Parashat B’midbar Numbers 1:1−4:20
Dear Friends,
And God spoke to Moses “B’midbar Sinai, (in the wilderness of Sinai).” That is how our Torah portion begins this week. I wondered why the Torah had to be so specific. It tells us that this communication took place in the Tent of Meeting. Why should we care? Perhaps because we are being shown that environment, surroundings, matter and we respond to them. Holy Sites are holy because we need them to be just that, places that are set aside to be special. In addition, we are given the date when this happened because we need to have sacred moments in time as well as space. Shabbat would be a prime example of this.
So let us consider the Havdalah (separation/division) ceremony that symbolically ends Shabbat. Technically, Shabbat is over before we begin Havdalah. Otherwise, traditionally, we could not light the Havdalah candle. So the ceremony is symbolic, and that is the point as symbols are incredibly powerful. For example, no matter which side of an issue you are on, watching a flag being burned is going to evoke an emotional response. America’s national anthem centers on the symbol of our star spangled banner and all that it can mean.
It is through the ceremony of Havdalah, by manipulating symbols, that we emotionally separate Shabbat from the new week that will follow, thereby creating a sacred place in time. Within that sacred place, we do what Judaism does so well, we mark time to acknowledge its continual flow. The goal is to heighten our awareness of that fact. Psalm 90 attempts to cast this awareness in a particular light: So teach us to number our days, that we may attain a heart of wisdom.
For me, a truly compelling moment in Havdalah comes when I hold my fingertips up to the flame and the light passes through, turning my fingernails red. It is a reminder that I am flesh and blood, and time bound. It calls me to number my days. Recently, Logan Wallsh, as her burning question, asked, “What is the purpose of life?” Havdalah asks that of us as well in a very personal way. What is the purpose of your life? Are you living it to the fullest?
On this Shabbat, at least for a while, why not try to enter the wilderness. Not a wilderness devoid of life, but a wilderness devoid of the myriad distractions of life. And in that construct, like being in the tent of meeting, separated from the mundane, seek the sacred. Find the exquisite pleasure of the scent of a rose, and the enjoyment of its beauty. Pause to experience the awe of a sunset, or the crash of a wave on the shore. Open your heart to forgiveness and healing, while you take pleasure in something you accomplished in the week that has passed. And, remember that if none of that happens this week, Shabbat will come again in the next week and call to you, once again, to pause, contemplate, and celebrate in a sacred space in time.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Marv
rabbischwab@bethelsp.org