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Parshat Bamidbar
2002
Wise Like A Desert
Numbers Rabba 1:7
"And the Lord said to Moshe in the Sinai desert saying…" (Numbers 1:1)
From here the Sages learned that the Torah was given in three ways: through fire, through water and through the desert.
Where do we see that it is through fire? It is written: "For Mount Sinai was entirely covered in smoke." (Exodus 19)
Where do we see that it is through water? It is written: "…the clouds dripped water, the mountains quaked - before the Lord Him of Sinai…" (Judges 5:5)
Where do we see it is through the desert? It is written: "And the Lord said to Moshe in the Sinai desert saying…"
Why was it given in these ways? Just as these are free to whoever needs them, so it is with the words of Torah.
As it is written: "All those who are thirsty come to the water." (Isaiah 55)
Another opinion states: Why was the Torah given in the desert? It is to teach us that anyone who does not make one's self as empty and un-entitled as the desert cannot acquire wisdom or Torah - and that is why the Torah was given at Sinai.
Your Midrash Navigator
1. It is true that the Midrash finds a common denominator between fire, water and desert, but how is Torah like fire? How is it like water?
2. Why is it important to be empty and un-entitled in order to achieve wisdom and Torah?
A Word
The first opinion emphasizes how the Torah is for everyone, the fiery personalities, the watery ones - even those who wander in the wilderness. The second opinion argues that even though the Torah, like wisdom, is readily available, its accessibility is contingent on the nature of the recipient. The act of receiving requires an emptying of self, an openness to deep listening which is why the Torah was received through God's voice, the concentration of Israel so intent that they actually "saw the voices."
It is the sense of intentional focus, of the profound desire to know that creates the space for knowing. That immersion into otherness - makes us as flat, open and barren as a desert. It is the Jewish path to both wisdom and to Torah.
By Rabbi Avi Weinstein, Director, Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning.
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