May 18, 2018 – Shavuos
This weekend we celebrate Shavuot, the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai.
Dear Scouts:
This week, we begin the book of Bamidbar (which means “In the Desert” but is usually called “Numbers” in English referring to all the counting that goes on) with the parsha Bamidbar. This parasha is all about organization; it’s the proverbial meeting before the campout. The Jews get counted. They get organized by tribe and family. They get placed in camps around the Mishkan (Tabernacle). The members of the Tribe of Levi (like the troop service patrol) get their own count and instructions.
Around the Mishkan were four large encampments. Each encampment had one leading tribe (which gave its name to the encampment) and two accompanying tribes. At the front of the procession is the encampment of the tribe of Judah, and the leader of that tribe is Nachson ben Aminadav. Nachshon was not physically at the front of the entire nation as we travelled through the desert, but he was certainly spiritually at the front. How did he merit such an important position?
Way back in the book of Shemot, when we left Egypt and came to the Yam Suf (Red Sea), there was fear and confusion. Some wanted to fight the Egyptians, some wanted to pray to God, some wanted to go back to Egypt. The Talmud in Sotah 37a teaches that Nachshon ben Aminadav went with a fourth approach: Go into the sea. The plan was that God would split the sea and we would go through it, but the sea had not split yet, so people did not go in. Nachshon said, “God says the sea will split? I’m going into the sea.”
It did not matter to him that the water did not move when he put his foot in it. He was not dismayed when he was waist-deep in water that still had not split. It did not bother him when he had to close his mouth to keep the water out. He kept moving forward with faith in God, and when the water came to his nose, the sea suddenly split before him to reveal dry land. The Talmud teaches that in his merit, the kings of Israel would always come from the tribe of Judah.
What does leading people into the sea have to do with kingship? He had faith in God and did what he knew was right.
Nachshon had none of the things that we think make a leader – no army or palace or tax wealth. However, he was just like his great-great-grandfather Judah, who refused to leave Egypt without his brother Benjamin even though the prime minister said Benjamin had to stay. They both did what was right even when it looked impossible. That is one characteristic of a great leader, whether leading people through the sea or ruling them every day.
Shabbat shalom and chag sameach,
Jordan Block and Nelson Block