Deuteronomy 23: In Writing

At the margins

at the outskirts

edge of your father’s skirt

where you cannot enter

barred by intangible bands

of light that give 

to the touch

Wait the falling sun's

slow tumble

the coming dark

that covers the crawling

creeping over earth's face;

that covers what comes from you.

Don’s ask, don’t seek

after what seeps

welling up your mouth

a geyser of giving.

swallow it till swells

grows heavy within

Numbers: Chapter 28

 

Each day in its day

Each month in its month 

The sanctity of always 

The circadian Sinai











[For full chapter, click here
From the continuity of inheritance, we move to another kind of "eternity / always" (tamid). This chapter details the time-based offerings at the Tent of Meeting (mo'ed), the Meetings (mo'ed) in time. This chapter to some extent echoes the laws of the festivals in Leviticus 23 but with a beautiful difference: we begin not with the Sabbath or the festivals, but with the everyday: "day by day, for an always/ eternal offering; one lamb at the morning; and one lamb between the boundaries of the evening." From the daily we move to the monthly, sanctifying the new moon, "month by month," The offerings for the new month are brought "in addition" to the "always (tamid)" offering, and this becomes the refrain of the chapter: sanctified time is always an addition to the basic beat of the daily "meeting", the daily recreation of "what was offered out Mount Sinai." Revelation is in the everyday; teh festivals are the high notes that play above it.]

Numbers: Chapter 19

What is left 
from the conflagration

bone
sinew
blood

Gather and guard

To bring life to death

the outside in

theinterweaved opposites

[For full chapter, click here

After 4 chapters revolving around the position of the priests, we seem to come back to Leviticus, with a detailed description of the ritual for purification after contact with death.

This seems to continue the recreation of the death of Nadab and Avihu during the consecration of the Dwelling. Just as Aaron's two sons were "consumed" for "coming close" and "bringing alien fire" into the sanctuary, Korah's 250 men were "consumed" for "coming close" and "bringing alien fire." What followed in Leviticus was a series of rituals designed to define how one "come close" without being consumed. One cannot "come in" to the inner sanctum casually. There must always be a careful  definition of what is outside, what is in, and how one traverses that dangerous doorway. 

The ritual of the Red Heifer also revolves around "going outside" the camp; and around how one can be "in the presence (nohah)  of the Tent of Meeting" even when one is outside. As in the case of Leviticus, there must be a passage before coming back in: "he must wash his clothes and await the evening."

Here though, it is not only closeness that is being addressed, but also the dangerous mix between death and life that has dominated these chapters: Korah "descends living to the underworld, while Aaron must use the incense to "stand between the living and the dead." ""Behold, we are dying! We are lost, we are all lost," cry the children of Israel. 

Here,the ritual promises purification from contact with death. Yet it also hints that death and life are always touching. The ashes of the Red Heifer, "consumed by fire" as were Korah's men and Nadab and Avihu, is mixed with "living waters"--fiery death intermixing  with watery life. Word games highlight this paradoxical intertwining. "Hatat"--which until now has indicated "sin", or "sin offering" here refers to "cleansing" "purification"; Nidda,  which until now has referred to ritual impurity, now becomes the name of the water that grants purity.

In a final closing for these terriblechapters, the ashes of the Red Heifer, what is left of the fire, are here given to the children of Israel for keeping (mishmeret). If the priests were given the guardianship (mishmeret) of the altar; and the Levites guard (mishmeret) the Tent of Meeting, the children of Israel are here given to guard the ashes of what has been lost. Yet it is these ashes that allow entrance into the Tent from "outside."]

Numbers 8: In Writing

Between the lines of

lanterns looming in

goosebumps gleam

skin pale and pitted

as a plucked dove

Stripped, shorn,

Hairless as a babe born

tadpole riding the rising wave

that wanders the wilderness

Bear me up

Lay me down

Bobbing between

The rise and crest

The you and them

The give and take

We are 

absence

air

puckered flesh

the sudden inhalation

asking

why?

when?

the closed O of shared breath

Numbers: Chapter 7

A canon of connection


Distinct


Yet one















[For full chapter, click here"And it was on the day"--we find ourselves suddenly back on that fateful day that closes the Book of Exodus "when Moses established the Dwelling." The chapter draws attention to the intertextual link by using the same key words: the dramatic "vayehi"--"and it was"; "vayakem", --establish; and "vayikal / khalot" completed, finished.
Yet even as it draws attention to the previous presentation of this day in Exodus, it places it firmly within the context of this book that revolves around the Israelite encampment, according to tribe and "father's house". The focus this time is on "the princes of Israel / the heads of their father's house / these are the princes of the tribes / these are they in charge of the count." The anaphora of hem / hem ("they" "they) draws attention to the fact that this version of the story has different heroes: The tribal leaders who do not even appear in Exodus 40, which is the story of how Moses, the liminal figure linking heaven and earth, brings together the disparate parts of the Dwelling.
Now we here of a side drama. Rather than the relationship of Moses and the priests, the focus is on the tribes and Levi: the tribal leaders offer a gift to Levi, which is accepted, and then begin a twelve day dedication of the altar.
The dedication of the altar is a complex literary game, exemplifying the power of repetition and change.The chapter opens by revisiting the fateful day of consecration,, while offering a new perspective;  it closes with a description of the 12 day dedication of the altar, repeating the description, word for word, 12 times, while only changing the name of the prince and  tribe. Sometimes the same event cam seem completely different; sometimes different events can seem the same. On a deeper level, the chapter is exemplifying the cumulative power of repetition. The same words do not have the same impact. The 12-time repetition creates an effect of a canon, the voices overlapping and gaining force. The chapter emphasizes that the whole is different than the parts alone, by summing up all the gifts together, as though they had no just been enumerated separately.
More importantly, the closing of the dedication leads to the appearance of  God's voice: "And when Moses came to the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the Ark of Testimony, from between the two keruvim: and He spoke unto him." Exodus's scene of a lone Moses erecting the Dwelling creates a space of utter aloness, with no sharing possible--"And Moses was not able to enter into the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud dwelled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the Dwelling". Here, the communal gifts create a space of communication. Reptition and change create room--and the root speak (d'b'r) is repeated 3 times]

Numbers: Chapter 6

Curling locks

and vines

Concentrated 

set apart

The wild card

[For full chapter, click here

The chapter centers on the laws of the nazir (nazarite), a laden word that means "set aside," "consecrated" "crowned" "separated". The chapter plays with all aspect of the word, as the Nazarite is both "set aside" from wine, even as his / her hair is "consecrated"  to God. 

We continue here with the translation of the laws of Leviticus into the world of the Israelite encampment. "If a man or a woman set aside with a vow to separate (n'z'r) themselves,  they shall be nazarites/separated (n'z'r) to God." This unusual root takes us back to Leviticus 22: "Speak to Aaron and his sons and let them separate (n'z'r) themselves from the holy things of Israel" --and indeed, many of the laws of the Nazarite echo the laws limiting the High Priests: The prohibition of coming into contact with the dead; the definition of the Nazarite as "consecrated to God"--which is the very inscription the High Priest wears on his head. 

The Nazarite, like the priests at their consecration, stands at the liminal space of the "doorway," bringing the outside in, allowing anybody, male or female, to take on the status of the High Priest. It is a strange position, that is defined by holding back (from grapes) and by growing wild (the hair). Like Joseph, who is defined as "the apex, the set aside (n'z'r) of his brothers," the Nazarite remains separate, a wild card. He or she is not part of the system of consecration set into place  in Leviticus. They are driven from within, "going beyond" (yafli). Their hair "grows wild" (pereh)--a clear echo of the wayward wife (sotah) of the previous chapter, whose hair is made "wild" (parah). At the closing of the period of consecration, the Nazarite must bring a "sin offering" implying a dangerous position.

There are laden lexical links between the neighboring  sections of the wayward wife (sota) and the nazir ( both focus on hair, both use the word "wild", both hold out their hands to hold their offering (natan...kaf) ). This highlights the ambiguity of the status of the Nazir, but also open the question of the place of the wild and unconstrained within the encampment. The chapter closes with the priestly blessing: "God will bless you and guard you; May God light his face towards you and grace you (huneka--another clear echo of Joseph); God will turn his face to you and give you peace." Perhaps blessing requires the wild card, like Joseph who brings "the blessings of the waters above and the deeps lurking below."]

Numbers 4: In Writing

See not
the hallowed hiding
the veiled face
the parts and whole

Unweave not
the textured textile
between I and Thou
here and now

Goodbye to Leviticus

Sigh of relief. I admit it. It was a hard one.

The transition from the grand themes of Exodus to the arcane nitty-gritty of Leviticus was jarring. And yes, there were many reasons for the multiple breaks—travel, work, road trips, family responsibility, and that wonderful thing called summer—but still, when I’m honest, can I truly say the subject matter had nothing to do with it?

Leviticus was hard. Reading the intricacies of each chapter was hard; finding an image was hard; being inspired was hard. Animal dissections, strange (and many no longer practiced) rules of ritual purity and impurity, leprosy, the altar, the limitations on permitted food, and limitations on sexuality…

Yet strewn between are also some of the greatest biblical landmarks: “Do not bear a grudge… love your neighbor as yourself”  “Do not hate your brother in your heart”; “do not curse the deaf, or put a stumbling block before the blind”; the care for justice; the active command to protect the weak and vulnerable;  the repeated injunctions to make space for the stranger.  A mix of high and low; animal body parts and love for your neighbor. It’s a discordant mix to the modern ear. Grand themes wrapped in the language of ritual, tying together vicera and spirit. There is no Cartesian duality here, no way to separate the body and the “soul/ life spirit” (nefesh) that so dominates this book/

Having slogged through the laws of sacrifice, I’ve come to realize that on its own terms, Leviticus is unified, and a logical stage to follow Exodus. Genesis revolved  around the creation of the self, with how the self “reaches forth [its] hand” to handle the world. It is the story of developing individual, wrapped in oedipal themes, sibling rivalry, and the sparks of connection between man and woman.

In Exodus, we more from the formation of the self, to the formation of the community. The book deals with the creation of a collective identity around the relationship to God. It closes with the establishment of the Dwelling, the shared space of God and humanity.

In   Leviticus, we move into the Dwelling itself, into this consecrated space of relationship. All the rituals revolve around the creation of boundaries. We define what can be ingested into the body; what must be left outside. Who enters, who is outside, and what happens in the liminal space of connection.  Relationship is a dangerous space: come too close, and one is ingested by the fire; go too far, and one is “cut off” from one’s people.  Intimacy requires the liminal space, the dividing waters, in order to survive. When the divider disappears,  the “soul revolts” in existential nausea.

The ritualistic definition of relationship in turn reflects back on Genesis’ presentation of the self in formation. If Genesis revolves around questions of possession, money and value, Leviticus closes by redefining the limits of possession. Land and humanity cannot be truly owned; only valued. Yet there is a level of connection so deep—“for the Land is Mine”—that it breaks all local bonds of connection. In “devotion” to God, we can no loner speak of value or money. Ther e is only the object itself. In the end, the space of relationship redefines the self.

Leviticus: Chapter 27

To bring the outside in 

How deep is possession?


What can be exchanged What not 


Transformed, changed,  redeemed


Being beyond value














[For full chapter, click here
After the grand finale that closed the last chapter "at Mount Sinai," we return--yet again--to Mount Sinai, in a dry rendition of laws of vows and gifts to the Dwelling. 
Yet through these arcane rules, this chapter actually revisits the motifs of value vs. ownership, redemption and the limits of possession. Returning to the opening theme of  a book that comes to establish a place "within the tent", this chapter allows for bringing the outside in through consecration. 
What happens when a person consecrates themselves? Does consecration imply value, or does it engulf the object itself? We move from a generalized (male-centric) valuation of humans, who are replaced with money, without any essential connection to the Temple, and end with a level of "dedication" (herem) so all-encompassing that it cannot be undone, replaced or exchanged. The object itself becomes a source of holiness. Any attempt to replace it simply  consecrates  its replacement: " both it and that for which it is changed shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed." W close with the emergent consecration of tithing, which happens by chance, outside human choice. Here, the outside comes in.]

Leviticus: Chapter 23

From six to seven

from seven till tomorrow


Make the day a thing
dense as bone
immersive as blood


We will be at-one
each day in its day



Tomorrow, and tomorrow,
and tomorrow









[For full chapter, click here
From the creation of a "Tent of Meeting" (ohel mo'ed) in space, this chapter moves to the creation of "meetings" (mo'ed) in time.Time gains physicality and dimensions, becoming a "thing" (etzem, lit. "bone"): "any soul that does work on this very day (etzem ha-yom hazeh) shall be cut off from  its people."  If until now, atonement was to be found only in the blood of the offerings, now time itself becomes an atonement: "for it is a day of atonement, to atone for you before God, your Lord."
The pattern of 7-8 that defined the consecration of the Tent is even more defined. The chapter opens with the Sabbath--the prototype of all sanctified time--which is defined by "Six days shall work be done; and  on the seventh day a sabbath of rest." 

This introduces the lists of the holidays, which all revolve around the sanctified seven: "Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread" "you shall bring an offering for seven days""count for yourself...seven complete sabbaths" "after the seventh sabbath...offer seven sheep." 

Yet from the pattern of seven, we move to the day "after the Sabbath"--the eighth day of consecration: "count for yourself from the morrow of the Sabbath." This turns into "the eighth day shall be called holy... a day of assembly."

Like the consecration of the Dwelling, the consecration of time  is completed on the liminal "eighth day", the transition out of the "seventh".]