Chaverim we have finally
arrived at the most practical portions of the Torah, on reflection this
parashat deals with 2 incidences and a couple of repetitive commandments
much of what we have read before – except for the role of Aharon in the
kindling of the lamps in the Holy place
We read in Numbers 8:2 –
wherein HaShem says” Speak to Aharon and say to him, when you Elevate the
lamps, let the seven lamps give light at the front of the lampstand” now the
language used here needs to be understood in the right context. The word used here is the word BEHALOTECHA בהעלתך which comes from the Word
ALAH עלה– To Elevate-
so if we have to translate this word properly it should read as : In the elevating
of the lamps” incisively HaShem has given Aharaon a tremendous responsibility
of Raising the Light of the lamps every evening till morning.
What does this mean – to raise
the light of the lamps so that they face the Menorah – the sages say that each
of the wicks of the lamps had to face the middle lamp (menorah) which is called
the SHAMASH (servant) and Who is the servant ? Who is this Shamash?
Lets forward to the Sepher
Hitgalut (Revelations) 1:13 where it reads the following “ And in the midst
of the seven golden lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment
down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band” this refers
to Yeshua – who further on goes on to say that He is the one who was dead and
now lives etc…….Now chaverim this is really beautiful when we put all this together
and analyze what exactly Hashem is asking Aharon to do – All the lights that
he kindles and elevates must face the Messiah Yeshua – it is from there the
true light and its essence flows and lightens up every soul that comes before
him. Gospel of John 1:9 “ That was the true Light that lighteth every man
that comes into this world, for He was in the world and the world was made by
Him and the world knew Him not” Just as Aharon had the immense task of elevating
the souls of the Israelite people who came to him for all spiritual reasons –
so does Yeshua who is far much more better in essence and divinity able to
raise each soul that comes before Him.
King David says this in his Tehillim(Psalms)
18:28 “ So that you shall light my lamp, O Lord, My God, He shall brighten my
darkness” Also in Mishlei(Proverbs) 20:28 “ The lamp of the Lord is the
Life breath נשמתof man, searching
all the chambers of the inner being” now we have already learnt the
Word Neshemah is the Divine soul that God breathes into each one of us –
that is the lamp which needs to be lit and elevated if we keep being in the
presence and looking towards Yeshua – because he is the Servant (Shamash) we are able to partake of his essence and Life and His light shines
radiantly upon us.
Now lets move on to the
practicality of the commandments that HaShem is giving to Moses – thereafter he
instructs Moses to consecrate the Levites, by shaving their bodies, washing and
ritually cleaning all of them and getting them into the Avodah and the Service
of the Mishkan – between the ages of 25 years and above until the age of 50 Why?
This is because as man ages his performance and strength goes down, there is no
more physical strenght for effort and work crossing 50 years of age.
Then the commandments to make 2
Silver trumpets and blow them on different occasions – for gathering, for War
and to resume their journey to the land of Israel
Then we read about the
unfortunate incident of the people asking for meat – as if they never had
livestock with them to have meat- so why were they asking for Meat when they
had cattle sheep and goats with them – this is because they were supposed to
follow the laws of slaughter and koshering which Moses had instructed them
according to the Lord – but they were too lazy and lethargic – meat therefore
was not easily available – also they complained about the luxurious living in
Egypt with the Exotic vegetables and fruits…..phew this is taxing.
Last incident of all was the
portion where Miriam and Aharon indulge in Lashon Hara (Evil Speech) against
Moses – whatever their family feud was we do not know – but a sibling
rivalry was brewing amongst them – Hashem Immediately descends and chastises
them and Miriam becomes leprous until Aharon intercedes to Moses and he prays
for her and She is restored after 7 days from without the camp.
So what is tying all this
incidents together – and why are they mentioned in one parashat – they seem
disjointed but the Torah is trying to tell us something important. It takes a
great and spiritually intuitive mind to see through the many layers of what
Moses is narrating to us through his events and stories. Let me introduce to
you Rabbi Chaim Luzzatto of Padua Italy who lived around the turn of the 18th
century, his earlier years were spent in Italy where he had a Yeshiva of
renown, he eventually moved to Amsterdam where he penned most of his writings,
the last 3 years of his Life were spent in Tiberias Eretz Israel until there
was plague and he and his family died at the age of 39 years – a very young age
but his intellect was legendary and his deep insights to the understanding of
Torah was incomparable in his generation – let’s see what he has to say about
this
Many events and stories in
this Parashat is tied by 2 cords of Human nature which Hashem is very well
aware of – The attributes of Humanity that are either incremental or
detrimental to his Soul. RAMCHAL as he is famously called extrapolates
these 2 attributes as 1. Vigilance (Awareness) and 2. Alacrity and Preparedness
and he has much to say about them. To quote Ramchal “ The bedrock of piety
and the root of flawless divine service lies in man’s effort to clarify and
verify what his duty is in HIS world, he must determine what he is aiming for and
how to achieve this – in all his labours throughout his lifetime”
הזהירות מדת
translated as vigilance is a quality of self awareness – one must be completely
self aware of his surrounding and each of his actions and his conduct. One must
be able to think clearly, contemplate and survey his actions, thoughts and
deeds to see whether they are good or not, so not to risk losing his Soul, One
should not pursue a path of thoughtlessness – there is peril and destruction.
RAMCHAL goes on to say “ He who acts this way is inferior to animals and the
beasts that act instinctively to protect themselves, fleeing and escaping form
anything that appears harmful to them, He who walks in this world with
contemplating good or bad is like a blind man who is walking along a riverbank-
he is in grave danger and likely to come to harm than to be saved, for
risks of natural blindness and wilful blindness are the same since the later is
that he ignores consciously and deliberately. Isaiah says in 8:6 No man
feels remorse for his wickedness, saying “ what have I done”, as one they
rush to stay their course like a horse charging headlong into battle, in other
words they were constantly propelled forward by their impulsiveness and their
habits and ways, without having themselves time to critically examine their
ways and conduct. As a result they fell into wrongdoing without being aware of
it.
The virtue of awareness centers
around the conduct of staying away from the negative commandments and not
giving into the Yetzer Hara (Evil inclination) this is exactly what happened
in the 2 incidents – the people gave into the evil inclination because there
were not aware of themselves in their conduct and deed, thoughts and actions.
They fell into a lethargy and were longing for pleasure rather than correct
activity and Avodah in serving their master. Lethargy and Pleasure seeking
are the result of not being vigilant and defining your own life choosing good
over evil. Infact the Kingdom of God has only activity and no relaxation. The
moment we let our guard down and seek pleasure even a little we stop serving
our master. This is why God got angry with them. All sorts of evil stem from
laziness and lethargy, including unnatural behaviour, pleasure seeking,
unlawful sexual conduct and deviant lifestyles.
Now we come to realize why God
flooded them with so many Do’s and Don’ts for them to keep busy and active to
serve HIM, the practicality of it has profound change on the human nature. One
must be constantly active, aware, vigilant to analyze his own behaviour at all
times.
RAMCHAL says there are 2
methods necessary for one who wishes to oversee his conduct. On the one hand he
must ponder what constitutes the true good that he should choose and the true
evil he must flee from. Overseeing his deeds also and their performance in the
present and in the past.
For the present – he should
weigh out his actions that he is to immediately perform to see that the
decision or act is good and will bring righteousness to his path. For the deeds
of the past – he should recall and reflect all of his deeds and weigh them for
cleansing before HaShem.
The reason why God sent a
plague after they ate and even with the Meat still between their teeth was
because saw that even after showing his providence they refused to be in
Awareness of the state that they are in, they were eating the meat without
remorse and in darkness of their state and heart. So effectively Aharon was not
able to raise their Neshemah and light it as a lamp towards HaShem. And so in the case
of Miriam and Aharon, God had to remind them about how precious Moses was to
Him. God does not tolerate Evil speech – it is the root of all evils and
the corruption of the Image and likeness of God Himself. Some references for us to read Mark 13:33-36 and Luke 21:34-36 Ephesians
6:8-18 Hebrews 13:17 1 Thessalonians 4:4
and 1 Peter 5:8
מדת הזריזות
The attribute of Zerizut is
tied around the performance of Avodah and responsiveness. Zerizut simply
means to be prepared, ready and have alacrity to perform any instructions,
commandments without hesitation, The reason for this is that just as one
requires great incisiveness and foresight to escape the traps of the evil
inclination and to flee evil – thereby preventing its domination over us and it
permeation of our deeds. One likewise needs great insight and foresight to
grasp the mitzvos and to fulfil them without losing any opportunity. Notice how
Human nature is embedded in Lethargy, since the physical element of the flesh
is formed from the dust of the ground and is coarse in essence and cannot rise
easily compared to Spirit. This is why by default man is not really
enthusiastic about effort, work and Avodah, he constantly needs relaxation and
vacation time, by this because he will be able to serve his creator, therefore
a person must overcome his nature to be able to be in a place of complete
constant rejuvenation to bring the aspect of Effort, Work Avodah and must not
waste time – for it will be accounted for.
Therefore being ready,
enthusiastic and prepared for doing anything in life is very very important, it
all starts with being aware and vigilant of where we are going, if we get
darkened in our path then we will fall back into a lax nature and pursue
pleasure, become lethargic and move very far away from the kingdom of God.
Aharon was given a task and an
important role it was a 24 hour job, the levites were tasked with the temple
service 24x7 without letting up – shifts and rotations were planned for a
yearly basis, there was no slacking allowed in the Avodah of the Temple. This is the reason
Why the Levites were consecrated for their role in their myriad processes in
the temple, each one to his purpose and deed. It takes a lot of effort to keep
and maintain sanctity and cleanness – to be away from the world and the worldly
ways of life that pursues pleasure and Dullness of spirit.
Now we come to realize the
importance of the Commandments God had ordered them to do – not because our
Neshemah requires it – but it is our Physical body that required it – it has to
be elevated and brought into rejuvenation through the Spirit. God saw in the
Torah that Man was not able to rise to the occasion and bring himself to
perfect Zehirut and Zerizut – that he had to send Yeshua our Messiah to
overcome and to achieve – therefore paving the way for us to salvation,
moreover Yeshua said he will never leave us alone – but will give us his Holy
Spirit as a councillor and Guide to lighten the lamp in each of us for Avodah
and work in service of our master.
Let us redeem the time as it
says in Ephesians 5:14-17 “ Wherefore he saith, awake thou who sleepest, and
arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee Light, See then that ye walk
circumspectly not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days
are evil.
There is much to learn from
this Parashat in a much deeper level – but whatever we read in the Brit
CHadashah ( NT) must be rooted and founded in the Torah – the new testament is
not a standalone collection of epistles written by the apostles, but rooted and
grounded in the Torah
Reading Colossians 3:22-23 Matthew 19:17 Matthew 23:3 Revelations 3:3
Our Lord Yeshua lived his life
on earth with perfect vigilance and Alacrity therefore he became the first to
overcome the human nature – so be it unto us to be like him.
Shabbat Shalom and Have a
wonderful weekend
so much clearer and enlightening . TQ
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