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Parshat Bamidbar
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

ולקחת חמשת חמשת שקלים לגלגלת

"Blessed are You HaShem our God King of the Universe Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to redeem the firstborn son."

A firstborn son is redeemed by five silver shekel pieces given to a Kohen. In this parsha the Torah teaches that each firstborn of Israel needed to have a counterpart Levite to stand in their stead in the service of the Mishkan. This was done because the Jewish firstborn sons were saved in Egypt during the Plague upon the Firstborn of the Egyptians, so they were singled out to be sanctified for the service of God. However, since the Sin of the Calf the firstborn lost this rite and the sacred service was given to the Levites, who did not sin with the Golden Calf, in their stead. The Torah teaches that part of the Israelite firstborns had no Levite counterpart to be in their stead, and therefore these firstborn had to redeem themselves with five silver shekel pieces given to a Levite, just as a firstborn baby must be redeemed by five silver pieces given to a Kohen.

We should also note that in last week's parsha the five silver shekel pieces appear in another context.  At the end of parshat Bechukotai five silver shekels are given to redeem a vow for 'the value of a boy' (this does not mean 'the value of life' which cannot be evaluated, but rather this sum represents spiritual values/numerology) under the age of a five, while three shekels is given for a girl for such a vow. These sums of money may be indicative of the 'minor number' ['mispar katan'], i.e the sum of the digits of a number, of the fifty shekels given for a similar vow for an adult man between the age of 20 and 60, while a woman at such an age gives thirty shekels for such a vow. Thus, the 'mispar katan' of the adult sums are 5 [50 becomes 5+0]and 3 [30 becomes 3+0] for a girl.In this way the 'minor number' is given for minors before the age of five indeed represents the minor status in comparison to the adult or major status (a discussion of the meaning of the feminine values is out of scope for our discussion here).

In a similar way we may explain the five shekels given to the Levites in this parsha as representing the more 'minor redemption'. It seems that a more 'minor redemption' is required here, because the innate sanctity brought upon the firstborn is not cognitively initiated as is done with explicitly sanctified matters. In contrast, one who initiates a vow for the 'value of a person' is obliged to bring a full 'major redemption' of this vow through fifty shekels. Similarly, one who sanctifies a portion of land must bring fifty shekels for a 'homer's-worth' portion of that land.

The Zohar explains that the number fifty is indicative of redemption, as the Torah says that Israel were redeemed from Egypt 'hamushim'. The Zohar says to interpret 'hamushim' as hinting to the secret of redemption from Egypt called 'hamishim' - fifty. Indeed, the Zohar adds, the Exodus is mentioned fifty times in the Torah to allude to the secret of redemption that lies with the number fifty.

One of the interesting figures of Hebron who seems to have a special connection to the number five, fifty, etc. is 'Avner ben Ner', whose name has the numerical value of 555. Indeed, Avner ben Ner has a special connection to redemption, since it is he who united the kingdoms of Judah and Benjamin in the midst of civil war by signing a peace-treaty with David in Hebron, by which he sacrificed his life. After being slain in this endeavor Abner was buried in Hebron, and his tomb can be visited today adjacent to the Ma'arat HaMachpela Building. As we enter the Jubilee year of Hebron's liberation in the Six Day War let us remember the courage of the great warrior and general Abner ben Ner who brought about peace in Israel and the unity of the Kingdom of David, forerunner of the Messiah and our future redemption.

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #220

‘In the beginning stages of a kollel located at Ma'arat HaMachpel it studied outside, since there still was no military permit to occupy Ma'arat HaMachpela or one of its adjacent buildings. During that period, one donor offered to support the kollel continuously and asked that the kollel be called in the name of Asahel. Afterwards the military agreed to open (and protect) the tomb-site of Abner ben Ner adjacent to the Ma'ara for this kollel, an offer un-expected by all sides. Interestingly, Shmuel II tells how Abner killed Asahel in a civil-war between those aligned with David and those aligned with Saul and his descendant(s) and in turn Abner was also killed by Asahel’s brother Yoav in (partial) context of avenging his brother’s blood. It is in Hebron that Abner formed a treaty with David ending this civil war and bringing forth the United Kingdom of David, and now it is in Hebron that names of these ‘enemies’ come together today in such beautiful harmony by ‘Kollel Asahel’ located at the Tomb of Abner.’

Sources: Zohar Beshalah 46a, see R. Moshe David Vali o Behukotai on significance of numerical values

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