STAM
TORAH
PARSHAS
BEHA’ALOSCHA 5779
“STOP
GRUMBLING”[1]
It was late afternoon
in the office. The employees had the glazed “4:30 pm look” in their eyes that waited
longingly for the clock to strike 5 so they could go home. Suddenly, the CEO
burst into the room and began screaming: “SAVE YOURSELF! SAVE YOURSELF! IT’S
EVERYWHERE AND THERE’S NO ESCAPING IT!” Everyone looked up in terror as the CEO
jumped up on a desk and continued screaming: “IT’S COMING UP THROUGH THE
FLOORS! PROTECT YOURSELF NOW WHILE YOU STILL CAN!” By now everyone was shouting
nervously, “What’s going on? What is it?” The CEO stopped and stared sharply at
all of them, “MEDIOCRITY!”
In recent
years, there has been great emphasis in the business world for companies to
develop a meaningful mantra that adds focus and meaning to the workplace.
Studies show that companies that have a mantra that includes promoting the betterment
of people’s quality of life have better employee satisfaction, worker morale, and
increase in overall production. It seems that having meaning is a greater
motivation than monetary compensation.
Chumash
Bamidbar seems to begin with positive momentum. The nation is lovingly counted,
each tribe is instructed about their flag and formation in the desert, various
laws of the elite Levites are enumerated followed by the listing of the unique
Korbanos the Nesiim brought during the consecratory days of the Mishkan, and the
details the offering of the only Korbon Pesach brought in the desert.
The Torah then
relates about those who were ritually impure via contact with a dead body and
were therefore exempt from offering the Korbon Pesach on the fourteenth of
Nissan. They protested their exemption, complaining that they had lost out on
bringing the Korbon Pesach. Their opening words were “למה נגרע - why should we be diminished?” Because
they desired to perform the special mitzvah, Hashem instructed that there be a
second opportunity to offer the Korbon Pesach a month later, on the fourteenth
of Iyar, Pesach Sheni.
But shortly after,
it seems like everything begins to unravel. For much of the remainder of Sefer
Bamidbar the Torah lists one tragedy after the next - the complainers, Miriam
contracting tzara’as, the spies, the rebellion of Korach, Miriam’s death, Moshe
striking the rock and being denied entry into Eretz Yisroel, Aharon’s death,
the complaints about the Manna and being attacked by snakes, and the tragedy of
the daughters of Midyan which Pinchos avenged.
The whole
series of tragedies begins with two seemingly innocuous events. First, Moshe
asked his father-in-law Yisro to remain with the nation, “And you have been as
eyes for us”[2],
a guide for them during their travels in the desert.[3]
Second, after
almost a year of being camped at Sinai following receiving the Torah, the pasuk
states, “And they traveled from the mountain of G-d for three days...”[4]
From the Torah
itself it seems as if the nation traveled exactly as they were instructed. Ramban
quotes a Medrash however, that reveals that “they fled the mountain of G-d like
a child running away from school.” The nation was afarid that G-d would impose
more restrictions and commandments upon them, so they were relieved and
gratified that it was time to leave the place where they received the Torah and
all its laws.
It was
imperceptible to anyone who viewed the perfect precision of the nation’s first
major travel in the desert. But beneath the veneer, there was a subtle negative
attitude which set the tone for all the tragedies that followed.
The parsha
contains two polar opposite attitudes and approaches. That of those who rebuffed
their exemption and requested an opportunity to participate, and those who wanted
to avoid further laws and commandments. Although it may be completely
unapparent at the beginning, the difference between the person who embraces
Judaism and loves it versus the one who fulfills his duties begrudgingly just
going through the motions, may all be based in the initial attitude: Does he
maintain a “למה נגרע”
attitude or a [5]"כתינוק הבורח מבית הספר"
attitude?
When Eliezer was
searching for a worthy wife for Yitzchak, his litmus test was if the girl would
respond to his request for water by providing his men and his donkeys with water.
When Rivka did so, he was immediately sure that she was the future wife of
Yitzchak.[6]
How could
Eliezer have been so confident that Rivka’s offer was altruistic and genuine? Perhaps,
she was trying to show off or thought Eliezer would pay her?
The Alter of
Norvadok[7] explained
that the level of a person can be determined by how he fulfills a request made
of him. When an ‘incomplete person’ is asked for something, he does only what
is strictly necessary to fulfill his obligation. A ‘complete person’ however, will
not be satisfied to merely fulfill the request, but will strive to do as much
as he is able.
Therefore, when
Rivka offered to do far more than what was asked, Eliezer recognized that she
was a person of genuinely noble character worthy to marry Yitzchak.
When Moshe
requested that Yisro remain with the nation, he used an expression of “you have
been as eyes for us.” Ginas Chemed[8] explains
that Moshe was telling Yisro that his mere presence served as an example and
inspiration for the nation. When the nation would want to complain about how
they nostalgically remembered how much better things were in Egypt despite the
fact that they were cruelly enslaved, they only had to look towards Yisro. He
had been part of the aristocracy of Egypt, enjoying all its prosperity and
wealth, and yet had left it all behind to pursue the path of truth, which
eventually led him to their camp in the desert wasteland.
His presence would
remind the nation how fortunate they were, the challenges of desert life
notwithstanding. How could they complain about some measly conveniences they
once had, when Yisro had cast away the lap of luxury to join them?![9]
Rav Mendel
Weinbach zt’l, the late Rosh Yeshiva of Ohr Somayach in Yerushalayim, would
quip that he personally received tremendous chizuk from the ba’alei teshuva he
worked with. Their emotional excitement to put on tefillin, observe Shabbos, and
recite berachos inspired him to remember how fortunate he was to have been born
into such an enriched and elevating lifestyle. That example infuses us with appreciation
for what we have and gives us a feeling of not wanting exemptions and valuing
every opportunity to serve Hashem.
The parsha
begins with the commandment to Aharon to kindle the lights of the Menorah every
morning. On the words “And Aharon did so; towards the face of the menorah he
kindled its lamps”[10], Rashi,
quotes the Sifrei, “to relate to us the praise of Aharon that he did not
deviate.”
What didn’t
Aharon deviate from? It would seem superfluous to state that Aharon fulfilled
the commandment instructed to him?
Aharon never
deviated from performing the mitzvah in the same manner and with the same
enthusiasm that he had the day he began. Such an attitude can only occur when
one reminds himself constantly of the greatness of what he is doing and how
fortunate he is to have been chosen to perform it. After forty years of daily
lighting, Aharon still performed his task with alacrity, enthusiasm, and
excitement. He never deviated from that passion and emotion.
“Like a child
running away from school” or “Why should we be diminished?” - the attitude we
adopt is our choice, and all our Avodas Hashem will be affected by that
decision.
Rabbi Dani Staum, LMSW
Rebbe/Guidance Counselor – Heichal HaTorah
Principal – Ohr Naftoli- New Windsor
[1] The Following
is the lecture I was privileged to give in Kehillat New Hempstead, Shabbas
Kodesh parshas Beha’aloscha 5778.
[2] Bamidbar
10:31
[3] According
to Ramban Yisro acceded to the request. However, Seforno writes that Yisro
refused and returns to his homeland.
[4] Bamidbar
10:33
[5] “Like a
child running away from school”
[6] See
Bereishis chapter 24
[7]
Madreigos Ha’adam
[8] Published
in 1914 by Rav Tanchum Gershon Biltzki zt’l, Derush 15
[9]
According to Seforno that Yisro refused to honor Moshe’s request, the loss of his
example was severe, especially as the nation resorted to such complaints
shortly after his departure.
[10]
Bamidbar 8:3
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