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The Spiritual Journey
By Michael Chessen
The book of Numbers in general, and this week's portion of
Beha'alotecha in particular, seem to closely resemble modern-day life. Our
current reading begins a string of incidents in which short-sighted
considerations manage to sway public opinion and lead the people to act
contrary to their own long-term interests. In addition, life's events seem to
unfold in a somewhat random and disjointed fashion.
It is said that art reflects life, and this past century has produced the
genre of painting known as "cubism": distortion of physical perception which
mirrors our increasingly fragmented sense of day to day existence. Art, or
aesthetic beauty, also played a very central role in our ancestors' sojourn
through the Sinai desert. However, rather than merely reflecting life, art
illuminated it, in the case of the menorah quite literally so.
The menorah was constructed from a single solid mass of gold,
symbolizing God's oneness. The branches could be compared to the Jewish
people, who through their differences ideally centrally unite to form a
single powerful light.
Rabbi Shalom Gold speaks of the Jewish people having been united
throughout the Torah's narrative in the purpose of a grand historical march
which comes to an abrupt halt, or a somewhat extreme rerouting, in this week's
reading of Beha'alotecha. Following our physical salvation, redemption, and the
revelation at Mt. Sinai, we should have been entering the land of our ancestors
in a journey of just three days. However, as the commentator Rashi points out,
the Jewish people "fled" from Mt. Sinai in a manner befitting children fleeing
from school (lest they receive any additional obligations), and we this week
read of the people complaining, apparently without having invested any prior
thought whatsoever as to just what they had to complain about.
Although the people are only formally condemned to having to endure
another forty years in the desert after next week's incident of the spies, in
this week's reading Rabbi Joseph Solevetchic discerns Moses realizing that his
role as God's chosen leader necessarily needs to change. Whereas Moses might
have only previously seen himself as a yeshiva "rebbe" or teacher, he will now
have to fully "parent" the transformation of the mixed multitude of former
slaves and Egyptian converts into a mature nation fully prepared to enter the
Land of Israel.
This realization by Moses would have arisen as a result of the
questions which he poses to God following the people's uncalled for
agitation, ostensibly for want of meat. This incident is preceded by the
two best known verses of Beha'alotecha, namely, the verses pertaining to
the holy Ark which today mark our removing and returning Torah scrolls to
and from a synagogue's ark as part of our ritual prayer services. May these
words serve us as a constant reminder to internalize the teachings of the Torah
and ensure that our journey in life be more genuinely spiritual.
Wishing you all a Shabbat
Shalom !
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from the Parsha of the Week section of the Jewish Magazine
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