Catching Up
The Torah, which comes from one G-d, is the very source of unity in our lives. Nevertheless, the Torah itself recognizes the legitimate division that exists between holy and the ordinary. The world was designed to have times, places, personalities and experiences that are special and holier than others.
Unity
This week, there is something rather unusual about the Torah reading. In some years the people in Israel are one parsha ahead of the Jews in the Diaspora.
In these years where we are behind one Torah reading, we will have finally caught up with our brethren in Israel who, for the last few weeks, were reading a different weekly parsha. They were one parsha ahead of us in the Diaspora.
Let me explain: The Festival of Shavuos we observed a little over a month ago, occurred on a Friday and Saturday. However, in Israel, they were only required to observe one day of the Festival, so that the next day (Shabbos) was an “ordinary” Shabbos. (Of course there is no such thing as an ordinary Shabbos; the intention here is that it was not a Shabbos that coincided with a Festival.)
As a result, in Israel, they read the weekly parsha of Naso, on the day that we, in the Diaspora, read the festival Torah reading, not the weekly parsha. For the next three weeks, thus, we would be a week behind.
To rectify that disparity, in those years, we will combine the two sections of Chukas and Balak, while in Israel they would read the second parsha of Balak. And so, this is the week where we are one with our brethren in Israel insofar as the Torah reading is concerned.
No Coincidences
The Ba’al Shem Tov (whose passing occurred on the Holiday of Shavuos from which the aforementioned division began) taught us that there are no coincidences. And that everything that we hear or see must serve to teach us something about our relationship with G-d and our Judaism.
What does this phenomenon of reconciling the Torah portions teach us?
One obvious lesson is that despite the fact that Torah, which comes from one G-d, is the very source of unity in our lives, nevertheless, the Torah itself recognizes the legitimate division that exists between holy and the ordinary. The world was designed to have times, places, personalities and experiences that are special and holier than others.
In terms of “space,” Israel is the Holy land, while the rest of the world is not.
In time, we have the Shabbos that is qualitatively holier than the rest of the week. And when it is over we recite the Havdalah (Separation) service that highlights the difference between the holy and the profane.
In terms of personalities, we also have certain individuals, who are “head and shoulders” above the level of the ordinary person. People such as Moses and Aaron, were/are considered holier than the rest of the Jewish people.
And there are experiences in everyone’s life that are special, holy, Sabbath like, that are clearly demarcated by us as being different from others.
Dispelling Two Misconceptions
With this approach of the need to recognize and respect the abovementioned differences there is also room for some challenges and misconceptions.
Some might think, as Korach did, that, in fact, everyone is holy. There ought not to be a hierarchical structure within the Jewish community, where one Jew is considered more holy than the other. Even the most ordinary Jew, he argued, was holy.
A second challenge, from the opposite direction, is that it is wrong to make these separations since we should maintain a constant state of Holiness, at all the time and in all places. This extreme view might have been the view of the spies who wanted to stay in the desert. As explained in Chassidic literature, they wanted to preserve the exalted spiritual atmosphere they experienced in the desert where they had no distractions from the physical world. All of their needs were taken care of by the Manna and other miraculous sources of nourishment and protection they were afforded. In other words, they wanted a perpetual Shabbos.
And then there are two misconceptions that can arise from the assertion that there are two states of existence: holy and ordinary.
The first misconception is that the definition of “ordinary” is a life devoid of meaning and holiness, thereby legitimizing the removal of all standards from an “ordinary” person’s life, on an “ordinary” day in an “ordinary” place. This translates in a frequently heard statement that only in Israel does one have to act in a prescribed manner; only on Shabbos or on a Holiday do we have to act Jewishly etc.
The second misconception, conversely, is that the separation between the holy and profane is etched in stone.
The ordinary must remain ordinary and separated form the holy.
This double-portion of Chukas and Balak, where the reconciliation of the Torah readings in Israel with the Diaspora takes place, suggests that none of the four challenges and misconceptions are valid:
First, there is indeed a separation that must be preserved between the Holy and the profane. One must recognize that the Shabbos is unique and must be treated differently from all the other days of the week. And we must also realize that the Land of Israel cannot follow the rules that govern all other places; it is a land that is directly answerable to G-d. And there are individuals who stand apart, and whose special status must be respected and revered.
Second, there is a need to appreciate that there are times in which the person must “descend” from the lofty perch of Shabbos, and that there is a lesser degree of holiness outside of Israel, and that the ordinary person has certain limitations that do not apply to those on a higher level. In short, we cannot live on and maintain the same spiritual plane all the time.
Third, notwithstanding the first two points, we must also understand that even in the weekdays, there is spirituality and meaning. Even in the Diaspora a Jew must live a holy and Torah life. Not being on the level of Shabbos and not living in Israel is not a license to do whatever pleases us.
And finally, the reconciling of Israel with the Diaspora this week suggests that even though there is a designated separation between the holy and the ordinary, the ultimate goal is for the holy to “invade” the ordinary, for the boundaries to be removed, so that even during the week, we sense the holiness of Shabbos, and even in the Diaspora we feel the holiness of the Land of Israel. And the lofty heights that certain holy individuals attain affect and uplift the plain ordinary individual.
To summarize: there must be a separation between the holy and the ordinary, but the ordinary is also holy and replete with meaning, and that ultimately, the holy will influence and permeate the ordinary.
Israel Spreading to the Entire World
This indeed, is what our Sages meant when they said that in the days of Moshiach the Land of Israel will spread to the entire world. This refers to the spiritual state of the Land of Israel. It will eventually break through its own boundaries and borders to instill its holiness throughout the world. And we facilitate this process on our end by “making Israel here,” i.e., attempting to make every aspect of our lives more G-dly.
To be sure, in the Messianic Age, the state of holiness of Land of Israel will also grow to greater heights because, “Jerusalem will spread to the entire Land of Israel,” and the holiness of the Temple will spread throughout Jerusalem. But, the increase of holiness in each of these realms will pierce through the barriers to make the entire world bask in the aura of the Holy of Holies. May we see the fulfillment of this experience with the coming of Moshiach, imminently!
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Chukas by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
