ועתה, אם-שמוע תשמעו בקולי, ושמרתם, את-בריתי–והייתם לי סגולה מכל-העמים, כי-לי כל-הארץ. ואתם תהיו-לי ממלכת כוהנים, וגוי קדוש
Today is the 1st day of the month of Sivan (Rosh Hodesh Sivan). In six days, we will celebrate the festival of Shabu’ot, one of the major Holidays of the Jewish calendar. Shabu’ot is known as hag Matan Tora, the celebration of the giving of the Tora. Receiving the Tora was actually the conclusion of a larger process: the choosing of the Jewish People as the Nation of God.
We arrived at the Sinai desert on the first day of Sivan (today!) then HaShem told us to camp, all of us together and united, and get ourselves ready for the greatest event: entering a covenant (berit) with HaShem. For the following days, the Jewish people purified themselves, physically and spiritually, for the great event.
Then HaShem began to explain to us what this covenant was all about. He said (Shemot 19, 5-6) “And now, if you would listen to my commandments, and keep a covenant with Me, you will become for me a treasure (segula) among all the people… and you will be for me a Kingdom of Priests (mamlekhet kohanim) and a consecrated nation (goy kadosh).
Comprehending these three concepts, segula, mamlekhet kohanim and goy qadosh is essential to understand not only the essence of shabu’ot but the essence of the Jewish people as well.
We will explain these words BH in the coming days, one by one.
SEGULA
The Tora says that upon accepting the covenant we will become God’s “segula”. What does “segula” mean? In dibre hayamim (I, 29:3) the word segula indicates a treasure, a special treasure. Addressing the people of Israel, King David said that he had allocated the Royal reserves of gold and silver to build the Bet haMiqdash, and then he added: “Besides [the allocated royal reserves], in my desire [to build] the Temple to my God, I now give my personal treasure (segula) of gold and silver for the Temple of my God…”. For the Bet haMiqdash, David wanted to use 1. public money (=money or other assets coming from taxes), 2. the royal reserves (=federal reserves), and also 3. his personal treasure (the Kings private money). King David called his personal in Hebrew “segula”.
‘am segula, a treasured people, is a beautiful metaphor. It means that we are God’s most precious possession. His “private” possession. Furthermore, in the context of the covenant celebrated in Shabu’ot, “segula” means that HaShem commits Himself to watch over us and protect us, in the same way a man protects his private treasure, his most valuable possession. This assures us that the Jewish people, as a nation, will never disappear. Israel will be supervised, and treasured, directly by God.
Against all odds, after being persecuted from time immemorial by virtually all peoples and civilizations, we are still alive as a nation, thanks to the most powerful Segula: HaShem’s direct supervision.
