Shadow and Fear | Rabbi Haggai Lundin | Beit Midrash

Torah Portion and Tanach
Masei

קטגוריה משנית

The story in which the Torah saw fit to end the Book of Numbers is the story of the daughters of Tzelofhad. It is precisely close to the Book of Deuteronomy, before entering the Land of Israel, that the five daughters find themselves homeless and with no inheritance. The Kabbalists define the name Tzelofhad as a combination of two words "shadow and fear": at times of transitions, before entering a new home, before the beginning of the saddest month, before the beginning of a new year, a new election campaign or a new stage in life - we are filled with "shadow and fear"; fearing that the solution might not be found; that we will lose our inheritance; that God will abandon us.

This never happens! In the end, it turns out that a solution that bridges the desire of the daughters of Tzelofhad to build their own personal homes on the one hand; and the preservation of tribal and family traditions, on the other hand. This is also the deeper meaning of their names: Machla – in the sense of dance; Noa – in the sense of pleasantness; Hogla – in the sense of a circle; Milka – in the sense of royalty; and Tirtza – in the sense of completion. Everything works out in the end.

In all the desert journeys of our lives, in all the contradictions and wars in which we find ourselves, we end up dancing in a circle, filled with pleasantness, royalty and contentment. This is also what will happen with God’s help in the coming year for the better, without shadow and fear.

Masei