Hello friends! Welcome, once again, to Torah Thoughts from Adas Israel the Jewish Congregation of Northern Iowa, based in Mason City. Glad you are with us. A reminder that June services will happen on Friday the 23rd at 7:00PM and our Midrash (Study) will take place on Shabbat the 24th starting at 10:00AM. The Parsha we'll be studying is Korach (Num. 16 - 18). Just a "heads up".
This Week
This week we read Parsha Be'halot'cha which is the Hebrew word "when you go up" or "when you ascend". "Hashem spoke to Moses saying, Speak to Aaron and when he goes up to kindle toward the face of the Menorah..."(Num. 8 1-2) What is interesting is that we read this after we learn about the duties of each of the other tribes. Now Hashem had left out the Tribe of Levi and Aaron, say the rabbis, was a bit upset that his tribe had nothing to do. So G-d set them apart to not only do the work in the tabernacle but also to light the great Menorah...and in doing so spreading the light of Torah to all of the people. It was a pretty big deal.
Free Food?
This week we learn about how the people complained about their food. Yes, they were getting manna from heaven but...there was a but: “We remember the fish that we used to eat in Egypt for free” (Num. 11:5) and then the verse lists all the vegetables they remembered eating. This isn’t the first time the people complained at moments of crisis, one of the first things they would say was that they were better off as slaves in Egypt, even though they were now free and had experienced all these great miracles.
The commentaries ask, what did they mean by saying the fish was “for free”? They didn’t get anything for free; they were slaves. Pharaoh didn’t even provide them with building materials – they had to find their own straw. Who gave them food for free?
The Ramban gives a very practical answer and says that the Jewish slaves worked as fishermen in Egypt, and the extra fish caught in the nets were given to the slaves to eat. So, technically, they did get surplus fish for free from their masters. So, in a way it was "free" but the payment was being a slave.
But Wait!!
Why did they focus on the fact that it was free? The manna from heaven was also free; it
landed from the sky and they ate it without having to pay for it. What, then, did they mean by chinam, “for free”?
Rashi, quoting the Midrash, says that in Egypt, they could eat “free from keeping mitzvot”. They had not yet been given the Torah, and even though they were slaves, they were “free” from the duties of the commandments. So, although on the surface they were complaining about the food, what they were really complaining about was their having to keep the commandments of the Torah. When the people complained, they demonstrated that they viewed the mitzvot as a burden and that they wanted to be free of them.
We Decide
This is a very interesting question. How do we view the commandments? Are they a burden that holds us back or do they add meaning, value and purpose to our lives?
I can't tell you how many times over the past 40 years I've been asked about that. "What? You must do XYZ? Isn't that awfully restrictive?" The bigger question should be, "Do we relate to the commandments (613 by the way) as a way to get closer to G-d? My answer would be...yes!
The Torah was given as a guidebook of right and wrong and what is G-d’s will, but G-d gave it to us so that we could enjoy this world. To demonstrate the point, Rav Yerucham quotes: “Keep My decrees and laws so that a person may do them and live by them.” (Lev. 18:5)
The commentaries on this verse ask, what does it mean for a person to do the commandments and “live by them”? The Torah was given to us to enable us to live optimally in this world and to derive the maximum joy out of it. The commandments are not only about what is right and wrong, and receiving reward in the World to Come. Rather, G-d structured the world in such a way that, through the mitzvot, we can enjoy this world to the fullest.
We could explain to people who have never experienced Shabbat that our day of rest is a day of restrictions: we can’t cook, we can’t drive, and we can’t do this, that or the other. Or, we can show them how, amazingly, the laws of what we may or may not do on Shabbat create an island of peace and tranquility, of family bonding and enjoyment.
Shabbat then becomes a day of inspiration and calm. It gives us more than 24 hours without cell phones, without interruptions, without having to drive anywhere or run any errands. So, although one might think Shabbat is about restrictions, it actually gives us temporary relief from the stresses of everyday life.
Joy in Mitzvot
Shabbat is just one example. Let's look at the restrictions about food. Jews are not permitted to eat shellfish. Take oysters. I was recently on assignment in Nevada and there at the hotel was a oyster bar. People that I knew were raving about the quality of the oysters and how wonderful they were. Me? I had no desire because in not chowing down on them...I was honoring Hashem. Which, in a much deeper way, was much more important than sharing in the "joy of oysters".
It's all how we view our duty to always, in every way...honor the Master of the Universe.
Thank you for reading and Shabbat Shalom!!
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