In honor of Israel’s 75th birthday, Israel365 is excited to launch a new series of essays that will unlock the secrets of the Hebrew Bible!
Excerpted from Rabbi Akiva Gersh’s forthcoming book, 75 Hebrew Words You Need to Understand the Bible, these essays illuminate the connection between related Hebrew words, revealing Biblical secrets only accessible through Hebrew.
Enjoy the series – and happy 75th birthday to the State of Israel!
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NACHALA
NAH-CHA-LA
PORTION
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×××Ŗ×× ××§× ×××× ××××¦× ××Ŗ×× ××××Ø ×××Ø×× ××צ×Ø×× ×××××Ŗ ×× ××¢× × ××× ×××× ×××.
Upon the completion of the Israeliteās conquest of the land of Israel, the land was divided up into twelve nachalot, twelve āportions,ā one for each tribe. Levi, the only tribe that did not receive a particular portion like the others, was scattered among the lands of the other tribes, in 48 different Levite cities. The Levites subsisted on agricultural tithes that the other tribes were obligated to give them from the produce of their fields. This freed the Levites to perform their designated duties in the Temple in Jerusalem and to serve as religious teachers for the nation.
The children of Israel are referred to in the Bible as āGodās portion.ā āBut God took you and brought you out of Egyptā¦ to be Godās very own portionā (Deuteronomy 4:20). God did not free the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt simply to become an independent nation like many other nations in the world. Rather, He took the people of Israel to make them His chosen nation, a nation that would bring the light of God to the world. God said to Moses, āGo to Pharaoh and say to him, āThus says the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go to worship Meāā (Exodus 9:1). The people of Israel must be free in order to worship God.
The grammatical root of nachala is nachal, meaning āstream.ā Though the land of Israel does not have many lakes, it was blessed with many flowing streams, as it says in the verse, āFor your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams and springs and fountains issuing from plain and hillā (Deuteronomy 8:7).
