 Torah Thoughts
This week's Torah portion is "BeHa'alot'cha"
(Numbers 8-12:16). It contains 5 commandments- 3 positive mitzvot
("do's") and 2 negative mitzvot ("do nots") - and 136
verses.
Out portion (8:1-4) opens with the command to Aaron to light
the lamps of the menorah in the Tabernacle. Our sages comment on the Torah's
use of an unusual verb for lighting the candles. Usually the verb with root
letters D-L-K is used for kindling. The Torah uses a word which means
"elevating" or "lifting up". Our Sages explain that Aaron
was to hold the flame in place until the fire of the newly lit candle went up
by itself.
On a deeper level, light and fire are a reference to
Torah. A parent or teacher is not to take any chances when teaching Torah.
Do not disengage after teaching something until you are sure that the child/
student has internalized the message. Do not make any assumptions about the
transmission of the Torah. Your neglect may extinguish a light prematurely.
Until you know that your child/ student will be able to give that lesson over
to others, to spread his own light, continue teaching.
Our Torah portion (9:1-14) mentions the commandment to
bring the Passover offering in the desert; commemorating the Exodus which had
taken place a year earlier. There was a group of individuals who were not
permitted to bring this offering since they were ritually impure, having come
in contact with a corpse. Indeed, our oral tradition tells us that these
individuals were performing the great mitzvah of fulfilling Joseph's wishes
to be buried in the Land
of Israel and were
transporting his remains. They approached Moses lamenting the fact that they
were now unable to join the rest of the Jewish people in bringing the Pesach
offering.
Their love of mitzvot and desire to bring the Passover
sacrifice gave them the honor of having a new mitzvah revealed through them.
G-d revealed to Moses that one who is unable to bring
the Pesach offering at its appointed time for a legitimate reason, may bring
it one month later. Certain details relating to the Pesach offering apply to
the Pesach Sheni ("Second Passover") too.
The mitzvah of Pesach Sheni teaches us an important
concept. There are many Jews in the world today who, for a multitude of
reasons, did not receive an effective Jewish education. They are unable
to participate fully in Jewish life because of this handicap. They are not
necessarily held liable for this. But what all of us can learn from those
individuals in the desert relates to one’s attitude in an unfortunate,
involuntary situation. They were exempted from bringing the Passover offering
for circumstances not necessarily within their control. The love for G-d that
they expressed and the desire to join their brethren in keeping this mitzvah
were recognized and rewarded by G-d.
We could say to G-d, "I wasn't raised in an
observant home. I didn't receive a thorough Jewish education. What do You
want from me?" This would possibly hold up in Court.
But that is not the attitude of our ancestors in the
desert 3,500 years ago. They were passionate. Passivity was not in their
vocabulary. We have to get up and tell G-d, "I may not have grown up
understanding what it means, but I know I am a Jew and that I have a proud
and ancient heritage. I know that if You gave me this awareness, I must do
something with it. I will attend every class that I can, read every book that
I find and I will bring myself and all my descendants closer to You. I know
that You will help me on my mission, just as You helped those Jews in the desert,
my ancestors, who wished to get closer to You."
The HAFTARA (excerpt from the prophets) that is
read with the portion of B'ha'alot'cha comes from the prophet Zechariah
(2:14-4:7). Its imagery echoes our Torah portion which opens with the
lighting of the Menorah in the Tabernacle by Aaron the high priest.
The Haftara is a prophecy relating to the return of the
Jewish people to the Land of Israel after the darkness of the Babylonian exile;
and reference to a future redemption when the nations of the world will
recognize Israel's
special status.
Zechariah describes his vision of the high priest,
Joshua, standing before G-d, being prosecuted by Satan for not rebuking his
sons for marrying gentile women while in exile (the sin symbolized by the
filthy garments worn by Joshua). G-d Himself defends Joshua by referring to
him as a "firebrand plucked from the fire" i.e. the hardship and
suffering and spiritual damage caused by the exile inevitably led to his
predicament. The angel of G-d removes Joshua's filthy garments and replaces
them with pure raiment- giving him a new start and another chance to prove
himself as a servant of G-d.
Zechariah then sees another vision. This time he sees a
golden menorah with seven lamps and seven funnels into each lamp. There are
two olive trees on either side. (Incidentally, this image is the official
seal of the State of Israel.) The olive trees are there to provide the fuel
for the lamps of the menorah. This is a reminder that all of our physical and
spiritual sustenance is ultimately supplied by G-d. It is only through this
recognition that the nascent redemption can be sustained. The prophet is to
deliver a message to Zerubavel, the temporal leader of the Jews returning
from Babylon.
"Not by means of an army and not by might, but through My spirit,"
says G-d. The mountain will then become a plain before Zerubavel and the
Jewish people.
The message to the modern-day leaders of Israel
cries out loud and clear: a powerful army alone is not enough to defeat evil.
The Jewish People must constantly remember that all that we achieve is a
result of Divine providence. When we live in accordance with that principle,
then all the obstacles in the way of our living in peace in our Land will be
removed.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Baruch Price
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