“When the ark went forth, Moses said, ‘Arise O God, and scatter your enemies! Let your foes flee before You!’
“When it came to rest, he said, ‘Return O God, [to] the myriad of Israel’s thousands.’ ” (Numbers 10:35–36)
Regarding the unique textual symbols that appear before and after these verses in the Torah scroll, Rashi, referring to the Talmud (Shabbath 115a) explains: “God made dividing marks in front of and behind this section in order to indicate that this is not its proper place. A more appropriate place would be in the section dealing with the travels of the people, after Numbers 2:17.” Why then, Rashi asks, is it positioned here in the text? He answers: “In order to make a break between the narrative of one punishment and that of another punishment.”
Let us attempt to understand. Why must the symbols chosen as a dividing mark, separating this passage from those before it and after it, be the Hebrew letter nun? And why are they written upside down?
Moses said, “Arise O God.” Rashi (ibid.) explains that because the Ark was traveling in front of them at a distance of three days’ march, Moses was praying, “Stay God, wait for us, and do not travel farther away from us.”
If this is so, why then did Moses continue with his prayer, saying, “. . . and scatter Your enemies?”
In the Mussaf service on Festival days, in the liturgy recited as the cohen (priests) prepare to bless the congregation, we read the following: “May our service be sweet before You, God, like a burnt offering or a sacrifice. . . . Bring back Your service to Zion Your city, and the order of service to Jerusalem, and we will worship You there, with fear.”
What is the meaning of “and we will worship You there, with fear”? Surely in a time of exile and great trouble we have a greater fear. Why then do we pray to God that when He rescues and redeems us, “we will worship You there, with fear”?
While it is obvious that in our present circumstances we have great fear because of our pain and distress, it is still difficult for us to worship God with this fear. Firstly, for the simple reason that they do not allow us to worship, and also because our hearts are so broken and our spirits are so low. When, however, God has saved us and redeemed us, then we will be able to fulfill our desire to worship Him with fear.
A person who even when in great distress worships God with all His ability has longing and desire for God to rescue him from his distress, so that he will be able to worship God even more. His desire then, changes the wrath into mercy, and draws down the salvation.
Jews bless God’s holy Name in both the nochach (immediate) and nistar (third) persons. In the phrasing of each blessing we say, “Blessed are You, Lord our God, Who has sanctified us . . .” The first part is said in the immediate, second person, nochach, while the end is in the third person, nistar. The prayer “Blessed is He Who spoke and created the world . . .” opens in the third person, nistar, and ends “Blessed are You . . .” in the second person, nochach.
Angels, on the other hand, may only bless God in the third person, nistar, as in “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts: The world is full of His glory.” (Isaiah 6:3) This is because the Jewish people arose in God’s Thought before the creation of the world, existing when everything was nistar, hidden. But they also exist in the physical world, the world of Action, and so they bless God, Who is above any attempt at understanding, in the third (hidden) person—and also when He reveals Himself in the world of Action. This is not the case with the angels, who only belong in one world, the world that is above any revelation of God, and so they bless God only in the third person.
This explains why the Jewish people have the power to change mercy into wrath against wicked people, and then to change this wrath into mercy for the Jewish people. They can take the revealed Face of God representing Love and Mercy and turn it into the Hester Panim, Hidden Face of God, which is by definition a punishment. They can likewise take Hester Panim, the Hidden Face of God, which is by definition a punishment, and transform it into revelation, i.e., Love and Mercy. This is all because they exist in both the hidden and revealed worlds.
When our teacher Moses ascended the mountain to receive the Torah, the Talmud (Shabbath 88b) tells us, “He argued with the angels and won them over. They came to love him, and each one of them gave him a gift.” We need to understand: If Moses only managed to convince the angels to change their minds and agree that the Jewish people deserved to receive the Torah, why then did they give him presents? It is true that in the holy Zohar much is written on the matter of the gifts, but this concerns another aspect. The angels referred to in the Zohar writings were the lords of the nations of the world, who actually thought that the receiving of the Torah by the Jewish people was not in the best interests of the Jews, God forbid. The angels who are mentioned in the Talmud, however, apparently did not intend any evil toward Israel. Nonetheless, this does not explain why they were so inclined to love Moses that they gave him gifts. According to what we have said above, this in itself was part of the argument. The angels said to God (Psalms 8:5), “What is man, that You should even consider him?” Our teacher Moses was able to change their wrath into mercy with the power of Israel. The fact that Moses with the power of Israel could change wrath into mercy, even in angels, showed the angels the greatness of Israel, and so they gave him gifts.
To return to our earlier question: Why do we pray “Bring back Your service to Zion Your city . . . and we will worship You there, with fear”? Although we have fear even now, it is difficult to worship God wholeheartedly with it.
This brings us back to our original quote. The verse “When the ark went forth . . .” is enclosed in special symbols to indicate to us that this is not its proper place. What that hints to us is this: It is not just this place that is not its place; it has no place anywhere. Worship such as this, worship that comes out of pain, has no place at all. And so the dividing marks, the inverted nun letters, were made for it. We learn in the Talmud (Shabbath 104a) about the shapes of the Hebrew letters: “Of the bent nun and the long, straight [final] nun it is said, Nun is Ne’eman, the faithful. The faithful starts out bent and humbled, but will ultimately be the faithful, straight and tall.”
So, when the Jewish person has everything he needs, he bows and humbles himself before God in service. But when he is beaten down through suffering, God forbid, then he is not like the bent nun; he is an upside-down nun. When this happens, the Ark and the Torah are hidden and distant from the Jewish people. And so our teacher Moses prays, “Arise O God, and scatter Your enemies! Let Your foes flee before You!” “Foes of God” means those who hate the Jewish people.
If the Ark and the Torah will not be hidden then the nun will not be upside-down. There will be only worship of God, and closeness to Him that comes out of joy, and all good things.