Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 15 Sivan, 5784
Parsha Be-Ha’alotekha – “When You Fire Up”: (Numbers 8:1 – 12:16)
Sixth Portion: Numbers 10:35 – 11:29
Good morning! Happy Friday! We are getting set for a joyous Shabbat. Yesterday was the solstice. The longest day of the year, with the most light. Hopefully your light was shining bright – and you were able to see some direction to move forward. As the camp is breaking in our Torah portion, there are challenges that come. We are so comfortable in our “stuckness” that it is a challenge to remember HOW to move. And. We must be ready.
Tonight? We get the full moon. So not only is the light long – the brightness on the moon – the alignment? Is deep. Tonight we rest, under the light of the full moon. To let the direction unfold for our lives.
Let dig in!
35So it was, whenever the ark set out, Moses would say, Arise, O Lord, may Your enemies be scattered and may those who hate You flee from You.
36And when it came to rest he would say, Repose O Lord, among the myriads of thousands of Israel.
I’ve written about this extensively the past two years. When we go out on our journey – we can ask Hashem to scatter the enemies who would attempt to thwart His plans. And when we come to rest, we can ask Hashem to rest with us. Tonight is an excellent night to ask Hashem to rest with us!
11:1The people were looking to complain, and it was evil in the ears of the Lord. The Lord heard and His anger flared, and a fire from the Lord burned among them, consuming the extremes of the camp.
And. People complained. I love that to Torah shows us our own humanity. We see it, don’t we? We are living in a place for over a year. We left slavery. Walked through the dead sea. In the wilderness. And. We get comfortable. And now? We are being asked to MOVE. To GO. The people didn’t wanna. Lol.
Hashem got angry.
2The people cried out to Moses; Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down.
The people cried. They asked Moses for help. Moses asked Hashem. The fire of anger died down.
3He named that place Tab’erah, for the fire of the Lord had burned among them there.
4But the multitude among them began to have strong cravings. Then even the children of Israel once again began to cry, and they said, “Who will feed us meat?
5We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free of charge, the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.
6But now, our bodies are dried out, for there is nothing at all; we have nothing but manna to look at.”
7Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance was like the appearance of crystal.
8The people walked about and gathered it. Then they ground it in a mill or crushed it in a mortar, cooked it in a pot and made it into cakes. It had a taste like the taste of oil cake.
9When the dew descended on the camp at night, the manna would descend upon it.
10Moses heard the people weeping with their families, each one at the entrance to his tent. The Lord became very angry, and Moses considered it evil.
Then the people complained again. We had it SO MUCH BETTER in Egypt Moses. Free fish! Free veggies! And now? All we get is manna. Manna. Lots of Manna. And here is what is fascinating to me. They knew it was not about sustenance.
6But now, our bodies are dried out, for there is nothing at all; we have nothing but manna to look at.”
“We have nothing but manna to look at.”
It was the SIGHT they were complaining about. Talk about entitlement!
Moses approaches Hashem:
11Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You treated Your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in Your eyes that You place the burden of this entire people upon me?
12Did I conceive this entire people? Did I give birth to them, that You say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as the nurse carries the suckling,’ to the Land You promised their forefathers?
13Where can I get meat to give all these people? For they are crying on me, saying, ‘Give us meat to eat.’
14Alone I cannot carry this entire people for it is too hard for me.
15If this is the way You treat me, please kill me if I have found favor in Your eyes, so that I not see my misfortune.”
Moses is a bit dramatic here, isn’t he? And we can relate. Moses here is talking about the burden of leadership.
How many do we know that struggle from the burden of leadership? How many of us have empathy for those in positions of leadership? We treat those above us as if they can handle anything. The people of Israel likely did not know or understand the real human impact on Moses. Moses wanted to DIE because of the complaints.
We dehumanize leaders just as much as we dehumanize each other. Moses was one of the great leaders of the Torah -and yet, he asked God to kill him because of the burden of leadership. This is not something we should take lightly.
How do we treat those who are in leadership? Do we complain to them? Or do we support them? Let’s keep going:
16Then the Lord said to Moses, “Assemble for Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the people’s elders and officers, and you shall take them to the Tent of Meeting, and they shall stand there with you.
17I will come down and speak with you there, and I will increase the spirit that is upon you and bestow it upon them. Then they will bear the burden of the people with you so that you need not bear it alone.
Hashem took this, and literally showed compassion for Moses. He saw the burden of leadership. And here is something interesting. 71 (70 plus Moses) leaders for 600,000 people. That is .01%. This is a much better ratio than .0001666% though. These were the top executives.
18And to the people, you shall say, ‘Prepare yourselves for tomorrow and you shall eat meat, because you have cried in the ears of the Lord saying, “Who will feed us meat, for we had it better in Egypt.” [Therefore,] the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat.
19You shall eat it not one day, not two days, not five days, not ten days, and not twenty days.
20But even for a full month until it comes out your nose and nauseates you. Because you have despised the Lord Who is among you, and you cried before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”
Hashem says to Moses – “look. I know this is hard. I’ve got you. I’ll take care of this. And. I will explain why I am doing it.
21Moses said, “Six hundred thousand people on foot are the people in whose midst I am, and You say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat it for a full month’?
22If sheep and cattle were slaughtered for them, would it suffice for them? If all the fish of the sea were gathered for them, would it suffice for them?”
And Moses is STILL jaded isn’t he? He challenges Hashem – where are you getting all this food from?
23Then the Lord said to Moses, “Is My power limited? Now you will see if My word comes true for you or not!”
Hashem is still kind here. He just tell Moses “watch me!” And Moses trusts him:
24Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said, and he assembled seventy men of the elders of the people, and stood them around the Tent.
25The Lord descended in a cloud and spoke to him, and He increased some of the spirit that was on him and bestowed it on the seventy elders. And when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, but they did not continue.
Moses trusted. And the men were speaking the words of God. Except…
26Now two men remained in the camp; the name of one was Eldad and the name of the second was Medad, and the spirit rested upon them. They were among those written, but they did not go out to the tent, but prophesied in the camp.
Eldad and Medad stayed In the camp. They did NOT follow the directions. Uh oh. How is God going to respond?
27The lad ran and told Moses, saying, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”
28Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant from his youth, answered and said, Moses, my master, imprison them!”
They wanted the two of them held accountable! What is going to happen?
29Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? If only all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would bestow His spirit upon them!”
Moses, in his burden of leadership? Saw – these two were living out the SPIRIT of leadership. That was key.
The Torah feels at times like It is a “bunch of rules” to follow. The more I read it? The more the message I see? It’s about the heart. Medad and Eldad did NOT follow the rules. They stayed in the camp. Hashem had a purpose for them.
It’s about balance. Harmony. We need people to challenge the status quo. We don’t need to be afraid of them. We can see their spirit – their heart. The heart of a complainer? That’s not always dealt with kindly. However, Leaders complaining to Hashem? He seems to have a soft spot. Hashem sees the burden of leadership.
That is my takeaway today. What about you?
Here are my thoughts from the past two years:
Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 20 Sivan, 5783
I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE today’s portion. There is so much here for us.
First we get the challenges of needing to move after getting comfortable in camp. People complained. That was human. They did not WANT to move. And yet Hashem and Moses continued to love them through the process.
And we are called to personal responsibility. We are called to handle our business on our own. AND accept help when it comes.
Think about that juxtaposition. It’s confusing to a degree. I am supposed to take care of myself AND accept help when it comes? If I accept help, doesn’t that mean I can’t take care of myself?
No. And that is the point. DEMANDING help is different than accepting help. Someone offering to help vs EXPECTING someone to help. There are important nuances here I believe this portion is trying to convey. Moses was told he needed help by Hashem. 70 others to support him.
And then? We get two people mentioned by name. Eldad and Medad. They didn’t feel worthy of helping Moses. And yet? The spirit of the Lord came upon them TOO!!!!
Our judgments of ourselves can’t stop Hashem from blessing us. We merely need to be RECEPTIVE to help when it arrives. Instead of saying “no thanks! I’ve got this. I can figure this out on my own – I don’t need your help.”
I love the idea of daily reminding ourselves to ask our enemies to be scattered as we go out for our day. May those who hate us flee from us.
Full stop. Honestly? That is hard for me. Because when I feel like someone “hates” me? My instinct is to want to chase them down and convince them to love me. To accept me. To NOT hate me. The idea of DESIRING those who hate us to flee from us? That creates some cognitive dissonance, doesn’t it? Part of me wants people who hate me to leave me alone – but I have this romantic notion (I’m not talking romance in the sense of a romantic relationship – but more of a feeling inside) that life is all about redeeming people who hate me, and getting them to love me. Where does THAT come from? *cough* childhood trauma *cough.*
So. Yes. Let my enemies be scattered. May those who hate me flee from me (and leave me ALONE).
And when it is time to rest? May we rest with the MYRIADS of our people. Yes please. Great thoughts as we head into Shabbat tonight!
These are my thoughts. What are yours?
Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 18 Sivan, 5782
So as we continue our journey and begin to pack up in order to move, we need to prepare ourselves for what is ahead. Today’s portion does just that.
The Israelites were likely comfortable in their camp as they built the ark. Norms were established, routines. And now Hashem was asking them to get up and go.
Today’s portion starts with a famous piece of Jewish liturgy.
“What happened was, whenever the ark set out, Moses would say, ‘Arise, O God, may Your enemies be scattered and may those who hate You flee from You.” When it came to rest he would say,. “Rest (here) O God, among the myriads of thousands of Israel.”
As we start each day may that be our prayer – may we ask God to scatter His enemies and cause those who hate Him to flee. And at the end of each night may we remember to ask God to rest here with us.
So. The Israelites set out, and we learn almost immediately. There were complaints. I get it.
I was getting used to living in the camp as the tabernacle was being built. Now God wants me to move? Ugh!
The Torah says the people acted like complainers. And He became angry. And he sent fire to burn among them, consuming those at the edge of the camp. The people cried out to Moses and Moses prayed to God, and the fire died down.
Then there is a second story about complaining. This time it was from the Egyptian converts. They had “strong cravings” and the Israelites became influenced by this and demanded meat to eat. The Israelites were reminded of their slavery and believed they had it good- there was lots of free food there! Yummy food! And they were now just eating manna.
Moses heard the people weeping; making as much noise as possible. They gathered by the tent of meeting, and God became angry again. Moses was disgusted.
Moses though makes a bold move. He complains and blames God for this. “Why did you do this to me? To put me in a position to navigate this?”
God gives Moses a vision of the punishments He had in store for the Israelites.
Moses recognizes his role and responsibility and asks God to kill him so he does not see his misfortune.
Let’s stop here for a minute. A few things I notice:
- The Egyptians influenced the Jews, yet the Jews were going to face the consequences.
- Moses didn’t distance himself from the people he was leading. He owned it. He saw it as his misfortune.
- God showed Moses what was going to happen.
I’m really chewing on the idea of personal responsibility. As we set out from camp, in our journey of freedom, part of the lesson is taking responsibility. Owning our stuff. And not blaming others. Moses didn’t say “it was the Egyptians fault.” Moses blamed himself. That is a big lesson. We have to own our junk.
God then tells Moses he hears his concern. He sees the responsibility and tells Moses to gather 70 men of the elders of Israel to help Moses shoulder the burden. God will speak to all of them so Moses doesn’t have to do it alone.
So we see Moses made a bold move- but it was from a place of personal ownership and responsibility.
And straight out of a “very special episode of (insert 70s/80s sitcom here)” God basically tells them “you want MEAT? I’ll give you MEAT! I’ll give you SO MUCH MEAT it will come out of your NOSE!!!”
And although that’s a paraphrase? The Torah literally says it will come out their nose. For an entire month they will eat meat; so much meat it will make them sick.
Moses basically (not really) raises his hand and says “um. Excuse me, God. Um. We have 600,000 people on foot and you are saying we are going to eat meat for a month? I’m doing some quick math in my head, and don’t see how that’s possible; I mean slaughtering Enough cattle and sheep alone would take FOREVER! are there even enough fish in the sea?”
And; God doesn’t seem to be angry by that question as it was likely on everyone’s mind. His response? “Watch me! You will see if my word will be fulfilled for you or not!”
So Moses does what God asks. Gathers the people, tells them what’s going to happen. They stood in front of the tent.
The Torah says “God came down in a cloud and spoke to them.” The Torah says God magnified the spirit on Moses and placed some of it on the seventy elders. The Torah said they became prophets, but it only lasted for a day.
Then the portion today ends with two men, who are mentioned by name. It said they were feeling “unworthy of greatness.” So they stayed in the camp and did not go to the tent. When this all went down, God didn’t punish them; he imbibed them with the same spirit and they began to prophecy in the camp. And that freaked a bunch of people out. Their names were Eldad and Medad.
Joshua told Moses to stop the two of them from prophesying.
Moses rebukes Joshua and says “are you jealous? If only all God’s people were prophets and God would place his spirit upon them.”
So. What can we take from this?
For me, I see Eldad and Medad as very relatable. They didn’t feel worthy. And yet, God brought His spirit on them. We can take comfort in that.
God seems to be wanting the Israelites to glean a lesson in all of this process. He isn’t punishing them for punishments sake. It wasn’t sadism. There was a purpose – and I think that purpose is wrapped up in His statement to Moses, basically saying “trust me.” God is wanting trust to exist between Himself and the Israelites. And part of that trust is contained in the boundaries and respecting those boundaries.
In our relationships with one another, the idea of boundaries and respecting boundaries is crucial to build trust. And, sometimes those boundaries can be respected but there is an unwillingness to trust. We see in this portion the notion of the need to trust – even if we are unwilling.
Just my thoughts. What are yours?
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