Torah Commentary on B’midbar by Bettijane Eisenpreis

Parashah for June 8, 2024

Torah Commentary by Bettijane Eisenpreis

“And the Lord spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt.’”

Numbers 1:1

The quotation above is one translation of the Hebrew sentence that begins the fourth book of the Torah. It is “V’daber Adonai el-Mosheh b’midbar Sinai,” literally: And spoke God to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai …”

The Hebrew names of the five books of the Torah are derived from the opening sentence of each book. The fourth book is called Numbers in English because it begins with a census. However, in Hebrew it is called B’Midbar, which means “in the wilderness” or “in the desert.” What happened in the wilderness? God gave the Torah to Israel.  We have already learned about the Torah in the books of Exodus and Leviticus, but here in Numbers we see the children of Israel taking possession of it and marching through the desert with it, heading toward the Promised Land.

The word “midbar” is translated as “wilderness,” but often the word “desert” is used instead. Here in the Northeastern United States, the word “wilderness” conjures up limitless forests, with trees and other plants growing so closely together that the sun can barely break through and only the well-prepared person can survive. But in the southwestern United States, and in Asia and elsewhere, wilderness means desert. So this version of wilderness conjures up a vision of miles and miles of sand, scorched by the sun and devoid of adequate water, and it is just as wild, possibly more dangerous to human survival.

A Chasidic commentator says: “The wilderness is the most miserable of all places. Having received the Torah there, Israel could take its Torah to the deprived of the earth, and from lowliness ascend to its heights.” Miserable? I disagree! The person who wrote this comment never really saw the desert. Yes, it is challenging and can be very dangerous. But the Chasid who made this comment never saw cactus flowers in all their glory – huge blooms of all colors standing out against the tawny sands. He (and I’m sure it was a he) never saw the desert at dusk, with miles of tan sand and bluish-purple mountains in the distance. The space, the peace can make a city-dweller believe that he or she has truly found God.

Surviving in the desert is difficult, to put it mildly. Food and water are scarce. Wild animals and snakes can blend into he landscape and strike the unsuspecting traveler with little or no warning. The climate can be burning hot in the daytime, when the sun heats the sand relentlessly, and freezing cold at night. The temperature can drop 40 degrees after dark, because there are no trees or buildings to hold in the heat when the sun goes down. It is very unwise to travel alone, and anyone who faces the challenges of the desert needs help – help from his or her fellow travellers, from desert-dwellers, and above all, from God. Time and again, the Israelites were saved by God, acting through Moses.

God gave the Ten Commandments to Israel in the desert because there, in the ultimate majesty and desolation, is where the need for God’s law was most obvious. What better place for Israel to communicate with the Divine? The natural world, undisturbed by man’s “conveniences,” can indeed be an ideal location to hear the Word of God.

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