The Upside Down Nuns Around Va’ye’hi bin’so’a and U’ve’nu’cho yo’mar

And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and let your enemies be scattered; and let them who hate you flee before you. And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, to the many thousands of Israel.
--Bamidbar 10:35-36

The Sefer Yachin u’Boaz, the teshuvos of R. Zemach b. Shlomo Duran, was asked about the meaning of these two pesukim being surrounded by the upside down nuns. Rashi says that this is not their proper place but were put here to divide one punishment appearing after another. What does this mean?

The Yachin u’Boaz answers that in Shabbos 115b – 116a it says:

Our Rabbis taught: ‘And it came to pass when the ark set forward that Moses said, [etc.]’: for this section the Holy One, blessed be He, provided signs above and below, to teach that this is not its place. Rabbi said: It is not on that account, but because it ranks as a separate Book. With whom does the following dictum of R. Samuel b. Nahmani in R. Jonathan's name agree: She [Wisdom] hath hewn out her seven pillars (Mishle 9:1): this refers to the seven Books of the Law? With whom? With Rabbi. Who is the Tanna that disagrees with Rabbi? It is R. Simeon b. Gamaliel. For it was taught, R. Simeon b. Gamaliel said: This section is destined to be removed from here and written in its [right place] viz., in the section dealing with the disposition of the Israelites according to their banners and their traveling arrangements (Bamidbar 2). And why is it written here? In order to provide a break between the first [account of] punishment and the second [account of] punishment. What is the second [account of] punishment? — And the people were as murmurers, [etc.] (Bamidbar 11:1 seq.). The first [account of] punishment? — And they ‘moved away from the mount of the Lord, (Bamidbar 10:33), which R. Hama b. R. Hanina expounded [as meaning] that they turned away from following the Lord. And where is its [rightful] place? — In [the chapter on] the banners. But in the future , when all evil and its consequent retribution has ceased, this section will be inserted in its right place.

These two pesukim count as a sefer by itself. From here we know that a Torah scroll that is erased except for 85 letters, the number of letters in the parsha of Va’ye’hi bin’so’a, still counts as a Sefer Torah regarding tum’as ya’da’yim.

She [Wisdom] hath hewn out her seven pillars: this refers to the seven Books of the Law…
1)Breishis,
2)Shmos,
3)Yayikra,
4)Bamidbar until Va’ye’hi bin’so’a,
5) Va’ye’hi bin’so’a and U’ve’nu’cho yo’mar i.e. until Va’ye’hi ke’mis’on’ne’nim,
6) Va’ye’hi ke’mis’on’ne’nim until the end of Bamidbar,
7) Devarim.


The 7 books are representative of the 7 days of creation and the 7 special days that adorn the Jewish people: Shabbos, Pesach, Shavuos, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkos and Shmini Atzeres.

Today I attended the 85th birthday party for my Tante Gertie and Uncle Freddie where their son-in-law, Rabbi Arele Adler, of Ramot Alef, Jerusalem, spoke about these two pesukim based on an explanation that was given by the Rav, R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik.

According to the Rav, there are two distinct mitzvos and two kiyumim in these two pesukim of Va’ye’hi bin’so’a and U’ve’nu’cho yo’mar. In other words, there are two kedushos of the aron, the Ark:
1) The kedusha of the aron outside the mikdash and the kodesh kodashim when it travels in the wilderness at the head of the camp and in future generations in battle. This kedusha is expressed in the verse of Va’ye’hi bin’so’a -- And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and let your enemies be scattered; and let them who hate you flee before you.

2) The kedusha of the aron in its place, when it is not moving. This is the kedusha when it is stationary and resting in the mikdash as expressed in the verse U’ve’nu’cho yo’mar -- And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, to the many thousands of Israel.

These two pesukim are, indeed, a book in their own right because they encapsulate two ideas that encompass many battles, events and periods in the history of the Jewish people. There were times when the aron traveled in front of the camp and, so to speak, did battle. There are other times, as in the present, when the aron rests in the hidden reaches of the mikdash where it bestows the presence of the shechina immutably for all time.

As the Rambam writes:

When Shlomo built the Temple knowing that it would at the end be destroyed, he constructed underneath a place where to hide the Ark in the deep and winding secret tunnels. At the command of King Josiah, it was concealed in the place which Shlomo had built, as it says,
And he said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders; serve now the Lord your God, and his people Israel, (Divrei Hayamin II, 35:3)
-- Beis HaBechirah, 4:1

The Rav explains that there are points expressed here:
1) It shall not be a burden upon your shoulders i.e. the mitzvah of carrying the aron is over and so are its travels
2) The hiding of the aron fulfills the mitzvah of the aron at rest, U’ve’nu’cho yo’mar. Therefore, the kedusha of the mikdash still exists. The chalos of the aron at rest is not betelah – it is still there at rest and keeps the presence of the shechina and the kedusha in the mikdash.
-- Shiurim leZekher Abba Mari zal, I, pp.172-173

Links with further discussion of this subject:
http://seforim.blogspot.com/2006/06/inverted-nuns.html

http://divreichaim.blogspot.com/2006/06/septateuch.html