Rabbi Binyamin Yuhanan Parshat Beha'alotecha 2

verse 10 tells us another time when trumpets are sounded on a day of your gladness in happy times and on your festivals and on your new moons you shall sound the trumpets over your elevation offerings and over your Feast peace offerings so from here we know that in betamic dash they would also sound the the trumpets different Trumpets from Moshe um on every holiday and rosh hodesh now in verse 11 the Jewish people start their travels for the first time they are leaving Mount Sinai it was in the second year in the second month on the 20th of the month 20th of ER almost a year after they arrived the cloud was lifted from upon the Tabernacle of testimony page 785 the children of Israel journeyed on their Journeys from the Wilderness of Sinai and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran they journeyed for the first time at the bidding of Hashem through motion first the camp of Yehuda journeyed then in verse 17 the Tabernacle was taken down and the sons of Garrison and mirari carried parts of the Tabernacle then journeyed the camp of ruven and after the second Camp journeyed the children of kehat the Levites that were carrying the most holy articles from the mishkan and by the time they would arrive the children of Gershon and mirari who traveled earlier would already assemble the mishkan and when the kohatites come they would bring the holy Ark directly into the kodoshakodashim and the menorah and the shulhan and the golden altar they would bring it in the into the assembled mishkan then the third Camp traveled the camp of Ephraim and then traveled the fourth Camp the try the the camp of done and of course each Camp had three tribes together 12 tribes and the Levites were dispersed between them carrying the mishkan now verse 29 Moshe invites hitro to join the nation right before they start traveling Moshe comes to Israel and says you're welcome to travel with us Moshe said which is another name of yutra son of roof then the midianite the father-in-law of Moshe we are Journey journeying to the place of which Hashem has said I shall give it to you go with us and we shall treat you well but he said I shall not go I will go to my land and to my family page 787. and Moshe said to him please do not forsake us and it shall be that if you come with us then with the goodness with which Hashem will benefit us we will do good to you and it doesn't say what happened however in a different place the Torah says that he draw actually left he went in to his family to median to try to convert them to Judaism and he was partially successful and the children of Heathrow remained friendly with the Jewish people for many centuries after that they helped each other they protected each other now verse 33 on page 787 the Torah describes to us three sins that the Jewish people made as soon as they left uh Mount Sinai the first one was they journeyed from the mountain of Hashem that itself is a sin how is that a sin Hashem told them you should journey and the answer is because they left the mountain happily running away from it as little children are running away from the classroom for a recess showing thereby that they're more interested in The Recess than in learning so too when the Jewish people were given permission to leave they showed that they're so excited yes they were going to the land of Israel but you are leaving the mountain upon which God appeared to you and give you the Torah and taught you so much wisdom you're leaving his presence you're going into the land of Israel and you will live a normal life as all the other nations and you're happy about it that was SIN number one they journeyed from the mountain of Hashem a three-day distance for three days they walked and the Ark of the Covenant of Hashem journeyed before them a three-day distance to search out for them a resting place The Cloud of Hashem was over them by Night by day when they journeyed from the camp now verse 35 and 36 if you look in the Hebrew side have before them and after them and upside down noon later noon as similar to to what we use as parentheses parenthesis means that it doesn't belong here it's a by the way statement but really it can be put in a different place and that signifies that the these two verses really belong somewhere else but they were put here on purpose where they don't belong why in order to separate between the first sin and the second and third because we have a rule that if three things come see consequently one after another they create they create a certain habit a certain given that has to continue and the Torah doesn't want to describe three sins that the Jewish people performed one after another because sense for Jewish people are not something natural since for the Jewish people are not part of them and therefore we don't want to describe Jewish people as sinners and we break their sinful Behavior by some verses that don't belong them what do these verses say when the ark would Journey Moshe said arise Hashem and and let your enemies be scattered let those who hate you flee from before you that's what Moshe said as the cloud would rise and when it rested Moshe would say reside tranquily or Hashem among the Myriad thousands of Israel this these are the verses that we say when we take out the Torah from the ark and when we bring it back these two verses are also considered as a separate book of the Torah and therefore the the book of Umar is really composed of three books up to verse 34. that's book one verse 35 and 36 that's book two and from chapter 11 verse 1 until the end of the book that is book three so according to this instead of five books of motion we have seven books of motion but of course that uh is not the usual way we count it we usually say we have five books of motion now chapter 11 verse 1 we go to the second sin of the Jewish people the people took to seeking complaints it was evil in the ears of Hashem and his wrath flared we're now on page and fire Hashem burned against them what Hashem hates the most is complainers complaining is hateful in God's eyes when a person complains Hashem says you complain about that I'll give you a reason to complain just like when the Jewish people complained about the land of Israel and they said God the land that you give to us is not so good we don't want it Hashem said oh you're complaining okay you're not gonna go there I'm gonna keep you in the desert for 39 years until you all die and only your children who didn't complain will be allowed to go to the land of Israel so we have to avoid complaints at all costs whether complaining in our own mind complaining with our words to other people or complaining to God all these things are forbidden and harmful a person should be thankful a person has to be optimistic happy always looking at what God does to him for him all the benefits that we have and not look at Minor Details that did not go the way we want we have to say probably they were not good for me probably Hashem has better plan for me and plus I have a million and one things that I have to thank Hashem before I can ever think about complaining so the fire consumed at the edge of the camp the people cried out to motion more so pray to Hashem and the fire died down and they named the place Tavera which means burning for the fire of Hashem had burned against them it does not say how many people died but people did die now the the next complaint the rabble that was among them cultivated the Crave craving and said who will feed us meat we want meat what did they eat until now until now as we read earlier they eat man matzah that they took out lasted for one month and then they received month and already for over a year they are eating delicious man but they are complaining and they say we don't want man we want meat we remember the fish that we ate in Egypt the Cucumbers the melons leeks onions and garlic but now we have nothing to anticipate by the man and now the Torah comes to the defense of man and how good it was verse 7 now the man was like Korean their seed in its shape it was round little balls and its color was like the color of the bedola which some say was crystal or diamond it was crystal clear or some say it was white and uh it looked beautiful it was like frost on the surface of the Earth people would stroll and gather it they would walk easily pleasantly on a cool morning in the desert and gather mon as much as they needed for that day and they could grind it in a mill or pound it in a mortar or cook it in a pot or make it into cakes or they could eat it raw and it tasted when when eaten raw like dough kneaded with oil in another place it is compared to dough fried in honey which means man could be prepared in any way or it could be eaten raw and it was delicious and any taste that you wanted it to taste it had it only depended on your thoughts if you thought about steak it tasted like steak if you thought about bread it tasted like bread if you thought about ice cream it tasted like ice cream so what were they complaining about and what they were complaining about was that they didn't want to use their mind they wanted to just enjoy like an animal enjoys just to put the steak into my mouth and let the juice drip and let me enjoy like a lion enjoys a piece of Flesh without using my mind and Hashem of course expected more from the Jewish people we are a holy nation even when we eat we're supposed to eat with our mind we have to be thinking about it and in enjoying the food and imagining whatever we would like to eat at that moment now verse 10 describes the third sin of the Jewish people again the first thing was that they ran away from Mount Sinai as if they don't want to hear anymore from God the second sin was that they were complaining first complained um it says they were just seeking complaints and Hashem punish them and then they started complaining about food they don't want money they want meat now the third sin is the people verse 10 Moshe heard the people weeping in their family groups here from the words family groups we learn what they were crying about they were crying about the fact that they had to have their families and they could not marry some people who were forbidden to them they were crying about forbidden relations forbidden marriages before the Torah was given many more marriages were permitted now all of a sudden I cannot marry my aunt I cannot marry a woman who I divorced and she married someone else and then she got divorced second time I can no longer marry my first wife I cannot marry a sister of my wife even if I divorce my wife and so on and so forth many marriages became forbidden and they're crying and the wrath of Hashem flared greatly and Moshe said to Hashem you place the burden of this entire people upon me page 791 I alone cannot carry this entire nation for it is too heavy for me they are complainers they don't appreciate it's difficult they fight with me verse 16 Hashem said to Moshe I'll help you gather to me 70 men from the Elders of Israel and they shall bury the bear the burden of the people with you these are the 70 elders who became the Sanhedrin the the high court of the Jewish people and verse 18 to the people you shall say tomorrow you shall eat meat for an entire month of days until it comes out of your nose and becomes nauseating to you because you have rejected Hashem Hashem says I'm gonna give you meat I'm gonna give you so much meat that you're gonna eat and stuff yourself until it's gonna come out from your noses page 793 Moshe said Moshe doubts it and says to Hashem 600 000 foot soldiers 600 000 families three million people other people yet you say I shall give them meat and they shall eat for a whole month where are you gonna get so much meat so that is a very difficult uh to understand how can Moshe question hashem's abilities doesn't Hashem feed the entire universe the entire World animals Birds insects people plants why can't Hashem feed three million people so what Moshe is really saying is that whatever you do they will not be satisfied anyway you give the meat they're gonna say we want poetry you give them poetry they'll say we want fish you give them fish they say I want this and that and then the other they will always find what to complain about Hashem said to Moshe is the hand of Hashem limited now you will see whether my word comes to pass or not now Moshe gathers the 70 elders Moshe gathered 70 men from among the elders and had them stand around the tent Hashem descended in a cloud and he increased some of the spirit that was upon Moshe and gave it to the 70 men and when the spirit rested upon them they prophesized however verse 26 two men remained behind in the campus they were two uh humble and they said who are we that we should become part of the Sanhedrin of the highest court they were their names were eldad and made and the midrash tells us that they were actually half Brothers of Moshe but moshe's mother you have it gave birth to them from a different husband and they prophesied in the camp and someone informed Moshe that two people are prophesizing the camp and Moshe invited them on with honor to join the Sanhedrin uh verse 31. the quail is brought by the wind a wind went forth from Hashem and blue quail from the sea and spread them over the camp page 795 the people rose up all the day and the night and the next day and gathered up the quail each one gathered 10 piles of quail and they spread them out to dry around the camp the meat was still between their teeth not yet chewed when the wrath of Hashem flared out against the people and Hashem struck a very Mighty blow against the people eat the quail and they die they are punished and they bury Buried there they there they buried the people who had been craving and they named the place kivratatava which means the burial place of Desire the people journeyed to hadse Road and they remained in hadzeroth so for a whole month people were eating Quail some of them died right at the beginning some of them enjoyed the quail a little longer and some of them lasted for a whole month depending on their righteousness but eventually everyone who complained died now chapter 12 Miriam and ahron speak la chonara against Moshe and they challenge moshe's uniqueness Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moshe regarding the woman whom he married because he married sippora she's called cushite woman she was from median and they were surprised why did Moshe divorce her was it only to Moshe that Hashem spoke did he not speak to us as well they were uh surprised why is Moshe behaving as if he's so holy that he can't even be married we also holy we also prophets we're still married and Hashem heard now the man Moshe was exceedingly humble more than any person on the face of the Earth and Hashem descended in a pillar of cloud verse 5 and he summoned aharon and Miriam and the two of them went out and he said here now my words if there shall be prophets among you if you compare Moshe to any other prophet in the vision shall I come any other Prophet sees Hashem through a vision in a dream shall I speak to him not so my servant motion page 797. in my entire house he is the trusted one mouth to mouth do I speak with him in a Clear Vision not in riddles and the at the image of Hashem does he gaze the difference between other prophets and Moshe is that other prophets can only prophesize when they're in a trance when they're meditating when they are out they're sleeping they receive a dream a vision however more share can prophesize and speak to God while he's standing while he is awake fully awake he can talk to people and to Hashem and back to people and back to Hashem why did you not fear to speak against my servant Moshe Moshe is a different level of profit if I need to speak to one of you I make an appointment and you can prepare and it happens once in a while but tomorrow I speak constantly unannounced I can just appear and talk to him and Moshe can turn to me and start speaking to me and therefore Moshe has to be pure and ready at all times and we know that a man who has relations with a woman becomes impure for one day and for that day Moshe will not be able to speak to me and he is my Messenger to the people that means for that entire day people will be missing out on my message and therefore Moshe did the right thing that he separated himself from his wife the cloud had departed from a topped attempt and behold Miriam was afflicted with Sarat like snow her body was covered with white Sarat that is the punishment for La Sonora aharon said to Moshe I beg you my Lord we have been foolish and we have sinned let her not be like corpse Moshi cried out to Hashem saying please God heal her now and she was healed however after being healed the mitsura has to wait seven days so verse 15 Miriam was quarantined outside the camp for seven days and the people did not Journey until Miriam was brought in then the people journeyed from hadse Road and they encamped in the wilderness of Paran from here we learned that even about your relative who you love even about your brother even by a person who is as righteous as Miriam who loves her brother and wants to do what's right she's only rebuking Moshe because she feels that Moshi is making a mistake and she's doing it gently to her own brother aharon not in front of people and still she is punished so much and the wrath of Hashem flares up against them how much more so when lashon Hara bad speech is spoken out of hatred with the desire to put a person down and hurt him and it's spoken in front of others how much we have to be afraid not to say anything negative this concludes parashat thank you for joining me have a great Shabbat