ספר במדבר

Numbers 23,21. “no harm is in sight for Yaakov no woe ‎for Israel. The Lord their G’d is with them.” The true ‎meaning of these words is hard to understand, [as the ‎Israelites certainly had not been faultless throughout these 40 ‎years. Ed.]Bileam describes G’d’s attitude when ‎Israel’s merits come to His attention and when, G’d forbid, their ‎sins call for His attention. He says that Israel’s merits will ‎immediately command G’d’s attention and He will respond to ‎them without delay, whereas He does not wish to take a look at ‎their sins immediately. The former is spelled out when Bileam ‎adds: ‎ה' אלוקיו עמו‎, Hashem, its G’d is with it.” The ‎expression following, i.e. ‎ותרועת מלך בו‎, “and their king’s acclaim ‎is in their midst,” is a reference to the divisive nature of the ‎‎teruah sound of the shofar. A king can be acclaimed ‎by unbroken sounds of the shofar or by broken sounds. G’d ‎reacts selectively to reports He receives about the conduct of His ‎people.‎The author proceeds to use the opportunity to explain the ‎deeper meaning of the respective sounds ‎תקיעה‎ and ‎תרועה‎ which ‎emanate from the ram’s horn, the shofar. The former sound ‎is unbroken, symbolizing unity, continuity, whereas the latter ‎signifies dissonance, friction, disharmony.‎At the time when the Holy Temple stood and service was ‎performed in it, this was an era distinguished by the ‎תקיעה‎, the ‎very letters in that word when examined meaning ‎תקע י-ה‎ ‎meaning “G’d fastens, clasps, unites.” During periods of exile, ‎however, this is symbolised by the broken sound ‎תרועה‎; during ‎the period when the Temple stood daily burnt offerings, known ‎as ‎תמידים‎ were offered by the priests on behalf of the entire ‎people (who had contributed on an equal basis to the cost of ‎these animals) both mornings and evenings. All of this symbolised ‎the inner adhesion of the various tribes to one another. The ‎תרועה‎ ‎sound by its very nature calls attention to the fact that the Jews ‎are dispersed among gentiles, lacking this inner cohesion. As a ‎result of their sins and the subsequent exile, G’d delays looking at ‎the sins of the Jewish people while they are in exile, as the ‎conditions for them to observe the Torah in full measure do not ‎exist and it is harder for them to accumulate collective merits. ‎‎[Some of the words are mine, but the author whose fame ‎rests on his being an advocate vis a vis G’d of his people in ‎exile, is making the point I described. Ed.]. He sees in the sequence in which we blow the shofar a summary of our ‎history which began in glory, i.e. ‎תקיעה‎, was interrupted by ‎decline, exile, i.e. ‎תרועה‎,‎‏ ‏‎ but will most certainly end again with ‎the ‎תקיעה‎ to signal our redemption soon in our days.‎In support of his theory, the author quotes the statement of ‎our sages that G’d’s presence cannot rest on us permanently ‎unless at least 600000 male adults are assembled. (Midrash ‎Hagadol Vayishlach 32,3) The ‎תקיעה‎ symbolizes that thought. ‎This explains that whenever the Jewish people made camp while ‎in the desert, a ‎תקיעה‎ as blown as a reminder that the ‎‎Shechinah, G’d’s presence, was at hand. On the other hand, ‎breaking camp was signaled by the blowing of a ‎תרועה‎, the broken ‎sound, as breaking camp was a sign that the people had ‎displeased G’d, and that this was why they had to pack up once ‎more. According to the Ari z’al, the various journeys were ‎inspired by the need to accumulate merits by picking up “fallen” ‎sparks along the route and to become the instrument of restoring ‎same to the celestial position before they had “fallen” out of ‎grace. The fact that the Israelites offset their sins by these merits ‎of picking up “fallen sparks,” was responsible for G’d not ‎immediately turning His attention to the misdemeanours of the ‎Israelites that had brought about their need to move on. The ‎sound of the ‎תרועה‎, reminder that G’d had broken, interrupted ‎His preoccupation with the Israelites’ sins, was also a reminder of ‎the need to acquire merits by elevating themselves spiritually to ‎offset the effect of their sins.[Various commentators ‎in dealing with the inverted way in which Moses reports the ‎process of making camp and breaking camp in Numbers 33,1-33,2 ‎refer to each move being testimony to the people having angered ‎G’d. Ed.]‎