The Rabbinic Mind: Rebellions in the Desert

In this first session of this new series, we will introduce the subject by reading and discussing verses from the book of Bemidbar that relate in general the manner in which Bnei Yisrael knew when to travel and when to stay encamped in place. Then we will read about the very first travel of Bnei Yisrael from Har Sinai, and the unreported rebellion that took place almost immediately, according to the gemara in Masechet Shabbat.

For your convenience I have attached here the sources for this session.

In this session we will move along, following the narrative of Sefer Bemidbar, to the first two explicitly documented incidents in which Bnei Yisrael acted rebelliously: תבערה (Tav’era) and קברות התאוה (Kivrot haTaava). Both incidents are named after the places where they happened, and the names themselves refer to the punishment, or consequence, that followed the errant behavior of Bnei Yisrael.

We will learn and discuss midrashim that suggest answers to the questions: Who was involved in the incident? What brought the people to act in the way they did? How could they do it, after all the wonderful things that they’ve been through and been given by G-d?

For your convenience I have posted sources here.

In this session we will examine more closely what the sages in the Talmud considered to be the object of the people’s desire, by studying the entire discussion from Masechet Yoma, which we began in session 2, and additional midrashic sources. We will then examine how Hazal understood the consequences of the people’s complaints, and the further consequences of their subsequent behavior.

For your convenience, I have posted sources for this session. Note that the material to be discussed in the first part of this session was already included in the material for last week’s session.

We will begin this session by closing the previous topic (Kivrot haTaava) with statements in the midrashim that discuss further the consequences of the people’s behavior in this incident, and perhaps also how the consequence was appropriate. (These sources were posted for last week’s session.)

Following this, we will move on to חטא המרגלים, the sin of the spies. In this session we will focus primarily on the viewpoints and exegetical understandings expressed in the gemara in Masechet Sota. We will attempt to identify where the amoraim thought the lack of faith originated, the lack of faith that ends tragically with an entire generation consigned to wandering in the desert for the remainder of their lives.

In this session, we will continue with our investigation in the Talmudic period literature to try to understand where Hazal thought the lack of faith originated that led to the tragic decree forbidding the entire generation of adults who left Egypt from entering the Land of Israel. Was it with the people themselves, or the influence of the spies?

In the second part of the session, we will see if there is relevant information for this query in the Talmudic explanations of the words of the meraglim as they reported their findings to Moshe and the people.

For your convenience I have posted here sources for the second part of this session. The sources for the first part of the session were in the material posted for last week’s session (number 4) and you can access them there.

In this session we will examine the words of the spies in their report to Moshe and the people. Is it falsehood? We will then study the response of the people, and finally the consequences of the people’s rejection of the Land. The texts we will be using will be first of all the relevant verses in Bemidbar chapters 13 and 14 and Devarim chapter 1, and, additionally, selected statements in the Talmud and midrashim so that we can see the ways that the sages of the Talmudic period understood the behavior of the spies and the people, and how they saw the consequences and decree of G-d as appropriate for them.

I have posted here for your convenience the Talmudic and midrashic sources that we will study. As stated above, the verses that we will examine from the Torah are in Bemidbar chapters 13 and 14 and Devarim chapter 1.

In this session, we will complete our study of the sin of the spies by reading some of the verses in chapter 14 of Bemidbar, and seeing comments in the Talmud and midrash that enhance the plain meaning of the consequences of the sin as conveyed in the verses.

Then we will move on to the Rebellion of Korach. We will read quickly through the verses in chapter 16 to get a good overview, and then study midrashic statements in the gemara that give insight into who exactly were the leaders of this rebellion, and what motivated them to rise up against Moshe and Aharon.

I have posted the sources to be used in this session regarding the Korach Rebellion, here for your convenience. Please note that the last sources dealing with the sin of the spies, with which we will begin the class, were already posted in the sources for session 6.

This is our final session in this series.

We will continue our study of the Korach rebellion, focusing on the personalities of the leaders and trying to understand their motivations. We will also study the consequences/punishments that the participants in the rebellion received.

As throughout this series, our sources are from the Talmudic period. Please note that the first few sources that we will learn in this session were in the material posted for session 7, the remaining sources I have posted here for this session.

In the last part of this session, we will summarize and discuss the common threads that we have seen in the explanations of the sages of the Talmudic period (tannaim and amoraim) about the rebellions of  Yisrael in the desert, based on the narratives of Sefer Bemidbar.