies, and those who hate You will flee from You.’ ” Why is this verse recited then? Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, a Torah luminary, who lived in the Old City of Jerusalem until 1932, answered this question at the dedication of a Yeshiva. “Whenever someone wants to start some worthwhile Torah institution or project, there are always people who will try to stop him. Therefore, when we take out the Torah we ask that the Almighty should disperse the enemies of Torah and prevent them from causing trouble.” Rabbi Zelig Pliskin explains: Torah is the lifeblood of the Jewish people. Our enemies knew that if they could keep the Jewish people from learning Torah, the Jewish people could be swayed and conquered. Therefore, for the Jewish people to be strong and to continue, we must give our support for every effort to teach and spread Torah. Any Jewish leader who does not throw his support behind efforts to teach Torah and expand Torah schools for our children, sorely lacks the fundamental principle crucial to our survival.
The Torah states that there were people who were in a state of ritual impurity because they had come in contact with the dead; therefore, they were unable to participate in the Pesach offering. They complained to Moshe: “Why should we be diminished by not offering God’s offering?” Moshe responded, “Stand and I will hear what God will command you” (Bamidbar 9:7-8). Rashi comments, “How fortunate is a mortal who can feel secure that he can turn directly to God and receive an answer.” Reb Yechezkel of Shinuv asks, “Inasmuch as the Torah states that Moshe was the most humble person on earth (Numbers 12:3), is this not out of character for Moshe to feel that he has free access to speak with God at any time? How could someone so humble be so presumptuous?” Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski expounds on this: “When Moses saw how heartbroken these people were because they were unable to participate in the Divine service of the Pesach offering, he was certain that their sincere desire to serve God would merit a Divine response. Moses was not presumptuous. His statement, “Stand and I will hear what God will command for you” was based on his conviction of their merits, not his.”
And I will emanate of the spirit which is upon you, and will bestow it upon them (11:17) The Lubavitcher Rebbe brings forth the following commentary: “On the most basic level, this is the difference between physical and spiritual giving. In physical giving, the giver’s resources are depleted by his gift—he now has less money or energy than before. In spiritual giving, however, there is no loss. When a person teaches his fellow, his own knowledge is not diminished—if anything, it is enhanced. Upon deeper contemplation, however, it would seem that spiritual giving, too, carries a “price.” If the disciple is inferior to the teacher in knowledge and mental capability, the time and effort expended in teaching him is invariably at the expense of the teacher’s own intellectual development; also, the need for the teacher to “coarsen” and simplify his ideas to fit the disciple’s mind will ultimately detract from the depth and abstraction of his own thoughts. By the same token, dealing with people of lower moral and spiritual level than oneself cannot but affect one’s own spiritual state. The recipients of this “spiritual charity” will be elevated by it, but its giver will be diminished by the relationship, however subtly. Indeed, we find an example of such spiritual descent in Moses’ bestowal of the leadership upon Joshua. In contrast to the appointment of the seventy elders, where he was told to “emanate” his spirit to them, Moses is here commanded to “take Joshua the son of Nun, and lay your hand upon him . . . and give of your glory upon him” (Numbers 27:18–20). Here the Midrash comments, “Lay your hand upon him—like one who kindles a candle from a candle; Give of your glory—like one who pours from one vessel into another vessel.” In other words, there are two kinds of spiritual gifts: a gift that “costs” the giver nothing (“emanation,” which is like “kindling a candle from a candle”), and a gift that involves a removal of something from the giver in order that the recipient should receive something (“pouring from one vessel into another”). There are times when we indeed sacrifice something of ourselves for the benefit of a fellow. But there are also times when we commit ourselves to our fellow so absolutely—when the gift comes from a place so deep and so true within us—that we only grow from the experience, no matter how much we give of ourselves.”
Prepared by Devorah Abenhaim
