Numbers 8:1-12:16 | Zechariah 2:14-4:7 | Matthew 26:17-30
This week's edition of The Set Table contains:
Questions and Commentary on Parashat Beha'alotekha
Chayyei Yeshua - A Devotional Commentary on the Besora Reading
Looking Ahead
Questions & Commentary on Parashat Beha'alotekha
1. What can we learn from the description
of the movement of the LORD's cloud in this week's
parasha?
Benjamin
Ehrenfeld
In this week's
parasha, we are given detail as to how the LORD'S anan
(cloud) rested over the people of Israel and how that cloud guided them.
On
the day the Tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the Tabernacle,
the Tent of the Pact; and in the evening it rested over the Tabernacle
in the likeness of fire until morning. It was always so: the cloud covered
it, appearing as fire by night. And whenever the cloud lifted from the
Tent, the Israelites would set out accordingly; and the spot where the
cloud settled, there the Israelites would make camp. At the command
of the Lord the Israelites broke camp, and at the command of the Lord
they would make camp: they remained encamped as long as the cloud stayed
over the Tabernacle.
Numbers
9:15-18 (NJPS)
The chapter continues
to detail that, no matter how long the cloud stayed, the Israelites
would not move until the cloud would move. The cloud is a symbol of
the LORD's presence and the visual sign of his command for the people
to stay or move. Much can be said about the LORD's choosing to manifest
his will in a cloud. A cloud connotes mystery and wonder. It demonstrates
the hidden-ness of the LORD from his people. What is striking is that
while the wonder of the LORD is remarkably vital to having proper relationship
with Him,
this cloud
makes his will perfectly clear. When this cloud moved, the people moved;
when it stayed, they stayed. There was nothing hidden or mysterious
about it apart from the people's awareness of when God would have
them move.
It could be asked if this clarity of will be found by us now? Why did
our ancestor's seem to see it so much more clearly? This parasha contains
the key to at least one answer: They knew where to look.
What made this cloud
so distinct was not just that it turned to fire by night; this cloud
rested over the Tabernacle and the tablets of the Covenant. This cloud
could be found wherever the Tabernacle was, wherever the Covenant was.
At the same time, the Tabernacle had to follow it and the tablets of
the Covenant would also follow, but being placed ahead of the people:
The
Ark of the Covenant of the Lord traveled in front of them on that three
days' journey to seek out a resting place for them, and the Lord's
cloud kept above them by day, as they moved on from camp.
Numbers
10:33-34 (JPS)
The Tabernacle and
the Covenant are where the people were to look for the cloud. When that
cloud would move, the people were to carry the Tabernacle and the Covenant
with them to follow.
The Tabernacle of
the Lord is the Jewish people and by extension those from among the
nations who have come to the Messiah of Israel. The Torah and the Living
Torah are the Covenant that we set before us to either hold when the
Presence of God rests upon us, or to follow when God would move us from
wherever we may have been. At times, the Lord calls us to be still in
his presence. At other times we are called to watch for his sign to
follow as we journey home.
Do we have the willingness
to be patient and hold the fullness of Torah until the cloud begins
to move? Do we have the willingness to set the fullness of Torah before
us to guide us to where God would have us move when the cloud is moving?
2. At the end of
Parashat Beha‘alotekha, Miriam is stricken with
"snow-white scales" as punishment for her (and Aaron's) protest
against Moses' marriage to a Cushite woman (Number 12:1-15). At the
end of this section, we read, "And Miriam was shut out of the camp
seven days and the people did not depart until Miriam was readmitted."
Why did the people wait to continue on their journey again until Miriam
was readmitted?
Rabbi
Jonathan Kaplan
Mekhilta' deRabbi
Yishmael helps us address this question in the following midrash:
This
is to teach you that with the measure with which a human measures, with
it they will measure the person. . . Miriam waited for Moses a while,
as it is said, "And his sister positioned herself from afar . . ."
(Exodus 2:4). In the wilderness, God [Hammāqôm] caused the Ark,
the Divine Presence, the Priests, all Israel, and the Seven Clouds of
Glory to wait for her. As it is said, "And the people did not
journey until Miriam was brought in again . . ." (Numbers 12:15).
Mekhilta
de'Rabbi Ishmael, Parashta Beshallach 1
The first thing which
this midrash reminds us is that it is God and not the people who delayed
the departure of the camp on their journey. As it says in Exodus 40:36-37,
When
the Cloud lifted from above the Tabernacle, the children of Israel would
depart on their journeys. But if the Cloud did not lift up, they would
not depart until it lifted up.
But why did God delay
"the Ark, the Divine Presence, the Priests, all Israel, and the Seven
Clouds of Glory" for her account? The darshan links Numbers
12:15 with Exodus 2:4 where a young Miriam stationed herself from afar
to ensure that the infant Moses would reach safe harbor. According to
the darshan, God rewards Miriam's fidelity by judging her with
the same standard with which she regarded Moses. When Miriam is in a
risky place of peril on the edge of civilization, God stands far off,
delaying the whole entourage of Israel, to ensure that she returns safely.
The darshan
uses the example of Miriam from Exodus and our parasha to illustrate
the value concept of ‘measure for measure.' According to this principle,
the way we treat others has consequences for the way we will be treated
in the future by God or by other people. As Yeshua reminds us in the
Sermon on the Mount,
For
in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure
you use, it will be measured to you. . . So in everything, do to others
what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the
Prophets.
Matthew
7:2, 12 (NIV)
According to Yeshua,
our regard for others not only has consequences for how others will
treat us, but also embodies our obedience to Torah. As he reminds us
later in the book, love of our neighbors is the second greatest commandment
after love of God (Matthew 22:33-40). May we go and do likewise.
Matthew 26:17-30 - The Price
of Betrayal
Joshua
Brumbach
It has been taught
that everything in the Torah reveals Mashiach. As such, parallels between
the Torah and the life and work of Yeshua are numerous. Sometimes one
may need to dig beneath the surface a little, but at other times the
parallels are obvious.
In our Besora reading
for this week, Yeshua instructs his talmidim to prepare of place
for them to observe Passover. During a particular point in the Seder
while Yeshua is reclining with his talmidim, he reveals that one of
them is going to betray him.
Parashat Beha'alotekha,
our Torah portion for this week, also describes the observance of Passover.
Furthermore, it too describes a sort of betrayal by Moses' siblings,
Miriam and Aaron. In the parasha, Miriam particularly is punished
for criticizing Moses, and is inflicted with tzara'at-a physical
malady the sages contend is a direct result of lashon hara (evil
speech). It always seems so surprising that after all they had witnessed
of God's mighty acts performed through Moses, Aaron and Miriam still
had the audacity to speak against Moses, their brother.
How much more so in
respect to the followers of Mashiach? The talmidim had an intimate relationship
with Yeshua. They ate with him, prayed with him, and witnessed the miracles
he performed. They knew Yeshua better than anyone else, other than his
family. So how was it that Judas, who knew Yeshua so intimately, was
able to betray him and turn him over to the authorities of his day?
Like Miriam, Moses'
sister, who was afflicted with tzara'at, Judas also suffered
physically for his betrayal. Upon witnessing Yeshua condemned
to death, Judas became greatly afflicted physically and mentally. He
was filled with so much remorse and anguish that he returned the thirty
pieces of silver he had received for his betrayal and hung himself in
a field (Matthew 27:3-10).
The betrayal of righteous
people is a serious offense. Whether it is in the form of lashon
hara, or by deed, they both carry consequences. This betrayal can
arise when we convince ourselves that we are somehow spiritually higher
than others or that we can lead better than others can. The issue
is not whether we can; the issue is the condition of our neshama,
our soul. We must constantly ask ourselves whether our hearts are in
the right place. Respect for those in spiritual leadership is
a strong value within Judaism, and we must always be careful to not
think of ourselves more highly then we ought (Romans 12:3). Rather,
we must constantly strive to be those who live by humility and who put
others needs above our own.
NEXT WEEK'S READINGS - PARASHAT SHELACH-LEKHA
Numbers 13:1-15:41
Joshua 2:1-24
Mark 14:32-50
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