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TORAH PORTION: NASSO

Parashat Nasso

June 15, 2024 | 9 Sivan 5784

Torah: Numbers 4:21–7:89 Triennial: Numbers 5:11–6:27

Haftorah: Judges 13:2–25

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In this week's Torah Sparks, you'll find a D'var Torah on the Torah portion by Bex Stern-Rosenblatt called "Nachson the Jumper or Stoner", Rabbi Daniel Raphael Silverstein asks shares insights from Hassidut in a video titled "Raising Up the Letters of Our Experiences", and Ilana Kurshan reflects on the parashah through poetry in a piece called "Holier Than Thou".

D'VAR TORAH

Nachshon the Jumper or Stoner

Bex Stern-Rosenblatt

Parashah

At the end of our parashah, we jump back in time to watch the heads of the tribes bring offerings for the dedication of the Mishkan, which we last read about way back at the beginning of Leviticus. However, here in the Book of Numbers, we love enumerating people and the listing of these offerings gives us yet another opportunity to put the Twelve Tribes in order. This is the fourth time so far in Numbers that the tribes have been listed. The first two times, the list is organized according to the mother of each tribe in birth order. But the second two times, Judah jumps rank and heads the list. 

Much has been made of this jump. After all, it is from the Tribe of Judah that our kings will descend, rather than from the Tribe of Reuben. We see in the stories of Genesis ample reason to choose Judah and his descendants rather than his murderous and licentious older brothers. And, after all, we seem to have a preference for subverting the custom of primogeniture. 

The listing in our parashah is a listing of the head of each tribe. The tribe of Judah is represented by Nahshon ben Aminadav. In our parashah, and in the Tanakh, Nahshon is a minor character. We know almost nothing about him. His biggest moments are his inclusion in various lists and his being distantly related to more well-known characters.  Jewish tradition, however, turns him into a macher. Needing to explain why he jumps the line, changing the order of the listing of the tribes, midrashim ascribe to him the qualities that they would most want in a leader. 

He is the main character of one of the most famous midrashim. It is the story of Israel, caught between the Reed Sea and the pursuing Egyptians, until one brave Israelite walks into the sea and it begins to part. That’s the story we read in Bamidbar Rabbah, and it’s lovely. We value Nahshon for taking the initiative, for having faith, for coming from a good family that brought him up well. We disparage the rest of Israel for lacking these qualities.

As the story is first told, however, in the Mekhilta and then in Tractate Sotah, two options are given. The second is the story similar to the one we read in Bamidbar Rabbah. All the other tribes stood around declaring in fear that they would not be first to enter the sea. Nahshon jumped right in. From this act, his tribe, Judah, merited to rule. 

However, the first option, expounded by Rabbi Meir, presents very different values for leadership. In this version, all the tribes are competing for the honor of being the first tribe to enter the sea. The first to jump in was Benjamin. For this, Benjamin received the honor of having the Temple built upon its tribal land. The leaders of Judah, however, did not let this go easily. Benjamin subverted the correct order. So while the Tribe of Benjamin was entering the water, the heads of Judah threw stones at them. For this action, Judah too is rewarded. Judah receives the kingship, a pun on the word for stoning. In this option, we uphold law and order. We uphold zealotry and devotion. 

This version sees all the Israelites as capable and willing, rather than just one man out of a whole new nation. This version also sees Israelite tribes willing to turn to infighting even as they are caught between the sea and the Egyptian army. This version even rewards that infighting. When we reflect back on the stories we tell now of Nahshon, what do we value? What does it take to be a hero today? What might it mean for the hero’s reward to be the chance to give first?

HASSIDUT

Raising Up the Letters of Our Experiences

Rabbi Daniel Raphael Silverstein

Insights from Hassidut

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Rabbi Daniel Silverstein teaches Hassidut at the CY and directs Applied Jewish Spirituality (www.appliedjewishspirituality.org). In these weekly videos, he shares Hassidic insights on the parashah or calendar.

WHITE FIRE: POETRY ON THE PARASHAH

Holier Than Thou

Ilana Kurshan

To be like everyone has never been.

Enough. I longed for holier-than-thou. 

I wanted to draw close to God, to rise

Above. And so I took a sacred vow. 

A Nazirite, I vowed. For thirty days,

I’d keep away while others drank and dined,

No party kegs for me, no revelry,

No raisins, grapes. No chalice filled with wine. 

No cemeteries too. While others mourned

And comforted the grieving, I instead

Kept far away. I needed to stay pure,

I couldn’t come in contact with the dead.

Or cut my hair, or groom, or shave my legs, 

Folks thought I was a hippie, or an ape. 

Unsocialized, I seemed. My wild hair

Attracted stares. Kids looked at me and gaped. 

No razor touched my skin. No wine my lips.

I kept away from death, but also life—

When thirty days elapsed, I shaved and brought

To Temple grounds my ewe and ram and knife.

So now that I’m a Nazirite no more,

I wonder: Am I different than before?

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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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