A young Rabbi was hired a year after Chayim Yankel’s death to speak at the unveiling of his tombstone. The Rabbi prepared his speech for weeks. When the day came, he spoke passionately about the deceased, praising him to the Heavens. He spoke on and on until, suddenly, the ground beneath him began to move. To the shock of everyone, the dead man burst out of the earth and sat up. Pointing to the Rabbi, he said, “Either this guy is a liar, or I’m in the wrong hole!”

* * *

Naso & Shavuos: Remembering Our Beloved Departed

After the Mishkan–the Holy Tabernacle–was erected in the desert, the princes of the twelve tribes of Israel began an elaborate twelve-day inauguration ceremony. On the first day, the prince of the Tribe of Yehuda brought sacrifices; on the second day, the prince of the Tribe of Yissachar brought sacrifices; and so on, for each of the tribes.

THE MISSING YUD
The Torah describes the second day of the inauguration ceremony as follows: “On the second day N’sanel Ben Tzu’ar, the prince of Yissachar, offered (), He offered-() his sacrifice….”[1]

1) Why is the word hikriv, ‘offered’, written twice?

2) In the second occurrence of the word hikriv, the letter Yud is missing. What does this mean?

3) The portion of Naso is generally read right after the holy day of Shavuos, the day on which we received the Ten Commandments and the whole Torah from G-d on Mount Sinai. What is the connection between the missing Yud and Shavuos?

HISTORICAL APPROACH
The letter Yud has a numerical value of ten, alluding to the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were housed in the First Holy Temple, inside the Ark of G-d. Unfortunately, in the Second Temple, the Ark and its contents were missing.[2] This is one reason why the Torah writes hikriv twice: first with a Yud, and then with a Yud missing.

AN IMPERATIVE
Rashi explains that when hikriv is missing a Yud, it should read as an imperative: hakrev, ‘offer it.’ The prince of the Tribe of Reuven complained that he should be given the right to offer a sacrifice on the first day since Reuven was the first-born of their father, Jacob. The prince conceded that the tribe of Yehuda had the right to go first, but there was no reason that he shouldn’t be allowed to give the second offering. But Moshe replied that G-d had commanded that the order be according to the way the Tribes traveled through the desert: Yissachar hakrev–’The Tribe of Yissachar should bring the offering on the second day.’

Why was Yissachar chosen to go second even though he was not the second child? Yissachar earned the right because he was especially knowledgeable in Torah–even years later, many members of the Sanhedrin were from the Tribe of Yissachar. Also, it was the prince of Yissachar that advised the other princes on how to inaugurate the Temple with gifts and offerings. To hint to these two reasons, the Torah uses the word hikriv twice, a term that is not used even once in reference to the princes of the other tribes.[3]

NO MORE ‘HUMILITY’
Still we should ask, why is the Yud, in particular, omitted? The Yud is the smallest letter in the Alef Beis–it represents humility. Why then should it be omitted? What’s wrong with humility?

The answer: regarding prayer, Torah study, and performance of good deeds, one is not allowed to be humble or shy. One mustn’t say, “Who am I to study Torah? I’m not spiritual or smart enough,” or “Who am I to teach and advise others about Jewish wisdom?” One must definitely ‘omit’ this type of humility.

The first law of the Code of Jewish Law states that we should not be intimidated by people who laugh at us for serving G-d.[4] (Ironically, the scoffers are often Jews themselves.) Rather, when we stand strong and un-intimidated, not only can we be successful in our service, but the scoffers themselves may be impressed and follow our example.

On Shavuos we received the Torah from G-d, and were empowered with a mission to be a light unto the nations of the world. We were chosen to teach the world ethics and values by means of the seven Noahide laws,[5] and to teach the nations to give charity by means of our own example. We are not allowed to shy away from these obligations.

SHAVUOS & THE MISSING YUD
Shavuos is a day on which we recite the Yizkor service in commemoration of our beloved departed. The graphic design of Yud is a flame,[6] alluding to the soul of a person. Also, the letter Yud stands for Yid and for Yizkor. On this day we draw strength to acknowledge the loss of all those Yidden that are missing–that have passed away.

Ten, the numerical value of the letter Yud alludes to the fact that every person possesses ten soul-attributes. When a member of our congregation has passed on, we lose the aura of his ‘ten’. Also, we can no longer count him as one of the ten people that makes up a minyan.

KING DAVID & THE BAAL SHEM TOV
Shavuos also marks the passing of King David and of Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov.[7] The word Yud is spelled Yud, Vav, Daled. These letters hint to the names of these two holy tzaddikim: Yisrael V‘David. The Yud is missing in the verse, to commemorate the loss of these great luminaries.

On Shavuos we draw strength from our leaders, King David and Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov. King David fought the wars of Israel. The Baal Shem Tov introduced Chassidic philosophy to the world. Their great achievements give us strength to not be bashful, but to be leaders; to encourage our brothers and sisters lovingly, and to inspire them to become more knowledgeable in–and committed to–our holy Torah.

A STORY
The animals of the forest held a contest to find out who could holler the loudest. The alligators were to be the judges. The alligators positioned themselves in a line stretching deep into the forest, with ten yards between each one. The contestant would stand at the head of the line, give a yell, and when an alligator heard the contestant’s voice, he would raise his hand. The fox would run down the line counting hands, and in this way determine how far the contestant’s voice had traveled.

The rabbit stepped up and yelled. One alligator hand went up. The beaver hollered. Three hands went up. The deer took her turn, then the buffalo, and finally, the lion. After the lion roared, the judges convened with the fox and concluded that with thirty-two out of fifty hands, the lion was the loudest animal in the forest. The fox was about to give the lion his trophy, when a little dove flew in front of him and protested, “Wait! You didn’t give me a chance.” The fox laughed, “Do you really think you can out-roar the lion?” “All I ask for,” said the dove, “is that you give me a chance.”

The alligators agreed, and returned to their positions. The dove flew to the highest branch of the nearest tree and began to coo. His voice traveled throughout the entire forest, and all of the alligators, to the far end of the forest, lifted their hands. The fox took the trophy from the lion and gave it to the dove.

After all the animals dispersed, the fox went over to the dove and asked, “Tell me the truth, how were you able to out-roar the lion?” The dove replied, “Actually, I could never out-roar the lion alone. You see, all of my siblings, relatives, and friends were positioned on all the other trees in the forest, and when I began to coo, they all joined in with me.”

One can never replace the soul of a beloved departed. However, when his children, relatives, and friends stand united to further his mission, they can help him make an even greater impact.

ACTION: This Shavuos night, stay up late studying Torah in honor of a loved one who has passed away.

FOOTNOTES
[1] Numbers, 7.18-19
[2] See Tractate Yoma, 21b: five things were missing in the Second Holy Temple.
[3] Rashi on Numbers, 7:19
[4] Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, Chap. 1, Law 1. See commentary of RaMa.
[5] See Rambam, Laws of Kings, Chap. 8:10 and beyond.
[6] See Letters of Light, chapter on Letter Yud.
[7] For example, See Likutei Sichos, Vol. 8, “Chag HaShavuos“, for a lengthy and deep discussion of this topic.