A thought on Parshas Bamidbar
"...ish al diglo b'osos..."
"...each person under his flag sign..." (2:2)
We know that a flag or banner is a degel in the Sacred Language, so it is no wonder that we have to wonder about the word which follows, osos, which seems to mean an insignia or sign. We can understand the familiar interpretations that this second word may refer to the color, shape or emblem of each tribal flag. Hence, there is no redundancy in calling the flag both a degel and an os. Each flag was, or had on it, a tribal sign. As I have written in a Parsha thought some years ago, the functions of the flags were both practical (to mark the way; to trace the location of one's tribe) and spiritual (to maintain identity; to structure and regiment the people; to inspire.) We traced, in that email, the places where the term degel occurs (only five times) in Tanach.
Meanwhile, what about the term "os"? It usually means a letter, sometimes it means a sign. What does the word os mean in the Sacred Language?
Rabbeinu Bachya suggests that the word os comes from the word ovas, as it says in the verse (Dvarim 12:20) "b'col ovas nafsho" -
"with all his soul's desire." An os, he suggests, signifies something which one longs for, or longs to be or to resemble. It is something one looks up to, and something one looks for. The flags in the desert were looked for and were looked up to. They also represented something that we all sought to resemble. How so?
Rabbeinu Bachya points out that our regimentation under tribal banners was a replica of the Heavenly Court, wherein the angelic malachim adhere to their roles and functions. They fulfill the will of HaShem through events enacted in the material world and in the cosmic realm. They do not veer or deviate in fulfilling ratzon HaShem. Each one knows its task and performs with precision. This is what each Jew in the desert sought to resemble. Each one yearned to follow and to perform unflaggingly. Each one was satisfied with his position and his place.
In English too, the word "sign" turns into the words "signify" and "significance." These words mean "to impart meaning and importance", which is really what Rabbeinu Bachya sees in this conjugation of os. The flags and their insignias reflected the great and important meaning which we assigned (same root) to our tribal status. We longed to march beneath our assigned (there it is again) banner to signal (noch a mol) our assignment (yes) at Mt. Signai (sorry.) Each of us was, in a sense, an "ois mentsch".
What do you think? Just give me some kind of sign.............. Good Shabbos. D Fox
"...each person under his flag sign..." (2:2)
We know that a flag or banner is a degel in the Sacred Language, so it is no wonder that we have to wonder about the word which follows, osos, which seems to mean an insignia or sign. We can understand the familiar interpretations that this second word may refer to the color, shape or emblem of each tribal flag. Hence, there is no redundancy in calling the flag both a degel and an os. Each flag was, or had on it, a tribal sign. As I have written in a Parsha thought some years ago, the functions of the flags were both practical (to mark the way; to trace the location of one's tribe) and spiritual (to maintain identity; to structure and regiment the people; to inspire.) We traced, in that email, the places where the term degel occurs (only five times) in Tanach.
Meanwhile, what about the term "os"? It usually means a letter, sometimes it means a sign. What does the word os mean in the Sacred Language?
Rabbeinu Bachya suggests that the word os comes from the word ovas, as it says in the verse (Dvarim 12:20) "b'col ovas nafsho" -
"with all his soul's desire." An os, he suggests, signifies something which one longs for, or longs to be or to resemble. It is something one looks up to, and something one looks for. The flags in the desert were looked for and were looked up to. They also represented something that we all sought to resemble. How so?
Rabbeinu Bachya points out that our regimentation under tribal banners was a replica of the Heavenly Court, wherein the angelic malachim adhere to their roles and functions. They fulfill the will of HaShem through events enacted in the material world and in the cosmic realm. They do not veer or deviate in fulfilling ratzon HaShem. Each one knows its task and performs with precision. This is what each Jew in the desert sought to resemble. Each one yearned to follow and to perform unflaggingly. Each one was satisfied with his position and his place.
In English too, the word "sign" turns into the words "signify" and "significance." These words mean "to impart meaning and importance", which is really what Rabbeinu Bachya sees in this conjugation of os. The flags and their insignias reflected the great and important meaning which we assigned (same root) to our tribal status. We longed to march beneath our assigned (there it is again) banner to signal (noch a mol) our assignment (yes) at Mt. Signai (sorry.) Each of us was, in a sense, an "ois mentsch".
What do you think? Just give me some kind of sign.............. Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 5:48 PM
1 Comments:
hello
put your infos on the forum of jewisheritage.fr
shalom
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