Numbers 35 - Empty Space?
Daily Verse for July 29th 2022
Verse 2: צַו֮ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ וְנָתְנ֣וּ לַלְוִיִּ֗ם מִֽנַּחֲלַ֛ת אֲחֻזָּתָ֖ם עָרִ֣ים לָשָׁ֑בֶת וּמִגְרָ֗שׁ לֶֽעָרִים֙ סְבִיבֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם תִּתְּנ֖וּ לַלְוִיִּֽם׃
Instruct the Israelite people to assign, out of the holdings apportioned to them, towns for the Levites to dwell in; you shall also assign to the Levites pasture land around their towns.
The Levites were not to have a claim to an inheritance in the Land. But they were allowed to use land belonging to the other tribes to build their houses and lands to graze their cattle. This was a stretch of empty land around the cities.
From this we can learn that it is important to help people who cannot take care of themselves. This can be done by giving them money, but it is better to give them a job so that they can provide for themselves. Just as the Levites received land to graze their sheep on.
In the case of this text, empty land means land on which no houses, or trees, or whatever may come, it is grazing land for the Levites.
The text did make me think of the current time in which cities are growing explosively and plants and animals are finding it increasingly difficult to have a place to live. How beautiful it would be if all cities had a circle of undeveloped land where nature could take its course.
Brought By Angelique Sijbolts
Angelique Sijbolts is one of the main writers for the Noahide Academy. She has been an observant Noahide for many years. She studies Torah with Rabbi Perets every week. Angelique invests much of her time in editing video-lectures for the Rabbis of the Academy and contributes in administrating the Academy's website in English and Dutch. She lives in the north of the Netherlands. Married and mother of two sons. She works as a teacher in a school with students with special needs. And is a Hebrew Teacher for the levels beginners en intermediate. She likes to walk, to read and play the piano.
Sources
Sefaria
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