I am very excited for the opportunity to share words of Torah with you. Each week, in this spot, I look to share an idea I've found that speaks to me and that I think will resonate with you as well. This week, I share an excerpt from an article by Rabbi Abba Wagensderg entitled 'The Torah's Three Elements', which shares a beautiful reason as to why we read Parshat Bemidbar so close to the holiday of Shavuot.
[...] The first verse in this week's portion tells us that God spoke to Moses in the Sinai desert (Numbers 1:1). The Midrash (Bamidbar Rabba 1:7) questions why it is necessary for the Torah to specify the location in which God spoke to Moses. According to the Midrash, our Sages derive from this detail that three elements were present when the Torah was given: fire, water and desert.
We learn about fire from the verse, "All of Mount Sinai was smoking because God descended upon it in fire" (Exodus 19:18). Water is specified in the verse, "The heavens dripped with water" (Judges 5:4), which describes the giving of the Torah. Finally, we learn about the desert from the phrase "in the Sinai desert" in this week's portion. What message is the Torah trying to convey by listing the weather conditions at the time we received the Torah?! [...]
Based on the Shem MiShmuel, we can now understand the deeper message of the Midrash in listing the three elements that were present at the giving of the Torah:
Fire symbolizes hard work. We see this explicitly in the Yiddish word "farbrent" (literally, "on fire"), which is used to describe intense effort in Torah learning. As we mentioned above, the idea of hard work corresponds to the blessing, "to be involved in the study of Torah." Water symbolizes happiness. In the Land of Israel, rain is considered a blessing and a benefit. We should all be happy when it rains, since almost every aspect of our lives depends on water. This idea corresponds to the blessing, "make the words of Torah sweet in our mouths." The desert represents humility. It is low and flat, and people walk all over it. This corresponds to the blessing, "the One Who gives Torah" - since, as we mentioned, it takes humility to recognize that our own efforts are not the ultimate cause of our success.
Now we can finally understand why Parshat Bamidbar is read right before Shavuot. On Shavuot, we do not simply commemorate the original acceptance of Torah, but we accept the Torah upon ourselves anew. In order to prepare ourselves to truly receive Torah on this day, Parshat Bamidbar gives us the keys that will enable our Torah learning to succeed. May we all be triply blessed: to work hard in learning the Torah that was given at Mount Sinai in fire, with sweet happiness that feels as good as cool water, so that this Shavuot will be a humble, down-to-earth acceptance of God's extraordinary gift.
Have a Shabbat Shalom and a Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Davies
Rabbi@SOICherryHill.org