B’haaloscha בהעלתך – Rejoice in His Strength

In parshas B’haaloscha Mariam complains about Moshe because he separated himself from his wife Tsipora. Rashi explains that the word used in the Chumash תדבר is the language of speaking harshly. He brings as an example that the brothers of Yosef said that the lord of the land spoke דבר to them harshly. She adds that Hashem does not speak exclusively to Moshe rather he speaks and listens to both her and her brother Aharon.

Hashem then suddenly appears and strongly rebukes her. He explains that unlike other prophets He does not appear to Moshe in a vision with hints, rather He speaks to him directly and can rely upon him concerning all matters. Going to the heart of the issue, the Holy One, blessed be He, asks why they were not afraid of My servant Moshe? G-d then strikes Mariam with leprosy for a week.

The issue here does not seem to be whether Moshe acted properly in sending his wife away. Difficulties are raised and explanations are given. Rather the issue seems to be that Mariam should have been intimidated by Moshe and she was not. Rashi explains that the servant of a king is like the king. Therefore she should have feared Moshe the same way she would fear a king. In addition Moshe’s abilities and achievements were overwhelming therefore she should have feared him because of this aspect as well.

One of the things that the Powers that be ask for is that Israel should fear them. The Gemara brings nightmares and thunder as examples of things creations that were created so man would fear G-d and brings the verse, “I knew that everything that G-d made, that will be forever; we cannot add to it, nor can we subtract from it; and G-d made it so that they should fear Him, (Ecclesiastics 3:14). The simple intent is that when we see that it is not within our power to change anything that G-d has done, it inspires fear, because, we recognize how lowly and weak we are.

At times the Tanakh presents G-d as a murder and a thug and jealous and vengeful as well. When King Solomon asks for an understanding heart (see Radak on 1 Kings 3:9), G-d is very pleased with the request. In granting it He comments that Shlomo could have asked for many things among them the life of his enemies. In delivering an unpopular message to the masses, Jeremiah expresses confidence that those persecuting him with fall and be permanently humiliated because, “Hashem was with him like a cruel, intimidating strongman (כגבור עריץ),” (Yirmiyahu 20:11). In regards to our parsha the idea is that to a certain extent Moshe Rabenu should be viewed as a butler to a mobster and even a bit of a mobster himself. As a result one should be cautious and a little bit afraid of criticizing him.

There is a tendency to view religion as a lovable stuffed animal and as a doting grandfather. For children this is fine, but for an adult it is naïve. One who studies the Torah deeply and carefully observes the world sees that there are real tragedies, many times of our own making. Sometimes Hashem will frighten us with a burst of thunder or even strike a tzadik with leprosy for a full week. In this way he lets us know that just like the joy and beauty promised in the Torah comes to the righteous so too does the threatened evil come to the wicked. Ultimately the faithful take pride in the fact that their king is a powerful king and rejoice in his strength.

לע"נ, הדוד ,לייב הערש בן אהרון ז"ל נלב"ע י"ז תמוז תשל"ב

Acknowledgements to websites: תורת אמת, וויקיטקסט, http://dictionary.reference.com/, http://hebrewbooks.org/,

וגם בדואר אלקטרוני  ניתן באתר http://dyschreiber.blogspot.co.il