One of the aspects of biblical narrative that I find most intriguing is the way meaning is conveyed through wordplay and repetition. The Bible's style is terse, every word seemingly carefully chosen for maximum meaning. Numbers 11 and 12 are a case in point. As Richard Elliot Friedman points out in his translation and commentary on the Torah in "Commentary on the Torah," these chapters contain "an elaborate chain of puns" based on the root asaf (alef-samech-pei), meaning "to gather." In fact, the verb or its root appears nine times.
The play on asaf takes us through a range of meanings, from the self-absorbed concerns of complaining troublemakers to the embracing generosity of a concerned community. The first instance of asaf in Numbers 11 is the Hebrew for "the riffraff," hasafsuf (11:4), which Friedman translates as "a gathered mass," thereby incorporating the asaf root. Here the word has a sinister connotation, involving people coming together to rebel against Moses' authority. Three other instances in Chapter 11 (in verses 22 and 32) have negative connotations as well.
The five other instances of asaf in Chapters 11 and 12 have a positive connotation. Two relate to the gathering of the 70 elders (Numbers 11:16, 11:24) to share the burden of leadership with Moses by receiving some of his ruach, "spirit" (Numbers 11:25). The third refers to Moses re-entering the camp after his consultation with God (Numbers 11:30). As Robert Alter points out in his translation and commentary of the Torah, "The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary," the use of asaf here is unusual, for "he does not return to or re-enter the camp but is 'gathered back into the camp.'" The author of the Bible appears to have deliberately selected asaf, perhaps because it nicely parallels the last two instances of its use in referring to Miriam being gathered back (tei-aseif and hei-aseif, translated as "readmitted") into the camp after her punishment in Numbers 12:14-15.
What are we to make of these repetitions? Friedman suggests that through these "variations on the root letters, we are brought from the crisis that is generated by the 'gathered mass' (hasafsuf in 11:4) to resolution when Miriam is 'gathered back' (hei-aseif in 12:14)." We might go a step further and say that the anger and egotism of a disgruntled group have been transformed into solidarity and communal wholeness. This raises the question, how do we move from one to the other? I believe that the series of wordplays offers us a way.
To understand this, we need to go back one chapter to Numbers 10, where the first instance of the root asaf in this parsha occurs. The Israelites begin their journey from Mount Sinai, tribe by tribe. In Numbers 10:25, the last tribe in the marching order, the tribe of Dan is referred to as mei-aseif, "rear guard." Rashi explains that Dan's task was to gather up lost objects, returning them to their owners. They also gathered individuals who had become lost or had fallen behind.
Now we see an interesting pattern emerge. The first and last appearances of asaf are positive and refer to acts of gathering that are generous, compassionate and inclusive. At one end is a tribe ensuring that no one is left behind; at the other, a community that reintegrates an outcast (Miriam, in Numbers 12:14). These bookends envelop the various permutations of asaf. Between them are the "gatherings" of self-centered people, ungrateful for the blessings provided by God and Moses, causing God's anger to flare. Intermingled are positive occurrences of asaf. I would suggest that the community is preserved through the spirit of loving-kindness that penetrates and surrounds outbursts of resentment and selfishness. The message seems to be one of compassion: reaching out and drawing people in trumps ingratitude and disaffection.
Suzanne Singer is the rabbi of Temple Sinai, Oakland, Calif. Torat Chayim of the URJ can be found at www.urj.org.
