Balak, Numbers 22:2-25:9

This week’s parasha reminds us of that old adage—“If you can’t say something nice about a person don’t say it all.”

The king Balak of Moab seeks to keep the Israelites from prospering and sends for the prophet Baalam to curse the Israelites. If only the King of Moab would have followed this advice he might not have gotten himself into trouble.

Baalam consults with God and God says, “Do not go with them. You must not curse that people, for they are blessed.” Baalam tries to explain to the king’s emissaries why he cannot do the task that the king asked. Several times he tries to get out of going. Finally, God tells Baalam that he may go with the king’s messengers but that Baalam the prophet had to follow God’s words exactly.

The King of Moab takes Baalam to look out upon the encampments of the Israelites. Three times King Balak asks Baalam to curse the Children of Israel and three times Baalam tries but out instead comes a blessing. King Balak is enraged. He says to Baalam the prophet, “I called you to damn my enemies and instead you have blessed them these three times!

Baalam can only follow God’s command. The most famous of the blessings has found its way into our worship service—How fair are your tents, O Jacob, your tabernacles O Israel. Thus instead of curses, there are blessings from a prophet. God protects Israel through the blessings of Baalam, which are really the blessings and protection of God.

And because the King of Moab couldn’t say anything nice –and invited the curses to begin with, Baalam the prophet upon his leave taking, states a prophecy that is filled with curses. It is as if the King of Moab’s who initiated this entire scenario—shouldn’t have opened this can worms—for it was only to be trouble not for the Israelites but for himself.

How interesting that in the previous few week’s God’s anger at the Children of Israel and various leaders and challengers has led to punishments and banishments and yes, even death. But this week the Children of Israel when under attack from the outside are blessed and protected by God. Despite the inner turmoil among the people in the previous weeks, the Israelites still are loved and favored by God. Despite the challenges and the lack of following God’s commandments in previous weeks, the covenant still stands and stands up to any attack from the outside—even the King of Moab!

The eternal nature of our brit, of our covenant with God should bring us comfort. No divorce between God and the Jewish people. Though we might disappoint God—and God might disappoint us, we have a unique and special relationship that stands even in the face of internal turmoil or attack from without. When we cling tighter to our covenant, we can find hope and comfort in our relationship and in the blessings that indeed come to us from it. May you find the blessing of our brit with God.

Shabbat Shalom.

Chukat; Numbers 19:1-22:1

This week’s portion includes the death of both of Moses’ siblings—Miriam the prophetess and Aaron the High Priest. We learn that Miriam dies at Kadesh and was buried there. But there was no period of mourning described. And yet Aaron dies soon after at Mount Hor and the Children of Israel mourned for Aaron for thirty days.

One can only imagine Moses grief at the death of his siblings. A generation is leaving and beginning to hand the reins of leadership and power over to the next. Miriam who saved Moses’ life by getting him placed in the home of Pharoah’s daughter, who was instrumental in Moses’ life and provided leadership to the Children of Israel through her prophecy and dancing represented the generation of Egypt. She remembered servitude and her death brings a certain discomfort to the people.

The Midrash teaches that Miriam’s well followed the Children of Israel throughout their desert wanderings providing water to quench their thirst. Immediately following Miriam’s death, the Children of Israel turn to Moses and Aaron clamoring for water to drink as the well runs dry. Their mini-rebellion causes Moses and Aaron to strike the rock at Meribah, instead of speaking to it and bringing forth copious waters to the Children of Israel but bringing misfortune to Moses and Aaron. God informs the two brothers that because of the way they chose to handle this occasion—by not following God’s plan exactly as God had commanded they will not lead the Children of Israel into the Promised Land. God foreshadows their deaths as well.

And then it is Aaron’s turn. At Mt. Hor God informs Moses and Aaron that Aaron is to be gathered to his kin. And so the vestments of the priesthood are removed from Aaron and transferred to his son Eleazar. With each death, the new leadership begins to take its place.

Moses must have felt the weight of his duties and the weight of the long years of leadership without his siblings with whom he shared so much. They were all a part of the family business. But now Moses must go it alone. Sure his nephew Eleazar is the new High Priest. But Aaron his brother and he had a special bond as all brothers do. They remembered slavery, they remembered standing before Pharoah-demanding freedom for the Israelites, together they had seen and gone through so much. One can only imagine Moses’ grief because the text is silent about how Moses felt. We only know that the house of Israel bewailed Aaron thirty days.

Death comes to us all eventually. Some of us sooner and some of us later. The memories that Moses had of his brother and sister and their many journeys from Egypt through the wilderness had to be at the forefront of his being.

When we remember our loved ones, the memories of those days stay with us. The good memories and the memories of difficulty exist side by side within us. And those memories continue to inform us and guide us and shape us. Surely Moses’ memories of his sister Miriam and brother, Aaron continued to shape him in the final months of his life until he too was gathered to his kin on Mt. Nebo.

May the memories of all of our loved ones be with us as we journey into the future.

Korach, Numbers 16:1-18:32

After weeks of complaints and difficulties and restlessness among the Children of Israel, Moses and Aaron face the greatest challenge yet to their leadership. Over the course of the last several weeks the Children of Israel have questioned and complained about their situation—from the lack of variety of food to Miriam’s questioning of Moses wife, to the spies who twisted the report from the Promised Land fearing the energy needed to overtake the residents. The Children of Israel have been filled with discontent, with impatience on the journey from slavery toward people-hood, and with an attitude filled with mistrust even as God has entrusted them with the Ten Commandments.

And now Korah and his followers, Dathan and Abiram dispute Moses authority to lead the people. They challenge Moses and Aaron’s priestly classification even though Korah himself is part of the same priestly class, a descendant of Levi. The text says, “They combined against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “ You have gone too far! For all the community are holy and all of them, and Adonai is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above Adonai’s congregation?”

Korah’s seemingly egalitarian bent—that all are holy is deceptive. Yes, the Torah states that the Children of Israel “Shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” but in this narrative in the book of Numbers, the Israelites are divided by roles and responsibilities. There are the Kohanim, the priests who offer the sacrifices, the Levites who assist in the great endeavor of worship and the Israelites. Each has their role among the people and for the welfare of the people. Each role has been outlined, especially in relationship to the tabernacle in the desert. Each tribe has its place around the tabernacle and each tribe has a task in caring for the Ohel Moed, the Tent of Meeting. Thus God dwells among the entire people in the Tabernacle and in the sacred work that they are engaged in whether carrying parts of the Tent of Meeting or living the covenantal life. In these ways holiness is spread over the people through devotion to God and their tasks. Korah’s challenge of Moses and Aaron can only be seen as an affront not just to them personally and to their leadership but to God and the system God designed and gave to the children of Israel at Sinai. In some ways, Korah is right—the whole community is holy and Adonai is in their midst. However he gets it wrong when he says that Moses and Aaron raise themselves up. It is God who raised them up.

Thus Korah’s fate is doomed, not just because he challenges Moses and Aaron’s authority but because he doesn’t get the notion that their holiness stems from God. God chose Moses and Aaron as God chose the people Israel to be in covenant with. God imbued Moses and Aaron with leadership and with authority. Korah saw himself as leadership material, and he was as a Levite himself, but he did not have the one thing Moses and Aaron did and that was God’s blessing.

Thus Korah and his followers’s fate were sealed with this untimely challenge of God. And they were consumed by plague and by the earth opening up and “swallowing them”.

As the portion continues, Moses and Aaron are commanded to collect from every tribal chieftain a staff including the Levites. The name of each tribal leader is inscribed on the staff and they are placed in near the Ark of the Covenant in the Tent of Meeting. God says, “The staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout, and I will rid Myself of the incessant mutterings of the Israelites against you.” Once and for all God will put to rest the leadership issues concerning the priesthood. Of course the next day—the staff of Aaron flowers, once again proving that God’s blessing of leadership falls upon Aaron and his descendants.

This is one more proof for the Children of Israel. God has learned that they need to see proof and be reminded of it regularly.

That is the challenge for each of us. When there seems to be few miracles like the parting of the Red Sea, or voices from Mt. Sinai, how do we doubters and disbelievers rekindle our faith? How do the scientific and we who prefer the rational bolster our faith in the One who blesses us with holiness?

For us the challenge is to open our eyes to the miracles of each and every day that are still with us. These are the miracle of the rose, of music and of love. These are the miracle of community, and caring in an indifferent and cruel world. These are the miracles that help us reaffirm our faith in God.

May we open are eyes and yes, our hearts.

Parshat Shelach Lecha; Numbers 13:1 - 15:41

The Children of Israel are approaching the Promised Land. Encamped in the Wilderness of Paran, God commands Moses to send ahead scouts one from each tribe to check out the land of Canaan. These members of the advance team were to explore the terrain, the towns and cities and pay close attention to the fortifications of residents. The scouts were to look at the produce of the land and they were explicitly told to bring back some of the fruit of the land.

They are away for forty days (forty always being a redemptive number). And the parasha tells us they went straight to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community to give their report and to show the grapes they had brought back from the Promised Land.

They describe the wealth of the land and call it a land flowing with milk and honey. Yet, they also describe the people who dwell there and describe the various tribes—the Amalakites, Jebusites, Hittites, Amorites, Anankites and the Canaanites.

Caleb urges the people of Israel forward toward the Promised Land. But the others demur. The other advance team members with the exception of Caleb and Joshua ben Nun, begin to exaggerate and tale tales of the giant people who occupy the land. Their words and descriptions of the terror of the present dwellers put fear into the hearts of the Israelites and they rebelled against Moses and Aaron and ultimately God.

Just as in last week’s portion the Children of Israel are quick to complain, and quick to forget the miracles that God has done for them. Even if the reports of the spies were true and there were Giants living in the Promised Land—didn’t God time and again provide miracles along the way? Wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume that God might provide additional miracles in conquering the land?

God has had it. God has not more patience and even states, “… how long will they have no faith in Me despite all the signs that I have performed in their midst?”

Once again Moses is placed in the position of calming God’s anger. Moses appeals to God ego by reminding God that to wipe out the Israelites for their lack of faith would only diminish God in the eyes of Egyptians and other nations. Moses reminds God of the great capacity for compassion and this seems to work. God says, “I pardon as you have asked.”

And yet, God while pardoning the Israelites condemns the generation who left Egypt to die in the desert. None of that generation will cross into the Promised land and they will dwell for another forty years in the desert before this people will begin to take the Promised Land.

This lack of faith in God and in the collective whole of the Israelites is at the core of this week’s portion. It wasn’t just the one time that God reacts too, but time and again over the last several weeks, the Israelites complain and challenge God and Moses and the very journey towards freedom. They seem to forget quickly the miracles that God provides them be it the deliverance from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the manna and quail in the desert, the giving of the Ten Commandments or the bounty of the Promised Land. The children of Israel lack faith, even when proof is in their hands.

This is an important lesson for all of us. It seems to be harder to find evidence of God’s saving power. But it is still there. For many us we are too busy chasing other idols, of money, sex or power. But God’s saving power is in front of us just as the pillar of smoke by day and the pillar of fire by night was to the ancient Israelites.

Our faith, must also be informed by our sense of gratitude for the bounty of our lives. We all too often condemn God for the troubles but too little thank God for the gifts. Our faith is bolstered when we also remember those gifts and display gratitude.

Imagine if the Israelites had displayed gratitude. Perhaps they wouldn’t have had to dwell an additional forty years.

Imagine if we could focus and include thanksgivings of gratitude to God—perhaps it would help to open our eyes to the saving power that God still provides.

Behaalotecha; Numbers 8:1-12:16

The Israelites truly begin their march toward the Promised Land. This week’s portion describes the exact order in which the Israelites went out on their journey division-by-division, tribe-by-tribe beginning with Judah and in the rear the division of Dan made up of the tribes of Dan, Asher and Naphtali.

There is discontent among the people however. They are getting tired of manna for food day in and day out. They have been building the tabernacle, training their troops and relocating and repositioning themselves in the desert. And the Torah says, “The people took to complaining bitterly before God.” The monotony of the preparations took its toll on the People.

God is angry that the people complain so much and the text describes how God punishes the people with a fire that is only contained by Moses intercession on behalf of the people. This is not the first time that Moses has intervened on the people’s behalf with God. During the sin of the Golden Calf, even as Moses anger flared, he kept God from destroying the children of Israel. God seems to have little patience as portrayed Biblically – God seems to be quick to punish in many of the Biblical tales. And yet, Moses has a way to communicate with God that often calms the situation.

A second time in this portion a group of people complain about the lack of variety in their diet. They nostalgically recall the variety of food from Egypt—meat, and fish, cucumbers, leeks and onions and garlic. Again, God’s anger rises but finally Moses engages God in discussion and admits that the burdens of leadership are too great. Moses just can’t take it anymore—the complaints, the anger directed at him for the situation the Children of Israel are in.

Anyone who has led a group or an organization can relate to the burdens of leadership. It is a delicate balance to help an institution or group of people move forward in their mission and fulfill their goals. There are always complainers and always detractors. There are always people who will do anything to undermine the leader and the institution. And sometimes leadership gets tired of carrying the weight of the group! They can get burnout!

God gives Moses good organizational advice that all leaders would be wise to follow. God tells Moses to get seventy elders and additional leaders and to bring them to the Tent of Meeting. God will share the spirit of leadership with each of them in order to bring aid and help to Moses and ultimately to successfully fulfilling the plan to bring the Children of Israel safely to the Promised Land. Every good leader knows that they can’t do it alone but that there must be others that can be relied upon to share the responsibilities.

A president has his cabinet, a CEO has upper management, and a Synagogue president has fellow officers and the Board of Trustees. All who share in the responsibility of leadership be it Moses or a General must have trusted advisers and fellow leaders to share in the job.