THE LORD SUDDENLY SAID TO MOSES, AARON AND MIRIAM, "GO OUT, ALL THREE OF YOU, TO THE TENT OF MEETING!" AND ALL THREE WENT OUT. THE LORD DESCENDED IN A PILLAR OF CLOUD AND STOOD AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE TENT. HE CALLED TO AARON AND MIRIAM, AND THEY BOTH WENT OUT. SO MIRIAM WAS CONFINED OUTSIDE THE CAMP FOR SEVEN DAYS, AND THE PEOPLE DID NOT TRAVEL UNTIL MIRIAM HAD BEEN GATHERED IN.

(Bamidbar 12:4,5,15)

 

 

If there is one among your friends whose obedience to God is greater than yours, whose actions for His sake are purer, and his efforts to draw near to Him stronger, the instinct will make you hate him, saying, "All the effort this man shows in obedience to God constitutes a clear failure on your part! Were it not for him, God, as well as man, would think you the most pious of your generation. Therefore you should offend him, be jealous of him and angry with him! Look for his faults and failures! Watch for his stumblings! Observe where he is negligent, publicize it as much as you can, and revile him for it. If it is possible to slander him for nothing, just to dishonor him in people's eyes, go ahead and do it!" Your answer should be the following: "How can I scorn somebody God loves and revile somebody he favors?"

(R. Bahya Ibn Pakuda's Hovot Ha-Levavot, Sha'ar Yihud Ha-Ma'aseh 8. Pp. 300-1 in Mansoor's translation)

 

We learned in a mishnah: A person sees all nega'im [afflictions that cause ritual impurity/flaws] save his own. R.Meir says: He does not even see his relatives' nega'im.

Who saw Miriam's nega? If you say that Moses saw it, [then we respond that] a non-priest cannot diagnose a nega. If you say it was Aaron [then we respond that] a relative does not see nega'im.

The Holy One blessed be He said: I am the priest - I am the one who secluded her, I am the One who purified her. As it says, and the people did not travel until Miriam had been gathered in (Bamidbar 12) - if so, the people stayed with the Divine Presence, and the Divine Presence waited for her.

(Vayikra Rabba 15:8)

 

...Miriam waited for Moses for a single hour, as it is said and his sister stood at a distance (Shemot 1:2); therefore Israel delayed itself for seven days in the wilderness, as it is said: and the people did not travel until Miriam had been gathered in (Bamidbar 12).

(Mishnah Sota 1:9)

 

And Miriam Spoke

Aviel Warschawski

Dedicated to the memory of my aunt

Elisabeth Nehama (Babette) Warschawski-Rohrlich, z"l,

a year after her passing.

It seems that Israeli society today is overly forgiving of transgressions of the prohibition on lashon hara ["evil speech" = defamation, gossip, etc.]. We easily slip from a normal conversation into lashon hara. Lashon hara is a societal problem, a habit shared by that majority of people who are directly influenced by the common practices of the society in which they live. The influence also works in the opposite direction: those who do not watch their mouth contribute to society's lax atmosphere.

This phenomenon appears in our parasha in one of the most famous stories of crime and punishment to be found in Scripture. We shall analyze the story's place in the parasha in order to understand its educational significance.

Parashat Beha'alotkha may be divided into three major topics:

• The description, continuing from parashat Nasso, of the different functions served by those working in the Tabernacle.
• A general description of the panoply of the Israelite marches.
• A description of the people's sins.

The third part includes three sins: the sin of the mitonenim [complainers], the sin of the mitavim [those who craved meat], and the sin of Miriam and Aaron. Upon first reading the third section, one might think that it is a collection of unrelated sins, but upon deeper inspection of the verses it becomes clear that these failures occurred in close sequence. Indeed, the Torah first gives the section a preface: The children of Israel traveled on their journeys from the Sinai desert, and the cloud settled in the desert of Paran (Bamidbar 10:12). Later, before the story of the mitonenim, the Torah repeats the fact that they had journeyed from the Lord's mountain (10:33). Following Miriam's story - the last of the sequence - it is written: and they camped in the Wilderness of Paran (12:16). From here it may be deduced that that all three of the sins transpired in the course of the same march from the Wilderness of Sinai to the Wilderness of Paran. The sequence of events reflects the people's continuous deterioration.

A similar sequence can be found following the crossing of the Red Sea: Moses led Israel away from the Red Sea, and they went out into the desert of Shur; they walked for three days in the desert... The people complained against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" (Shemot 15: 22-24). Here begins a series of stumblings. The similarity to the words of our parasha is clear: They traveled a distance of three days from the mountain of the Lord, and the Ark of the Lord's covenant traveled three days ahead of them to seek for them a place to settle...The people took to complaining, and it was evil in the ears of the Lord (Bamidbar 10:33-11:1).

These two passages are similar to one another in many ways. They both begin with points of climax: the crossing of the Red Sea and the completion of the Tabernacle. In both, Moses gives this climax a literary expression: the "Song of the Sea" and "When the Ark traveled". In both cases, the march begins at the climax and leads the people to stumble time after time after time.

The third failure in our parasha - the story of Miriam - is unique in that the other stories involve failures of the entire community, while Miriam's story appears to be about her as an individual. It is difficult to understand the connection between Aaron and Miriam's sin and the other negative incidents that are arranged together by the Torah in a continuous series. Miriam's punishment gives rise to an additional problem: So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not travel until Miriam had entered (Bamidbar 12:15). This seems odd; if Miriam sinned, why must the people wait for her?

I think that here the Torah teaches us an important lesson by including the private story of Miriam and Aaron amidst the public stories of the People Israel. The Torah teaches us that lashon hara is a public, rather than a private, phenomenon, though it expresses itself in relationships among individuals. We could have thought, mistakenly, that the individual is free of responsibility for lashon hara since it is a widespread problem that encompasses the entire community. Miriam's punishment teaches us that the individual cannot escape responsibility just because everyone acts as he does - he himself corrupts society.

Miriam's sin thus points to the people's deep-rooted problem of gossip, a problem which ultimately results in Korah's controversy, of which we shall read in two weeks. There the people are sent into a tumult by the most serious crisis of leadership of the wilderness period. Korah and his supporters make strong claims against Moses, using language that sounds remarkably familiar: "You take too much upon yourselves, for the entire congregation all are holy, and the Lord is in their midst. So why do you raise yourselves above the Lord's assembly?" (Bamidbar 16:3) This charge is quite similar to what Aaron and Miriam had said: "Has the Lord spoken only to Moses? Hasn't He spoken to us too?" (12:2). From it we can deduce that Korah's complaints sprang from the general phenomenon of gossip amongst the people.

Usually, stories about a group leave out the individual aspect. The affair of Korah and his supporters did not begin as a spontaneous uprising on the part of a large section of the people. Rather, it resulted from a pre-existing mood already found among the people. Miriam and Aaron were subject to severe punishment because the responsibility was entirely their own.

Widespread Lashon hara begins with individuals, with their ordinary conversations at the Shabbat table, on line at the supermarket or outside the synagogue after services. All of these influence social norms and the public atmosphere.

The Torah teaches us that the solution to societal problems must begin with individuals.

We have not ceased to feel Babette's absence since her passing a year ago. When her daughter Talia comes by, when we visit grandmother on Shabbat, or on any other occasion, her memory is always with us. One of Babette's remarkable qualities was the purity of her speech. I think of the conversations we had during kiddush on Shabbat morning and I cannot recall her even once saying anything bad. Her beaming smile welcomed everyone. We live in a society that is usually busy with assigning blame, with hatred of and isolation from the other, but Babette always sought the love and the good in people. She did not let a mistaken social norm disturb her judgment.

I think that this variation on lashon hara has been a central problem of our society from biblical times to our own day. This problem is not necessary, and each of us can begin to effect the change because all of us build our society together.

Aviel Warschawski is a student at Yeshivat HaKibbutz HaDati Ma'alei Gilboa

 

 

Love Disregards the Rules

And so did Aaron do - this is said in praise of Aaron, for not deviating [from the Lord's instructions].

(Rashi Bamidbar 8:3)

 

Rabbi Baruch of Mezhibozh (a Chassidic master, grandson of the BeShT) was asked:

When God told Aaron through Moses how to light up the lamps, the Torah says And so did Aaron do. Rashi explains that this is said in praise of Aaron, for his not having deviated from His instructions. What does this come to teach us? Can we even imagine for a moment that Aaron - sanctified of the Lord - would deviate from His command!? Why, then, the special commendation for faithful execution?

Replied the Rebbi: ...It is told of a holy person who served in the synagogue, that when he set up the lamps and poured in the oil, because of his great enthusiasm he was unable to fulfill his task properly, and some of the oil was poured outside the lamp. Therefore, it was said in praise of Aaron that with all his whole-hearted devotion to the Creator, he arranged the lamps and lit them as prescribed.

(Or Haganuz, Mordecai Buber).

 

It is not enough for someone to have enthusiasm and good will; in order to do a job properly there is also need for patience and exactness.

(Abraham Stahl: Shabbat BeShabbato, Vol. II, p. 183)

 

...That is to say, Aaron did all that he was commanded not as one who acts with enthusiasm and wonder, but as one who directs his consciousness and awareness to the daily service of God. The great significance of the service of God lies not in man's giving release to his religious enthusiasm - indeed it is doubtful whether such behavior is pure, uninterested, service of God. Perhaps it is but satisfaction of man's psychological needs.

(Y. Leibowitz: Sheva Shanim shel Sihot al Parashiyot ha'Shavu'a, p. 648)

 

And You Shall Purify Them - The Holy Service can be One's Downfall

It repeats the warning about ritual purity, for just as the Holy Service can raise up one's heart in God's paths, so too it can trip one up through pride over other people and through desecration of the Holy Name via even a minor transgression - against these we must be warned. Also, the greater someone is compared to his fellows, the greater is his inclination to sin in unusual ways. So we find that proximity to holiness causes impurity, as the prophet Haggai said, whatever they bring near is defiled (2:14)... Later this actually happened to Korah and his followers from among the Levites - their greatness was their downfall - that is why they are warned after serving in the Tent of Meeting, so that they will be careful about purity in accordance with their rank.

(Ha-Amek Davar Bamidbar 8:15)

 

Who were the Asafsuf?

Who were the asafsuf ["riff-raff"]? Rabbi Shimon bar Abba and Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya [spoke of this]. One said: They were the converts who rose up with them from Egypt, for it is said, Moreover, a mixed multitude went up with them (Shemot 12:8).

And one said: The asafsuf are the Sanhedrin, for it is said, collect [esfa] for me seventy men (Bamidbar 11:16). What is [also] written there? A fire of the Lord broke out against them, ravaging the outskirts [beketzei] of the camp (11:1) - the kotzim [thorns, i.e. riff-raff] of the camp. And how do we know that those elders who ascended Mount Sinai were burned? For it is said, a fire blazed in their party [edah] (Psalms 106:18), and edah can only mean the Sanhedrin, for it is said, if this was done through the inadvertence of the edah [elders] (Bamidbar 15:24).

(Bamidbar Rabba 15:24)

 

Advance, O Lord! May Your Enemies Be Scattered, and May Your Foes Flee Before You! Who is being referred to?

Moses recognized that this Torah from its very entry into the world would have to expect enemies, opponents, and foes, that people would hate it. Its demands for justice and love are so very much in opposition to the dictates of force and selfishness, the curse of which is felt so keenly by the weak and needy. Those in power unite in an alliance to impose these dictates. They are the enemies of the Torah who form a tacitly united front, opponents of the Torah who bar the entry of its influence into the world. Its demands for self-control and sanctification of morals are so much in conflict with the allures of ignoble passion that one finds among all classes not only those who oppose it but also those who incite against it, not only hate but also persecution...

(R. Shimshon Raphael Hirsch on Bamidbar 10:35-36, Levy translation)

 

"Moses was a very humble man"

Awe and Humility

This was the convert's claim in the chapter of Bameh Madlikin and the reason for Shammai's rejection of him. Shammai had reached the level of yira - of awe - which is accompanied by gevura - courage, and by kapdanut - strictness - which was the level of our father Isaac, peace be upon him, from whom Israel evolved. Therefore, he (Shammai) rebuffed converts, as related in the chapter Bameh Madlikin… Hillel's humility brought them near, like Moses our teacher may peace be upon him, who was very humble, and who therefore brought close the erev rav - the non-Israelites who joined the Israelites in the Exodus… And so our father Abraham, may peace be upon him, was humble, as is written in Tractate Berakhot "Woe [upon the passing of] this humble person, disciple of our father Abraham, may peace be upon him. Therefore he was the father of converts, as we learned in Bikkurim. Humility includes the appreciation of one's deficiency as compared with the greatness of The Holy One, Blessed Be He, and therefore leaves no place for belittling the convert who has come with his staff and pouch, for He who told oil to burn can tell vinegar to burn and it will burn, and he can put fire into vinegar, as in [the verse] God, created within me a pure heart, and creation is ex nihilo.

(Rabbi Tzadok HaCohen of Lublin, Or Zarua LaTzaddik)

 

 

Elisabeth Nehama Warschawski - "Babette" - was born in Strasbourg on Shabbat, the ninth of Av 5718 (1958). She was the sixth of seven children born to Rabbi Meir Shimon Warschawski and his wife Mireille. After completing an MA at the University of Strasbourg, she came to live in Israel and continued her studies of the history of religion in the Second Temple period and of archaeology. In 1982 she joined the staff of the Centre de Recherche Français de Jérusalem - a French governmental institution that supports the work of French and Israeli researchers in the fields of archeology, history, and the social sciences - and in 1977 became the Secretary General of the Center. Babette died a year ago on the 15^th of Sivan after a protracted struggle with cancer, and was survived by her husband, Daniel Rohrlich, their daughter Talia (who became a Bat-Mitzvah two months after Babette's passing), her parents, brothers, sisters, and many others who loved her.

 

 

 

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