Harmonic Motion – Beha'alotcha
וְהֵנִיף אַהֲרֹן אֶת הַלְוִיִּם תְּנוּפָה לִפְנֵי ה' מֵאֵת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְהָיוּ לַעֲבֹד אֶת עֲבֹדַת ה' (במדבר ה, ב).
As part of the inauguration of the Levi'im into their service in the Mishkan, Aharon had to wave them around in the air - תְּנוּפָה. The word תְּנוּפָה is mentioned multiple times in this paragraph and the Malbim on the above passuk says that that each Levi was in fact waved twice, once by Aharon and again by Moshe.
We are very familiar with תְּנוּפָה. We do it on Sukkot when we wave the אַרְבַּעַת הַמִּינִים. There is a specific pattern of waving. The Rambam details the procedure numerous times (הל' תמידין ומוספין ח, יא; הל' מעשה הקרבנות ט, ז; הל' סוטה ג, טו; וכו') and describes it as מוֹלִיךְ וּמֵבִיא מַעֲלֶה וּמוֹרִיד. His source is a Gemara (Sukkah 37b).
It begins by raising the item being waved and holding it against your heart. The item is then projected away from and retracted back to the heart three times – in six different directions, north, south, east, west, up and down – three projections/retractions in each direction (שו"ע, אורח חיים, ס' תרנא, סע' ט).
There are different minhagim for the order of the directions, according to the different eidot. Every Sukkot I look around me in shul as people wave the Lulav and it never ceases to amaze that every year people seem to be waving in orders I have never seen before!
תְּנוּפָה is a very common procedure in the service of HKB"H and is integral to many mitzvot (e.g אַרְבַּעַת הַמִּינִים). In the time of the Beit HaMikdash, תְּנוּפָה was required with various korbanot, waving animals (whole), waving body parts, waving Menachot, Bikkurim, etc. and also, like in our parsha, waving people.
It is one thing to wave a Lulav and Etrog, that weighs under 1kg, as described above. It is another thing altogether to wave an adult Levi (between the ages 30-50), weighing anywhere from 50-120kg, around in the air. And not just one or two Levi'im, but 22,000 of them.
Most of the Mefarshim (R' Bachyei etc.) regard this as a miracle. The Birkat Asher on the above passuk says that this emphasizes Aharon's and Moshe's incredible strength. One of the prerequisites of being a Kohen Gadol was that you had to have great physical strength. We also know Moshe's incredible strength in the Midrash's description of how he killed עוֹג מֶלֶךְ הַבָּשָׁן. The Meor HaAfeila brings a more "rational" approach that there was no waving of Levi'im in the way the korbanot were waved, but rather that Aharon and Moshe led the Levi'im in a musical procession in the Azara (he doesn't explain though how 22,000 Levi'im fitted into the small space of the Azara of the Mishkan).
In this shiur I would like to explore the spiritual symbolism, the meaning of the תְּנוּפָה.
The Gemara (Sukkah 37b) brings a machloket regarding the reason for תְּנוּפָה. R' Yochanan says מוֹלִיךְ וּמֵבִיא לְמִי שֶׁהָאַרְבַּע רוּחוֹת שֶׁלּוֹ מַעֲלֶה וּמוֹרִיד לְמִי שֶׁהַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ שֶׁלּוֹ, that the waving in six directions is acknowledgement of HKB"H, Ruler of Heaven and the four corners of the earth. The Gemara brings a second opinion of R' Chama bar Ukva, in the name of R' Yossi bar Chanina - מוֹלִיךְ וּמֵבִיא כְּדֵי לַעֲצֹר רוּחוֹת רָעוֹת מַעֲלֶה וּמוֹרִיד כְּדֵי לַעֲצֹר טְלָלִים רָעִים. According to this second opinion, the purpose of waving is to counteract harmful winds and rainfall that damage crops.
Although the semantics of the two opinions differ slightly, the ultimate purpose is the same, to acknowledge HKB"H as Master of the universe and thereby ensure agricultural bounty. In the first opinion, it is directly addressing the source (HKB"H), in the second, it is indirectly addressing the "messengers" (wind, rain).
It is not coincidence that תְּנוּפָה is an integral part of rituals that are agriculture/climate related – the Omer to bless the barley crop, the Shtei HaLechem to bless the wheat crop, the אַרְבַּעַת הַמִּינִים to bless the rain, etc.
Another, more Kabbalistic, interpretation of the תְּנוּפָה relates to the number "six" and its connection to our physical world. This is explored at length in the shiur on Mishpatim 2024.
In this shiur I would like to focus on the perush of the Zohar HaKadosh (תוספות לזהר, חלק ג', מאמר והניף אהרן את הלוים, אות עה-עז) –
"וְהֵנִיף אַהֲרֹן אֶת הַלְוִיִּם תְּנוּפָה לִפְנֵי ה'". ר' יְהוּדָה שְׁאִיל לר' אַבָּא: לָמָּה הָיָה הַכֹּהֵן מֵנִיף אֶת הַלְּוִיִם? אָמַר לוֹ למה"ד - לְתִינוֹק כְּשֶׁהוּא בּוֹכֶה וְכוֹעֵס. מָה עוֹשִׂין כְּדֵי לְפַיְּסוֹ? א"ל רַבִּי יְהוּדָה מְנִיפִין אוֹתוֹ וּמְנַעְנְעִים אוֹתוֹ כְּדֵי לְשַׁתְּקוֹ. א"ל ר' אַבָּא יְהוּדָה יְהוּדָה מִלָּה זֹאת בָּאָה לְיָדְךָ וְלֹא חָקַרְתָּ בָּהּ וַהֲלֹא יִשְׁמְעוּ אָזְנֶיךָ מָה שֶׁפִּיךָ מְדַבֵּר. כָּךְ הִיא מִדַּת הַגְּבוּרָה כּוֹעֶסֶת וְרוֹגֶזֶת, דִּכְתִיב "שִׁמְעוֹן וְלֵוִי אַחִים כְּלֵי חָמָס מְכֵרֹתֵיהֶם" וּכְתִיב "אָרוּר אַפָּם כִּי עָז וְעֶבְרָתָם כִּי קָשָׁתָה" לְפִי שֶׁהֵם מִתְגַּבְּרִים וּמִתְקַשִּׁים בְּאַפָם וְעֶבְרָתָם לָצֵאת לַעֲשׂוֹת דִּין לְכַלּוֹת וּלְהַכְרִית בְּנֵי הָעוֹלָם אֲזַי הַכֹּהֵן שֶׁהוּא הַחֶסֶד הָעֶלְיוֹן מֵנִיף אוֹתוֹ הַצַּד שֶׁל הַלְּוִיִם שֶׁהִיא מִדַּת הַגְּבוּרָה כְּדֵי לְשַׁכֵּךְ וְלְשָּׁקֵט רֻגְזָה וְכָעֲסָה כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּשְׁתַּבְּרוּ הַשְּׂעָרוֹת מִכָּל שׁוּלֵיהֶן וְלֹא יִתְגַּבְּרוּ וְלֹא יִתְחַזְּקוּ. כְּעֵין דֻּגְמָא זוֹ הַכֹּהֵן שֶׁמֵּנִיף אֶת הַלְּוִיִם תְּנוּפָה כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּשְׁקֹט הַצַּד שֶׁל גְּבוּרָה שֶׁלָּהֶן כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יִתְעוֹרֵר הַדִּין בָּעוֹלָם. בָּא ר' יְהוּדָה וְנָשַׁק אֶת יָדָיו.
On our passuk above, R' Yehuda asked R' Aba – "Why did the Kohen have to wave the Levi'im? R' Aba replied "I will give you a mashal. It is like an angry, crying baby. What does one do to calm him down?" R' Yehuda said "You pick him up, wave him around and 'shockel' him to calm him down". R' Aba said "Yehuda Yehuda! Do you actually hear what you are saying? This is the angry mida of Gvura, as Yaakov rebuked Levi in the psukkim שִׁמְעוֹן וְלֵוִי אַחִים כְּלֵי חָמָס מְכֵרֹתֵיהֶם and אָרוּר אַפָּם כִּי עָז וְעֶבְרָתָם כִּי קָשָׁתָה. The Tribe of Levi is the attribute of Gvura - Midat HaDin – that comes to destroy the world in its zealotry. To balance this comes the Kohen, who is the attribute of Chessed – Midat HaRachamim - and waves the Levi'im around to calm them down so that Midat HaDin does not prevail in the world. R' Yehuda went and kissed his hand.
What an incredible perush! What the Zohar is teaching us is that "stasis" typifies Midat HaDin and that "motion" is indicative of Midat HaRachamim. It is the fundamental difference between עוֹלָם הַבָּא and עוֹלָם הַזֶּה.
In עוֹלָם הַבָּא there is no motion, everything is static. Tzadikim are sitting (not walking or running around, sitting still), with their crowns (of Torah) on their heads, basking in the radiance of the Shechina (ברכות יז, ע"א). How long does this continue? For all eternity! This is the true reward for Tzadikim in עוֹלָם הַבָּא. It is the ultimate pleasure, that no pleasure of this world can even begin to approach.
Contrast this with עוֹלָם הַזֶּה, a world designed according to the blueprint of motion.
Everything in this world is constantly in motion – even things that appear to be still, are in fact moving. When we stand on solid ground, the earth appears to be still under our feet (unless there is an earthquake chas vechalila). However, the ground below us is far from still. Planet earth is rotating around its axis at a speed of 1670 km/hr. In fact, the earth beneath your feet (and you on it) are flying through the atmosphere at a speed exceeding Mach 1.
Objects that appear to be motionless, like a table, a tree trunk or a mountain are in constant motion. The molecules that comprise them are constantly vibrating (with a frequency of between 1013Hz - 1014Hz). Electrons are spinning around atoms at the speed of light.
Time itself is in constant motion (you know the adage "Time never stands still"). All matter (including life forms) is born, lives and dies. Nothing in this world is static.
HKB"H designed this world to be alive with motion. Motion is a song of praise to HKB"H, this is why it is termed "harmonic motion". The earth orbiting the sun, the moon orbiting the earth, the planets in their celestial orbits, the electrons in an atom orbiting the nucleus, the vibration of all matter, thermodynamics, a speeding cheetah, a soaring eagle, Roger Bannister breaking the 4-minute mile, a parent rocking their baby to sleep, someone "shockeling" while davening Shmoneh Esrei – this is how HKB"H designed עוֹלָם הַזֶּה, that everything in it - by virtue of its motion – is singing praise to HKB"H.
Lehavdil, if anyone has ever seen the opening "Circle of Life" scene of Disney's "The Lion King", this portrays it succinctly - every living creature rising with the dawn, each with their own song, praising their Creator. When the rooster rouses everyone with a "cockadoodledoo", when the birds begin chirping before dawn and at sunset, when the frog croaks, the cricket chirps – they are all singing שֶׁבַח וְהוֹדָיָה to HKB"H. If you want to understand what they are singing – read the sefer Perek Shira. Shlomo HaMelech understood the language of every creature.
It is by its very motion that this world continues to exist. Were motion to stop for even a brief second, the universe would cease to be. It continues to exist only through a perpetual injection of energy by HKB"H.
That is what it means when Chazal say that this world exists only because of Midat HaRachamim - motion.
The purpose of עוֹלָם הַזֶּה is to serve as a "corridor" to עוֹלָם הַבָּא (Avot 4, 16). We are given a brief time in עוֹלָם הַזֶּה to maximize as much motion as we possibly can.
Let us illustrate with a mashal.
The mayor of a city holds a lottery, in which there will be three winners. The grand prize for these lucky winners is that they will each be given a large shopping cart and 2 hours, during which they will be given access to every store in the largest shopping mall in the city. During these 2 hours, they may enter any store in the mall and fill up their cart to capacity with whatever they choose. At the end of the 2 hours – whatever they have in their shopping cart is theirs to keep.
The lottery is held and the three lucky winners are announced. Each receives a letter from the mayor's office telling them to be at the mall on a specific date and time to claim their prize.
The three winners appear at the predetermined date and time, raring to go. Each is given their cart. The judge starts the stopwatch and the three have 2 hours to grab whatever they can. They scurry around and 2 hours later, arrive at the finish line. Each winner's shopping cart is completely different.
The first winner's cart is stuffed to capacity with a wide assortment of food, appliances, toys, clothes, shoes, hardware, gardening tools, etc. The judge makes a tally of all the loot - $150,000 in merchandise, well done, enjoy!
The second winner's cart is only 2/3 full, also with a wide assortment of different things. The judge does a tally – $60,000, enjoy! "Hang on though, may I ask you a question?" asks the judge, "Why did you only fill your cart 2/3 and not completely full?" The second winner replies "Well, while I was running around stuffing my cart, I noticed this prestigious steak restaurant that is famous all over the country for its rib-eye steaks. You said everything in the mall was free, so I stopped for 45 minutes to enjoy the best rib-eye steak in the country and believe me - I enjoyed every bite. It was time well spent and it doesn't matter that I didn't have enough time to fully load the cart to capacity!"
The third winner's cart is only 1/4 full. The surprised judge does a tally and announces the total - $54 million. The cart was only 1/4 full but what was in it was the most expensive jewelry from the most prestigious jewelry stores in the mall – exquisite diamonds, rubies, emeralds, 24 carat gold pendants and more.
The third winner with the $54 million was different from the other two. A week before the allotted date, he visited the mall, went into the most expensive stores and asked the store owners for the prices of the most expensive merchandise they had – and he made a list. On the auspicious day, he used his 2 hours wisely, pulled out his list, went to all the listed stores and loaded up his cart with $54 million in merchandise.
The other two winners, seeing what the third winner had done, realizing their mistake, begged the judge for a second chance. "Sorry, you only get one chance!"
That is our life in a nutshell. HKB"H places us in the "mall" of life with a limited time to scurry around and fill up with whatever we want. If we are smart, we do our homework and discover what the truly valuable "merchandise" is and scurry around furiously and wisely trying to accumulate as much of it as we can.
Others, who are less smart and do not understand the true purpose of this world, waste their precious time accumulating vast quantities of valueless bric-a-brac, or squandering their time enjoying the physical pleasures of the world. When the bell rings and each does a tally and realizes how poorly they have performed, they beg the "judge" for more time, a second chance.
The uninformed look at עוֹלָם הַבָּא and see people "lazing" on "Adirondack" chairs, sipping יַיִן מְשֻׁמָּר and "suntanning" in the radiance of the Shechina and think to themselves "Why wait 80 years for that? Why work so hard? I can already enjoy sipping pina coladas on the beach, coppin' some rays, munching on a rib-eye steak – right now!" This is the origin of the hedonistic culture of leisure. At its core is a confusion which world you are in, until it is too late.
This is not to say that a person is never allowed to take a break during their life, to enjoy good food, good wine, make their home comfortable, etc. We are allowed, are even commanded to enjoy the pleasures of life (a נָזִיר has to bring a korban חַטָּאת because by denying himself things that are permitted, he is sinning). However, we are not allowed to enjoy the pleasures of life for their own sake. We take breaks and vacations to recharge our batteries so that we may better serve HKB"H. We eat and drink to keep ourselves vital and healthy so we may better serve HKB"H. We are allowed to enjoy all the pleasures of life as long as they are in the service of HKB"H and not hedonistic.
Stasis is the nemesis of עוֹלָם הַזֶּה. If there is stasis in the human organism, it can lead to illness and death. This applies to both physical stasis and also mental stasis. The human organism is designed to evolve, not to tread water. When we stop evolving, we are like that 2nd winner who stopped off to enjoy the rib-eye steak. This is stasis, Midat HaDin and causes destruction, because it diverts us from our true purpose. It ultimately results in anger and crying.
To mitigate this comes motion, Midat HaRachamim, that causes us to evolve, to think of the other, not ourselves and enables us to fill our cart with the most valuable merchandise of all. We simply have to wise up and do our homework - use the Torah to guide us in determining the merchandise with the most value and scurry to obtain it.
A person who discovers what their purpose is in life and is constantly working to achieve it, is in perfect harmonic motion and singing HKB"H's praises.
תְּנוּפָה is a repeated action of projecting out from the heart and retracting back to the heart. The heart is always the source, but the motion is like a sine wave, there are peaks and crests. It is not always progress - it includes setbacks. When we encounter a setback, we retract back to the heart, return to our core, reacquire direction and continue to move forward. The reason it is repeated three times is because וְהַחוּט הַמְשֻׁלָּשׁ לֹא בִמְהֵרָה יִנָּתֵק (קהלת ד, יב), when something is repeated three times it acquires strength that is unbreakable.
Levi began as Midat HaDin, but they did not remain static, they evolved. They took Yaakov's rebuke to heart and created motion and evolved into the spiritual leaders of Am Yisrael, combining both Chessed and Gvura, Kohanim and Levi'im, working together in tandem, in harmonic motion in the service of Hashem.
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
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