Between the Inverted Nuns

Between the Inverted Nuns

In this week's parsha, Beha'alotcha, we encounter two verses set apart from the surrounding narrative by a pair of inverted Hebrew letter nuns:

"And it was when the Ark traveled, Moshe said: 'Arise, Hashem, and let Your enemies be scattered; let those who hate You flee before You.' And when it came to rest, he said: 'Return, Hashem, among the myriads of Israel.”

These inverted nuns appear nowhere else in the Torah and signal that these verses are unique. The Gemara teaches that they constitute a separate book of the Torah, leading some sages to refer to them as the "seventh book" of the Torah.

Rashi explains that they were inserted to separate two troubling episodes. Before these verses, the Jewish people are described as leaving Har Sinai "like a child running away from school." They were eager to escape before receiving any more commandments.

Immediately afterward begins the people's complaining about the manna and their dissatisfaction with the blessings Hashem had provided.

The inverted nuns create a pause between these two failures.

Perhaps this is pointing to a person’s internal foe. Sometimes we lose sight of our blessings. Sometimes our enemies are impatience, negativity, entitlement, resentment, fear, or the tendency to focus on what we lack rather than on what we have.

The Jewish people had witnessed miracles, received the Torah, and were being sustained daily by Hashem. Yet they complained.

And so, right in the middle of this narrative, the Torah inserts Moshe's prayer:

"Arise, Hashem, and let Your enemies be scattered."

Perhaps the first enemies that need scattering are the internal ones.The enemies that prevent us from recognizing Hashem's presence in our lives.

Only after those enemies are dispersed can we truly experience the second verse:

"Return, Hashem, among the myriads of Israel."

The goal is not merely to defeat our enemies. The goal is to create a space where the Divine Presence can dwell.

Today we certainly pray that Hashem scatter our physical enemies and protect the Jewish people wherever they live. We pray for the safety of our brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisrael and throughout the world.

But we also pray that Hashem help us overcome the spiritual and emotional enemies that weaken us from within: fear, division, cynicism, despair, and constant complaint.

The placement of these verses reminds us that gratitude and faith are choices. The generation in the wilderness stood at the threshold of greatness, yet their complaints prevented them from fully appreciating the gifts before them.

The "seventh book" teaches that whether we are traveling or resting, whether we are facing external threats or internal struggles, Hashem remains with us.

"When the Ark journeyed..." Hashem goes before us.

"When the Ark rested..." Hashem rests among us.

May we merit to see all of our enemies scattered, the physical enemies that threaten our people, the spiritual enemies that distance us from Hashem, and the internal enemies that rob us of gratitude and joy.

And may we soon witness the fulfillment of Moshe's prayer: that Hashem's Presence return fully to Zion, that the Jewish people dwell securely in our land, and that we live in a future of peace, blessing, gratitude, and hope.

Much love

Shabbat shalom