Weekly Parsha

Refuah Sheimah: Yehuda Baruch ben Sarah, Stephen Waczkiewicz (Shimon ben Sarah), Yossefa (Josie) "bat Sharon", Rafael ben Gladis e Esther Bracha "bat Sarah".

Continue praying for: Teddy Welz, Miriam (Mariana) "bat Zulay", Adina (Heidi) "bat Sarah" e Yosefa (Josie) "bat Sharon".

Beha'alotecha

Numbers 8:1 -12:16

Beha'alotecha (בְּהַעֲלֹתְךָ‎ — Hebrew for "when you step up," the 11th word, and the first distinctive word, in the parashah) is the 36th weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה‎, parasha) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the third in the Book of Numbers.

Aharon is commanded in the lighting of the Menorah, the Levites purify themselves for service in the Tabernacle (they trained from age 25-30 and served from age 30-50). The first Pesach is celebrated since leaving Egypt. The Almighty instructs the Jewish people to journey into the desert whenever the ever-present cloud lifts from above the Tabernacle and to camp where it rests. Moshe is instructed to make two silver trumpets to be sounded before battle or to proclaim a Yom Tov (a holiday).

The people journey to the wilderness of Paran during which time they rebelled twice against the Almighty's leadership. The second time they complain about the boring taste of the maneh and the lack of meat in the desert. The Almighty sends a massive quantity of quail and those who rebelled died.

Moshe asks his father-in-law, Yitro (Jethro) to travel with them in the desert, but Yitro returns to Midian.

Miriam, Moshe's sister, speaks lashon hara (defaming words) about Moshe. She is struck with tzora'as (the mystical skin disease which indicated that a person spoke improperly about another person) and is exiled from the camp for one week.

Miriam, Moshe's sister, heard from Moshe's wife, Tzipora, that Moshe had separated himself from her (so that he, Moshe, could receive a prophecy from the Almighty at any time).  Miriam felt that Moshe's behavior was improper, since both she and her brother, Aharon, both carried on their respective married lives, yet received prophecy.  Miriam related her feelings to her brother, Aharon.

"And Miriam and Aharon spoke against Moshe because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman. And they said, 'Has God spoken only with Moshe? Has he not spoken also with us?' And the Lord heard. But the man Moshe was very humble, more than all the men that were upon the face of the earth" (Numbers 12:1-3).

The Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, writes (Shmirat Halashon 2:18) that from these verses we learn a number of principles concerning lashon hara, the laws regarding defamatory speech:

1) The prohibition against speaking lashon hara applies even when the person spoken against is very humble and does not mind if others speak against him.  For this reason, immediately after Moshe was spoken against, the Torah states that he was humble.

2) Even if you have done many favors for another person, it does not give you the right to speak against him. Miriam helped save Moshe's life when he was an infant, but was still punished for her lashon hara.

3) The prohibition against lashon hora applies even if you do not publicize the lashon hara, but only relate it to one person, and that person is a relative who will not repeat it to anyone else. Miriam told the lashon hara only to her brother Aharon who would not publicize it.

4) If you say about a truly great man that his behavior would only be proper if he were on a higher level, but on his present level his behavior is improper, it is considered lashon hara.  Miriam felt that Moshe was wrong for separating himself from his wife.  She erred, however, since Moshe's level of prophecy was such that at any moment G-d could communicate with him and his abstention was proper.

Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself. It means thinking of yourself less.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Tank

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Rabbi Tank is a professor at the American Jewish College, where he teaches classes on Talmud, Jewish History, and Contemporary Jewish Law. Rabbi Tank is dedicated to finding modern utility and meaning in ancient wisdom texts and is pleased to provide spiritual, cultural, social and educational programming to communities around the world. 

Rabbi Tank was educated at Yeshivas in New York and Miami. He studied Biblical Archeology at Bar Ilan University and Jewish Studies at Harvard University. Rabbi Tank has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and he is also graduated in International Economic Development from the University of Oxford. 

Rabbi Tank is a Jewish Chaplain actively involved in peace negotiations and relief operations. Rabbi Tank is the director of international affairs at the World Jewish Confederation headquarters in New York and He is member of the White House National Religious Leaders , an Executive Office of the President of the United States in Washington, D.C.

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