Iyar 26, 5776/June 3, 2016
Establishing an army for the purpose of preserving the position of those in power... that's tyranny. Creating an army of citizens, each man defending his own homestead... that's democracy. We all see the terror in the first proposition. And the second proposition makes perfect sense as long as every man shares a common goal, trust, empathy and equality. But who determines the common goal, who commands our trust, our empathy, and who ensures that every man is created equal?
Torah presents another way. The opening passages of sefer Bamidbar - the book of Numbers - describe the formation of the army of the Israelites. Twelve tribal encampments form the outer perimeter of the nation, three tribes form the eastern flank, three form the west, three form the south and three form the north. A second, internal perimeter is formed by the families of the Levites, who surround, tend to and protect the Tabernacle - Mishkan - the dwelling-place of G-d's presence.
At the center of the nation lies neither king nor prophet, nor tycoon or revolutionary cadre, no supreme chief, charlatan or kleptocrat. At the center of the nation lies G-d , not just in our hearts and not just in our prayers, but here, among us, His presence with the people, just as He promised. At the center of the nation of Israel is G-d , in a manner so profoundly manifest, so sublimely present, so readily engageable. Every man who defends his own home on the perimeter, both from the perils without and from the perils within, is defending the House of G-d which sits in the center of the encampment, connecting and uniting all tribes, all families and souls. Every man who sees his neighbor sees, as well, his G-d ly source, and knows that he and every man and woman around him bows and gives honor to G-d . Trust, equality and a common goal: to honor and defend G-d's presence and to make one's own life's purpose to be an impenetrable, unbreakable part of the perimeter that guards G-d's home. An individual and an integral part of the nation.
G-d , for His part, makes certain to recognize each tribe. Each tribe is to raise its own, unique flag. G-d makes certain to recognize each family by name and to take account of every soul in Israel. In a nation whose beating heart is the Presence of G-d , no individual is forgotten or taken for granted. No one need relinquish who they are and no one need be envious of who they are not. G-d has seen to it that we are all equal and G-d will humble the haughty and raise up the meek. Because G-d dwells among His nation and His eye sees all.
This is the nation that sefer Bamidbar lays out before us in its opening passages. But as we read further the book of Numbers will soon reveal that attaining that state of nationhood, united before G-d , is not so easily done. Days in the desert turn to forty years as events shake the nation from within and from without. But Torah doesn't despair, nor does the nation of Israel. On the contrary, once safely settled in their land, a process that itself took hundreds of years, the people are commanded to build for G-d a permanent dwelling - Beit HaMikdash - the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Just as the Tabernacle formed the physical and metaphysical center of the nation in the desert, now the Holy Temple in Jerusalem will become the physical and metaphysical heart of the nation in the land of Israel.
Fifty years ago the army of the nation of Israel reunited Jerusalem and liberated the Temple Mount. People today, whether they be presidents, international judges or just someone watching the news on CNN, should thing twice, even three times before they accuse the Israel Defense Forces, the descendants of the desert army formed by G-d Himself, of war crimes and crimes against humanity, of responding out of proportion, and of being too earnest in defending the nation in whose midst dwells G-d : Israel fights forG-d's presence in this world.
May Saturday night-Sunday's Jerusalem Day forty-ninth year celebration of the reunification of Jerusalem and liberation of the Temple Mount remind us that our purpose as a people, and our destiny as a nation, remains as ever, to build for G-d a Sanctuary, that He may dwell among us.
-The Temple Institute
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