Overview
of the Weekly Reading
To be read on Shabbat Beha'alotcha -19 Sivan 5772 /June 9
Torah: Numbers 8:1-12:16
Haftorah: Zachariah 2:14-4:7
(The vision of the Menorah)
Pirkei
Avot: Chapter 2 Beha'alotcha is the 3rd
Reading out of 10 in Numbers and it contains 7055 letters, in 1840
words, in 136 verses Overview:
Beha’alotecha opens with the command to Aharon to light the menorah, followed
by the inauguration and qualifications of the Levites’ Divine service. Then, G-d’s
command to the Jews to observe Passover. Those who were impure through contact
with a dead body (and therefore forbidden to offer the Passover sacrifice) were
granted another chance to offer the Pascal lamb exactly one month after Passover.
This day is known as ‘Pesach Sheni’—second Passover. The next section describes
how a cloud resided above the Tabernacle and signaled when the Jews were to journey
and when to encamp. The marching order of the tribes in the Jews’ desert journeys
is described. At this point, Chovev (a.k.a. Yisro, Moshe’s father-in-law) leaves
the Jews and goes back to his homeland to bring his relatives to Judaism. Next,
we encounter the famous verse we recite each time we take out the Torah from the
ark, about how the ark with tablets would go forth before the Jews during their
desert travels. Then, the Jews began complaining about G-d. The first time, G-d
punishes them with a fire which consumes many Jews until Moshe prays for the fire
to stop. Then, the Jews complain that they miss foods they had in Egypt and about
the mannah. To this, G-d promises an over-abundance of meat, but when it comes
and the camp is covered with quail, those who complained were punished and died
whilst consuming their improper desire. The parsha ends with Miriam speaking slightly
negatively of Moshe to their brother, Aharon. Subsequently, they were rebuked
by G-d, and Miriam was stricken with tzara’as (“leprosy”). The Jews wait for her
to heal and only then journey forward.
 An
essay from
Rabbi Shaul Yosef Leiter, director of Ascent (L:3672/Beha'alotcha)
(for a free weekly email subscription, click
here)
Each time the ark is opened to take out
a Torah scroll, we chant, "And when the Ark [of the Covenant] would travel,
Moses would say, 'Arise, G-d, and disperse Your enemies, and may Your haters run
away from before You'" (Num.10:35). Moses' prayer was that, as the Jews traveled
in the desert, their enemies would not harm them. If so, then why did Moses say
"Your [G-d's] enemies" and "Your haters" - as opposed to "our"?
Rashi explains, "Anyone who hates the people of Israel, hates the One Who
spoke and the world came into being." In other words, someone who hates the
Jews hates G-d. The Lubavitcher Rebbe differentiates between the "enemies"
and "haters". An "enemy" is one who fights against others
and sees them as his or her opponent; however, many times this animosity is a
reaction to suspicions felt or perhaps a desire to protect oneself. The second
category, "haters", is much worse. Hatred is something that flows from
the core of a person. Not only does this type of person fight his or her opponents,
he or she constantly seeks to annoy and hurt them. We see this clearly from another
verse where these two types are again mentioned as a punishment for the Jews:
"your enemies will defeat you, and your haters will tyrannize you" (Num.
26:17). Tyranny is worse than defeat. Why are the people who hate the Jews
also considered G-d-hating and why is it important to me? This is because the
Jews are known as G-d's people, "the chosen of the nations" (Ex. 19:5).
For this reason anyone who hurts the Jews is making
G-d his or her enemy.
This connection between G-d and the Jewish people is also for our benefit
and defense. The fact that the Nations may hate us is a reflection of our declining
spiritual status. If we would each work on our divine service, every Jew according
to his or her level, this would directly protect us from danger. Unbeknownst
to the nations, it is only our faults which make us vulnerable. Therefore, in
his prayer Moses (skirted the issue and) chose to emphasize that Israel's haters
are G-d haters, inferring that the haters are not reacting to the Jew's spiritual
standing, but rather responding to their hate of G-d. Moses says, "Arise,
G-d" - "Know that these nations are not interested in the Jews' spiritual
perfection; they know that the Jews are Your people, and that is the reason they
wish to antagonize us. If they succeed, it will be a desecration of Your Name!"
Moses made it a non-negotiable issue. How well the Jews do or do not perform
in their divine service becomes irrelevant. Taking care of the Jews and the sanctity
of G-d's Name becomes predominant. In a similar way, let us pray to G-d, asking
when the exile will end. Enough is enough. Ignore our performance rating - bring
Mashiach right now! Shabbat Shalom, Shaul
Please
also read my weekly Shabbat Law, below. (for a free
weekly email subscription, click
here)
For last year's essay by Rabbi
Leiter on this week's Reading, see the archive.
FROM
THE CHASSIDIC REBBES "When you go out to war against
an enemy [in Hebrew, ha'tzar], sound a stacatto on the trumpets." [10:9] For
the sound of a stacatto arouses joy, the opposite of the sound of the shofar,
which arouses fear. This means that by accepting the pangs of battles with joy,
the suffering - tzarah - is transformed into Divine grace - ratzah [Both Hebrew
words are each composed of the same three letters: tzadik, hei and reish]. By
binding the harsh judgments some element of kindness to which the judgment can
be attributed, the harsh judgment is mitigated at its source in kindness, and
is revealed to be indeed kindness. [Toldoth Yaakov Yoseph, Noah #3 - as
on //baalshemtov.com .]
For more than a decade of "From
the Chasidic Rebbes" on this Weekly Reading, see our archives
MOSHIACH
THIS WEEK
"The man Moshe was very humble, more so than
any human on the face of the earth." (Num. 12:3). Concerning Moshiach,
Isaiah prophesizes, "With equity shall he rebuke the meek of the earth."(Isaiah
11:4) A personal obligation rests upon every individual Jew to arouse his fellow
to the practice of good deeds. When instead a person adopts an attitude of humility
and argues, "Who am I to arouse my fellow? What kind of a spokesman am I?"
-- he deserves to be sternly rebuked. These "meek of the earth" will
be rebuked by Mashiach, though here too he will find extenuating circumstances. (Likutei
Diburim Vol. II, p. 289)
For nearly a decade of "Moshiach
This Week " on this Weekly Reading, see our archives
From
the Kabbalah Commentaries on the Chumash ("5 Books of Moses") 13th
century - "RambaN" -
Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman 14th
century - "Bachya" -
Rabbi Bachya ben Asher 16th
century - "Alsheich"
- Rabbi Moshe Alshech of Tsfat 18th
century - "Ohr HaChayim"
- Rabbi Chaim Ben Attar a sample for this week:Rabbeinu
Baycha "Make for yourself two silver trumpets,
etc." [10:2] A kabbalistic approach: the two trumpets symbolized the
tekiah and teruah, i.e. the attribute of Mercy and the attribute
of Justice. When G-d said to Moses, "These shall be for you an instrument
to call the congregation to journey," this is equivalent to His saying to
Moses: "they shall be for you as either tekiah or teruah."
If so, this is clear proof that the journeys and campings of the Israelites were
subject to the two attributes mentioned, i.e. that the words, "Thus they
camped at G-d's word and they moved at G-d's word," which are written adjoining
the paragraph instructing Moses to make the trumpets, are conceptually closely
connected, and that the words at G-d's word refer to both attributes, as the case
may be.
If we consider that Moses was entrusted with these two trumpets and
what they symbolized you can appreciate his elevated status, i.e. that he could
call upon either the attribute of Justice or the attribute of Mercy at will, so
to speak. This proves his status as king.
Selected
from the seven-volume English edition of The Torah Commentary of Rebbeinu Bachya,
as translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk. Rabbi Bachya ben Asher [1255-1340]
of Saragosa, Spain, was the outstanding pupil of Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet (the
"Rashba"), a main disciple of Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (the "Ramban").
Several books have been written about the Kabballah-based portions of R. Bachya's
commentary. For the rest of "The
Masters of Kabbala and Chumash" on this
Weekly Reading; and on all the other Readings. |
A
MYSTICAL CHASSIDIC DISCOURSE from
the Chabad Master series, produced by
Rabbi Yosef Marcus for www.ascentofsafed.com
and www.kabbalaonline.org For
a free email subscription to the Chabad Master series, click
here.
FROM
THE SAGES OF KABBALAH ON KabbalaOnline.org Specifically,
for an overview of the recommended articles in the columns:
Holy Zohar,
Holy Ari, Mystic Classics, Chasidic Masters, Contemporary Kabbalists, and
more,
click to Beha'alotecha one
sample: The Zohar  Far
Out, Man
From the teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai
This
Torah reading includes the premise that one who is unable to bring the Pesach
offering is able to bring it one month later, on Pesach Sheini.
The Zohar
teaches that this man instead of cleaving to the final hei in the name Havayah
of HaShem is given to cleave to the final hei of the word for "far away".
Nevertheless, the Zohar emphasizes the fact that, like the above example, every
person who sincerely makes an effort to purify himself becomes purified –
even if in a roundabout way. To
continue, click
here. For a free email subscription to our weekly
anthology, click
here.
For another taste of recommended Kabbalah articles on a variety of subjects,
click to the our
weekly Kabbalah magazine
Here
is a smaple from this week's:  KOL
Magazine, Vol. 8, No.37 Meeting angels, releasing holy sparks, eating
manna, being a prophet, meriting the Land;
the Arizal Kabbalists, the Baal
Shem Tov and other major Rebbes; this issue has everything going for it!
Sample
article:
 Meriting
the Land of Israel
From the teachings of Rabbi Yitzchak Luria Kabbalah
discusses the mystical reasons Moses did not enter the Holy Land. [To
continue, click here] |
