Mortii desertului- The dead of the desert

Comentariul biblic din aceasta saptamana , pasajul citit, este povestea evreilor, care pregatindu-se sa intre in tara sfanta, se infricoseaza la auzul povestilor spuse de "spioni" - iscoadele trimise de Moshe in pamantul promis- si vor sa se intoarca la craticiora cu carne, din robia Egiptului. Un neam nascut in robie, neam de slugi, nu sunt demni sa primeasca o tara. D-zeu ii condamna la moarte lenta, 40 de ani de ratacire prin desert, unde robii aveau sa dispara unul dupa celelalt, iar in Tara Fagaduita intrau doar cei nascuti liber, sub cerul plin de stele al desertului.:



Portion of the Week / The dead of the desert
By Miron C. Izakson (Ha-Aretz)


In this week's Torah reading, the Israelites' progress through the desert toward the Promised Land takes a dramatic turn. They were supposed to reach their destination quickly; instead, the itinerary changes completely. Except for Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jephunneh, all the Jews leaving Egypt are doomed to wander in the wilderness until they die. The image of the metei midbar - dead of the desert - symbolizes for us today people who set off on a mission and die before its completion, preparing the way for those who come afterward. The restlessness referred to in the portion described last week is reinforced in this reading, and assumes the dimensions of a catastrophe. The major change begins with the dispatching of the spies to the Promised Land. The members of the elite and representatives of the 12 tribes are instructed thus: "And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds" (Numbers 13:18-19). Returning "from searching of the land" (13:25), they report on the Land of Canaan's positive features, quickly adding that its residents are powerful, their cities are large and fortified, and the Israelites have no chance of defeating them. Only Joshua and Caleb remain faithful to the goal of the mission: launching a reconnaissance expedition in advance of the land's conquest. The Jews begin weeping bitterly and, in a rebellious spirit, abandon the vision of the Promised Land. Initially, God intends to kill them all. However, when Moses intercedes, the decree is altered: The members of the desert generation will wander through the wilderness until they perish; only their children will enter the Promised Land.

The sins of the spies and of the desert generation can be viewed from various angles. The former are sent "to spy the land" (13:16). However, their mission is not espionage; God instructs them to tour the land and register their impressions, without drawing conclusions. In Deuteronomy, Moses recalls: "And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come" (1:22). Here the idea is that this is an espionage mission initiated by the Jews themselves. List of grievancesThe mood changes in this week's reading: In the opening verses, we sense that the Israelites will soon enter the Promised Land. However, the spies' sin raises serious issues that cast doubts on whether the desert generation, irrespective of that transgression, deserves to enter the Promised Land altogether: "And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? And how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?" (Num. 14:11). The spies' sin constitutes one element that is but another link in the chain of the Israelites' complaints and expressions of lack of faith. Thus, the festive tone in the initial verses is unrealistic. The Jews' lament here - "were it not better for us to return into Egypt?" (14:3) - is only one stage in the long list of their grievances. In the Deuteronomy account, the spies' mission is initiated by the Israelites, who require additional reinforcements for the Promised Land, whereas in Numbers, God seems more interested in inspecting the people, rather than the land. That is why he chooses their leaders for the mission. The word "what" is repeated in the spies' instructions, stressing the subjective nature of their mission - the idea that "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder." The spies are sent to engage in their own introspection, not to inspect the land. Their mission is intended not to make the conquest easier, but rather as an expression of their nation's emotional state. In our own emotional awareness, the desert generation represents those who "do not quite make it," who never reach their destination. The so-called dead of the desert are still with us, sometimes arousing elements in our collective historical memory. In the fifth chapter of the Babylonian Talmud's Bava Batra Tractate, "The seller of a ship," we read accounts of ships and sailors. In one of them, Rabba, son of Bar Hana, relates his encounter with the "dead of the desert": They appear as if they are drunk and are lying on their backs. The knee of one of them is bent upward. An Arab, riding on a camel and holding a javelin, passes under that knee: The being lying on the ground is so huge that he can get by without even touching the knee. When Rabba cuts off a small corner of the light blue material of the recumbent figure's tallit (prayer shawl), together with one of the tallit's four fringes, he finds himself suddenly paralyzed. The Arab asks him whether he has taken anything, adding that according to tradition, if you take something from these beings, you will be immobilized. In this account, the dead of the desert are thus depicted as if they are in suspended animation, and indeed that is how they are thought of throughout Jewish history. In his epic poem, "Metei midbar," Haim Nahman Bialik, intending to create a "naive poetic legend" centering on the desert generation, actually produces a poem that is an allegory on Jewish history and on humanity in general. These beings are apparently slumbering eternally, but are also visited by regal beasts. After they rise up in rebellion, the desert returns to its previous silence: "The mighty phalanx awakes. They suddenly rouse themselves, the stalwart/men of war, lightning ablaze in their eyes, their faces aflame, hands on swords." The dead of the desert are a constant element in Jewish tradition: They are referred to in Psalms 95, part of the Friday evening liturgy. Other key phrases in the week's reading have assumed pivotal importance in Jewish tradition, for instance, "But they presumed to go up unto the hilltop" (14:44). The term ma'apilim (defined as those who presume, who dare) is also used, for example, to describe the illegal Jewish immigrants seeking to enter Palestine before 1948, reflecting the notion of people fighting against almost impossible odds. The eternal presence in Jewish awareness of the desert generation indicates that, despite its tragic fate, it continues till today to convey a message to us.