Over the last few weeks in the Soul of Israel series, we explored some of the great questions surrounding Jewish identity and destiny.

What is Zionism? Where is Zion? Who is a Jew?

The timing was not accidental.

These reflections moved through the period from Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut toward Shavuot — toward Sinai itself, toward covenant, identity, and the receiving of Torah.

But after revelation comes another question:

How do you sustain holiness in ordinary life? How do 

And that is where Parshat Naso begins.

The very name Naso comes from the Hebrew root נ.ש.א — to lift, to carry, to elevate.

“נָשֹׂא אֶת רֹאשׁ בְּנֵי גֵרְשׁוֹן” “Lift up the heads of the children of Gershon.” (Numbers 4:22)

It is the same root as the word נשיא — a prince, leader, or president.

In modern Hebrew, the President of Israel is called:

A נשיא is not simply someone elevated above the people. In the Torah sense, a true leader is someone who carries the people.

Leadership in Judaism is not fundamentally about power. It is about responsibility.

Not self-glorification. But uplifting others.

The Levites carry the Mishkan through the wilderness. Parents carry children. Mothers carry families. Soldiers carry the burden of defending a nation. And the Jewish people themselves have carried covenant, memory, suffering, and hope through history.

Perhaps that is why this parsha feels especially personal to me this year, as it falls on my mother’s yahrzeit.

She was hardworking and dedicated. Like so many Jewish mothers, she quietly carried more than people realized.

Before we encounter presidents, Rabbis, CEOs, or public leaders, most of us first encounter uplift through our mothers.

Mothers are the original uplifters.

They carry homes, children, emotional worlds, values, faith, resilience, and continuity.

Quietly. Often without recognition.

The Mishkan in the desert was physically carried by Levites. But spiritually, Jewish civilisation has often been carried by mothers.

Parshat Naso then moves from national structure into personal morality.

“אִישׁ אוֹ אִשָּׁה כִּי יַעֲשׂוּ........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)