I have spent some time in my life "on the road" touring theatrical productions and touring with a band. So every time I encounter this miraculous portable mishkan, I am overwhelmed and impressed. And I respect the care and effort that went into taking down, storing and preparing the mishkan for transport. Though described in relatively few words in this part of the Torah, I imagine the task itself was rather extensive and time consuming. And done with the most exacting and painstaking attention to detail and care.
It is a model still followed. The first thing a good road manager does is to take a head count and make sure everybody in the cast and crew is accounted for. Then each "department" takes care of carefully storing their equipment - as Aaron and the priests did with the sacred objects from the mishkan. The 'very special" (and in these days, expensive and fragile) items are wrapped, protected, placed in roadworthy cases, ready for transport. Finally the Teamsters, er, that is the Kohathites come along and carry the equipment and load it up for transport.
And just as Aaron and the priests carefully wrapped the sacred object so they wouldn't be damaged by the Kohathites, I've seen plenty of musicians, costumers, property masters, et al carefully wrap, protect and store away their treasured props, costumes, instruments, etc. to protect them from being damaged or "defiled" by the handlers. Not that the "handlers" were careless or neglectful. The best "roadies" might be able to move, stack, and store heavy items quickly and efficiently, but they also do it lovingly, respectfully, and carefully. When you spend time together on the road, you learn that showing respect for the property of others is important - especially because everyone has to get along, and everyone is needed to make sure the show happens.
It's all about caring for the things we hold sacred, holy. The concept which comes from the Hebrew meaning "to set apart."
Are things "holy" by intrinsic nature, or does it require that we hold them in reverence to imbue them with holiness? It's not entirely clear to me. Something touched by or created by G"d-surely that is holy. In the first category, at least in our story, we have no such items. Moshe destroyed the first set of tablets which had been written upon by G"d, and instructed Moshe to write on the second set. Curious, isn't it? We often observe G"d's power and miracles on a macro scale, but what do we have that's a tangible holy object from all that.
Our Catholic co-religionists are really into holy, sacred objects. Sacred relics are built into altars. And who knows what treasures are stored in the catacombs beneath the Vatican (or, for that matter, in anonymous government warehouses here in Washington, DC.) Hundreds, perhaps thousands, have given their lives in pursuit of the Holy Grail.
Each year, millions of Muslims make a hajj, and encounter the Kaaba and other sacred places and things. Clearly, these are objects that people believe are intrinsically holy. However, in the end, we have only the faith of human beings that these objects are truly sacred and holy. There's no real "proof." The Shroud of Turin. That mysterious Ossuary possible bearing the inscription of James, brother of Jesus.
Touched by G"d or not, we human beings have the power to make things holy (and, after all, our tradition tells us that we are a holy people, a nation of priests.) The way in which we treat things goes a long way in imbuing objects with sacredness.
Back when in lived in American Yemensvilles like Fargo, my mother used (hint, hint, Mom) to annually send me a Pesach care package full of the kind of goodies it's hard to get in the "hinterlands west of the Hudson." Every year when the package arrived I looked forward to the ceremony of unwrapping each little item in the box, revealing it for the treasure it was. My mother takes such great care to wrap and protect these treasures. Item,s large and small, fragile and less so, are every so carefully wrapped in layer after layer of tissue paper, newspaper, and even a few old towels or dishrags. It was done so lovingly, I didn't;t dare rip things open in a hurry like a child with a present.
Her care made the contents all the more important to me, yet far too often I failed to thank her adequately-so I hope this public acknowledgement will help to right that failing on my part.) Thanks, Mom. And start sending me packages again. I know the Northern VA/DC/Maryland area is not the Yemensville like other places I've lived , and I can get a lot of good Pesach food here, but it's still nice to get the care package. Even if I am 52!
I know that when I see a sales clerk take the time to carefully wrap and protect even the most inexpensive but fragile item, I am wont to recall parashat Bamidbar. The clerk knows it may just be a trinket, but to me, or the person I intend to give it to, it must be so much more. I've seen florists put such care into the wrapping of a single rose, as if they were wrapping up dozens of these precious flowers. It mattered not to the florist that I could only afford the one flower instead of the bouquet. They knew it was special to me, and to the eventual recipient.
And that is how we make things sacred and holy. Not by their being. Not by their having been invested with holiness by Divine action or even human ritual.
It is through the care we show for them, and the way we treat them, that things become holy.
A few years back, I had the pleasure of seeing the 1st graders I had taught all year demonstrate the davening skills they have acquired, and receive their first real siddur. Each siddur was lovingly wrapped and adorned by a cover created by each student's parents. While I knew that each of the students understood the holy and sacred nature of these siddurim, even without the fancy covers, the covers were a demonstration of the value being placed in these books that are more than books. Yet, even without these fancy covers, I know the students will treat their siddurim with respect, not just shoving them in their desks or casually tossing them about, because they have been taught respect for the content. I know that they understand that it is through their reverence for the physical book, and for the words it contains, that they imbue it with holiness. Some might argue that the words themselves are holy. It's hard to argue that they aren't. But if we don't see them as such, does it matter if they are?
A midrash teaches that G"d "shopped the Torah around" and we Jews were the only ones who agreed to accept it (though perhaps under duress or threat!)
Without that acceptance, even written by G"d, they are just words on a scroll. We make it holy-in what we do, what we say, how we do it, how we say it, how we treat it.
Yes, a scribe, taking great care, inscribed the holy words of the Torah upon these sheepskin rolls. That effort alone ought to be enough to make each sefer Torah a holy object. Yet these objects are routinely bought and sold. The Nazis thought nothing of destroying them, or using them for wallpaper or decoupage. A shanda, to be sure, but to them, they weren't holy. We make them holy. Our commitment to those words, to the values they teach, the obligations they command us to perform. And the care and reverence with which we treat the actual physical object itself. Though it sometimes appears to border on a form of idol worship (and that's a discussion for another time) we show great respect for a sefer Torah through the way we handle it, carefully wrapping and unwrapping it, marching it around, kissing it, standing in its presence, reading its sacred words, placing it lovingly in the aron, etc. We make it holy. Without any of this, it's just a rolled-up scroll. Something the congregation purchased, and something that a scribe labored on to create. Are we bowing and respecting the scribe? The person or company who sold it to us? Hardly. We make it holy. Without us, it is just ink on sheepskin.
This Shabbat, find something you want to make sacred, holy. Wrap it carefully, whether metaphorically or not, as you choose. Know that you have the power to make something holy and sacred. You can even make the place where you are holy just by your presence in it. Always remember this. But remember, too, the cautions of our Torah about what to imbue and not imbue with this special holiness. It might be a place, a thing, a thought, a space, an idea, an action. whatever it is, you can make it holy. Make it so.
Shabbat Shalom,
Adrian
©2001 and 2007 by Adrian A. Durlester
Bemidbar 5766-Redux 5760-Knowing Our Place
Bemidbar
5764-Doorway to Hope
Bemidbar
5763-Redux 5759 (with additions for 5763)
Bemidbar
5762-They Did As They Were Told? You Gotta be Kidding!
Bemidbar 5759-Marrying
Gd-Not Just for Nuns
Bemidbar 5760-Knowing Our Place
Bemidbar 5761-What Makes it Holy