Connecting to our Royalty
By Rabbi Dovid Wachs
Bamidbar: 2:2 "Each person should encamp by his flag according to the signs of his father's household, at a distance surrounding the tent of meeting."
During the forty year period in the desert, the twelve tribes encamped around the Mishkan, the tabernacle, in groups of four. Each group was given a name and had a flag or banner overhead. The tribes of Yehuda, Yissacher and Zevulun camped on the east side and that group was called, "The Flag of the camp of Yehuda." The tribes of Reuven, Shimon and Gad were on the South Side and they were called "The flag of the camp of Reuven." The tribes of Ephraim, Menashe, and Binyamin were on the west side and were called "The flag of the camp of Ephraim." And the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali were on the north Side and were called "The flag of the camp of Dan."
It would appear then that there were only four flags in total, however according to the Medrash, each tribe had its own small flag and so there were 12 flags in total. Each tribe's flag had the same color as its stone on the Kohen Gadol's breastplate and had a design that reflected the blessing given to it from Yaakov. These individual flags are the signs referenced in the verse above when it says, "...according to the signs of their father's household. "
Where did this idea of flags (in hebrew- degalim) come from? What is their significance? The Medrash explains that when G-d revealed himself to the Jewish people on Mt. Sinai, 22,000 angels descended with Him. They were all in different groups that had their own flags ( as in Song of Songs5:10 Dagul Mirvava- a myriad of flags). When the Jews saw this, they yearned to have flags as well, upon which G-d told Moshe to form them into groupings with flags.
Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein, of blessed memory, explains that this yearning to have flags came from the "roots" of their souls. Being that their souls, as well as all of ours, came originally from the same source as the angels; from a lofty spiritual place referred to as "under G-d's throne of Glory," they felt this yearning to have what was familiar to them from the past.
In Koheles ( Ecclesiastes) it says, "And also the soul will not be filled up." The Medrash explains this verse with a parable. If a common person marries a princess, even if he will give her all the delights of the world, she will not be satisfied. Why? Because she is a princess. She is used to royalty and cannot be happy without it. So it is with our soul. If we give it all the delights of the world, our soul will not be filled, it will not be satiated. Why not? Because our soul is from a higher, spiritual source that cannot be satisfied with mundane and material pleasures.
This I believe is why there so many Jews whodisproportionatelyhavecontributed so much to civilization, whether it be in science, literature, law, medicine, or the theater. It is because the Jewish soul yearns for greatness. Being that it comes from a holy and lofty place, it desires to experience the same in this world.
On Shavuous, the 6th day of Sivan, some 3,300 years ago, the Jewish people received the Torah from the Almighty. The Torah is the blueprint of the world as the Talmud says, "G-d looked into the Torah and created the world." Our soul and the Torah come from the same place as it says, "The Jewish people, the Torah, and G-d, are One."
The upshot is that if we want to truly nourish and satisfy our neshamos, we need to connect to the Torah. All too often, people exchange the real thing with substitutes and go from pleasure to pleasure, from ism to ism, and from marriage to marriage, to rid ourselves of our angst and satiate our soulful yearnings.
On this Shavous, let us tap into the deep wellsprings of our Torah and fill ourselves up with its timeless wisdom. Let us connect with our source again and experience the joy and comfort of returning home holding our flags up high.
Have a Great Shabbos and Yom Tov.