TORAH SPARKS ניצוצות תורה
פרשת בהעלת
PARASHAT B’HA’ALOTEKHA
June 11, 2011 – 9 Sivan 5771 – ט’ סיון תשע"א
Annual: Numbers 8:1 – 12:16 (Etz Hayim, p. 816; Hertz p. 605)
Triennial: Numbers 8:1 – 9:14 (Etz Hayim, p. 816; Hertz p. 605)
Haftarah: Zekhariah 2:14 – 4:7 (Etz Hayim, p. 837; Hertz p. 620)
Prepared by Rabbi Joseph Prouser
Baldwin, New York
Parashat Beha’alotecha opens with God’s instructions to Moses and Aaron about the menorah that lit the sanctuary. The discussion of light in the literal sense gives way to spiritual illumination in the ritual for purification of the Levites, who – taking the place of Israel’s firstborn, it is repeated – begin their divine service. Levites are to serve when they are between the ages of 25 and 50.
The observance of Passover and particularly of the Paschal offering is scheduled for twilight on the fourteenth of the first month, which is the anniversary of the Exodus from Egypt. A number of Israelites, debarred from participation in the Paschal offering because of their ritual impurity on the prescribed date, protest their sacral disability. Moses relays their protest to God, who provides an innovation in Passover law: Those who were impure or away from the community at the time appointed for the offering are to observe a compensatory, “second” Passover a month later.
The manifestation of God’s presence among the Israelites – divine cloud by day and fire by night – is the sign that indicates to the Israelites the timing of their movements and encampments in the wilderness. These movements also are marked by sounding silver trumpets, which are used during battle and at communal celebrations as well. The order of the march through the wilderness is provided in detail. Moses invites his father-in-law – here referred to as Hovav (earlier, his name is given as Jethro or Jether or Reuel)
– to accompany the Israelite camp. The invitation is declined. Chapter 10 concludes with a familiar two-verse “Song of the Ark.” These verses (“Vay’hi binsoa ha-Aron… Uv’nucho yomar…”) are recited during the Torah service, both when the scroll is removed from the ark and when it is
returned. The couplet is set apart from its context in the Torah scroll by inverted nuns, which serve as brackets. Rabbi Yehudah Ha-Nasi taught that these couplets are to be considered a discrete biblical book! Indeed, their 85 letters provide the minimum number of intact characters that render a damaged scroll still sacred.
The recurring pattern of complaints by a disgruntled Israelite populace returns at Taberah, then at Kivrot Ha-Taavah, and, subsequently, by a disheartened and frustrated Moses himself. God provides the Israelites with manna, and later with quail. God responds to Moses’ burden of leadership by instructing that he appoint
70 elders, who will be granted a portion of Moses’ spirit. Moses’ openness to the spiritual gifts and leadership of others is confirmed in his confident magnanimity
toward Eldad and Medad, who prophesy in the Israel camp: “Would that all God’s
people were prophets, that the Lord put His spirit upon them” – Moses at his very best!
Moses’ marriage to a “Cushite” woman is harshly criticized by Miriam and Aaron. Miriam is punished with leprosy; Aaron is humbled as he is compelled to appeal to Moses on behalf of their sister. Moses responds with a brief prayer that effects her eventual recovery. The Israelite camp, from which the impure Miriam has been excluded temporarily, waits for her return before resuming its journey.
Theme #1: “Paschal Protest”
“But there were some men who were unclean by reason of a corpse and could not offer the Passover sacrifice on that day. Appearing that same day before Moses and
Aaron, those men said to them, ‘Unclean though we were by reason of a corpse, why must we be debarred from presenting the Lord’s offering at its set time with the rest
of the Israelites?’ Moses said to them, ‘Stand by and let me hear what instructions the Lord gives about you.’” Numbers 9:6-8
Study: Derash
“Human beings are endowed with the capacity to avail themselves of a second chance. Neither habit nor fate is the final arbiter of what we do with our lives.
Pesach Sheni brings to mind the stirring odyssey of Rabbi Akiva, whose life turned on a second chance.” Rabbi Ismar Schorsch
“We’re given second chances every day of our life. We don’t usually take them, but they’re there for the taking.” Father Andrew M. Greely
“Debarred. Hebrew, niggara. This verb implies the withdrawal of a part from the whole. The fear is that they would be excluded from the national festival as if they
were foreigners.” Jacob Milgrom, JPS Commentary
“The power to question is the basis of all human progress.” Indira Gandhi
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” Elie Wiesel
Questions for Discussion
Why was a compensatory observance – a second chance – instituted specifically for
Pesach and not for Yom Kippur, Shavuot, or other holy days? What is unique about
Passover that merits this special treatment?
The term niggara is also used in the two other instances when a legal appeal is brought before Moses: the daughters of Zelophehad petitioning for property rights (Numbers 27), and their subsequent obligation to marry members of their own tribe
(Numbers 36). How are these cases related? How does Professor Milgrom’s comment apply to the daughters of Zelophehad?
How do the questions brought before Moses (here and in the cases involving
Zelophehad’s daughters) have an important impact on the development of Jewish law and theology, beyond the narrow issues being addressed?
How is “the power to question” expressed – and, indeed, sanctified – in Jewish
practice?
Is perceived injustice always sufficient cause for a change in law? By what standard to we determine that an injustice has occurred? Does equal opportunity or equal
treatment define justice? Are both necessary?
What are the limits to the principle of the “second chance”? For what sins and offenses can there be no opportunity for repentance or recompense? To what extent are we – and are we not – morally bound to provide offenders with such a chance to redeem themselves?
Theme #2: “Humble Piety”
“Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any other man on earth.”
Numbers 12:3
Study: Derash
“Nowhere does the Torah state explicitly that Moses was wiser, or more righteous, or heroic, than any man. But the Torah finds it proper, or necessary, to stress only
one thing: that he was more humble than any other man. Humility is a high level of human character. It is not natural for a person to be humble.” Yeshaya Leibowitz
“Humble: Hebrew anav… This is the only instance of the singular in the Bible. Its meaning is clarified by its synonymous parallel ‘who seek the Lord’ (Psalms 22:27),
hence, ‘devout, trusting.’ It also applies to the weak and exploited (Amos 2:7; Isa.
11:4). However, it never means ‘meek.’” Jacob Milgrom, JPS Commentary
“His humble or unassuming character is reflected here in the fact that he has not troubled to listen, or has paid no attention, to the malicious rumors about him that Miriam and Aaron have initiated. God, however, has heard.” Robert Alter, The Five Books of Moses
“Moses was found worthy of being a true man, a master among men, and a ‘father’ of all the prophets that were to come after him, because he ‘was very humble, more so than any other man on earth’ — that is, he regarded all the others as being above him, and therefore he, in fact, was superior to them all.” Binah L’Itim
“It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am.” Muhammad Ali
“Let us be a little humble; let us think that the truth may not perhaps be entirely with us.” Jawaharlal Nehru
“Sense shines with a double luster when it is set in humility. An able yet humble man is a jewel worth a kingdom.” William Penn
Questions for Discussion
Moses was very much human, even as he enjoyed a unique intimacy with the
Divine. At what points in his career did he appear most humble? Least humble? How does humility differ from modesty? From meekness?
How is it that the psalmist treats “humble” as synonymous – or, at least, as analogous – to the search for God? How does humility lend itself to a trusting
nature?
Consider the paradox identified by Binah L’Itim: if someone is superior by virtue of his humility, then is the practice of humility not arrogant by definition? What
differentiates genuine humility from that which is artificial affected, or self-serving? Is it possible to be humble before first being accomplished? Do we value humility in our religious or political leaders today? How do we rank this virtue relative to the others listed by Professor Leibowitz: wisdom, righteousness, and heroism?
Are there times when it is wrong, or even irresponsible, to be humble?
Historic Note
Parashat Beha’alotecha, read on June 11, 2011, includes the incident of Aaron and
Miriam’s harsh criticism of Moses for marrying a Cushite (that is, most say, an Ethiopian) wife. Miriam’s punishment with leprous white flakes may be a direct response to her antipathy toward her dark-skinned sister-in-law. On June 11,
1963, Governor George Wallace attempted to block African American students from registering at the University of Alabama. On the same day, President John
F. Kennedy called segregation a moral wrong, saying that it was “time to act.”
On June 11, 1978, Joseph Freeman, Jr. became the first black man admitted to the priesthood in the Mormon church.
Halachah L’Maaseh
In Parashat Beha’alotecha, Moses sets an important liturgical precedent by offering a brief prayer for Miriam’s recovery from illness (in this case, her
leprosy). His five-word prayer is quoted in the Shabbat hymn Yedid Nefesh. Petitionary prayers offered on Shabbat– even for health – are a matter of halachic
controversy, especially if they are on behalf of people who are not dangerously ill
(see Tosefta Shabbat 17:15). The practice of reciting a Mi-Sheberach for the sick during the Shabbat morning Torah service, however, is widespread. Rabbi Jacob
Emden objects to this practice, though he states that it is not necessary to interfere
with such a well-established liturgical pattern (Responsa She’eilat Yaabetz 1:64). Rabbi Moshe Feinstein ruled that a Mi-Sheberach may be recited on Shabbat at the explicit request of the patient, even if the illness is not serious (Responsa Igrot Moshe, Orach Chaim 1:105). The Talmud (Shabbat 12B) instructs that when we pray for a person who is ill, we should add prayers for others who are also afflicted: thus the phrase b’toch she’ar cholei Yisrael (“together with others among the Jewish community who are ill”) in the Mi-Sheberach. Such expansiveness of spirit and empathy is said to make a person’s prayers more worthy of Divine attention. Midrash Genesis Rabbah 53:19 says that prayers sincerely offered by the patient are considered more effective than those offered by others on her or his behalf.