#262: Vexillology II — Diversity or Unity?
#262: Vexillology II — Diversity or Unity?
Aderet Eliyahu on Parashat Bemidbar, Bemidbar/Numbers 2:2
The largest flag in the world, an Israeli flag funded by a Fillipino lover of Israel. The total size is nearly five football fields, or 202,823.55 square feet. Public domain image.
Gimme Some Torah #262
אִ֣ישׁ עַל־דִּגְל֤וֹ בְאֹתֹת֙ לְבֵ֣ית אֲבֹתָ֔ם יַחֲנ֖וּ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל מִנֶּ֕גֶד סָבִ֥יב לְאֹֽהֶל־מוֹעֵ֖ד יַחֲנֽוּ׃
The Israelites shall camp each man with his standard, under the banners of their ancestral house; they shall camp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance.
In yesterday’s essay, we read what the midrash and Rashi said about the Israelite military flags. Both sources described the flags as sources of diversity and independence. Rashi said the various colors allowed the tribes to tell who was whom, while the midrash imagined the flags to be much like medieval British heraldic crests, images that spoke of each tribe’s history.
Now we’ll look at the interpretation of the Ben Ish Ḥai (bio), who take a very different view of the flags’ main purpose:
One should explain, as is known, that the flags were inscribed with the letters of the names of our holy patriarchs, may their merit defend us Amen. They were inscribed in this order: On the flag of Yehudah were written the letters א׳׳יי, which are the first letters of אַבְרָהָם (Abraham), יִצְחָק (Yitzhak/Isaac), and יַעֲקֹב, (Yaakov/Jacob). And on the flag of Reuven was written בצ׳׳ע, which are the second letters of the patriarchs’ names. And on the flag of Ephraim was written ר׳׳חק, the third letters of the names, and on the flag of the camp of Dan—the rearguard of all the divisions—were all the remaining letters, which are מ׳׳קב. . .
The Ben Ish Ḥai is telling us that the flags were not for the purpose of diversity but rather unity. Each flag had an element of the names of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the forerunners of all the tribes. No matter how different the tribes were, their flags announced the unity of Israel to other tribes and nations.
I find the Ben Ish Ḥai’s interpretation to be more satisfying than what we read yesterday. The tribes were different from each other in the same way that various Jewish communities differ. Nonetheless, they all paid homage to the same three people, just as Jews do today.
With the exception of Yehuda/Judah and Levi, the Israelite tribes of yore no longer exist. The Jewish people, however, is divided into an array of tribe-like communities, each one with a distinct but related culture. The Ḥasidim Boro Park are quite different from the non-religious who sunbathe on the beaches of Tel Aviv. On the surface, the Yemenite and Moroccan Jews have little in common with Reform and Conservative, and Modern Orthodox Jews in North America.
But all of our communities do have something in common—a connection to the Torah. We may have wildly disparate ideas about the Torah, but we are all connected through some combination of history, blood, religion, and culture.
Jews are, at the end of the day, not just a people but a mega-family.
Discussion Questions:
What is more important, unity or diversity? Why?
What connection do you feel to Jews who live very differently from you?
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Rabbi Eli Garfinkel is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth El in Somerset, New Jersey. He is the author of The JPS Jewish Heritage Torah Commentary.