Bamidbar and Shavuos: The Eternality and Centrality of Torah

By Tuvia Goldstein

The גמרא in מגילה teaches the תקנה of עזרא that the תוכחה of ויקרא must be read before שבועות and the תוכחה of דברים before ראש השנה. However, תוספות points out that we also read נצבים before ראש השנה and במדבר before שבועות to ensure that there is a reprieve between the curses and the חגים. Accordingly, we will read במדבר this week, immediately before שבועות. Is there any inherent connection between במדבר or שבועות, or is it really just a spacer, separating שבועות from the תוכחה?

Rav Soloveitchik explains that the key connection between שבועות and במדבר is the tripartite division of the camp into the מחנה שכינה, מחנה לויה, and מחנה ישראל. The רמב"ם in הלכות בית הבחירה writes that the exact same division existed when the בית המקדשwas built. ירושלים represented the מחנה ישראל, הר הבית paralleled מחנה לויה and the בית המקדש served as the מחנה שכינה.

The same division existed at מתן תורה. משה entered the מקום השכינה, אהרן and the זקנים were in the מחנה לויה and כלל ישראל were in the מחנה ישראל. Multiple warnings about crossing these boundaries are repeated in פרשת יתרו. The point is that everyone has a distinct place and role in the nation. Your job is to fulfill your role and not try to take on someone else’s. However, it can't be that everyone goes in their own direction with their mission. Everyone is oriented around הר סיני and the משכן/מקדש. Everyone is pointed inwards because ה' and the תורה are the center of our lives. According to the Rav, that is the common theme shared by במדבר and שבועות. We all have our place in the camp of the nation, with the same, unmoving central focus on ה' and His תורה.

Rav Soloveitchik’s grandson, Rav Moshe Twersky Hy”d takes a different approach in explaining the connection between שבועות and במדבר. He points to the first פסוק in the third פרק, which teaches ואלה תולדת אהרן ומשה ביום דבר ה' את משה בהר סיני. רש''יexplains that the following פסוק only enumerates the children of משה because משה taught תורה to the children of אהרן and this פסוק demonstrates that כל המלמד את בן חבירו תורה, מעלה עליו הכתוב כאלו ילדו.

In what way is a rebbi similar to a father? Rav Twersky explains that before אדם sinned, he was to live forever. Once he at from the עץ הדעת and was guaranteed that he would die, the only way for him to continue was to have children. Those children serve as an extension of him, enabling him to continue living. Children are the continuation of their father. In the same way, a תלמיד is the continuation of their Rebbi. When a Rebbi teaches תלמידים, he creates a spiritual eternity where he lives on.

That is why the פסוק concludes ביום דבר ה' את משה בהר סיני. As רש''י explains, that was the day when משה was מוליד them. When he received the תורה and taught it, he was מוליד his תלמידים, ensuring that his תורה lives on. In essence, we are all direct תלמידיםof משה because his teaching carries on. In the same way, we are תלמידים of the תנאים, אמוראים, ראשונים, and אחרונים because they continue teaching through their תלמידים.

Therefore, prior to be שבועות, we need to be reminded of the formative nature of תורה. We needed to be reminded of our rebbeim, stretching all the way back to משה רבינו and our potential to teach others, continuing the chain.