Torah Portion

inspiration may fluctuate, but the time and order of our prayers do not. As a result, we can take comfort in our siddur the way we take comfort in a loyal companion who sticks with us when times are good and steadies us when times get bad.

This sense of order helps guide us in all of our endeavors. If we applied ourselves to our marriages or jobs or friendships only when we felt like it, we would surely struggle to maintain them at all. If we only give to charity when we feel flush, few people would give much of anything. Life can be very confusing, and we often feel besieged by conflicting choices and feelings. So, it can be reassuring to follow the rules for proper behavior set out in the Torah. Such structured guidance for how to live and what to do can offer a sense of stability in a world of uncertainty.

Reb Yerucham Levovitz, one of the great educators in the Mir Yeshiva, offers the following analogy. When stringing a necklace of pearls, we typically tie a knot at the end to keep the pearls from slipping off. Reb Yerucham says the value of order is like that knot. The individual pearls represent the many values of Judaism — devotion to Hashem, prayer, kindness, charity, Shabbos, learning Torah, etc. What holds these values together is the knot at the end of the string of pearls — structure and order.

Most people crave structure in their lives. Because we like to know where we are going and what we are doing, we tend to find comfort in patterns and routines. Physically, we function best when our days heed a certain order, such as when we go to sleep and wake up around the same time every day, and in the same bed.

Spiritually, too, we are nourished by predictability. Because prayer and gratitude are baked into our daily routines — we know to say the Shema when we wake up and to bensch after meals — we are sure to make time for such things.

Our sages note that one of the questions we are asked in heaven is kavata itim laTorah — “Did you set aside time to learn Torah?” Notably, we are not asked whether we learned Torah but whether we set aside time for it. This is because the Torah prescribes set times for everything: when a person learns; when a person davens; when, how and how much a person gives charity. All of this goes to the heart of how important the concept of seder is to the philosophy of Judaism. To live as a Jew is to embed righteousness into the routines of ordinary life.

This helps us understand the importance of the encampments in the desert. Each tribe had its designated flag and location, its identity and sense of duty. In a period of great change and uncertainty for the Jewish people, as they wandered the desert and wondered which direction was forward, this sense of order must have been a source of comfort, an existential balm of sorts. In these uncertain times, the structure and order outlined in the Torah is no less comforting today.

Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein is the chief rabbi of South Africa and the founder of The Shabbat Project. This essay was written for the Shabbat Project in 2017.

When my wife, Susan, and I moved to Michigan 24 years ago, one of the first things we were prompted to do was to pick a college team that we could make our own.

I had what I thought was a great idea: I would root for both U-M and MSU. Little did I know, it must have been written somewhere —perhaps in the charter from when the state of Michigan formally entered the Union on Jan. 26, 1837 — that to root for both the Wolverines and the Spartans was tantamount to treason. After all, who would I root for when they played one another each season?

I actually didn’t realize the serious intensity of it all until Michigan and Michigan State competed for annual bragging rights and the Paul Bunyan trophy. During that week in our first fall, I saw more block M and block S flags flying around the region than I had ever seen to date. Even the local bakeries were selling both blue and green bagels to mark the occasion.

So, too, as we begin the Book of Numbers this week with Bamidbar, we are given a glimpse into the age-old power and import of getting behind team colors as a profound expression of human identity. We read:

“The Children of Israel shall encamp troop by troop, each person within their division, next to their flag and under

the banner of their ancestral house (Numbers 1:52).” With 12 tribes making their way through the desert, it must have been at least a little bit easier to keep everyone together by having them march alongside their tribal flag. It also allowed them to simultaneously take pride in their extended familial connections within the larger Israelite community; each of the 12 tribal Rabbi Joseph groups distinguished

Krakoff themselves with colorful, embroidered flags.

Parshat Marching each day

Bamidbar: Numbers 1:1-4:20; and then camping each night around their Hosea 2:1-22. respective flags allowed the people to feel connected both individually to their families and collectively to the entire community. The people all stood proudly beside their tribal banners, feeling united in their common purpose and shared heritage while never losing track that as a larger human community, each person was on the same squad: Team Israel. The time has come for our modern human community to take a page out of the playbook of our desert ancestors. We must find a pathway for everyone’s voices and opinions to coexist together in a way that makes room for everyone. Only then will we see the day when we can proudly proclaim in one voice: “Go blue … Go green!” and mean it. Rabbi Joseph H. Krakoff is the chief executive officer of the Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy Network.