A Greater Whole: Parashat Naso

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Torah Sparks
Numbers 4:21 – 7:89

This Torah portion continues the description of the organization of the Israelite camp. Each tribe is given its proper place in the overall plan of the encampment. The Levite clans are each given their places and their responsibilities. The Tabernacle, the holy shrine that forms the heart of the community is placed in the midst of the people and the dedication ceremonies are brought to an impressive conclusion with the first offerings of each tribe.

The layout and rules governing the encampment establish a clear form that gives shape to the mass of people who are still growing into their identity as a nation. The structure of the encampment offered a sense of security, identity and purpose to all. All of Israel could know that they belonged to a greater whole that encompassed everyone.

But, once an encampment is defined and its dimensions clarified, the result that also follows is that, once there is an “inside” to the camp there is also an “outside.” Our Torah portion tells us that this distinction is important so as to safeguard the purity of the camp. Certain individuals, if they become subject to afflictions that render them with a high degree of impurity, are required to go outside of the camp and stay there. The Torah does not go into detail about how these people should be treated while they stay outside the camp. Surely others, such as family members or concerned citizens, would make sure that there needs for food, shelter and clothing were supplied. But the Torah is silent on the matter.

Unfortunately such silence too aptly corresponds to the silence too many of us practice with regard to those who are “outside our camp.” And the impulse to eject someone in order to protect one’s own notion of the camp’s purity is all too tempting for too many. It is troubling to see these characteristics play out in various ways within our Jewish community. I have written before in defense of the New Israel Fund and other groups who find themselves attacked by Jews who wish to push them out of the camp. It is ironic that the New Israel Fund is so maligned when it is precisely this group that takes on the burden of caring for so many who have been pushed to the margins of the camp. A very current example has been the efforts – thankfully unsuccessful – of some Jewish organizations to exclude the New Israel Fund from marching in the Celebrate Israel Parade.

It is of utmost importance to reject and oppose this demonizing tendency. Our security, identity and purpose as a people will not be purified by excluding the very groups which battle to preserve our highest values and commitments. Therefore I have decided that this Sunday, at the Celebrate Israel Parade, I will march twice. First I will march with my friends of the New Israel Fund and her partners. Then I will circle back and join the Shomrei group and march with them. To paraphrase Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, in that way I will pray with my feet that we may learn to value the entire camp of Israel. And may the entire camp of Israel learn to value what is pure and holy about us.

Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi David Greenstein

Image by Ben Raynal  used with permission via Creative Commons: Attribution License

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