Beha’alotecha
Numbers 8:1 - 12:16
In this week’s portion, we once again find the Israelites kvetching, as we find they were prone to do throughout their long journey through the desert. The people begin to complain, first at Taberah, where a fire breaks out amidst the people, then at Kibrot-Hataavah, where they cry out for meat. God is furious with them, and Moses feels the full burden of his leadership, so God agrees to divide his load among seventy elders. Towards the end of the parashah, we find more grumbling. This time it is Miriam and Aaron, Moses’ sister and brother, who are complaining about Moses because he married a Cushite woman. They claim that God also speaks through them. God though gathers them together and tries to assuage the nagging by asserting the uniqueness of Moses.
The Torah tells us that “Moses was a very humble man, more so than any other man on earth.” Moses was undoubtedly the greatest leader the Israelites ever had at that time, and the only human being able to confront God at will. Clearly, he is a figure that we should try to emulate. So what exactly does the Torah mean when it says that Moses was humble? In fact, the Rabbis singled out its opposite - arrogance - as the root of all character flaws? After all the Torah says, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” In order to fulfill this mitzvah, one must, obviously, first love herself! Yet how can we love ourselves without feeling arrogant and egocentric?
I read a teaching recently that helped explain this. It suggested that to understand what is needed of us, we should look at the moon. The moon, the greatest luminary we have at night, is only able to light our path because of the light it reflects from the sun. So should we, as Jews, feel before God. We shouldn’t belittle ourselves or think that we are worthless. We should shine out just as the moon does at night. Yet, just like the moon, it is important to realize that our abilities and specialties are a reflection of a greater source. Humility is the ability to love yourself but with the knowledge that your “self” is but the reflection of the greater “Self” of God.
Shabbat Shalom,
Cantor Korn
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