D'var Torah, Parshat Nasso
Jun. 8th, 2008 04:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gnomiHere's the d'var Torah (talk on the portion of the week) that I gave yesterday, for those who might be interested. Warning: some Hebrew language geeking ahead.
D'var Torah: Nasso
This week's parsha starts with Moshe being commanded, "Nasso et rosh b'nei Gershon," to conduct a census of the Gershonim. The verb used, "Nasso," has as its shoresh nun-sin-aleph, and is usually translated as "lift up" or "elevate."
Our shoresh appears in Shmot, perek yud-tet, passuk daled: "Va'esa etchem al kanfei n'sharim." While one could translate "essa" in this passuk purely as "carried," there is also an element of being uplifted, as we arose out of Mitzrayim.
"N'sharim" is also interesting in this passuk, but I'll get back to that.
This dual meaning of "carry" and "lift up" is also seen in the Asseret haDibrot in Yitro, in Shmot, perek kaf, passuk zayin: "Lo tissah et shem hashem elokecha lashav," do not take, or carry, or elevate Hashem's name for no purpose. And here there's a connection to the colloquial English phrase "to bring up," as in "to bring up a subject." Hashem's name should not be brought up – elevated, as it were – lashav.
This same shoresh makes an appearance in Acharei Mot, in the description of how Aharon atones for the sins of b'nei yisrael. In Vayikrah, perek tet zayin, passuk chaf-bet, the goat sent off into the dessert is described as follows: V'nassah ha sair allav et kol avonotam el eretz gezeira – the goat will carry on itself all their transgressions into a remote area. Here there seems to be no sense of elevation, purely of burden. But the burden of the transgressions of b'nei yisrael are elevated from the people, and the people are elevated as they return to the proper ways of following Hashem and turning away – there's that sense of turning, again – from their aveirot.
And now back to "nesher." This word – usually translated as "eagle," shares two letters with our shoresh – nun and shin – and also, in a metaphorical way, can be said to have a relationship to our shoresh. An eagle rises from its perch into flight. There is a theory that Hebrew roots, which we traditionally know as being three letters long, were in fact once two-letter roots and that relationships can be seen between words that share two of their three shoresh letters. A classic example of this is "nun shin kuf" and "nun shin kaf." Nun shin kuf, "linshok," "nashak," means to kiss. Nun shin kaf, "linshoch," "nashach," means to bite. In Berashit, perek lamed gimel, passuk daled, Eisav kisses Ya'akov, but there are dots above the word. Rashi takes this to mean that Eisav meant to bite Ya'akov but kissed him instead, as Ya'akov's neck turned to stone as Eisav attempted to bite him.
Another example of this two-letter shoresh phenomenon can be seen in "resh chet peh" and "resh chet bet," meaning "to spread over" and "to make wide," respectively. Resh chet peh is the root of "mirachefet" in Beraishit perek aleph, pasuk bet, "v'ruach elokim mirachefet al pnei hamayim" -- and the spirit of Hashem spread over the face of the water; and resh chet bet is the shoresh of "hirchavt" in "hirchavt mishkavecha" -- you have made your bed wide (Yishayahu perek nun-zayin, passuk chet).
Returning to our parsha, the same shoresh appears in Birkat Kohanim: "Yissah hashem panav eilecha v'yassem l'cha shalom" (perek vav, passuk chaf-vav). In that context, it is hard to try to translate "yissah" as having anything to do with elevation. Rather, it seems to be closer in meaning to "to direct," or "to focus." Ibn Ezra, however, brings it as the opposite of the statement in Yishayahu (perek aleph, passuk tet-vav), "Alim einei mechem," -- I will hide my eyes from you. Its meaning, Ibn Ezra says, reiterating our shoresh's meaning of "to lift up," is that wherever b'nei yisrael are, Hashem's face will be lifted up to us.
Shabbat shalom.
And now, a glossary.
Beraishit: Genesis
shoresh: root
perek: chapter
passuk: verse
Birkat Kohanim: the priestly blessing
parsha: weekly portion
Yishayahu: Isaiah
Shmot: Exodous
Moshe: Moses
Aharon: Aaron
B'nei yisrael: The children of Israel
D'var Torah: Nasso
This week's parsha starts with Moshe being commanded, "Nasso et rosh b'nei Gershon," to conduct a census of the Gershonim. The verb used, "Nasso," has as its shoresh nun-sin-aleph, and is usually translated as "lift up" or "elevate."
Our shoresh appears in Shmot, perek yud-tet, passuk daled: "Va'esa etchem al kanfei n'sharim." While one could translate "essa" in this passuk purely as "carried," there is also an element of being uplifted, as we arose out of Mitzrayim.
"N'sharim" is also interesting in this passuk, but I'll get back to that.
This dual meaning of "carry" and "lift up" is also seen in the Asseret haDibrot in Yitro, in Shmot, perek kaf, passuk zayin: "Lo tissah et shem hashem elokecha lashav," do not take, or carry, or elevate Hashem's name for no purpose. And here there's a connection to the colloquial English phrase "to bring up," as in "to bring up a subject." Hashem's name should not be brought up – elevated, as it were – lashav.
This same shoresh makes an appearance in Acharei Mot, in the description of how Aharon atones for the sins of b'nei yisrael. In Vayikrah, perek tet zayin, passuk chaf-bet, the goat sent off into the dessert is described as follows: V'nassah ha sair allav et kol avonotam el eretz gezeira – the goat will carry on itself all their transgressions into a remote area. Here there seems to be no sense of elevation, purely of burden. But the burden of the transgressions of b'nei yisrael are elevated from the people, and the people are elevated as they return to the proper ways of following Hashem and turning away – there's that sense of turning, again – from their aveirot.
And now back to "nesher." This word – usually translated as "eagle," shares two letters with our shoresh – nun and shin – and also, in a metaphorical way, can be said to have a relationship to our shoresh. An eagle rises from its perch into flight. There is a theory that Hebrew roots, which we traditionally know as being three letters long, were in fact once two-letter roots and that relationships can be seen between words that share two of their three shoresh letters. A classic example of this is "nun shin kuf" and "nun shin kaf." Nun shin kuf, "linshok," "nashak," means to kiss. Nun shin kaf, "linshoch," "nashach," means to bite. In Berashit, perek lamed gimel, passuk daled, Eisav kisses Ya'akov, but there are dots above the word. Rashi takes this to mean that Eisav meant to bite Ya'akov but kissed him instead, as Ya'akov's neck turned to stone as Eisav attempted to bite him.
Another example of this two-letter shoresh phenomenon can be seen in "resh chet peh" and "resh chet bet," meaning "to spread over" and "to make wide," respectively. Resh chet peh is the root of "mirachefet" in Beraishit perek aleph, pasuk bet, "v'ruach elokim mirachefet al pnei hamayim" -- and the spirit of Hashem spread over the face of the water; and resh chet bet is the shoresh of "hirchavt" in "hirchavt mishkavecha" -- you have made your bed wide (Yishayahu perek nun-zayin, passuk chet).
Returning to our parsha, the same shoresh appears in Birkat Kohanim: "Yissah hashem panav eilecha v'yassem l'cha shalom" (perek vav, passuk chaf-vav). In that context, it is hard to try to translate "yissah" as having anything to do with elevation. Rather, it seems to be closer in meaning to "to direct," or "to focus." Ibn Ezra, however, brings it as the opposite of the statement in Yishayahu (perek aleph, passuk tet-vav), "Alim einei mechem," -- I will hide my eyes from you. Its meaning, Ibn Ezra says, reiterating our shoresh's meaning of "to lift up," is that wherever b'nei yisrael are, Hashem's face will be lifted up to us.
Shabbat shalom.
And now, a glossary.
Beraishit: Genesis
shoresh: root
perek: chapter
passuk: verse
Birkat Kohanim: the priestly blessing
parsha: weekly portion
Yishayahu: Isaiah
Shmot: Exodous
Moshe: Moses
Aharon: Aaron
B'nei yisrael: The children of Israel
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-06-08 09:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-08 10:14 pm (UTC)And feel free to share it. Just keep my name attached, if you can.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-08 09:58 pm (UTC)Thank you for sharing :D
no subject
Date: 2008-06-08 10:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-09 12:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-09 07:38 pm (UTC)this is a beautiful drash - made even *more* beautiful by the Hebrew language geekery. ::g::
comment deleted and then reposted with a more modest icon. sorry!
no subject
Date: 2008-06-10 02:25 am (UTC)