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Who is That Rising Fromt he Desert Sands?
Ilana Kurshan
“Who is that rising from the desert like columns of smoke?” Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Zimra: When Israel was wandering from journey to journey, the pillar of cloud would descend and the pillar of fire would ascend…” (Song of Songs Rabbah 3:6)
Who is that rising from the desert sands,
In fine formation, orderly, each tribe
Arranged around the Mishkan at the center
A sight almost too wondrous to describe.
Who is that rising from the desert sands,
Each tribe with its own banner, waving high:
A lion for Yehuda, for Naftali—
A doe. A ship for Zevulun, in the sky.
Who is that rising from the desert sands,
Arranged like sons around their father’s bier,
Three on each side as Jacob had instructed,
With Dan, the last tribe, bringing up the rear.
Who is that rising from the desert sands,
Protected by God’s glory in a cloud
A rugged lot of runaways set free
Now marching in procession, tall and proud.
Who is that rising from the desert sands
The nations looked in wonder and in fright:
The fire, like a pillar in the darkness
To lead the people straight on through the night.
They rise, God’s nation, from the desert sands,
And borne aloft, they reach the promised land.
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The Talmud teaches that the Torah was given in black fire on white fire (Y. Shekalim 6:1). The black fire is the letters of the Torah scroll, and the white fire is the parchment background. In this column, consisting of a poem on each parashah, I will try to illuminate the white fire of Torah – the midrashim, stories, and interpretations that carve out the negative space of the letters and give them shape.
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