When Perfect Isn’t Enough
D’var Torah for Parashat B’ha’alot’cha
June 20, 2019
By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman
Manna from heaven. The very concept has become a catchphrase for an unexpected miracle, a gift for the undeserving. Manna is the delicacy that appeared every morning, exquisitely balanced on the dew that settled on the ground at night. Suitable for frying or baking, manna served as food for the Israelites during their years of wandering in the Sinai Wilderness. It was the perfect food, matched with the perfect picture that the Israelites’ camp presented to an observer’s eye.
And yet, evidently there is not much room in this world for perfection, and as we read in this week’s Torah portion (B’ha’alot’cha, Numbers 8:1—12:26,) the Israelites begin complaining. First for no reason, then because they crave meat. Overwhelmed by memories of the plentitude they were accustomed to in Egypt—fish, watermelons, cucumbers, garlic and onions—their longing sends them, wailing and weeping, into a tailspin of nostalgia and regret.
It’s at this point that Moses loses it. He thought he had finally achieved the impossible: He united the people, freed them from slavery, gave them a Tabernacle, a set of rituals and laws to live by, and a vision of perfection to guide them through the Wilderness. And yet all that turns out to be not enough.
Moses turns to God, complaining that he just can’t do it anymore. He cannot give them meat; he cannot provide the nurturance that they crave. “I’m not their mother,” he says pointedly to the Creator of All, the Author of all life.
God responds by commanding Moses to gather seventy respected elders from among the people. They would receive God’s word and together help Moses lead the Israelites. “Take them to the Tent of Meeting and they shall stand there with you… They will bear the burden of the people with you so that you need not bear it alone.”
Moses obeys, but even here something doesn’t go quite right. Two of the seventy—Eldad and Medad—remain in the camp instead of joining the others at the Tent of Meeting. Yet the spirit of God descends upon them where they are, and they begin prophesying along with the other chosen elders.
Not understanding what was happening, a lad reports this incident to Moses, while Joshua—Moses’s assistant at the time—advises that Eldad and Medad be arrested for treason.
Yet Moses’s response is one of the most exalted highlights of the entire Torah: “May all Israel be prophets!” This is no rebellion, he teaches. This is the entire purpose and intention of God’s vision for the People of Israel. May they all be uplifted by the Spirit of God, raised from the lowliness in which they see themselves to become prophets, leaders and teachers like himself!
It’s no wonder that the ancient Sages single out Eldad and Medad for special praise. The two represent the ideals they themselves stand for. How fortunate the People were when the Temple was yet standing! The Priests would accept their sacrifices, hear their prayers, and grant them absolution. But with the Temple destroyed, this sacred duty passes on to the Rabbis. They become the “elders” that receive God’s message and in turn teach it to everyone else. And of all of them, the most praiseworthy are those who do not just sit there, waiting for the people to come to them, but rather those who go out among the folk, to seek the needy, the weak and the despondent. They, teach the Rabbis, are those who will enter the Promised Land; they are the true inheritors of Moses’s legacy.
May all Israel be prophets! The sentiment is overwhelming. God’s spirit is not limited to the select few; there’s plenty to go around to anyone and everyone who would share in it.
The lesson of B’ha’alot’cha is as grand as it is subtle. What Moses learns is that he does not have “to parent” the Children of Israel. God has implanted within each of them the potential to reach greatness on their own. They will complain, yes; they will continue to find fault with themselves and with others; they will see the flaws in the world around them—but then they will also look for—and discover—the solution.
Moses’s burden is eased—not by the co-leadership of the seventy elders, but rather by his understanding that the Israelites can achieve greatness through their own effort. God’s response to Moses’s complaints is a great gift. You have done more than enough, God seems to tell Moses; you have more than merely raised these children. You gave them faith in themselves. You have truly liberated them, not only from the terrible tyranny of Pharaoh, but also from the oppression of their own lack of confidence and self-esteem.
B’ha’alot’cha means “when you raise.” At the beginning of the portion, the word refers to the way in which Aaron is to kindle—to raise—the flames of the Menorah, the seven-branch candelabra that lit the way to the Tent of Meeting. As the portion ends, however, B’ha’alot’cha signifies the way parents should raise children: to be independent, competent, visionaries and doers in their own right.
It’s a magnificent teaching.
© 2019 by Boaz D. Heilman
No comments:
Post a Comment