Beha'alotcha – Once Upon a Week

Read the transcript below, or watch a video of the teaching by Yehuda Bachana.

Behaalotecha means ‘when you set up’:

The lamps of the Temple Menorah faced inwards, pointing towards the central lamp. According to the Midrash interpretation of this text, one looks at these lamps and compares oneself to them. First and foremost, our own light should be pointed inwards. We must deal with ourself first, especially when we criticize.

In my opinion, this idea is foundational of Yeshua’s teaching and of the New Testament. The spirit of our faith requires, that instead of pointing out all the wrongs in others, we should rather reflect upon all the good qualities I myself have, thanks to Yeshua and to my faith. When our lamps face inwards, only then will we be able to light up the world, through the light of Messiah Yeshua, Who dwells within us.

The end of this Torah portion gives an example of light shining inwards. Let’s take a look at the interesting story of the three siblings, Miriam, Aaron and Moses. Miriam slanders Moses, as part of Aaron and her complaints about the gift of prophesy (chapter 12). They wonder if God only speaks to Moses and then conclude He also speaks to them. What really stands out is that, in spite of their complaints about Moses,

Moses’ humility is visible in his refusal to defend himself by pointing out the wrongs in his siblings. Moses does not point to their slander nor to their jealousy, which obviously fills their hearts.

God explains to Aaron and Miriam that Moses is unlike the other prophets.:

You see? God speaks with all the prophets through visions, dreams or riddles. With Moses, however, He speaks face-to-face. Here Moses’ humility stands out. It seems that those around Moses (including his own siblings) are unaware of the special relationship he has with God. We see Moses’ greatness also, and perhaps mainly, after Miriam receives her punishment. Miriam is punished with leprosy, which is sign of divine retribution. Is Moses glad about it, feeling she deserves it? Does he accept the fact that God punishes Miriam and then moves on? Moses does not, and cries out to God right away:

Moses does not wish his sister to be harmed, even if she slandered him. Moses is filled with true love. Paul defines true love as:

What happens when criticism does not begin inward, from self-reflection? What happens when we do not take responsibility? Bitterness takes control of our hearts, creating a great challenge for our leaders. Probably all throughout history, people were upset with their current leaders.

We tend to look back and miss leaders from the past, regardless if they were good or bad. Our memory is very short. We see the same phenomena in our Torah portion. Only two years have passed, and Israel already forgot their suffering in Egypt and seems to miss the goodness and prosperity of Egypt.

Today we look back at Moses the prophet, who spoke face-to-face with God. The leader who placed himself as a buffer between God’s wrath and the people. The leader who, with his own hands, or better said with his own spirit, his stubbornness and his love for the people of Israel, saved us. I wish we would have such a leader! Then what do the children of Israel complain about, time and again? Why do they, including his immediate family, constantly attack Moses?

The truth is that we love to sit comfortably on the sofa and criticize others. From our comfort zone, we confidently yell at soccer and basketball players: “Worst missed goal ever! Even I would score here!” We tend to blame others, because we skip the first step of self-criticism.

As human beings, we are selfish and place ourselves in the center, thinking that is what we deserve. Do you want to see change? It begins with me, and it does with you.Our Torah portion contains a famous blessing:

What is this blessing? What kind of enemies does it refer to? Could it be about the ‘enemy within’? Those are not less harmful than the enemies outside. This line of thought is enforced by what follows immediately after the blessing: people start to complain, riot and cry. This all happens in a place called ‘Kivroth HaTa’avah’ (or: the graves of desire), named after the many graves of those killed in this riot. Israel’s internal struggles caused many casualties. And so, right after the riot, we read about the family riot led by Miriam and Aaron.

Next week we will study ‘Shelach Lecha’, where yet another rebellion of the nation of Israel, is followed by a 40-year long punishment of desert wandering till the entire generation dies. Then, which enemies are worse, those outside or within?

The people of Israel complain constantly to Moses. Those inner struggles mortally hurt the leadership and Moses. When facing enemies from the outside we are united, strong and motivated. Yet, when facing enemies from within, our morals crash and we fall into despair. How does Moses react?

Even our great leader Moses cannot bare constant outbursts and criticism, even if they are unfounded. That is why the lamps of the Menorah and the light of our life, should point inwards. We should ask ourselves: “Can I do better?” If the answer is positive, then get up and do it. Improve! Of course, if the answer is a ‘no’, we should at least support those who do, or try to do.

The Menorah became a central symbol of Israel and the Jewish people. As a matter of fact, the Menorah is the official emblem of Israel. The olive branches to the right and left, symbolize our aspiration for peace.

Simultaneously, they are based on Zechariah 4:

Text continues with a well-known verse from Zechariah 4:6

Paul explains his understanding of the phrase ‘not by man’s power, but by the spirit of the Lord’, as following:

Meaning that salvation is a result of God’s mercy, and not of man’s power. An example can be found through the Exodus from Egypt. Israel was not saved because of its strength. Truly, even if they really wanted, they were unable to save themselves. Yet, God had mercy upon them, and saved Israel from Egypt with His mighty hand and His outstretched arm. Power belongs to God, not to man.

The history of Israel is the prototype to the very idea of redemption, the connection with God, and the Lord’s service. In the first part of our Torah portion, we continue to deal with the work of the Tabernacle and the Levites’ sanctification for their duties.

We notice that the chain of events, like the dedication of the Tabernacle and the sanctification of the Levites and priests, are similar to those described in Exodus. Let’s pay attention to the time mentioned in both books. The time stamp in the text in Exodus is mentioned in this manner:

This shows that we are talking about the same period of time.

Since the Exodus from Egypt is a prototype of redemption, the Torah describes the process of redemption of the Hebrew slaves and their transition into becoming the nation of Israel, at length and in great detail.

A large part of this process happens by means of a common project, namely the building of a house for God. At the dedication of the Temple, Solomon asks a rhetoric question: if the heavens are unable to contain God, how can a man build God’s house?

When we skip the ‘boring parts’ of the Torah, like the instructions for building the Tabernacle, we miss out on the great and meaningful depth of the Word of God. It is important, but we just do not understand nor internalize the great meaning. For example, let’s take the story of creation, which is described in just a few verses that include the creation of the sun, stars, universe, earth, hills and valleys, sky and sea, the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, and:

The entire creation is described in a handful of verses. On the contrary, the construction of the Tabernacle is lined out in the smallest details, chapter after chapter. This includes the size of each curtain, how many loops it must have, what material and what size every vessel should be made of. Everything is reported in great detail. For example,

Many chapters describe the construction of the Tabernacle. Yet, others deal with the type of service that is to be performed in the Tabernacle, the Levites and priests and the instructions concerning the sacrifices.

King Solomon asks the rhetoric question: “Does God need a house?” This Torah portion poses a similar question. At the beginning of this portion, God asks Aaron to put lamps on the Menorah. Does God need the light of the Menorah? Revelation describes God as the light in the New Jerusalem.

If God is light, what is the value of the Menorah’s lamps, lit by the children of Israel?

Here I would like to share an interesting Midrash from Bamidbar Rabba 15:8, to shed light on the matter:

The King comes to his friend’s house. The ordinary man does his best to prepare for the royal visit. He cooks a meal and prepares furniture in honor of the king. Yet, when he sees the king’s glory, wealth and blinding splendor, the ordinary man feels ashamed of his house, his simple furniture and the meal, and hides them. The king answers his friend and says that for the sake of their friendship he is willing to give up his expensive royal dishes. He will only use what his friend prepared, because the king loves and values him, and knows that everything was prepared and made with love and care.

As ordinary people, how could our singing and worship be compared to the heavenly voices of the ministering angels? The quality is incomparable, of course. However, God sees our hearts, prayer, worship and thanksgiving that come from our hearts and reach heaven’s gates.We might think the same: how do I serve God? Who am I? Am I worthy? Let’s change these questions somewhat, and ask: how do I begin to serve God? What is His will? The New Testament gives us the answer:

Those same righteous ones will ask the King, they will ask God: Heavenly Father, when have we done all these things for you? Does God need clothes? Does God need visitation? Then the Lord will answer:

Our love and service to God begins with our love and service to those around us. The New Testament gives a definitive answer to our question of how can we serve God.God commands us to light up the lamps of the Menorah, even though He Himself is light.

Yeshua the Messiah and the New Testament teach us that we serve God by serving His creation. By serving the people whom He made in His image and likeness. God tests our hearts, and the deeds that come from our heart’s intentions are the most wanted, pure and worthy in His eyes.