Behaaloscha
As A Group
In Behaaloscha we learn that the Levi’im began at aged 25. In Devarim it states that they started at 30. Rashi explains that they arrived to learn the ropes at 25, and began actual service at 30. He adds a postscript; This is the source that a student who sees no success for five years should accept that studying is not his thing. (Gemarrah)
So were all Levi’im unsuccessful learners, spending five years trying? The answer is that it takes merely a few days for a Levi to learn his job. Why stretch it over five years? Because the pace was set for the dullest Levi who could still make it. He took five years. Any longer is useless, because a student who does not succeed in five years will not succeed in six either. Five years is the upper limit for a slow learner.
This seems to us illogical; shouldn’t the median or average student set the pace? Why was the pace set by the slowest pupil??
Perhaps the answer is that when strangers have different needs, lets say how high the air conditioning should be on a flight, we tend to go with the average. These people have no connection with each other. Each one wants the air-conditioning at a different level. It makes sense to compromise and put the temperature in the middle, or go by what most people want. The rest will suffer a bit. However when a family going for a walk together, who sets the pace? The slowest person. Why does the whole family wait up for this one guy? Because they are a family and care for each other. They need to make sure that everyone is included, even the slowest.
The Levi’im were all brothers. They waited up for their slowest one.
The lesson here is that we ought not to be antagonists elbowing each other for position. Rather, we are family, each of us concerned that the next guy make it. Go the slow pace, let no one get left lost.
Parental Responsibility
Moshe said to Hashem “Have I born these that You say to me ‘Carry them in your bosom’?”
The clear inference seems to be that indeed, a father must carry his children and provide for them. Yet in Shulchan Aruch (Yore Deah 71:1) a person is required to provide for his children until the age of 6 only as a takana, a Rabbinic obligation. Why is it not Biblical?
The poskim say that a parent must provide for their children even if they are independently wealthy. Perhaps that is Rabbinic.
But if they are in need, then he is required to provide for them on a Biblical basis.
IDK
It Just Cannot Be!
The people impure Pesach time complained to Moshe ‘Why should we lose the Pesach Korban because we were impure?’
That is a strange statement – if a person is unfit, that is a fact of life. There is nothing to do about it. What did they mean say?
Some explain that these people werre impure because they were caring for Yosef’s body. They were doing a mitzvah. They were asking ‘Can a mitzvah cause us loss?’, – a rhetorical question.
I suggest that things basic to each and every Jew are so important that it would be unconscionable that they can be missed. It just cannot be. These people were saying ‘Korbon Pessach is the celebration of each and every Jew. It cannot be that someone impure is not part of it’.
This is the attitude we need: we cannot do without our relationship to Hashem. It is not an option!
Shedding Light On Hashem
The Menorah’s lights all faced center. Why, isn’t light more effective focused out? The answer is that we show that the Menorah is not lit for light. Hashem does not need our light. (Rashi)
So why light it at all?
One thought is that we light in honor, like candles at a well-lit simcha. The candles are not there for light, but rather for ambiance.
Another suggestion is that Hashem is the source of all inspiration and spiritual light. We start the flow of wisdom when we prime the system, so to speak, by starting the light from down here. That causes wisdom to flow down to us as a result. So we do not use the Menorah for actual light, but to get the flow started.
The Medrash tells us that lighting the menorah is like to a king who invited himself over to his penniless friend for lunch. Although the friend prepared to the best of his ability, it was not much; he set out earthenware lamps for the meal. When the king’s servants walked in and saw that, they set out golden lamps, as proper for a king. The host was ashamed: his efforts were not worthwhile. The king arrived and saw the situation and immediately had his fancy lamps removed. He declared that he will use none lamp other than his host’s.
Hashem is light incarnate, but in His Love, He disregards His light, rather choosing our seven little lamps instead.
This Medrash gives us a handle; on the one hand, the light we offer is unworthy of Hashem. This is our position. On the other hand, Hashem chooses specifically our meager light. So what do we do? We light, but in a fashion that illustrates how we really don’t think our light will do the job. We light with the flames towards the center, showing that our light is unnecessary.
More than anything, this guides our attitude towards Mitzvos: we are gifted with the privilege to serve Hashem. He does not need our service. We do.
Real Assests
Those impure at the bringing of the Pessach demanded a second chance to bring the Korban. However they were free of obligation, prevented by no fault of their own. Why did they then seek obligation?
Mitzvah are our assets. A Mitzvah missed is lost for good. The spiritual property we possess last with us forever, our only real goods. That’s why these people refused to accept this loss, a loss for all eternity. Let us take heart!
Talking Before Expressing Anger
After Hashem told Aharon and Miriam what they had done wrong by speaking badly about Moshe, ‘Hashem became angry with them and left’. Hashem FIRST explained their sin, then was angry with them. (Rashi)
This is decent: the fellow on the receiving end is not left wondering what it was all about. It’s a very important habit for a person to be accustomed to expressing himself and giving feedback to others.
The shlah explains mistakes are forgivable; we all do them. Aharon and Miriam ought to have apologized when they heard their mistake, as Dovid Hamelech did. All would have been forgiven. They did not, and only then was Hashem was angry with them. This too, is a very practical subject!
Rashi explains that this is a lesson for us ‘if Hashem will not become angry until He explains why, certainly we must not express anger before explaining ourselves’.
Why ought we explain ourselves so much more so than Hashem?
Perhaps it is derech eretz to our fellow that dictates we explain our upset. You humoring him with an explanation, because we need to honor our fellow-man, our equal. Hashem does not need to honor anyone. If He explained Himself, certainly we need to.
Another thought was that Hashem’s thoughts are fairly simple; He wants us to do the right thing. So if He is angry, the person He is upset with just needs to think about what he is doing improperly. However a human being has many whims and irrational wants. So if Hashem explains His anger, how much more need a human do so.
©2013
kollel parshah | Tiferet Ramot 83-21, Jerusalem, Israel, 97290
This email was sent to [email protected].
To ensure that you continue receiving our emails, please add us to your address book or safe list.
View this email on the web here.
You can also forward to a friend.
Unsubscribe
Powered by Mad Mimi ®