Bimidbar - Israel Surrounds the Mishkan

you're listening to the weekly partial podcast with Ari goldwag recorded with aam's never ending assistance in rates Israel 5784 20124 this week's par is par Bidar we begin a brand new safer a new book of the Torah four out of five and I welcome you once again this week to my garden and uh another corner of the garden with a plumaria tree right over here can see the edges of it and I want to share with you something from our paraa very beautiful our paraa tells us that the Jewish people they were in a formation surrounding the mishkon the mishkon the Tabernacle the place where the Jewish people would access Hashem was in the center around the mishkon the Lev en Camp the Levites and around the Levites was M Israel the 12 tribes encamped in a specific formation three tribes in the North three tribes in the South three tribes in the East three tribes in the west and we're going to see as mes will expand upon that each of the tribes had a special place that was designated for them because of the unique character of that tribe and the families of the Levites there were three families and then there was the cment of mosha and Aon Moses and Aaron and his brother and and um each of these encampments were placed in that direction because each Direction has a profound spiritual significance let's learn this together this is in par giml section of the so he had a he had an amazing Merit right his children were on two different sides of the mishar right and understand the relationship that you have the placement of your family in relationship to the mishkan again has to do with your spiritual Essence but in a certain sense we know the gar tells us that the leim the Levites in the times of the B English were the they were The Gatekeepers they would protect so to speak the mishkon not that anyone would was really coming or the B mikdash the temple not that anyone was really coming except when it was time to destroy the B mikdash no one was really coming to attack Holy Temple of Hashem but there was a certain aspect of protection we of course protect the Mishka and we keep the word lmore means to protect and to keep we keep the Torah we keep the relationship that we have with Hashem we Safeguard it and Hashem protects us so kah so there was the family of K and then there was mosan Aon who are also from the family of kah so we had two sides of the Mish mosan iron on one side the family of C was on the second side so the family of the Levites was split into four parts and then encircled the mishon on four sides and this corresponded to the fourum tell us about the flags each of the tribes had their own flag and in each of the four directions of the three tribes that were in each Direction there was a leader tribe and the leader's tribe the leader flag the leader trib's flag represented each side and so corresponding to each side we had the Levites also everyone according to their actions according to their particular job right it's really quite beautiful it's it's like an expression of the uniqueness of each individual part of the Jewish people the the special role of each part but not just that we can see something when we see something about a particular tribe we can understand to be true of all the tribes the Levites just as the Jewish people are like the conscience or the leader of the nations of the world so the Levites within the Jewish people are the leaders of the Jewish people and within the Levites Mosin thean the Torah Scholars are the leaders of the Jewish people so each one has its place each one has its particular special purpose and that's true of each and every tribe as well let's see how does this work says on the western side on the western side the meas tells us a deep secret and the secret is that there are storehouses of snow and and hail and cold and heat and over here and and trying to explain what are the storehouses of snow and sleep and and heat and cold what are what is the idea so the explains that in the upper Realms in the spiritual Realms there are M I would seem to me is referring to the concept of Theos there's there's there's there's kindness there's withholding kindness there's a balance and the way that it manifests as it unfolds into our world is that sometimes there is heat right in order to have a beautiful garden you see the grass growing here behind me you see the plumia tree growing which we planted recently in our garden it's been my wife's dream for a long time so how does it grow so well I learned from planting grass for the first time in my life that you have to plant the grass you have to make sure it gets covered with top soil you have to water the grass every day you have to be patient the grass needs sun if there's too much sun there sections of the grass here that's dried out because there's too much sun in that area and I didn't water it enough but there's sections as you see right behind me where the grass is growing quite nicely those those areas are shaded properly so everything Sun rain uh heat cool all these things are elements that help us grow and help us and and help the world grow and all of the vegetation in the world grow and we can only properly serve Hashem if we're surrounded and we we use that which surrounds us properly in our service of Hashem we have to find the balance so that's what this that's what's represented by the snow and the and the and the the sleet and the cool the cool air and the hot air so but that all comes from the West interestingly and we're going to see that the MRA the East which is the direction that we always face we always face towards the east it's Israel the land of Israel from Europe and from America from most places in the world where the Jews are it's in the East okay South Africa is it's North Australia it's West but for the most part we Face East and the idea of Facing East also has to do the word MRA as we'll see has to do with the sun zorak means to to shine the sun shines so there's an aspect of the the the East being where the sun shines from there's an aspect of the West being the place where the other elements come from the hot air the cold air the snow and the con says the if you want to understand what is the character of those who are in the west who are they what is their Essence we can understand that by by through its parallel to what comes from the West the tribes of who come from ra from Rachel Ephraim manasha who are both from yose from Joseph and bamin Benjamin they in the west they were strong if you want to stand up to the to the extreme elements if you want to stand up to the snow and to the SLE to the Heat and to the cool it's freezing cold you have to be strong you have to be determined you have to be powerful and that's the mid of B right to this day who is who left representative of the Jewish people were called Jews because we're from Judah but in the Kingdom of Judah we had Judah Yehuda and bamin Benjamin and we had Levites so Benjamin represents the strength the strength that remains from from Ys and from ra now we look at who is the levite family that's in that direction that's on the western side of the mishon of the Tabernacle so it's the family of what was the job of the family of gon their job as they traveled through the desert their job was to carry the ohal the actual physical IAL structure the 10th part of the Mish of the Tabernacle and its cover and the m and the screen which stood between the and the what is the idea what stands up to the elements what protects us from the elements this is true in a physical sense and it's also true in a spiritual sense what protects us our the structure of our home what protects our families in the outside world spiritually and physically the walls of our own rain and sleep and snow can't get in cold air hot air we go inside of our home we turn on the air conditioner we have a cool home in the olden days you close your windows and uh make it dark get dark get cool so the mes tells us G was in charge of this aspect of the mishkan which is the protective aspect that which protects us physically but Also spiritually from the elements outside from the cultural elements outside that wish to lock us down suck Us in cause us to assimilate we're protected how are we protected protected by the mishkon by the by the O by the tent says the this is why the family is called the last the part of the part the word g means to live to be able to survive and thrive and the shine shine the shin at the end is also can also be read as Shen which means a tooth something tough say into the song of songs it refers to it uses the word Shane which means Ivory as something tough something strong this is our strength our protection is the Mish we sequest ourselves inside of the Tabernacle of hasem in the place where we can seek Refuge from the elements from the negative cultural spiritual elements that's the West in the South the South has a different aspect the South and we'll see as opposed to the north the north is if you're facing in East right so the north is to your left and the south is to your right right so the right side is the side of of of kindness and the left side is the side of of withholding kindness so we'll see that the north is a negative direction right the P says that evil comes from the north it's not a coincidence Lebanon is in the north Iran is Northeast but um let's talk about the south the the M says that what comes from the south the do of BR of blessing rain of blessing right you have the extreme Elements which we talked about coming from the west but then you have the the elements which are more um full of blessings the elements that come to soothe the extremity that's in the South says the med who's in the South and what is represented or representative of soothing do and reign of blessing ruen is the epitome represents CH Chu he's somebody who did wrong and knew how to repent he knew had to recognize his faults and change and become better a beautiful thing you want to know why there's rain why was this year in the land of Israel such a year filled with so much rain over the whole winter it was a very blessed winter because there was so much Tru yes we had a difficult time yes we had October 7th but the Jewish people responded with so much Chua so much change so many people are irreligious putting on tizas putting on twiin so many people strengthening their dedication and their learning of Torah in order to give strength to our soldiers spiritual strength but the chuva the repentance the returning to Hashem is the source of and that which elicits from Hashem a response of blessings of rain blessings of du who of the Levites was on the southern side it was the family of Kus AR and Moses's family what was their job their job was to carry the Ark of the Covenant what's inside of the Ark of the Covenant what the essence of the of the Tabernacle of the B the Temple of our relationship with God it's the Torah says thees the rain Yes it requires chuva as we said but how does one do Chua you need to know what to come back to you need to know where you're supposed to be you you need to know what home looks like you need to know your destination and that's what the Torah is the Torah is our destination the foundation of our relationship with hem as a says last week we read if you go in my statutes and my Commandments we said it says in the Torah if you if you keep the Torah and you go in the statutes of the laws of hasem so then hm's going to give us rain that's the natural result forbid if we reject the T then the skies become like iron there's no rain the the wells Springs of Heaven are closed why is he called the very name of the family of the Levites which freezed the rain through the study of Torah through carrying the Tor through recognition of that which is the essence of who we are and our relationship with God which is the Torah that brings the rain so why is he called K because the PK says inel if the iron is tough the word K is the root of the the word Kos the family name so if you see that the heavens are tough like iron they're not releasing the rain so you need to know that the toughness of the heavens not releasing its abundant Waters it's because we are not learning Torah properly we need to turn face to face as it were the was given face to face between Hashem and mosha and so if we're facing God if we are learning the Torah so then we're good spoke to us face to face face as well not just to says the spoke to us in M you heard his voice you are God singular so if we don't learn the Torah so then we cause destruction we cause damage but if we do learn the Torah if we if we recognize that what is the toughness that word cause which means toughness if we see that the heavens are tough so to speak not releasing the water then we need to be tough in the other way to study the Torah to face Hashem face to face and seek his will so that's the South now we get to the hardest Direction which is the north from the north all the darkness comes darkness comes from the north and this means the aspect of gur the withholding of kindness the withholding of life the tribe in the north was the tribe of D and as things would unravel in the in Jewish history it would take a few hundred years but your who was the king who separated the northern kingdom from the southern Kingdom of the Jewish people took the 10 tribes with him prevented them for coming to Jerusalem established Idols golden calves in two locations one of which was the tribe of dun and the tribe of dun agreed to having this Idol placed in their local so they represent the aspect of Darkness of steering away from Hashem heaven forbid they represent Zora sadly so they're in the north they're in the north we needed something in the north to to counteract this and that was the children ofi their job was being involved in theim the the pieces of wood of the mishkon and so what's that what does that represent and the not just the wood but also the pillars that held up the mishkon and the boards the outer boards so what's the idea here so the explains this is what gives the structure this is what gives the the right you could have a piece of cloth which we said earlier is what the family of gon if I'm not mistaken was the ohal right Gan was involved in the in the O yes so that's if you have a piece of cloth so it doesn't have any form but the what gives it form and resistance is the actual structure itself that the that the piece of cloth is draped upon and that was the job of the children of marari so they formed the counter Force right the counterforce against the negative forces of AAR of denial of hem heav forbid right say that which rebukes the foolishness the hav the The Emptiness is is wood is wood is a strong boundary so they're called marari because of meor which I'm not sure exactly what this means maybe it means a language of uh the word Mar means bitterness but when there's bitterness so there's a a boundary between me and the thing that's making me feel bitter there's a rejection of that thing M Eastern side so the med gives us the last Direction and tells us what's the east the East represents the place where the the light comes from and we Face Jerusalem is in the East we Face Earth Israel the land of Israel is in the East the Jewish people we Face East so who's on the Eastern side so the tribe of Judah was on the Eastern side the people of Judah they were the ones who were the Torah people they were the ones who were the involved in fulfilling the Commandments that's our light the Torah is our light the MIT are our light and who is on the Eastern side Moshe Aon and their children they were those who represented the Torah the teachings of the Torah they were the ones who taught us how to fulfill the Commandments and they were the ones who with their prayers and with their caronus with their sacrifices atone for us letting more of the light come in and about them the PK says or the uh the uh dictum it goes that praiseworthy is the righteous and praiseworthy is the one who is his and his neighbor who was next to Moses and Aaron it was the of Judah ofar these three tribes were the most arite they are the most learned Scholars of the Jewish people they were the ones who were involved with says sh the leadership doesn't go away from Yehuda leadership is only relevant in so far that it helps us have a relationship with God that's who Yehuda is King David was a he was a Torah scholar says about the children of they understood wisdom bad as well why is this since they were neighbors to Moshe and Aaron who taught Torah so they became themselves Torah and the mag goes on I'm not going to continue M goes on to say in a negative way that those who were they were neighbors to a negative Force so wo un to the wicked wo un to his neighbor but of course the limo here is so powerful each and every one of us is placed in a direction around the Mish that our lives are centered around the Tabernacle around theik around and we feel that all the more when we live in Israel of course sh is the center har the the the mikd that's the center out of Jerusalem comes the Torah when the Tor is our Center so and we understand our place around the Torah who we who we are and what we represent and what what are the forces that are arrayed in each direction that we need to deal with to counter they have to counter the extreme forces and they have to have strength Yehuda brings the Torah into the world oan brings the Torah into the world the the you have to watch out if you're in the North D as an AA has a a predilection to serving idolatry they have to know that because they have to strengthen themselves like marari does with toughness with bitterness reject it reject that which is wrong create fences powerful wooden structures to protect ourselves each one of us has a place to be but the most important thing I think is the ending which is that no matter where we are we need to place ourselves in the vicinity we need to be neighbors for those who study Torah we need to surround ourselves with constant encounters with those to whom Torah is Central service of hasem is Central if we do that we become like them we can become B Torah we can become those whose lives are centered around Torah I want to bless you ask you to bless me should help us to recognize who we are and where we are are stationed but of course we should always be stationed around the center of our Lives should help us that we should recognize that the center is the Mish the Tabernacle the B mik the temple Jerusalem the toyra this is our Center and this is what all of our sh all of our aspirations are to be directed towards thank you so much for listening wonderful shamas this podcast was made possible through the gracious donations of listeners like you you for more podcasts like this please visit www.wag.com or search on iTunes Ari goldwag [Music]