Beha'alotka
This parsha ends with the famous critique of Moses by Miriam and Aaron: "Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?" Miriam is punished by God with tza'arat. Moses says nothing.
In an earlier passage Joshua hurls a related critique at Moses. The people complain about a lack of meat. Moses calls to God for assistance. God replies that Moses should gather 70 elders at the Tent of Meeting and that God will "draw upon the spirit that is on you and put it upon them; they shall share the burden of the people with you, and you shall not bear it alone." The elders gather and the spirit is somehow distributed amongst them. Two elders, Eldad and Medad (two additional or two of the seventy-it's unclear) remain in camp and begin to prophesize. Moses, with Joshua at his side, is summoned and Joshua interjects, "My Lord Moses, restrain them!" Moses scolds Joshua: "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord put His spirit upon them!"
Moses quickly defends Eldad and Medad, but he is entirely silent when Miriam criticizes him! God punishes Miriam, but does nothing following Joshua's similar criticism. Isn't Joshua's critique as worthy of punishment as Miriam's?
What is different about the critiques of Joshua and Miriam/Aaron? Joshua defends Moses' status; Miriam and Aaron challenge Moses' status, and they challenge the manner in which God chooses to make God's will known.
In Richard Friedman's commentary on the Torah he points out that when Aaron pleads with Moses to intercede with God on behalf of Miriam, Aaron defers to Moses calling him "my lord." Friedman notes that only other occasion in which Aaron refers to Moses this way is during the episode of the Golden Calf. In both instances Aaron is humbled and his language indicates it. We see when Joshua addresses Moses in the Eldad and Medad episode, he too addresses Moses as "my lord". Joshua's critique is couched in humility, in full deference to Moses and by extension in full deference to God.
It is no accident that the two critiques by Joshua and Miriam/Aaron are separated by the culmination of the story of the people's complaint about meat. God causes a month's worth of quail to fall. The people eat so much that they are poisoned by the meat and die. "That place was named Kibroth-hattaavah [lit. 'graves of craving], because the people who had the craving were buried there."
There are physical cravings and spiritual cravings. Both have the capacity to injure and to kill. What's the medicine that protects Moses from craving? What protects Joshua? What spiritual strength does Aaron embrace to save his sister? The answer is humility. To be humble is not always easy - for even our great prophets Miriam and Aaron lacked it at times. Humility is the trait most associated with Moses and is perhaps the most valuable for us to try and emulate.
No comments:
Post a Comment