Tonight's blessings in this aliyah are for Levi and Binyamin, and what a pair these are.
Of Levi, part of the blessing is that Levi was so faithful, presumably in reference to the Golden Calf (Chet Ha'Egel), that he "did not see" his mother and father, did not recognize his brothers, and did not know his children - that's how "steadfast in their guarding" of G-d's Word they were.
This immediately brings to mind our father Avraham. Seriously, how many commentaries have been written about the binding of Yitzhak and the near-alleged sacrifice that happened there? It is the focus, as it should be, of fresh and new ideas ever single year at Yom Kippur, and year-round. But if that's the case - one patriarch and other patriarch - why isn't there even more said about how the Torah ever so casually mentions that the steadfast Levite not only rejected, apparently, a child but also his parents and his siblings? In terms of true faith (at least in the Torah's measure of tests of faith), isn't this one of the Levite significantly more intense? And what are the (obvious) implications for our day - when is it still safe to "honor thy mother and father" and when it is praiseworthy to instead "not see them"? There really is so much more gray in Torah than any of us initially thought - how else could we possibly see the contradiction between these two verses? For now, I think the main takeaway is that even what appear to be the clearest mitzvot (honoring parents) still have examples where the Torah literally says the exact opposite. It is quite frightening - but must be the truth - that these most difficult of decisions ultimately come down to a deeply personal test of faith, and a subjective, but G-d-driven (let's not forget about "hearing the Voice of G-d" from yesterday), decision.
Binyamin's, however, is an equally incredible blessing, perhaps on the other spectrum of "positivity," so to speak, but still hauntingly beautiful nonetheless. For this tribe, Moshe blesses that G-d "hovers over him all the day and between his shoulders H' rests." Hovering above the body and resting between the shoulders - what an incredible thought to realize this could be happening to us at this very moment (and indeed is - because a piece of each tribe is obviously within us as well) - but at the same time, what does this mean?
I can only start with the most literal interpretation - G-d hovers over us as the cloud did - protecting us - while at the same time resting at the brain stem and headed down the spinal cord - guiding us. In this line, H' clearly both protects and guides - and what more could be possibly want out of this relationship? And certainly the hovering implies some sort of extra-bodily experience, but between the shoulders - that seems to indicate that G-d is indeed fully integrated in the body. Embedded. Inserted and inextricably so.
This analogy, finally, immediately brings to mind the holy ark - how H' both hovers over it (between the keruvim) and between it/in it (dwelling in the ark itself, and the ohel and mishkan more generally). There is no "space," of course where G-d does not dwell and there is no indication that H' ever departs from this physical embodiment between the shoulders either.
The two tribes in this aliyah must be linked - there will be the most difficult decisions in life - those where one's most immediately family, even children, are at stake - but simply tuning in to the Presence - both above and inside the body as well - will provide the answer to what is more of a gray area than we might think.
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