This sheet on Numbers 4 was written by Avidan Freedman for 929 and can also be found here
I remember how shocked and bemused I was the first time I saw a big red Moishe's Moving van on the streets of New York. They never told me that that's an acceptable vocation for a good Jewish boy. I soon found out that it's hard to get a mover in New York City who isn't a member of the tribe. But it turns out, before Jews were doctors or lawyers or bankers, the best of the best them were movers. In Bamidbar 4, the holy charge of the Levites is not singing or washing hands. It's shlepping.
Kehat has the best job of all, the holy of holies. That means no fancy wagons for them. They must shlep by hand- 'on their shoulder, they carry.'
The history of the wandering Jew has often been a story of packing up our belongings and moving. For most nations, that kind of wandering spelled assimilation, and the disappearance of national identity. But, from the very beginning, we were given the gift of portable sanctity, of holiness that could be brought and applied to new situations, new geographic and social realities.
It's a daring concept, and for some, frightening. Some commentators suggest that this fear lay at the root of the spies' behavior, which we will read of soon enough. They knew very well how to live a life of Torah in the desert. To bring the Torah into the land of Israel seemed like too radical of a change.
This was precisely the task of Kehat. It takes a religious leadership with broad shoulders to have sufficient courage, and sufficient faith in the portability of the Torah, to make it feel at home in a new reality.
Who are those holy shleppers in our world?
Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school.
929 is the number of chapters in the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, the formative text of the Jewish heritage. It is also the name of a cutting-edge project dedicated to creating a global Jewish conversation anchored in the Hebrew Bible. 929 English invites Jews everywhere to read and study Tanakh, one chapter a day, Sunday through Thursday together with a website with creative readings and pluralistic interpretations, including audio and video, by a wide range of writers, artists, rabbis, educators, scholars, students and more. As an outgrowth of the web-based platform, 929 English also offers classes, pop-up lectures, events and across North America. We invite you to learn along with us and be part of our dynamic community.
To join 929's listserv for new and dynamic content each week click here
