Torah Thoughts:
B'haalotecha
(Numbers 8:1-12:16)

Submitted by Leila Gal Berner
email address: LGBerner@aol.com

D'var Torah given at Congregation Bet Haverim in Atlanta, GA on 20 June, 1997.

This week's Torah portion is filled with interesting events.

First -- as they begin their departure from Mt. Sinai (after having received the Torah), the Israelites (and the asafsuf -- the mixed multitude of non-Israelites among them) begin again to complain about their terrible plight out in the desert.

They have just received the Torah, the greatest gift God could bestow upon them and still they are of little faith, still they complain: "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt! What will we eat out here in the desert! Moses -- you have brought us out into this wilderness to stave to death!"

The people's whining and complaining chips away at Moses' already-depleted energy. He has guided them out of Egypt, out of slavery; he has sustained his own faith even when theirs faltered and he led the people to Sinai. He has withstood their constant griping and kept going, but now he is profoundly discouraged. Moses cries out to God: "Why have I not found favor in your sight [o Lord] that you lay the burden of all this people on me? ... I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me. If this is the way you are going to treat me, dear God, put me to death at once... Do not let me see my own misery."

When God hears Moses' cry, the Holy One responds with compassion, appointing seventy elders to guide and lead the people along with Moses, thus lifting some of the burden off of Moses' lonely shoulders. God tells Moses: "I will take some of the spirit that is on you, [Moses] and put it on them [the seventy elders], and they shall bear the burden of the people along with you, so that you will not bear it all by yourself."

So - one poignant and profound message of this parsha is that leaders are often lonely and over-burdened, and deeply need the wisdom, caring, support and assistance of many people within their communities. Leaders get weary and disheartened, and one of the sure-fire ways for a leader to regain energy is to feel love and sustenance her or his community and to feel that the tasks at hand can be accomplished in a loving, shared and collaborative way.

When the 'divine spirit' dwells within each member of the community, leaders are less lonely, challenges are met with greater vigor and energy, and each person treats the other with respect, gentleness and love.

A second event in this very rich parsha is an interesting insight into Moses' complex character. As the seventy elders begin to carry some of the leadership burden, Joshua bin Nun, Moses' younger protegi (the man to whom the aging Moses will pass the mantel of leadership and who will lead the people into the Land of Israel), comes running to Moses to tell him of a a rebellion he thinks is brewing in the Israelite camp. He says that two men, Eldad and Medad, are "prophesying in the camp."In Joshua's immature mind, he believes that the men are hatching a plot against Moses, the only prophet. But the Torah text tells us that "the spirit [of God] rested upon them." When Moses hears Joshua's protestations, he perceives more deeply and more wisely than the younger Joshua: "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put the divine spirit into them!"

After having experienced the loneliness of leadership, after having called out to God for assistance and having the seventy elders come to his aid, Moses is keenly aware of the need to recognize the divine spark in each one of the people. Rather than feeling threatened by Eldad and Medad's "prophesying," (i.e., exercising their leadership skills), Moses is thrilled: "I wish there were more like them! I wish such energy, enthusiasm and raw talent would be manifested in all my people!"

So Moses enthusiastically embraces a shared leadership with the seventy elders and Eldad and Medad. Moses has gained some wisdom along the way -- and Torah tells us here that Moses was "humble."

And so - a second poignant and profound message of this parsha is that an embracing of each person's wisdom, talents and skills within a community is a deepening and enhancement of the divine spirit dwelling within that community. Leadership can be shared -- and blessings can emerge from the sharing. An inspiring message.

But the events of this parsha are not entirely inspiring. Shortly after Moses praises Eldad and Medad for their leadership initiative, he comes into conflict with his own siblings, Miriam and Aaron. Miriam, his elder sister, the woman who saved him from death when he was infant in Egypt, Miriam who protected him while he grew in Pharoah's palace, Miriam, who led the women in dance at the waters of the Reed Sea and is called in Torah a "nevi'ah," a prophetess, in her own right (along with only a handful of biblical women) -- this Miriam protests to Moses: "Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has God not spoken through us also?"

The Torah text recounts immediately after these words that "Moses was very humble." Does this mean that he indeed recognized the truth of Miriam's words? That he was humbled before the simple, but powerful truth that she had spoken? We don't really know. We learn only, through the text's account that God punished Miriam severely for her apparent arrogance. She is struck with a horrific skin disease - white, hoary scales appear all over her skin. [Note that Aaron her brother also took part in the protest, but he is not punished in this way).

Seeing his sister's affliction, Aaron cries out to Moses (not to God - this is significant) and says, "...do not punish us for a sin that we have so foolishly committed," (Aaron is apologizing the for Miriam's "chutzpah" in trying to assume a legitimate and honored place among Israel's leaders). So, if (Aaron is apologizing the for Miriam's "chutzpah" in trying to assume a legitimate and honored place among Israel's leaders). So, if God "zapped" Miriam, why is Aaron pleading with Moses? Is Moses really as "humble" as the text tells us? Or was he annoyed and perhaps even threatened by his sister's presumption? Again, the text is ambiguous -- And in the ambiguity lies the problem: If Medad and Eldad, those men who had taken leadership initiative are so praised by Moses, why is Miriam not similarly praised by her younger brother? Is this simply, blatant sexism -- or is there something more complex at work here?

I suggest that even Moses the leader with his ability to include and embrace shared leadership, is sometimes threatened by the ceding of power that comes with such shared leadership. And he knows that Miriam is a powerful woman. He knows that she has her own opinions, her own point-of-view, her own convictions, her own visions, her own passions.

Perhaps he feels a deep sense of ownership, proprietership. After all, he brought the people out of Egypt, he was the founding father of this newly-liberated Israelite people, he brought Torah down from Sinai. It was his vision that broight all of this about. Perhaps Moses resents Miriam's attempt to bring an additional vision to the people. Perhaps he fears that the shifting of the visions may change or significantly alter what he has worked so hard to build?

Perhaps Moses is afraid of sharing power with Miriam, fearful that their respective approaches might clash? Perhaps he just doesn't know how to listen to and hear this new voice and he is uncertain about how to bring that voice into coversation. Perhaps he feels that the only way to maintain his own power, to keep the vision (his vision) intact is to still the new voice.

With divine assistance, Moses stills Miriam's voice, rendering her powerless, and once this is accomplished, he once again emerges, appearing compassionate. Seeing his wounded sister, he cries out to God, "Please God, please heal her."

And once more -- a poignant and profound message of this parsha emerges: even when we have truly intend to share power, we sometimes falter because we fear the new and unknown power that might emerge when we share. When we decide in our subjective "wisdom" that someone is not qualified for a task, that so-and-so is "too opinionated," "too difficult to work with," "too young," "too old," "too traditional," "not traditional enough," "not efficient enough," we exclude rather than include -- and our exclusionary tendencies may actually originate in a very vulnerable and subjective place within ourselves. How many Eldads and Medads, how many Miriams might we exclude because the challenge of sharing power seems too daunting? To share leadership takes courage and integrity, dignity, respect and love. Moses encounters the challenge, and wonders if he is up to the task. It is a challenge that leaders in every community face and must encounter -- and we all wonder if we are up to the task.