Bamidbar
Numbers 1:1-4:20
Hosea 2:1-22
“And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: of Reuven, Elizur son of Shedeur. Of Shimon, Shelimuiel son of Zurishaddai. Of Judah, Nachshon son of Aminadav… ” (Numbers 1:5-7).
For as long as I can remember, Orthodox Judaism has been perceived by much of the world — even the Orthodox world — as a conservative, sheltered, old-fashioned way of life unwilling to take risks in the face of new challenges, preferring to retreat into its own shell like a turtle.
A midrashic comment on this week’s portion makes the point that a conservative, risk-free existence is not a genuine Torah value. Certainly standing on the sidelines is not characteristic of the personality of Nachshon.
This prince of the tribe of Judah jumped into the Reed Sea in advance of the Egyptians (Talmud Tractate Sota 37a). Only after his demonstration of faith did the Almighty split the Reed Sea.
Talmud Tractate Bava Batra 91a points out that this courageous Nachshon had four sons, including Elimelech, husband of Naomi, and Shalmon, father of Boaz. So Nachshon was father and grandfather of two major personalities in the book of Ruth, which we will be reading on Shavuot.
In presenting such a genealogy, the Talmud emphasizes not only the characteristics of risk-taking by the descendants of Nachshon, but also what kinds of risks Judaism favors and what kinds it doesn’t.
Themes of the book
Courage and risk-taking, or their lack, are underlying themes of the book of Numbers (Bamidbar in Hebrew). When it opens, we do not yet know that the Israelites will wander for 40 years as punishment, but by the time the book closes it is clear that the Jewish people have failed their first major test.
When the spies return with a frightening report about the Promised Land (Numbers 13-14), the Israelites demonstrate a total lack of resolve, fortitude and faith. They wail, tremble, and plead not to go on with the mission. They are not prepared to risk war even for the conquest of the Promised Land.
Certainly the Bible would have wanted the Hebrews to act with courage, to make the first heroic and even dangerous moves that come with independence and responsibility.
Nachshon at the shore of the Reed Sea shines as the antithesis of a cowardly “desert generation.” Because of his daring, the people were saved.
Nachshon’s ability to take risks was transmitted to his son Elimelech and grandson Boaz. Hence, the book of Ruth closes with the names of ten generations from Peretz (son of Judah) to King David, and Nachshon appears in the center, the pivotal figure between the age of the patriarchs and the generation of monarchy-messiah.
While Nachshon and Boaz are to be praised for risk-taking, Elimelech can only be reviled. When a famine descends upon Bethlehem, Elimelech’s home, he packs up his family and starts a new life in Moab.
Undoubtedly, this demonstrates Elimelech’s courageous ability to risk the unknown in a strange environment. But his motivation was greed. He refused to share his bounty with his starving kinsmen, and he was willing to leave his homeland and his roots for the sake of his wealth.
Hence, tragedy strikes. Elimelech dies, and his sons, inevitably, marry Moabite women. His progeny die as well, causing Elimelech to have reaped as his harvest only oblivion, from a Jewish point of view.
In contrast, Boaz does not leave Bethlehem during the famine. And when the challenge arises to do an act of loving-kindness for Naomi and redeem Elimelech’s land, as well as to marry the stranger Ruth, a convert, Boaz assumes the financial obligation and the social risk involved in the marriage.
The descendant from this union turns out to be none other than King David, from whom the messianic line emerges.
Elimelech’s risk was based upon greed and forsaking his tradition. It ends in his death and destruction. Boaz’s risk was based upon loving-kindness, and results in redemption.
Risk is positive, and even mandatory, from a Jewish perspective. It is the motivation that determines the result.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is chancellor of Ohr Torah Stone and chief rabbi of Efrat.
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