B'haalotecha 5784
B'haalotecha 5784
This week we had the pleasure of being in a part of New England where the temperatures were not excruciatingly hot. It’s lovely to live near the water. In California, it is now the season for a different climate reality – forest and other fires due to the extreme heat.
In our Torah reading for this Shabbat we find that the encampment in the wilderness suffered a fire on its outskirts. In the literal sense, the Torah states that Hashem was incensed by the constant complaining and bickering amongst the people, and so God gave them something to complain and worry about. As with any fire in any community, one of the greatest fears was that the fire spread inward into the encampment itself.
In an allegorical sense the commentaries suggest that the fire was not the fire associated with forest fires. Rather, the fire was in the hearts of those who were on the fringe, not accepting with hope the possibilities of one day entering the Promised Land. They instead focused on the fact that they were missing the tastes of food that they remembered from Egypt. They missed the life they had, rather than moving forward with possibilities.
The Torah calls these people “mitonenim,” complainers. The Hebrew word מתאננים, according to several commentaries, is formed from the word אונן, onen. An onen is someone who has just experienced a death in their nuclear family. They are not yet mourners, since their dead have not yet been buried.
They were mourning their fate, no different than one who has lost a loved one will be saddened and offer words that can be taken as complaining. “I wish my loved one was still here. I cannot go on without my loved one. Life will be without meaning. I am lost. What will I do next?”
In the case of the Israelites, Ibn Ezra states that now that they had left Mt. Sinai and were on their journey, all they could sense was the loss of the grandeur of the moment. They “found themselves in the vast terrifying wilderness, they made themselves uncomfortable. They said, "What will we do, how will we live in this wilderness? What will we eat and drink? How can we handle this oppression? When will we leave [this wilderness]?” (Ibn Ezra)
Ibn Ezra goes on in analyzing their situation by saying: “Since the text says that the people were in pain and sorrow, it mentions and tells us their sin [explicitly], as they were speaking from the bitterness of their souls like people who are in pain do.”
Most therapists will recognize their pain. But unlike Ibn Ezra, they will understand that at the moment we experience a loss, be it a loved one or being situational, there is an emotional loss that one must go through. One must, so to speak, “walk through the valley,” to then be able to experience the pleasure that awaits them.
How often do we find a new chapter or a new experience in our lives, that while it may not surpass what we had, will have its own merits that will bring joy into our lives! Notice I did not end the sentence with a question mark. I ended it with an exclamation point.
Some of the Israelites were focused on the past and a negative outlook for the future, and the narrative at this moment points them out. They could not see “the forest beyond the trees.”
It is no different than how news reporters will broadcast an event that is happening such as fire or a flood. What they neglect to share is that it may be localized. Those who have been to Israel recently, as well as some of my friends sharing what is really happening in Israel, often share the truth of how localized the situation which is being reported as wide spread and all-encompassing is. The only time they truly have gotten it accurate is the tragedy of October 7th.
While the NY Times has often become one sided negatively against Israel, related to the food shortage and aid entering Gaza, this week that actually refocused on the truths. In their article on Wednesday, they shared how much of the aid is not getting through, not because of Israel, but because of Egypt and Hamas. While they share that Israel is rather cautious of the supplies entering because some of the trucks have supplies for Hamas, and some of the aid workers are Hamas and their sympathizers in disguise, it is a lot too late in their reporting. What they and other news outlets have created is a worldwide outbreak of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism that will reverberate for decades to come. But hopefully, there will be a positive outlook down the road.
Our Torah reading is sharing with us how to assess a situation. There was a rabbi in Talmudic times who was known as Rabbi Gam Zu L’tova.” He would always respond in this fashion: “gam zu t’tova,” this too will also be for good. One just has to wait for the outcome to play out. In our own congregation we have witnessed that reality these past few Shabbatot, as so many of you joined together with us to enjoy each other’s company.
May we experience many more, and hopefully not too long in the distant future, in a place we call home.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi K
Sun, July 20 2025
24 Tammuz 5785
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