In this week’s parasha, the Israelites finally make their
way forward from Mount Sinai.
In preparation for taking down the Tabernacle, the Levites
are purified and “offered up” to serve God. The text repeats the verb “heinif,”
or in its noun form, “tenufah,” eight times to describe the Levites’ being
“lifted up” as this offering to replace the 1st-born of all
Israelites. I’d like to explore this question of what this really means to us
that the Levites are lifted up, and that they are standing in for the 1st-born,
who belong to God.
In the next chapter the Israelites receive further details
regarding how and when they are supposed to march forward and when they are to
make camp. It is all at the command of God, and they could be asked to
disassemble the Mishkan and break camp at any time, day or night, whether a day
or a month or a year has elapsed since they set up the current encampment. The
commentators note what a burden this must have been, especially on the Levites.
Here I’d like to look at what quality God is trying to cultivate in the
Israelites by asking them to be prepared to leave at any moment.
Lastly, we have two chapters which get into the main theme
of the Book of Numbers: rebellion. First, in Chapter 11, the people, inspired
by the riffraff in their midst, complain bitterly about the lack of meat. This
leads Moses to cry out to God for help. God responds by drawing from the spirit
that had been placed upon Moses and sharing it with 70 elders. Many lives are lost in a fire that breaks out
and then a plague, embodying God’s wrath at the people.
Later, in Chapter 12, Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses
and his leadership. God is not happy here either and strikes Miriam with
tzara’at – snow white scales – as a punishment. In both chapter 11 and 12, God
hears what the people are up to, God immediately gets angry and intervenes, and
Moses is shown to be humble.
In chapter 11, Moses is fine with the spirit of prophecy
being shared with others. And in chapter
12, the text notes that Moses was a very humble man, and he even prays on
behalf of his sister for God to heal her of the skin disease. Another question for us to wrestle with – why
is the Torah going to such great lengths to show Moses’ humility here? This
book of Numbers will soon feature the moment when Moses lets his temper gets
away from him; he will strike the rock to get water, and for this, he will be
barred from entering the Promised Land. What is going on here?
Looking forward to our discussion of all of the questions,
and yours as well.
Shabbat Shalom
