My Weekly Drash (a mini D'var Torah) - Beha'alotcha
Posted by Daniel M. Kimmel on June 14, 2009 | Tags: Beha'alotcha
You may sometimes wonder where the rabbis get the laws that are not explicitly spelled out in the Torah. Much of it is extrapolated from what's already there. This week's Parshah Beha'Alotcha provides an example. Moses is instructed by God to have two silver trumpets made which will be used to signal the Israelites when it's time to move the camp - including the Tent of Meeting - during their years of wandering. "But when you sound the short blasts, the divisions on the east shall move forward... while to convoke the congregation you shall blow long blasts, not short ones." (Num. 10:5, 7) On the surface it sounds like Moses is being instructed how to direct traffic. But generations later these verses guided the rabbis in setting up the series of shofar blasts on Rosh Hashonah. They noted the distinction between the short sounds (t'kiah) and the long ones (t'ruah) and established that same distinction for the sounding of the shofar in the synagogue.
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Daniel M. KimmelJoined: October 2, 2007 Daniel M. Kimmel is a Boston area film critic, lecturer and author. He does these weekly mini-lessons for the Mishkan Tefila Brotherhood's newsletter. You are free to use them for similar purposes. Divrei Torah (117) |
