Sending the Impure Away from the Camp

Found 6 Search results

1. The Mishkan and the Nazir

   Prof. Jonathan Grossman

   This article explores the meaning of the mitzvot in Parashat Naso, which define its significance of the Mishkan in day-to-day life.

2. Completing the Mahane

   Rabbi Ezra Bick

   Parashat Naso elaborates on four different mitzvot. What is the significance of the placement of these mitzvot among the stories of Bemidbar? Sending the impure from the camp is part of the creation of a camp worthy of God's Divine Presence. Apparently Sotah and Nazir, and even the Guilt Offering for Abuse of Sanctified Property, address the social ramifications of this theme. The Camp is a spiritual, as well as physical, entity. As such, it must remain pure, and focused on its purpose and objective - enabling God to dwell within His nation.

3. The Camp and the Chariot

   Rabbi Chanoch Waxman

   What is the reason for the commandment to send the impure form the camp? Why are the laws of impurity in the camp placed at this intersection in the Book of Bemidbar? Was the distance meant to prevent accidental impurity in Holy Places? Or perhaps the prohibition indicates that there is inherent purity to the Camp of Israel? Apparently the order and structure of the Israeli Camp indicates that the Camp is a chariot for the Divine Presence, which requires an attention to the purity of the camp as a whole.

4. The Chariot and the Journeys of God's Glory

   Dr. Tova Ganzel

   At the beginning of his book, Yehezkel describes how "the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God." Chapter 1, described by Chazal as the "ma'aseh merkava" is one of the most difficult chapters to understand in all of Tanakh.

   This Divine vision, which appears at the very outset of the book, holds the key to understanding one of the central prophetic messages of the book. The recollection of this vision accompanies Yehezkel's prophecy throughout the rest of the book. In these visions, God's glory is borne in a chariot, which indicates motion. The upshot of all these visions is that God's glory has departed from the Temple.

   Even in Yehezkel's pre-Destruction prophecies the glory of God has already departed from the Temple and the Divine Presence is no longer within the city of Jerusalem. Therefore, during the six first years of Yehezkel's prophecy – from the time he began to prophesy until the destruction of the Temple – there is no call to the nation as a whole to mend its ways and to repent. The fate of Jerusalem has already been sealed; the Temple is defiled and desecrated, and the city will not be purified until God has poured out His wrath in its midst.

   Where is God's glory is to be found during the years of the Destruction? Does God's glory wander with the people to Babylon, or does it remain in the Land of Israel, outside Jerusalem, waiting for the people to return?

   Yehezkel emphasizes that even though this is the first time that God's glory has departed – indeed the Temple lies in ruins – nevertheless the same Divine vision will return and once again dwell in the future Temple. The nation need not fear that the departure of God's glory from the Temple means the departure of His glory from the nation.

   God’s Presence in the Temple cannot be assumed to be unconditional; God will not allow His Presence to dwell there if the nation causes the Temple to be defiled. But even though the nation refuses to accept the message of the prophets and fails to repent, even after the destruction of the Temple, God will never abandon His people.

5. Three Camps

   Rabbanit Dr. Michal Tikochinsky

6. Parshat Naso Part 2: Sending Away the Impure & Asham Gezeilot

   Rabbi Jonathan Snowbell | 25 minutes

   This podcast discusses the practice of sending those who are impure out of the camp. A close look at the text as well as classical commentaries reveals two different models of interpretation represented by the Torah and the oral law, representing two vastly different realities.

    

   Courtesy of www.tanachstudy.com