I was given a pocket knife when I was six. I
spent many happy hours playing mumblety-peg with that knife. I became quite
adept at it (practice does pay off). When my kids were young, my son (second
born) was given a pocket knife which he thought was awesome and grownup. His
older sister (first born) objected vehemently that, as the older sister, she
should have a pocket knife before he did, and not only that, but three years
before he did because she was three years older. This is the only instance I
can recall of my kids expressing concern about birth order and precedent, but
it has stuck in my mind, and came to mind when reading this week’s parashah, Naso.
Parshat Naso opens with a description of
a census taken of the Gershonites, members of the clan of the eldest son of
Levi. Levi had three sons: Gershon, Kohat, and Merari. We find their names in
Genesis 46:11, listed among the names of the Israelites,
Jacob and his descendants, who came in Egypt.[1] Together, the three
clans of Gershon, Kohat, and Merari constitute the Levitical Priesthood.
Therefore, they have special responsibilities pertaining to the service in the
Mishkan (Wilderness Tabernacle), as well as its disassembly, porterage, and
re-assembly. Parshat Naso lists these duties. It reads like a government
manual, which it essentially is:
זֹאת עֲבֹדַת, מִשְׁפְּחֹת
הַגֵּרְשֻׁנִּי--לַעֲבֹד, וּלְמַשָּׂא. וְנָשְׂאוּ אֶת-יְרִיעֹת הַמִּשְׁכָּן, וְאֶת-אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, מִכְסֵהוּ, וּמִכְסֵה הַתַּחַשׁ אֲשֶׁר-עָלָיו
מִלְמָעְלָה; וְאֶת-מָסַךְ--פֶּתַח, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד. וְאֵת קַלְעֵי
הֶחָצֵר וְאֶת-מָסַךְ פֶּתַח שַׁעַר
הֶחָצֵר, אֲשֶׁר עַל-הַמִּשְׁכָּן
וְעַל-הַמִּזְבֵּחַ סָבִיב, וְאֵת
מֵיתְרֵיהֶם, וְאֶת-כָּל-כְּלֵי עֲבֹדָתָם; וְאֵת כָּל-אֲשֶׁר יֵעָשֶׂה לָהֶם, וְעָבָדוּ.
These are the duties of
the Gershonite clans as to labor and porterage: they shall carry the cloths of
the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting with its covering, the covering of dolphin
skin that is on top of it, and the screen for the entrance of the Tent of
Meeting; the hangings of the enclosure, the screen at the entrance of the gate
of the enclosure that surrounds the Tabernacle, the cords thereof, and the
altar, and all their service equipment and all their accessories; and they
shall perform the service. (Numbers 4:24-26)
Since this is the beginning of a parashah,
we might not have noticed that the duties assigned the Kohatites are listed
earlier in the same chapter—before
the passage about the Gershonites—because that passage is contained in the
previous parashah, B’midbar. It is standard practice to list the
eldest first. Rachel cannot marry Jacob until her older sister, Leah, is
married, which is why Laban slyly slips Leah into Rachel’s place on the
wedding night. Why are the Kohatites named before the Gershonites in this
matter of divvying up the duties related to the Mishkan? Why did they get a
pocket knife before their older brother?
This violation of the “eldest first” rule of the Bible attracts the attention of the
Rabbis and inspires them to ponder the question of order, precedent, and
priority. In midrash B’midbar Rabbah (6:1), the Rabbis provide a comprehensive
list of who takes precedence over whom for the purpose of “redemption [from
captivity], lifesaving, and clothing” but
not for “a seat [position] in
the House of Study.” Since the passage is long, I have provided it
below in both Hebrew and English translation; by all means, read it now. I will
summarize it and comment here. The order of priority is: a sage, the king, the
High Priest, a prophet, various kinds of priests, Levites, Israelites,
mamzerim, natinim, proselytes, and manumitted slaves. This list inspires
a host of questions, and many concerns, not least of which is why there is such
a list, how can the claim be made that some people are more inherently valuable
than others, and why are proselytes last on the list. All good questions, and
far more than I can discuss in one drash.
What is instantly apparent is that the Rabbis,
who promulgated the list, put themselves at the top of the priority pyramid,
above even the king and High Priest. A cynic might be tempted to say that this
is a self-serving list. An historian might respond that there were no longer
kings, High Priests, prophets, natinim, or manumitted slaves when the
midrash was written, nor is it clear that anyone was searching out mamzerim,
so much of this is theoretical, at best. The Rabbis replaced the priests as
leaders of the community after the Temple was destroyed in 70 C.E.; they
correctly saw themselves as the leaders upon whom the continuity and survival
of the Judaism and the Jewish people depended. What is more, the status of Levite
and Israelite are orthogonal to the status of sage, which is to say, one could
be a Levite or an Israelite and also be a Sage. More likely—and most importantly—this passage is an
expression of the prioritization of
values, not people.
The Rabbis are asserting the primacy of Torah
learning as the most important attribute, skill, and value in Jewish life.
First, let us ask: How do the Rabbis make this claim in the midrash? (Next we
will discuss why they make this claim.) Their argument for the primacy of
learning hinges on Proverbs 3:15 She is more precious than rubies and
all the things you can desire are incomparable to her. Proverbs is speaking
of wisdom (the “she” in the verse) which the Rabbis identify with
Torah: Torah is the core of Jewish covenant, the foundation of Jewish life, the
most precious thing to the Jewish people; all else is incomparable. The phrase “than rubies” מִפְּנִינִים can also be parsed “than in the
innermost sanctuary,” which allows the
Rabbis to cleverly and subtilely equate “she” (Wisdom=Torah)
with the inner sanctum=Holy of Holies. More to the point: the Rabbis have
replaced the Priests, the activities of the House of Study (Torah study and
prayer) have replaced sacrifices, and the Bet Midrash (the House of Study) is
the new Holy of Holies for the Jewish community in the Diaspora. Paul Simon
once sang, “It’s all happenin’ at the zoo.” The
Rabbis sang, “It’s all happenin’ at the Bet Midrash.”
The exception to the precedent list is
important: it does not apply to a seat [position] in the House of
Study. Perhaps
the most telling sentence in the midrash is this: But if
the mamzer was a scholar he takes precedence over an ignorant High
Priest.
The highest communal priority is Torah scholarship. The Rabbis made knowledge,
learning, and reasoning the backbone of Jewish life and communal well being.
They established a primary and foundation priority of learning that saw Jews
through nearly 2,000 years of Diaspora. The result? Consider this:
“The Jews have a high percentage of Nobel Prize
laureates in all fields: In literature, science and economics. It's an amazing
achievement. We tried to understand the secret of the Jewish people. How do
they – more than other nations – manage to reach such impressive achievements?
How is it that Jews are such geniuses? The conclusion we reaches is that one of
your secrets is studying Talmud. Jews read the Talmud from an early age, and we
believe it helps them develop great abilities. This understanding led us to the
conclusion that we should also teach children Talmud. We believe that if we
teach our children Talmud we could also be geniuses. And that's what stands
behind the decision to read Talmud at home.”
These words were spoken by South Korean
Ambassador to Israel Young Sam Ma on the Israeli TV program “Culture Today.” He expressed a belief commonly held in South
Korea, where Korean-translated editions of the Talmud are common, and mothers
read Talmud to their children in the hopes of creating geniuses. I am not claiming
that studying Talmud will transform anyone into a genius and insure his/her
financial success, but it’s
worthwhile asking: Where did South Koreans get the idea that reading the Talmud
infuses one with intellectual power that translates into economic prosperity?
Two economists, Maristella Botticini (Boccini
University) and Zvi Eckstein (Tel Aviv University) ask the question that
inspires South Koreans to have their children read Talmud. In The Chosen
Few: How Education Shaped Jewish History, 70-1492 (Princeton University
Press), focusing on human capital, the authors explain how investment in
religious education effected choice of occupation and earnings in the Jewish
community. The seismic events of the first century—the destruction of
the Temple and the imposition of Roman rule that decimated the Jewish state
with war, famine and exile—led
to the rise of a new class of leaders, the Rabbis, who replaced the priests.
The Rabbis promoted the primacy of Torah study not only for themselves, but for
the community, necessitating general literacy and numeracy. They advocated
strenuously for the first system of universal public education in human
history. As Jews moved from rural agricultural settings to more urbanized
environments, the skills acquired to live and study as Jews transferred well,
enabling them to enter new trades and take advantage of new economic
opportunities. By and large, Jews were far more literate than the populations
of their host countries, lending them a significant advantage, particularly in
urban centers where reading, writing, numeracy, reasoning, knowledge of laws
and contracts, and negotiation skills—all of which are requisites for, or derivatives
of, Torah study—would
translate to success in business, trade, and finance. What is more, Jews were
networked with one another by religion and language (Hebrew), so that when a
Jew traveled through Europe or the Middle East on business, he would be
welcomed and find food and shelter in any Jewish community. This reality
facilitated business arrangements and trade based on common culture and hence
trust.
Yet is this the reason to retain learning as
the primary religious value that undergirds Jewish living and Jewish community?
Hardly. Certainly the Rabbis did not have this in mind. They understood that in
studying Torah and Talmud, Jews would learn a host of wonderful values about
living life with integrity, strengthening family and community, and
contributing to the betterment of the world. The literacy and numeracy
requisite to study, and the intellectual and reasoning skills developed through
study are not ends in themselves. Rather, the Rabbis understood that those
invested in Torah study will absorb God’s priorities: justice, compassion, kindness,
honesty, loyalty, human dignity, the sanctity of life, humility, righteousness,
and the pursuit of peace. Those who invest in Torah study are transformed by
the texts they imbibe, reshaped by the ethics they absorb, and go out into the
world imbued with a sense of their personal obligation to tikkun olam
(the repair of the world).
The South Koreans who ply their children with
translations of the Talmud have quite understandably missed the point. My
daughter may have resented the fact that the gift of a pocket knife violated
her sense of proper precedent among siblings, but not every hierarchy is
inherently bad. The message concerning the primacy of Jewish learning the lies
just beneath the surface of the list we find in B’midbar Rabbah is a fine one.
When the Rabbis established “Sages” at the top of the hierarchy, perched on the tip
of the pyramid, they were promoting the value of Torah study as the highest
social priority, knowing that all the things we would want as the hallmarks of
a civil, compassionate, and just society would arise from Torah learning. These
are values for a the ages, values that strengthen family and society, and their
byproducts—from success in
academic endeavors, business, and yearly tally of Nobel Prize winners—is icing on the
cake. Do we today understand and appreciate the message? I think we could and
should work assiduously to ensure that the primacy of Jewish learning retains
its rightful and exalted place at the top of the pyramid of priorities. Our
future depends up it.
B’midbar (Numbers)
Rabbah 6:1
נשא את ראש בני
גרשון וגו' הה"ד (משלי ג) יקרה היא
מפנינים וכל חפציך לא ישוו בה תנינן תמן חכם קודם למלך ישראל מת חכם אין לנו כיוצא
בו מלך ישראל שמת כל ישראל ראויין למלכות המלך קודם לכהן גדול שנאמר (מ"א =מלכים א'= א) ויאמר המלך להם קחו עמכם את עבדי אדוניכם וגו' כ"ג קודם לנביא שנאמר (שם /מלכים א' א'/) ומשח אותו שם צדוק הכהן
ונתן הנביא צדוק קודם לנתן ר' הונא בשם ר' חנינא אמר נביא
כופף ידיו ורגליו ויושב לו לפני כהן מה טעם דכתיב (זכריה ג) שמע נא יהושע הכ"ג וגו' יכול בני אדם הדיוטות
היו ת"ל (שם /זכריה ג'/) כי אנשי מופת המה ואין מופת אלא נבואה שנאמר (דברים יג) ונתן אליך אות או מופת משוח בשמן המשחה קודם למרובה בגדים נביא קודם למשוח
מלחמה משוח מלחמה קודם לסגן סגן קודם לראש משמר ראש משמר קודם לראש בית אב ראש בית
אב קודם לאמרכל אמרכל קודם לגזבר גזבר קודם לכהן הדיוט כהן הדיוט קודם ללוי לוי
קודם לישראל ישראל לממזר ממזר לנתין נתין לגר גר לעבד משוחרר אימתי בזמן שכולן
שוין אבל אם היה ממזר ת"ח קודם לכהן גדול עם
הארץ שנאמר יקרה היא מפנינים סברין מימר לפדות להחיות ולכסות הא לישיבה לא אמר רבי
אבין אף לישיבה מה טעם יקרה היא מפנינים אפי' מזה שהוא נכנס לפני
ולפנים.
"Take the sum of the sons of Gershon also," etc. (Numbers
4:22). Hence it is written, She [Torah] (wisdom) is more precious than
rubies; and all the things you can desire are incomparable to her (Proverbs
3:15). We have learned elsewhere (BT Horayyot 13a): In matters of life and
death, a Sage takes precedence over a king of Israel, for if a Sage dies there
is none to replace him, while if a king of Israel dies-well, all Israelites are
eligible for the kingship. A king takes precedence over a High Priest;for it
says, And the king said unto them: Take with you the servants of your lord,
etc. (I Kings 1:33) A High Priest takes precedence over a prophet; for it says,
And let Tzaddok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there (I
Kings 1:34). Tzaddok is mentioned before Nathan. R. Huna in the name of R.
Chanina said: A prophet must bend his hands and feet and sit before a High
Priest. What reason is there for saying so? Because it is written, Hear now,
O Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows that sit before you (Zechariah
3:8). You might think they were ordinary folk. It is therefore stated, For
they are men that are a sign (Zechariah 3:8), and the expression ‘sign’ can only refer to prophecy; for
it says, And he give you a sign or a wonder (Deuteronomy 13:2). A High Priest anointed with the
anointing oil takes precedence over one who is consecrated only by the
additional garments (BT Keritut 5b). A prophet takes precedence over a priest
anointed for war. One anointed for war takes precedence over a deputy High
Priest. A deputy takes precedence over a chief of the guard. A chief of the
guard takes precedence over the chief of a priests division. The chief of a
priests division takes precedence over an amarkal (one of seven Temple
trustees). An amarkal takes precedence over a Temple treasurer. A Temple
treasurer takes precedence over an ordinary priest. An ordinary priest takes
precedence over a Levite. A Levite takes precedence over an Israelite; an
Israelite over a mamzer[2]; a mamzer over a natin[3]; a natin
over a proselyte; a proselyte over a manumitted slave. When does this order of
precedence apply? When they are all equal in other respects. But if the mamzer
was a scholar he takes precedence over an ignorant High Priest. They thought
that this order of precedence applies to redemption [from captivity], to
lifesaving, and to clothing; not, however, to a seat [position] in the House of
Study. R. Avin, however, said: To a seat at the House of Study also. What is
the reason? She [Torah] is more precious than rubies (peninim);
this means, more precious even than he who goes into the innermost precincts of
the Sanctuary (lifenei v’lifenim).
© Rabbi Amy Scheinerman
[1] Gershon, Kohat, and Merari are listed in this order in I
Chronicles 6:1, as well.
[2] A mamzer, often translated “bastard”
means something
different in the Jewish context than in common parlance. A mamzer is a
child produced by an illicit relationship, most often adultery.
[3] Temple assistants. Originally, in the time of Joshua, this
referred to the Gibeonites.
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