Sh’lach L’cha
Numbers 13:1-15:41
Précis: Moses is ordered to “send out” (sh’lach l’cha) spies to examine the land.Representatives of each tribe go out, report on its bounty, but also report about its fearsome inhabitants. The People are frightened, and their “murmuring” turns into something close to panic. God tells Moses that He will destroy the People, but Moses intercedes; the People are sentenced to spend 40 years in the wilderness. The parasha then returns to matters concerning the Tabernacle, with a discussion of the offering for unintentional sins. Near its end, the parasha discusses the wearing of tzitzit, a paragraph which is part of the traditional recitation of the Sh’ma. This is the 27th of 54 parshiot, marking the half-way point in the yearly reading.
Numbers 14:37-38 “The Eternal One said to Moses as follows: ‘Speak to the Israelite people and instruct them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a cord of blue to the fringe at each corner. That shall be your fringe; look at it and recall all the commandments of the Eternal and observe them….’”
These verses are the proof-text (guiding verses) for the commandment to wear tzitzit. While the mitzvah is ritual in nature, the tzitzit (fringes) became a distinguishing sartorial feature for Jewish men wherever they lived. For traditional and observant Jews, wearing tzitzit was not a matter of choice; here we have a biblical command to wear fringes. As Jews emerged into “modern” society, many of the outward signs (in dress, beards, hairstyles, etc.) of Jewish tradition were abandoned. This was particularly true in the Reform Movement, which eschewed such displays in the 19th century.
Traditional Jewish men have always worn a tallit during morning prayer, an explicit way of following the commandment for tzitzit. The tradition of wearing a tallit during morning prayer has again become more common in many Reform congregations, Moreover, in America, (at least in non-Orthodox congregations) it is no longer unusual for women to wear a tallit when praying.
But in Israel, the "Women of the Wall" have been cursed at, spat upon, and arrested for trying to observe the commandment. What are we to make of the outrage engendered by the desire of Israeli women to wear a tallit during prayer? This symbol of faithfulness to God’s commandments has become a symbol of a political struggle in Israeli society. In the State of Israel, the dominant Orthodox establishment finds a woman wearing a tallit so outrageously disturbing that riots and arrests have followed. Legal decisions on what is appropriate “custom for the community” continue to percolate in Israeli courts, and recent attempts to find a solution by creating another “section” of the Western Wall seem to have resolved very little. If nothing else, current events underscore the powerful nature of religious symbols, and also emphasize that in Israel today a small group of rabbis exert enormous authority over the entire nation. We Americans, particularly American Jews, take pride in the concept of pluralism. This, apparently and unfortunately, is not true in today’s Israel.
In general, I believe that as a Jew living in the United States, I do not have a legitimate right to criticize the State of Israel as if I myself was an Israeli; after all, I have not chosen to make aliyah and become a citizen there. On the other hand, this matter is one of those instances where I feel, as a Jew, that I do have a right to express my anger over the absolute rule of the Orthodox rabbinate in Israel on matters of Jewish ritual life and civil status.
