Bostoner Torah Insights: Bostoner ‘Chassidus’ in English and Hebrew: Parshas Naso – Chag Shavuos – 6-7 Sivan 5786
Bostoner Torah Insights - Yerushalayim
Bostoner Torah Insights
Bostoner ‘Chassidus’ in English
Parshas Naso – Chag Shavuos – 6-7 Sivan 5786
Bostoner Rebbe shlit’a – Yerushalayim
Secretariat Email: bosto...@gmail.com
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Moshe Rabbeinu was spoken to by Hashem in four distinct places before the ultimate revelation: at the Sneh, in Midyan, in Mitzrayim, and finally at Har Sinai. It is highly possible to postulate that this foundational four-part progression is the very spiritual source of why we observe the three days of preparation (Shloshes Yemei Hagbalah) before Shavuos. When counting the day of Shavuos itself, you have a total of four days. Moshe Rabbeinu experienced three distinct periods of preparation before reaching the apex at Sinai, and even at his very first encounter at the Sneh, he was explicitly told that the ultimate destination of the Exodus was the Giving of the Torah: "This is the sign for you that I have sent you: when you take the people out of Mitzrayim, you will serve God on this mountain."
We can further suggest that these four historical happenings directly correspond to the four fundamental cosmic elements: Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth. The Sneh was clearly fire, burning but not consumed. Mitzrayim represents water, owing to its total spiritual and physical dependence on the Nile River. Midyan represents wind; in ethical literature, someone who is haughty is said to be full of wind, an inflation of ego that is akin to the sin of idol worship, which was epitomized by Midyan and its high priest Yisro before he humbled himself. Finally, Sinai represents earth, situated in the lowliness and barrenness of the desert, embodying the absolute humility required to receive the Torah.
This pattern of four repeats itself when we look at how Torah must be absorbed and transmitted. The Midrash in Maseches Eruvin states that when Moshe came down from Sinai, he taught the law in a fourfold structure. He taught it first to Aharon, then to Aharon’s sons, then to the Zekaynim, and finally to the entirety of Klal Yisroel. Moshe would then leave, and Aharon would teach the remaining three groups, followed by his sons, and then the Zekaynim, ensuring that everyone heard the Torah review exactly four times. The great Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Shmuel Rozovsky, once told a student who had finished a Mesechta that if you did not learn it at least four times, it will not remain with you — a profound insight he undoubtedly derived from this very blueprint laid out in the Midrash.
Just as the locations map to the four elements, so too do the prominent leaders of that wilderness generation embody them. Moshe Rabbeinu represents water, having been literally drawn from the water as his name testifies. Aharon HaKohen represents fire, uniquely tasked with entering the Kodesh Kodashim with the burning fire pan of incense. Kalev ben Yefuneh represents wind, as the Pasuk explicitly testifies to his independent spirit: "Because he had a different spirit (Ruach Acheres) with him." And Yehoshua bin Nun represents the earth, as the leader destined to conquer and anchor the Jewish people into the physical soil of Eretz Yisroel.
Ultimately, this identical cycle echoes through the cosmic history of the individual components of the nation, as the neshomos of Klal Yisroel studied and continue to study Torah four distinct times over the course of their existence. The first was collectively, when all the souls of Klal Yisroel were gathered 600,000 strong at Sinai. The second occurs in utero, when we studied the entirety of the Torah from the malach while in our mother's womb. The third takes place in this world from childhood to young adulthood through our formative years of growth, and the fourth and final stage unfolds during married life, when we build our own homes and practical foundations for the next generation.
So too, there are four fundamental elements to the Torah itself, spanning the layers of PaRDeS. First is the Written Torah (Peshat), then the Oral Tradition (Remez), followed by Drash and Aggadah, finally ending with Sod and Kabbalah, which we received and continue to see transferred down through the generations. May we merit to receive and absorb that which is being given this Shavuos from Hashem, so that we can merit the coming of Moshiach, speedily in our days. Amen.