Num. 4:21-7:89
Précis: The parasha (the longest of the weekly readings) opens with a continuation of the listing of the Levitical families and their duties regarding the transportation of holy vessels. This is followed by a brief commandment concerning restitution for wrongs. The parasha then turns to a mysterious procedure for testing a wife’s fidelity when questioned by her jealous husband. Next, we have a discussion of the laws of Nazerites, and the recitation of the “Priestly Benediction.” The parasha concludes with the presentation of identical gifts by each tribe for the dedication of the Altar.
Num. 5:6-7 “Speak to the Israelites: ‘When a man or a woman commits any wrong towards a fellow man, thus breaking faith with Adonai, and that person realizes his guilt, he shall confess the wrong that he has done. He shall make restitution in the principal amount and add one-fifth to it, giving it to him whom he has wronged.’”
Rabbi Vered L. Harris has asked how we are to determine whether or not we have committed a wrong against another and, more importantly, how we are to recognize our guilt in the context of these verses (Reform Voices of Torah 5/29/17). Harris suggests that we adopt the 4th of the 12 steps originally introduced by Alcoholics Anonymous: taking a moral inventory.
Harris notes that we are repeatedly commanded by the Torah to “love.” But we must ask, “what is love?” Our text describes “love” not as an emotion but rather through action. By taking a fearless moral inventory of what we do or fail to do, we learn whether we have truly “loved” ourselves, our families, our friends, and our acquaintances.
And societally, acts of love must reflect justice and mercy towards those who are like us and to those who are “others.” We are repeatedly commanded to see to the welfare of the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, groups representing the most endangered members of a community. When we take a moral inventory of our acts individually and as a society, how can we fail to acknowledge our mistreatment of the “others” who dwells among us?
