A Thought On Parshas Va'Eschanan
A Thought on Parshas Va'Eschanan
"...lo me'rubchem mi'kol ha'amim ki atem ha'me'at.."
"...its not because you are more numerous than all the nations..." (7:13)
A recurrent theme beneath HaShem's vow of commitment to His nation Israel is the reminder that His love is not because we are the biggest nation or most populated country. It is a puzzling reminder, nonetheless, that HaShem keeps giving us. What is the intention of that phrase "its not because you are more numerous than all the nations"? How numerous are all those nations? Who are "all those nations"? What is the point and why does this matter?
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel offers two angles in understanding this vague tenet that we are less than all the nations. Obviously, it does not require advanced computing to realize that we are a small fragment of humanity and have never been otherwise. The Torah might have just said "you Jews are a pretty small group ."
His first view is that "all of the nations" refers to our ancient statistical premise that there are seventy nations. We talk about Israel likened to a sheep surrounded by seventy wolves. We have a tradition that there are seventy discrete nations or peoples from whom the entire world is now descended. The term "umos ha'olam" generally refers to those seventy groups.
Now, if you go over the Torah's accounting of the Jewish nation in the desert (Parshas Pinchas), you will find that our nation consisted of sixty five families. There were twelve tribes but these comprised sixty five families. There are fifty seven varieties of Israelites and there are eight Levite families. That totals sixty five. If so, we are less than the nations of the world by exactly five factions. 70 minus 65 equals 5. This is what the verse means that the nations are more than we are.
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel offers a second view: if you look back in Bereishis (25:23) you will discover that the world's nations are referred to as le'umim - nations. (Think "Bank Le'umi" - the National Bank, and think "Beinle'umi" - the International Bank). Now, that word begins with the letter lamed, which is the tallest of the Hebrew alphabet symbols. The tower of the lamed rises above all letters. In contrast, Israel (Yisrael) begins with a yud which is the tiniest letter. Our name-symbol is a tiny yud, whereas the nations have a lamed as their representing letter symbol. (Remember that when you hear us being called Yudin or Yiddin. We are the nation of "yud" - of small representation.)
This is what the Torah alludes to here. We start off small and they start off large. Our verse refers to this mystical difference between our nation and the nations of the world. We do not draw overt material attention to ourselves, and quietly accomplish what we should. The nations of the world have largesse and material grandeur. That is a contrasting variable. HaShem wants us to accept this difference, and to remember that our material size is inversely correlated with the magnitude of our role in this world.
Good Shabbos and may the Weeks of Consolation bring us comfort and hope. D Fox
"...lo me'rubchem mi'kol ha'amim ki atem ha'me'at.."
"...its not because you are more numerous than all the nations..." (7:13)
A recurrent theme beneath HaShem's vow of commitment to His nation Israel is the reminder that His love is not because we are the biggest nation or most populated country. It is a puzzling reminder, nonetheless, that HaShem keeps giving us. What is the intention of that phrase "its not because you are more numerous than all the nations"? How numerous are all those nations? Who are "all those nations"? What is the point and why does this matter?
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel offers two angles in understanding this vague tenet that we are less than all the nations. Obviously, it does not require advanced computing to realize that we are a small fragment of humanity and have never been otherwise. The Torah might have just said "you Jews are a pretty small group ."
His first view is that "all of the nations" refers to our ancient statistical premise that there are seventy nations. We talk about Israel likened to a sheep surrounded by seventy wolves. We have a tradition that there are seventy discrete nations or peoples from whom the entire world is now descended. The term "umos ha'olam" generally refers to those seventy groups.
Now, if you go over the Torah's accounting of the Jewish nation in the desert (Parshas Pinchas), you will find that our nation consisted of sixty five families. There were twelve tribes but these comprised sixty five families. There are fifty seven varieties of Israelites and there are eight Levite families. That totals sixty five. If so, we are less than the nations of the world by exactly five factions. 70 minus 65 equals 5. This is what the verse means that the nations are more than we are.
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel offers a second view: if you look back in Bereishis (25:23) you will discover that the world's nations are referred to as le'umim - nations. (Think "Bank Le'umi" - the National Bank, and think "Beinle'umi" - the International Bank). Now, that word begins with the letter lamed, which is the tallest of the Hebrew alphabet symbols. The tower of the lamed rises above all letters. In contrast, Israel (Yisrael) begins with a yud which is the tiniest letter. Our name-symbol is a tiny yud, whereas the nations have a lamed as their representing letter symbol. (Remember that when you hear us being called Yudin or Yiddin. We are the nation of "yud" - of small representation.)
This is what the Torah alludes to here. We start off small and they start off large. Our verse refers to this mystical difference between our nation and the nations of the world. We do not draw overt material attention to ourselves, and quietly accomplish what we should. The nations of the world have largesse and material grandeur. That is a contrasting variable. HaShem wants us to accept this difference, and to remember that our material size is inversely correlated with the magnitude of our role in this world.
Good Shabbos and may the Weeks of Consolation bring us comfort and hope. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 8:12 AM
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