A thought on Parshios Matos - Massai
"...musabos shem..."
"...names were changed..." (Matos 32:38)
"...bamidbar Sinai..."
"...in the Sinai desert..." (Masei 33:15)
In tracing our people's steps through the desert, the Torah recounts the names of settlements and encampments, noting that some of them took on different names over time. The Chezkuni explains that the original names were given by Amon and Moav who occupied those lands. When Sichon and Og ruled there they gave the places different names. Once our nation ruled we gave them a third set of names.
Meanwhile, with regard to Sinai, the Chezkuni writes that the wilderness area is called midbar Sin - the desert of Sin --- back in parshas Yisro (19:2). The Torah called this desert Sinai after the giving of the Torah. What happened? Since the "ten commandments" were given in that desert, the letter yud was added to the name Sin (yud signifies the number ten) so Sin became Sinai.
We understand the rationale for changing names of places. New rulers or new occupants need to sever traces of former denizens, so they select a name more to their liking. Sometimes names are altered to conform with the dialect of those who now dwell there. In our own history, Brest-Litovsk became Brisk for us. Deutschkreuez became Tzelem for the Chassidim who lived there.
That Sin became Sinai is a remarkable insight! We passed through that parcel of wilderness and stopped at the foot of one of its mountains. When that leg of our journey was over, we never returned there as a nation nor has that obscure spot remained a sacred place for us. We name an occasional hospital after it or a congregation here and there but for the rest of Jewish history, that mountain and its surrounding desert is just a footnote in some of our prayers and songs.
Yet, the Torah saw fit to commemorate the world-changing event there by awarding midbar Sin with a permanent name change. Though we might forget the true location of that mystic mountain and might not remember who owns that region anymore, the reality is that Heaven kissed earth just one time in history (see opening of Avos d'Rabbi Nosson) and the world changed forever with the giving of the asseres ha'dvorim (Shmos 34:28). With no permanent shrine or mark to ever etch that moment into the world's psyche, something needed to occur that would always declare the greatness of that unparalleled act.
So Sin became Sinai, and the rest of the world still knows that Mt. Sinai was the spot where the Jews received the Torah. As for us, the only reminder we need is the Torah itself. We hold the Torah, we learn Torah and we know that Moshe kibel Torah mi'Sinai. And because we learn Torah, and we learn the Chezkuni, we now know that within the word Sinai itself is a hint of the celestial saga which changed the planet, changed the world, changed our people, and which gives us the power to bring about positive and enduring changes in all worlds always.
I travel to London shortly so this is going out early. Good Shabbos. D Fox
"...names were changed..." (Matos 32:38)
"...bamidbar Sinai..."
"...in the Sinai desert..." (Masei 33:15)
In tracing our people's steps through the desert, the Torah recounts the names of settlements and encampments, noting that some of them took on different names over time. The Chezkuni explains that the original names were given by Amon and Moav who occupied those lands. When Sichon and Og ruled there they gave the places different names. Once our nation ruled we gave them a third set of names.
Meanwhile, with regard to Sinai, the Chezkuni writes that the wilderness area is called midbar Sin - the desert of Sin --- back in parshas Yisro (19:2). The Torah called this desert Sinai after the giving of the Torah. What happened? Since the "ten commandments" were given in that desert, the letter yud was added to the name Sin (yud signifies the number ten) so Sin became Sinai.
We understand the rationale for changing names of places. New rulers or new occupants need to sever traces of former denizens, so they select a name more to their liking. Sometimes names are altered to conform with the dialect of those who now dwell there. In our own history, Brest-Litovsk became Brisk for us. Deutschkreuez became Tzelem for the Chassidim who lived there.
That Sin became Sinai is a remarkable insight! We passed through that parcel of wilderness and stopped at the foot of one of its mountains. When that leg of our journey was over, we never returned there as a nation nor has that obscure spot remained a sacred place for us. We name an occasional hospital after it or a congregation here and there but for the rest of Jewish history, that mountain and its surrounding desert is just a footnote in some of our prayers and songs.
Yet, the Torah saw fit to commemorate the world-changing event there by awarding midbar Sin with a permanent name change. Though we might forget the true location of that mystic mountain and might not remember who owns that region anymore, the reality is that Heaven kissed earth just one time in history (see opening of Avos d'Rabbi Nosson) and the world changed forever with the giving of the asseres ha'dvorim (Shmos 34:28). With no permanent shrine or mark to ever etch that moment into the world's psyche, something needed to occur that would always declare the greatness of that unparalleled act.
So Sin became Sinai, and the rest of the world still knows that Mt. Sinai was the spot where the Jews received the Torah. As for us, the only reminder we need is the Torah itself. We hold the Torah, we learn Torah and we know that Moshe kibel Torah mi'Sinai. And because we learn Torah, and we learn the Chezkuni, we now know that within the word Sinai itself is a hint of the celestial saga which changed the planet, changed the world, changed our people, and which gives us the power to bring about positive and enduring changes in all worlds always.
I travel to London shortly so this is going out early. Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 3:02 PM
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