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 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 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:

1. The Egyptians influenced the Jews, yet the Jews were going to face the consequences.
2. Moses didn’t distance himself from the people he was leading. He owned it. He saw it as his misfortune.
3. 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?