Numbers 15: and the Beat Goes On

Numbers 14 was a devastating chapter. The entire nation finds out that they will not be entering the land for forty years until almost all of the adults pass away. After such an emotional tour de force chapter 15 discusses… more sacrifices? Sacrifices given by converts? A single incident of someone gathering sticks on shabbat? Tzitzit? Why are all of these topics mixed together now? The answer begins in the second verse “Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you to settle in.”דַּבֵּר אֶל־בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם כִּי־תָבֹאוּ אֶל־אֶרֶץ מוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לָכֶם׃ (Numbers 15:2)The details are all about korbanot, but the message comes first. God is telling the people not to worry. They will eventually be entering the land. Next, the people may have thought that with their severe punishment that their nation will become a pariah. Not so, says God. Converts will still want to be part of the nation. That’s why the second set of rules is about converts:“As for the congregation, there shall be one law for you and for the resident alien... You and the stranger shall be the same before ה׳.”הַקָּהָל חֻקָּה אַחַת לָכֶם וְלַגֵּר הַגָּר חֻקַּת עוֹלָם לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם כָּכֶם כַּגֵּר יִהְיֶה לִפְנֵי ה׳׃ תּוֹרָה אַחַת וּמִשְׁפָּט אֶחָד יִהְיֶה לָכֶם וְלַגֵּר הַגָּר אִתְּכֶם׃ (Numbers 15:15–16)Next, the people think that law and order will break down now that the older generations are doomed. Not so says God. The legal system will still be in place and those that violate the laws will be punished accordingly—illustrated by the man who gathered sticks on Shabbat:“Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community… Then ה׳ said to Moses, ‘The man shall be put to death.’”וַיִּמְצְאוּ אֹתוֹ מְקֹשֵׁשׁ עֵצִים… וַיֹּאמֶר ה׳ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה מוֹת יוּמָת הָאִישׁ (Numbers 15:32, 35)Finally, God commands the people to wear tzitzit not only as a constant reminder of God’s rules and laws but also to remember that “I am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I, your God” (verse 41).אֲנִי ה׳ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לִהְיוֹת לָכֶם לֵאלֹהִים אֲנִי ה׳ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם׃ (Numbers 15:41)God took the people out of Egypt and he will not leave them all to die in the desert. This chapter is the perfect response to assuage the fears of the nation.