by Rabbi Avi Billet
Following the episode of the Golden Calf, there are a number of scenes the Torah describes which demonstrate how Moshe Rabbenu is not only in a class of his own, but how his personal space becomes a beacon of Kedusha. Perhaps the most famous one is the final image in the Parsha, when Moshe descends from Mt. Sinai with the second set of Luchos, and his face is shining. Please note that the Torah describes the circumstance as קרן עור פני משה, which means “the skin on Moshe’s face shone.” The Hebrew word Or is spelled with a ע (עור = skin) and is not to be confused with the word אור, spelled with an א, which means light. In that tale, Moshe is described as communicating with the people and communicating with the Divine. The irony of the מסוה (commonly translated as mask) that he wore is that he only wore it when he was alone, but not when he was speaking to the people (as implied from 34:33) or communicating with God (34:34-5).
Another circumstance in which Moshe finds himself being a repository of Kedusha is in chapter 33 when Moshe’s tent is taken outside of the camp, renamed אהל מועד (Tent of Meeting – an appellation elsewhere used to describe the Mishkan/Tabernacle), where he would receive all those who wanted to seek out God (see 33:7). Like the Mishkan (see the end of Chapter 40), a cloud demarcated the presence of the Divine in that particular space, helping people grasp the significance of that space.
What is the significance of Moshe’s taking his tent outside of the camp? Wasn’t Moshe already separate from the camp? See how the people are described as traveling in the beginning of the Book of Bamidbar, and we see how Moshe and Aharon had a very unique address, easily identifiable and easily found!
That last question is a straw-man argument, because the method of travel in that way, with Moshe, Aharon, and Aharon’s family being east of the Mishkan, was only possible after the construction of the Mishkan (which in our case hadn’t taken place yet), and when they were specifically traveling. At this stage, the people have been at Sinai for a few months and won’t be leaving until at least a month after the dedication of the Mishkan (Bamidbar 10:11). Therefore, where Moshe’s tent had been prior to it being taken out of the camp is anyone’s guess.
Rabbi Moshe Shternbuch suggests that the reason Moshe’s tent needed to be brought outside the camp is to demonstrate that sometimes the idea of getting closer to God requires a person to take action, for people to make an extra effort to bring themselves closer to God. This goal can’t be achieved based on the viewpoint or the “emotional space inhabited” by a large group of people. What if those people are not where they need to be? What if their efforts to get close to God are limiting to themselves and to others who need more?
People need to get close to Torah on Torah’s terms, not on the terms that people find to be sufficient for them. In the case of the general encampment post Golden Calf, the environment within the camp wasn’t conducive to the higher level of connection and engagement that those who were more sincere in their drive to get closer to God needed.
He goes on to quote:
Targum Yonatan – this space, the Ohel Moed, was for those who had done a complete Teshuvah, who had returned to God with all of their heart. Moshe was teaching them the ways of Teshuvah in his private Beis Medrash.
The Belzer Rebbe – This is a much higher level of Teshuvah, when a person needs to leave the comfort zone of one’s own home, to seek out and go out to Moshe’s Beis Medrash, to completely dedicate themselves to the study of Torah, which, as we know, brings atonement for sin (see Rosh Hashana 18a). Not only that, but the simple act of going out of the camp, in a manner mimicking the exit of the שעיר המשתלח/שעיר לעזאזל – the goat that was brought into the wilderness on Yom Kippur, brings about a similar result of atonement.
Different sources describe how that goat, in leaving the camp and going to its own final destination, brought about Teshuvah and atonement for those who had even been guilty of חיובי כריתות, negative deeds which would have caused their souls to be cut off from the people of Israel.
The message is quite simple – sometimes Teshuvah and Kapparah (repentance and atonement) can best be achieved through making the effort to go out and seek Torah study. And sometimes, not even on account of bad deeds, do we still need to worry that some people will find themselves separated from a community, with the everlasting hope that we can all be reunited.
We are at a fascinating juncture in our general experiences. Many people are much more intrigued to attend an educational film or a fascinating lecture (activities which have great learning potential and are not problematic per se) than to engage in a Torah study class. But if we truly believe the words we utter in our daily prayers – כי הם חיינו וארך ימינו – that the Torah is the source for our lives and our extended days, then it is up to us to challenge ourselves to also take advantage of Torah learning opportunities that take place outside of our home.
We have learned in the last 2 years that we can bring Torah into our homes through the Internet, whether through listening to recorded classes that may be days, months, or years old, or through participating in something in real time such as a livestream or Zoom.
The Torah is teaching us that there is no comparison between Torah on those terms and Torah studied in person. For that, at the very least, we have Shabbos to be thankful for. In speaking to a colleague of a Conservative shul, it became clear that a beautiful benefit we have is that Shabbos (also discussed in our parsha at the end of Chapter 31) forced us to come back to shul very quickly. Since having shul online on Shabbos was never an option for us (thank God), we returned to davening and learning together on Shabbos at a much quicker timeline than non-Orthodox congregations who utilize Internet prayer services on Shabbos. And thank God, we are doing very well – people are coming to daven and learn together on Shabbos, as well as during the week.
We can and should learn from the model that Moshe presented to the people, that the highest level of kedusha can be achieved when people have to make the effort to go out to the Ohel Moed even if/when it’s a little inconvenient to get to it. The things achieved in that space, after that effort, are of a greater caliber in Kedusha than going at things alone, and therefore help us better live up to the statement we live by that Torah study is the source of the length of our days.
May we be blessed to continue to make that effort and to be blessed in kind that those efforts should reap the rewards we the Jewish people always hope for – to be able to serve God to the highest level we can achieve in the lives He blesses us to have, and to live our lives to the maximum in our pursuits of heavenly and spiritual growth.
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