Parshat Beha’alotcha deals with numerous topics. Initially, the Torah discusses the Menorah, followed by the preparation of the Levi’im for their Avodah, Pesach Sheni, and thereafter the beginning of Bnei Yisrael’s journey in the desert that lasted another thirty-nine years. Accordingly, Hakadosh Baruch Hu instructed Moshe Rabbeinu on how each journey would proceed, including the first journey that began on the twentieth of Iyar in the second year after Yetziat Mitzrayim. Additionally, the Parsha addresses the מִ תְ אוֹ נְ נִ ים (the complainers), the מִ תְ אַ וִּ ים (those who craved meat), the descent of the quail, the appointment of the seventy elders, and the words spoken by Aharon and Miriam regarding Tzipporah, Moshe’s wife.
In our shiur, we will focus on a fascinating topic: the חֲצוֹצְרוֹת – the trumpets, which, like the Menorah, were made of one solid piece. The Torah explains their makeup and usage:
Make for yourself two silver trumpets; you shall make them, hammered from one block, and they shall be used by you to summon the congregation and to initiate the departure of the camps. When they will blow them, the entire congregation shall present itself to you at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. But if they blow one of them, the leaders shall present themselves to you, the heads of Israel’s thousands. When you blow a teruah; the camps that are camped eastward shall travel. If you blow a second teruah, then shall travel the camps that are camped on the south side. They shall blow a teruah for their journeys. But when gathering the congregation, you shall blow a blast, but not a teruah. The sons of Aharon, the kohanim, shall sound the trumpets. This shall be for you an everlasting statute, for all your descendants. If war shall come into your land against the oppresor who oppresses you and you shall blow teruahs with the trumpets and you will be remembered before Hashem, your G-d, and you will be delivered from your enemies. On your joyous days and on your festivals and on the beginnings of your months you shall blow with the trumpets for your burnt-offerings and for your peace-offerings; and it shall be a remembrance for you before your God, I am Hashem your G-d.
What is the meaning of שְׁתֵּי חֲצוֹצְרֹת כֶּסֶף עֲשֵׂה לְך? Chazal say (Bamidbar Rabbah 15:15) it signals a clear instruction to Moshe: “Make for yourself and not for another. You use them, and no one else uses them.” Only Moshe was to use these trumpets.
What is the proof that only he used them? In Parshat Matot, during the war against Midian, the Torah states:
Moshe sent, one thousand from each tribe to the army, them, and Pinchas, son of Elazar the kohen to the army, with the sacred vessels and the trumpets in his hand.
Rashi comments: The כְ לֵי הַ קֹדֶשׁ (holy vessels) refer to the Aron and the Tzitz. When Bnei Yisrael entered into Eretz Yisrael with Yehoshua bin Nun to conquer Yericho, one might think they should have taken the trumpets and blown them. However, Yehoshua instead took seven kohanim with seven shofars and circled the city’s wall. Why did he not take the trumpets? Is it not explicitly stated in our Parsha that when you go to war in your land, you sound an alarm with the trumpets? The Midrash explains that even Yehoshua, Moshe Rabbeinu’s disciple, did not use the חֲ צוֹצְ רֹת but used shofars: וַיָּרִיעוּ בַּשּׁוֹפָרוֹת – And the people shouted, and they blew the shofars. The Midrash adds that this does not only apply to Yehoshua, for even during Moshe Rabbeinu’s lifetime, the trumpets were hidden. This means, just as the place of Moshe Rabbeinu’s burial is unknown to this day, so too the place where the חֲ צוֹצְ רֹת were hidden is unknown to this day.
Regarding the usage of the trumpets, in Parshat Vayeilech, the Torah states that Moshe ordered for the people to be assembled:
Assemble to me all the judges of your tribes and your officers, and I will declare in their hearing these statements, and invoke as witnesses against them heaven and earth.
Why did they need to be assembled? Could Yehoshua not simply have blown one blast from the trumpets, and all would have come instantly? Chazal ask this question in the Midrash and the answer is, even during Moshe’s lifetime, they were hidden. Yehoshua was not given authority over them during Moshe’s lifetime.
The next trumpet amongst Bnei Yisrael was that of David HaMelech. This means that for 480 years – from the time they left Egypt until the Beit Hamikdash was built, with forty years in the desert and 440 years in Eretz Yisrael when the Mishkan was in Givon, Shiloh, and Nov – what did they blow? We’re told in our Parsha that the trumpets were to be blown on multiple occasions – i.e., Rosh Chodesh, festivals, with the offering of Korbanot, etc. – that certainly applied to them, so what is it that they blew? The answer is that they blew shofars, not trumpets. The Midrash states: Only a king can make trumpets: בַּ חֲ צֹצְ רוֹת וְ קוֹל שׁ וֹפָר הָ רִ יעוּ לִ פְ נֵי הַ מֶּ לֶךְ ה', and Moshe Rabbeinu was called a king: וַיְהִי בִישׁ ֻרוּן מֶלֶךְ בְּהִתְאַסֵּף רָאשׁ ֵי עָם. Thus, only he could blow the trumpets. The Midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah 15:16) states that the trumpets that were located in the Beit Hamikdash were also hidden, but David used a harp, as it says: עוּרָ ה כְבוֹדִ י עוּרָ ה הַנֵּבֶל וְכִנּוֹר אָעִירָ ה שׁ ָחַר – Awake, my glory; awake, harp and lyre; I will awaken the dawn.
Regarding the permanence of the vessels in the Mikdash, the Gemara (Menachot 28b) states:
All of the vessels that Moshe fashioned were fit for his generation and were fit for future generations. Yet the trumpets that Moshe fashioned were fit for his generation but were unfit for future generations.
The Gemara discusses the exception made for the חֲצוֹצְרוֹת. Why are the trumpets valid only for Moshe’s generation? If because the Torah states עֲשֵׂה לְךָ – Make for yourself, implying they are for him alone and not for future generations, the same language appears in the command to make a wooden ark: וְ עָ שִׂ יתָ לְּ ךָ אֲרוֹן עֵ ץ, which would also imply it is only for Moshe and not for future generations. But we know they used the Aron after Moshe’s death. Rather, the wording used for the Aron must be interpreted either as meaning “from your own funds,” or as meaning Hakadosh Baruch Hu preferred the public fulfill their obligation through an individual’s funds. If so, how do we learn that the trumpets are invalid for future generations? Why would עֲשֵׂה לְךָ not be the same explanation for them, namely, a matter of whose funds were used? The Gemara answers that it is different regarding the trumpets of Moshe Rabbeinu because the Pasuk says “for you” twice – once in “שְׁתֵּי חֲצוֹצְרֹת כֶּסֶף עֲשֵׂה לְךָ” and again in “וְ הָ יוּ לְךָ”. By adding לְךָ a second time, we learn an additional law that these trumpets are valid only for use in Moshe’s generation.
The question thus arises: Why could the Menorah remain for future generations, as well as the Aron with the Keruvim and the Ketoret altar, etc. while the חֲצוֹצְרוֹת had to be hidden? Furthermore, why were two trumpets needed? Would one trumpet not have sufficed? This question arises in light of the question asked by the Abarbanel. When Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to assemble the people, he would blow both trumpets; if he wanted to call the leaders, he would use one trumpet and blow once. When he wanted to call Bnei Yisrael, he would use both trumpets and blow two blasts. On a festival, he would blow only one blast. If so, how did the people distinguish whether the single blast was for a festival or to assemble? The Abarbanel says, if someone asks how they knew the difference – i.e., when they blew but did not sound a teruah – that it was not to assemble the congregation or the leaders, we answer that when the blowing was for the Korbanot, in addition to the trumpets, they also blew the shofar.
After reading this Abrabanel, I said to myself: If they used the shofar on festivals, why were two trumpets needed? Why could they not combine one shofar and one trumpet? Chazal say that the main need for two trumpets was for times of war. Why is this? The Ba’al HaTurim writes: “Two trumpets correspond to Avraham and Yaakov, who waged war against the nations and defeated them.” This means that to gain merits before going to war, the merits of the Avot who also went out to fight were needed – Avraham Avinu in the war of the four kings against the five, and Yaakov Avinu in Shechem. Rabbeinu Ephraim says the two trumpets correspond to Avraham and Yitzchak, as Hakadosh Baruch Hu recalls their merit from the Akeida at our times of war. Furthermore, the Ba’al HaTurim adds, in the precise words used for going to war – כִ י־ תָ בֹאוּ מִ לְ חָ מָ ה – we find the letters of ת"אָ בוֹ, as the merit of the forefathers stands in war.
Rabbeinu Bachya (Beha’alotcha) elaborates on the trumpets. First and foremost, he says, the first trumpet symbolizes Midat Hadin, the Attribute of Justice, and the second symbolizes the Midat HaRachamim, the Attribute of Mercy. In the simple sense, these trumpets were of silver and hammered work, and they served two purposes: one, to assemble the people or the leaders, and two, for the journey. When they blew both, it was a sign to assemble the people; when they blew only one, it was a sign to assemble the leaders, because they were the distinguished ones among the people. Both were with a simple blast – a tekiah – which hints at the Attribute of Mercy, as G-d’s right hand is extended to receive those who return. But for the journey of the camps, they blew a teruah, as it is said, because the journey was a sign of war, as the camps of Bnei Yisrael were going to fight the seven nations and conquer the land. Therefore, they sounded a teruah at the start of their journey, as the teruah hints at the Attribute of Justice, which prevails in war.
We mentioned earlier that there is another vessel entirely of gold, besides the Menorah. It is the Keruvim:
And the keruvim shall stretch out their wings on high, overspreading the covering with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the covering shall the faces of the keruvim be.
The Gemara (Bava Batra 99a) discusses how the Keruvim stood. To which direction were their faces turned when placed in the Kodesh Hakodashim? Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Elazar disagreed. One said their faces were one to another, and the other said their faces were toward the Sanctuary (eastward). The Gemara reconciles these opinions and two seemingly conflicting Pesukim, by saying: Where it says their faces were one to another, it refers to when Bnei Yisrael does the will of Hakadosh Baruch Hu and fulfills His Mitzvot. Where it says their faces were turned away, it refers to when Bnei Yisrael does not do the will of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
Rav Chaim Volozhin (Nefesh HaChaim 1:7) says: This is what David HaMelech meant by ה' צִלְּךָ עַל יַד יְמִינֶךָ – G-d is your shadow at your right hand. Just as the shadow of an object moves only according to the movement of that object, so too, as it were, Hakadosh Baruch Hu aligns with the movements of the worlds according to the actions and inclinations of man below. So too, the Midrash explains: Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to Moshe, “Go tell Bnei Yisrael that My name is Ehy-eh Asher Ehy-eh. What is this name? As you are with Me, so I am with you.” Hakadosh Baruch Hu is your shadow. If you smile at your shadow, it smiles back; if you cry, it cries in response; if you show it an angry or a pleasant face, it returns the same. So too, Hakadosh Baruch Hu is your shadow – as you are with Him, He is with you.
Furthermore, the Gemara (Yoma 54a) states: When Bnei Yisrael ascended to the Beit Hamikdash for the festivals, they would roll back the curtain and show them the Keruvim, which were intertwined, embracing each other like a male embracing a female, and say to them: “See how beloved you are before Hakadosh Baruch Hu.” When the Gentiles entered the Mikdash during the Churban, they saw the Keruvim depicted on the walls, intertwined. They peeled them off the wall, brought them to the marketplace, and said: “These Israelites, whose blessing is a blessing and whose curse is a curse, are engaged in such things?!” Immediately, they debased them, reducing the value of Knesset Yisrael in their eyes, as it is said in Megillat Eicha: כׇּל־מְכַבְּדֶ יהָ הִזִּילוּהָ כִּי־רָאוּ עֶרְ וָתָהּ – All who honored her despised her because they saw her nakedness.
The commentators ask: How could it be that during the Churban, when the enemies entered the Beit Hamikdash, they found the Keruvim intertwined? The Bnei Yissaschar (Chodesh Av, 3) writes: We can contemplate physical love in this world, such as the love between friends or a man and his wife. When they are together, their love is not as noticeable, but when they are about to part and travel far for a long time, their souls are stirred with intense love due to great longing. Therefore, a man is obligated to visit his wife when he sets out on a journey (Yevamot 62b). Similarly, the enemies found the Keruvim facing one another, intertwined, as they were about to set out on a very long and difficult journey.
Thus, one Keruv symbolizes Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and one Keruv symbolizes Knesset Yisrael. Rabbeinu Bachya continues and says slightly differently: One trumpet corresponds to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and one corresponds to Moshe Rabbeinu. As is known, silver symbolizes mercy, and thus Moshe Rabbeinu received the sod of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. He then says:
Understand the greatness of Moshe with the two trumpets, which are a sign of the king in his kingdom. Hakadosh Baruch Hu commanded this for his honor, as is the custom of a king that they blow a shofar before him to gather his armies. Because Moshe’s prophetic achievement was through the Attribute of Mercy, He commanded that the trumpets be made of silver and not of other metals, because the speech of Mercy was uniquely his, פָּנִים אֶל פָּנִים, מַרְ אֶה בְּתוֹךְ מַרְ אָה – a face to face, a vision within a vision.
Rabbotai, this raises an interesting question. Why were the trumpets not made of gold? The Ba’al HaTurim writes: Silver, and not gold, so as not to recall the sound of the people in their evil, meaning the sin of Cheit Ha’Eigel – the golden calf. Because no prophet reached this level of prophecy to hear from the שׁ ּ ֵ ם ה ַ מּ ְ י ֻ ח ָ ד, except Moshe alone, Hakadosh Baruch Hu commanded that only he use the trumpets, and no other. And thus, due to the great sanctity of the trumpets, as they were a vessel in which (Moshe’s) prophetic attainments were hinted, they required hiding and were thus hidden during Moshe’s lifetime. For this reason, even Yehoshua, his disciple, did not use the trumpets, as his spiritual level and prophetic attainment did not reach that of his teacher. Instead, he used a shofar to proclaim, as it was the Attribute of Justice stretched against the enemies. Midat HaDin was also his personal attribute, as it was for David HaMelech, who used a harp – made with the blue dye from the blood of the chilazon, a fish found in the Kinneret (כנרת); hence called David’s harp (כנור) – which played on its own. Thus, each used the instrument fitting his spiritual level, prophetic attainment, and personal attribute.
The Ramban says, since the trumpets symbolize a kind of relationship with Hakadosh Baruch Hu, whenever they blow a teruah, there will always be a tekiah before and after it. Why? Because the teruah symbolizes Justice, and the tekiah symbolizes Mercy, and there will never be a system of Justice without Mercy. Because war is for teruah, and festivals and joy are for mercy, Chazal taught (Rosh Hashanah 33a): “A straight blast (tekiah) before it and a straight blast (tekiah) after it, with the teruah in the middle.” This means that if we said Hakadosh Baruch Hu has two systems – one of Justice and one of Mercy – one might think there are two authorities, chas v’shalom. Therefore, when we see the Din of a teruah, there is always a tekiah before and after it, showing that Din is not alone. The Justice that is done as Din is entirely performed with Rachamim – Mercy!
We can now approach three wonderful conclusions of Rav Avraham Weinfeld in Lev Avraham, from which we can proceed further.
First Conclusion
His first conclusion: It is stated in the Midrash that the trumpets were for him and not another, and even Yehoshua did not use them. It can be hinted that this teaches that the tools used to assemble the people and move the camps – meaning, to unite them around the leader, to gather them and spur them to move forward in the path of Torah and Yirat Shamayim – tools that change from generation to generation. Although the goal remains the same, the path changes, and the means that were effective in a previous generation may be unhelpful or invalid for the next. This means that each generation has its own trumpet. The trumpet of the Rambam is not suitable for this generation, nor is the trumpet of the Ben Ish Chai, the Chida, or the Ba’al Shem Tov. As Rebbe Nachman of Breslov writes: לְכָל רוֹעֶה וְרוֹעֶה מַנְגִינָה מִ שֶּׁלּוֹ – Every shepherd has his own melody. Therefore, one should not bring proof from what leaders did in previous generations. I recall, in my first year at school, a teacher came with a stick. When we entered the classroom for the first time, he struck the table with the stick and said, “Everyone sit!” From then on, we sat and didn’t get up until Tisha B’Av! Today, if a teacher so much as raises his voice, a riot police team immediately shows up at the class. Therefore, every generation has its trumpet – today, it is to caress and love, to shower the students with maximum love.
Second Conclusion
Lev Avraham’s second conclusion: The procedure of blowing two trumpets and having the congregation assemble, or blowing one and having just the leaders assemble, can be interpreted allegorically. The way to influence the great ones differs from the way to influence the masses. It is written in Mishlei (17:7): תַּחַת גְעָרָה בְּמֵבִין מֵהַכּוֹת כְּסִיל מֵאָה – A rebuke to the discerning is more effective than a hundred lashes to a fool. This means that for a wise person, a single hint is enough – saying “Nu!” once suffices, and he understands. But when speaking to a fool, you need to say “Nu!” many times until he comprehends. Thus, for the leaders, one rebuke is enough, but for the congregation, multiple rebukes are needed. The wiser one is, the more he feels, and even a soft word influences him. Therefore, to assemble the masses, they needed the loud, thick sound of two trumpets together, but for the leaders, the heads of Bnei Yisrael, one blast sufficed, as a still, small voice was enough to stir them.
Third Conclusion
And here is Lev Avraham’s third conclusion: “When assembling the congregation, you shall blow but not sound a teruah” – this, too, can be interpreted allegorically. As people say, “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; Cry, and you cry alone.” Thus, one must know that only with a movement of joy can one influence others and gather them for a single purpose, not with weeping and shouting. The tekiah hints at a sound of joy, as it is written in our Parsha: וּ בְ יוֹ ם שִׂ מְ חַ תְ כֶ ם – On the day of your gladness... וּתְ קַ עְ תֶּ ם – you shall blow. The teruah, on the other hand, hints at groans and wails (Rosh Hashanah 33b). This is what is meant by “When assembling the congregation” – if you wish to assemble the congregation, know that you must blow with a movement of joy, and not sound a teruah, for with wailing and crying, you will only distance them, not bring them closer.
Rabbotai, let us once again ask the question: Why could they not keep the חֲ צוֹצְ רֹת as a memento, like the jar of manna that was saved and placed in the Aron Kodesh? Why was it necessary to bury them? Chazal in Sifrei ask a wonderful question. We previously brought the words of the Ba’al HaTurim (also shared by the Rokeach)...
