Parshat Chukat

Elazar's New Clothes

In this week's parsha God tells both Moshe and Aharon that they "will not bring this assembly to the Land which I have given them" (Bemidbar 20:12).

Soon afterwards, Aharon dies on Mount Hor. However, immediately beforehand, God tells Moshe to "Strip Aaron of his garments and dress Elazar his son with them" (ibid 26).

There are other similar examples in the Bible of someone dressing another in his clothes.

When David volunteered to fight Goliath he was not a soldier and had no armor. Therefore King "Saul dressed David with his garments, and he placed a copper helmet on his head, and he dressed him with a coat of mail (I Shmuel 17:38). David however, was unaccustomed to the heaviness of the armor and so removed it as he thought it would hinder him in battle.

Another example is that Eliyahu (Elijah) the prophet. God had told him that his service was over and that he was to appoint Elisha to replace him. "He found Elisha, the son of Shafat, as he was plowing…and Elijah went over to him and threw his mantle over him" (I Melachim 19:19).

In all these cases, a second person is wearing the clothes of another. The meaning is clear. The person wearing the new clothes is inheriting the previous owner's role. In the case of David and Saul, we see that David was not yet ready to take over, but nevertheless, by Saul giving David his clothes was perhaps an unconscious symbolic act that David would eventually succeed him.

This issue was highly important in the ancient world. In today's world we all know what our leaders look like. With photographs, newspapers television and the electronic media, we can recognize them even when they are not in their officiating robes. Indeed, perhaps for this reason officiating robes are becoming less important.

However, in the ancient world, most people did not now what their leader or officials looked like. Therefore, the leaders and their representatives needed symbols that would affirm their authority in the eyes of the people

On the whole, the symbol that gave the person the authority was their robes. When an Israelite saw David in Saul's armor, he would have recognized him as the king as he would have recognized the official robes not the person wearing them.

Therefore, clothes in the ancient world were an important symbol of authority. Hence, when Moshe dresses Elazar in Aharon's clothes, all Israel would now recognize him as the High Priest and the inheritor of Aharon.

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat Chukat, entitled: "The Deadly Serpents" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2008/07/parshat-chukat-deadly-serpents-while.html

Another Sedra Short on Parshat Chukat, entitled: "How Red was the Red Heifer?" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007/06/parshat-chukkat-how-red-was-red-heifer.html

A further Sedra Short on Parshat Chukat, entitled: "The Red Heifer and Sefer Bemidbar" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006/06/parshat-chukat-red-heifer-and-sefer.html

Parshat Behalotecha

The Prophecy of Moshe

Towards the end of this week's parsha, Miriam and Aharon seem to be jealous of Moshe's special status. Miriam complains: "Has the Lord spoken only to Moses? Hasn't He spoken to us too?" (Bemidbar 12:2)

God explains to them that Moshe's prophecy was unique amongst prophets: "If there be prophets among you, the Lord will make Myself known to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream not so is My servant Moshe …With him I speak mouth to mouth; in a vision and not in riddles (ibid 6-8).

These pesukim give us an interesting insight into prophecy. God did not speak to the prophets directly. He appeared in visions, dreams and riddles.

We see this very clearly with Yaakov, when he dreamt about the ladder going up to the heavens with the angels descending an ascending. This was also the case with Yoseph and his dreams. It seems that even Avraham saw many of his prophecies in dreams. For example, immediately after being told to offer up his son, the passuk writes: "Avraham arose early in the morning" (Bereshit 22:3). This implies that Avraham received the message in a dream. This was also certainly the case with Bilam.

Isaiah speaks of his vision, Ezekiel describes a strange tempest, a creature with four heads and tries to decipher it, while Jeremiah speaks of how the word came to him.

All this implies that the prophets needed to interpret their dreams. Indeed, we know that Yoseph interpreted his own dreams incorrectly. Gideon was so uncertain as to his messages that he kept on giving God tests to see if they were for real.

Different prophets had different levels of clarity and different skills of interpretation.

This was not the case with Moshe. God spoke to him face to face. His message was clear and unambiguous. Indeed, he is the only prophet (with specific exceptions) that the Torah uses the word "daber" – "speak", when God spoke with them. The best other prophets got was the word "emor" – "say.

Therefore not only was Miriam criticism out of place, it was totally wrong.

Last years' Sedra Short on Parshat Beha'alotecha, entitled: "Moshe's Response to the Complaints" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2008/06/parshat-behaalotecha-moshes-response-to.html

Another Sedra Short on Parshat Beha'alotecha, entitled: "Moshe's Leadership" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007/05/parshat-behaalotecha-moshes-leadership.html

A further Sedra Short on Parshat Beha'alotecha, entitled: "The Incident at Tav'era" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006/06/parshat-behalotecha-incident-at-tavera.html

Parshat Shmini

Aharon's Two Other Sons

The day was meant to be Ahraon's finest hour; the day that the Mishkan would be consecrated and "the glory of the Lord would appear" (VaYikra 9:6). It would also show that Aharon was truly the one chosen by God to be His High Priest and that that he had been forgiven for the role he played in the apostasy of the Golden Calf.

These events occur, but Aharon pays a tragic price when two of his sons, Nadav and Avihu place an unauthorized fire on the fire pans and "died before the Lord" (ibid 10:2).

Moshe wants Aharon and his two remaining sons, Eleazar and Itamar, to carry on with day's ritual as if nothing had happened: "Moshe said to Aharon and to Eleazar and to Itamar, his sons, "Do not leave your heads unshorn, and do not rend your garments…" Take the meal offering that is left over from the Lord's fire offerings, and eat it as unleavened loaves beside the altar… (ibid 6 & 12-15).

Eleazar and Itamar, however, find it impossible to complete the ritual as Moshe had proscribed: "Moses thoroughly investigated concerning the sin offering he goat, and behold, it had been burnt! So he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's surviving sons, saying, Why did you not eat the sin offering in the holy place? …so you should have surely eaten it within holy [precincts], as I commanded (ibid 16-18)."

Up until now, even at the death of his two sons, Aharon had been silent. However, when his surviving two sons are reproached by Moshe for not completing the ritual, i.e. eating the sin offerings, he finally speaks up:

"But today, did they offer up their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord? But [if tragic events] like these had befallen me, and if I had eaten a sin offering today, would it have pleased the Lord?" (ibid 19).

Essentially, Aharon rationalizes their actions saying that they are grief stricken and so God would not be pleased with them continuing with the normal fashion and so they burned the sin offerings instead of eating them, as the eating of the sin offering would have been a joyous act.

How does Moshe react to this defense? Let us first look at he Hebrew and then examine two different translations: וַיִּשְׁמַע מֹשֶׁה וַיִּיטַב בְּעֵינָיו

Translation 1: Moshe listened and it was good in his eyes.

This is the standard translation, that Moshe accepted Aharon's response. However, this is strange for surely Moshe understood this argument beforehand and that is why he stressed to them the importance that despite their grief, they must continue with the ritual.

Therefore, we can give a different translation.

Translation 2: Moshe listened [and responded] "It would have been good in His eyes".

Aharon asks under these circumstances whether it would have been good in God's eyes to continue as normal. Moshe responds that indeed, it would have been.

Which interpretation is correct? We can never know. However, it is only when we study the text in its Hebrew original that we can fully appreciate the different dimensions that it has to offer.

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat Shemini, entitled: "Aharon's Shame" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2008/03/parshat-shmini-aharons-shame-its-eighth.html

Another Sedra Short on Parshat Shemini, entitled: "Aharon's Four Sons" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007/04/parshat-shemini-aharons-four-sons.html

Another Sedra Short on Parshat Shemini, entitled: "How They Died" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006/04/parshat-shemini-how-they-died-parshat.html

Parshat TeTsaveh

Moshe's Absence

This parsha is famed for being the only parsha from Parshat Shemot onwards, that does not contain Moshe's name.

Nevertheless, Moshe remains the central character. At the beginning of the parsha God says to him: "And you shall command the children of Israel, and they shall take to you pure olive oil…" (Shemot 27:20). The parsha then continues in this light with God commanding Moshe the different things he needs to do in order to prepare Aharon for the priesthood.

If this is the case, that Moshe is an important character in the parsha, the absence of his name is even more conspicuous.

There are three ways that the commentaries deal with this question. The most "popular" explanation is the one espoused by Rashi. Moshe was punished. This opinion is based on the idea that the command to build the Mishkan was given after Israel had sinned with the Golden Calf. In the aftermath of the sin, God tells Moshe that He intends to destroy Israel and rebuild it through Moshe.

Moshe responds that this is unacceptable. He says: "If You forgive their sin. But if not, erase me now from Your book, which You have written" (ibid 32:32). God listens to Moshe and does not destroy Israel, and despite the fact that Moshe does the right thing, it was still inappropriate for Moshe to speak to God in this manner. Therefore, God does remove Moshe's name, not from the whole Torah, but from one parsha – our parsha.

While this explanation has a beautiful idea, i.e. Moshe's preparedness to sacrifice everything for Israel, it does not explain why this week's pasha was chosen. Therefore, we will attempt a second explanation.

This parsha is all about Aharon, Moshe's brother. Up until now, Aharon has always played second fiddle to Moshe. Indeed, earlier we saw "I have made you a lord over Pharaoh, and Aaron, your brother, will be your speaker" (ibid 7:1) – that Aharon was subservient to Moshe.

Suddenly, Aharon is being promoted ahead of Moshe. God does not want Moshe to feel jealous of Aharon, so He continuously stresses that "you must command him". God is pointing out that Aharon's priesthood is not coming from the people but from Moshe's authority. The people will accept Aharon's election, because Moshe is the one who is ordering it. This implies that Aharon remains subservient to Moshe.

This is an interesting explanation, however, we are later told "Now this man Moses was exceedingly humble, more so than any person on the face of the earth" (Bemidbar 12:3). This explanation implies a lack of humility within Moshe.

Therefore, we can offer another similar explanation.

Rather than being jealous of Aharon, Moshe was proud of him. He did not want to take away from Aharon's special day. The Torah describes Moshe's humility and caution, by removing his name from this parsha, allowing Aharon to take center stage.

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat Tetsaveh, entitled: "The Ephod " appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2008/02/parshat-tetsaveh-ephod-they-shall-make.html

Another Sedra Short on Parshat Tetsaveh, entitled: "The Mizbeach HaKetoret – Part 2" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007/03/parshat-tetsaveh-mizbeach-haketoret.html

A further Sedra Short on Parshat Tetsaveh entitled: "The Mizbeach HaKetoret " appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006/03/parshat-tetsaveh-mizbeach-haketoret.html

Parsht VaEra

Moshe's Reluctance to Lead

In this week's parsha, Moshe tries to get out of the mission that God gave him.

E already saw that at the Burning Bush, Moshe gave God a number of reasons why he could not go to Egypt to deliver His Message. His excuses included:

• Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh...?" (Shemot 3:11)
• "They say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" (ibid 13)
• "Behold they will not believe me" (4:1)
• "I beseech You, O Lord. I am not a man of words, neither from yesterday nor from the day before yesterday" (ibid 10)
  

God did not get angry with Moshe over these questions, but instead, answered each and every point. However, when Moshe again tried to get out of the mission, God finally got angry with him:

"He (Moshe) said, "I beseech You, O Lord, send now [Your message] with whom You would send." And the Lord's wrath was kindled against Moshe, and He said, "Is there not Aharon your brother…And he will speak for you to the people, and it will be that he will be your speaker, and you will be his leader" (ibid 13-16).

God had no problem with Moshe questioning Him. On the contrary, he expects us to question Him and to not accept His orders blindly. Therefore, He does not get angry with Moshe in the beginning.

However, when Moshe stopped the questions and simply said that he did not want to do it, God got angry. We have the right to question, but we do not have the right to shirk our responsibilities.

Moshe is therefore, punished. By trying to do get out of the mission, God reduced Moshe's role and promoted Aharaon in his place. Aharon would now speak to the people on His behalf.

Last week's parsha ends with Pharaoh worsening Israel's conditions of slavery. Moshe felt that it was God's fault and said so to him, again questioning his role.

"O Lord! Why have You harmed this people? Why have You sent me? Since I have come to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has harmed this people, and You have not saved Your people" (5:22-23).

Again, God does not get angry, for Moshe's claim is legitimate. He simply tells him, at the beginning of this week's parsha, that He will soon redeem Israel. He then tells Moshe to go again to Pharaoh and ask him to free Israel. Moshe responds:

"Behold, the children of Israel did not hearken to me. How then will Pharaoh hearken to me, seeing that I am of closed lips? (ibid 6:12)."

It's unclear if Moshe is making excuses again. We had just been told that Israel would not listen to Moshe "because of [their] shortness of breath and because of [their] hard labor (ibid 6:9).

Moshe might be saying that he thinks that the reason they did not listen to him is simply because he's not a good speaker and therefore, God should send someone else.

The passuk does not say whether God was angry or not with him, but what is clear is that God demotes him again. God tells him: "See! I have made you a lord over Pharaoh, and Aaron, your brother, will be your speaker. You shall speak all that I command you, and Aaron, your brother, shall speak to Pharaoh" (ibid 7:1-2).

Aharon will now be the one to speak to Pharaoh.

The Torah is trying to teach us that we do have a right to question as long as our questions are a search for the truth, rather than an excuse to refuse God's law.

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat VaEra, entitled: "Hashem and the Avot" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2008/01/parshat-vaera-hashem-and-avot-this.html.

Another Sedra Short on Parshat VaEra, entitled: ""Discovering God" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007/01/parshat-vaera-discovering-god-when.html.

A further Sedra Short on Parshat VaEra, entitled: "Knowing God" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006/01/parshat-vaera-knowing-god-before.html.

Parshat Shemot

Moshe – Natural Born Leader

The birth of Moshe is surrounded by a strange case of anonymity. "A man of the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi" (Shemot 2:1). We later discover that these two people were called Amram and Yocheved. So too Moshe, the child they have, is not named until he "grew up" (ibid 10). Miriam, "his sister" (ibid 4) is not named and neither is Pharoah's daughter.

So too, when the characters re-appear in this chapter, they remain anonymous even though their descriptions change: Miriam becomes the "maiden" (ibid 8) and Yocheved is described as the "child's mother" (ibid 8) and later again as "the woman" (9).

We can understand the change in description for both Miriam and Yocheved. They are given these descriptions when facing Pharaoh's daughter. She does not suspect that they are related and that this occurrence was well planned by both mother and daughter. Indeed, had she suspected this, she would have called for a different woman to nurse the child. This is why she offers to pay Yocheved for nursing the child. As Pharoh's daughter she could have taken a Hebew slave at no cost, however, she did not want there to be any doubt that the child is now hers'.

Nevertheless, why are all the characters shrouded in anonymity? What message is the Torah trying to teach?

We know that this child grew up to be Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses, our teacher), the lawgiver whose close encounters with God would never be reproduced by anyone.

Yet, in his birth and early childhood, his basic survival was at stake. He did not have special powers that he could survive Pharaoh's decree: "Every son who is born you shall cast into the Nile" (ibid 1:22). Had Moshe been caught he would have been killed. Furthermore, once in the Nile, he was helpless and needed a human being, Pharaoh's daughter, to save him. Additionally, he then needed a woman to nurse him.

One of the basic messages that Moshe came to teach was that: "God created man in His image" (Bereshit 1:27), not just Pharaoh's. Every single person was special and equal: There are no supernatural people. Moshe, the greatest human ever, was conceived naturally, by regular people; he grew and was nurtured naturally. His parents were not gods, had Pharaoh's daughter not discovered him he would have died and had there been no one to nurse him, again he would have died from malnutrition.

The Torah deliberately describes the episode in anonymity to show that they were all regular people, all regular humans. Anyone can rise to be great. You do not need a privileged and even a supernatural birth.

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat Shemot, entitled: "The Abandonment of Moshe" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007/12/pashat-shemot-abandonment-of-moshe.html

Another Sedra Short on Parshat Shemot, entitled: "The Ark and the Princess" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007/01/parshat-shemot-ark-and-princess-there.html

A further Sedra Short on Parshat Shemot, entitled: "Moshe - Assimilated Jew" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006/01/parshat-shemot-moshe-assimilated-jew.html

Parshat VaYelech

The Lantern Shines On

Moshe knows that his days on earth are coming to end. He says: "I can no longer go or come" (Devarim 31:2).

He therefore, reaffirms that Yehoshua will be replacing him telling him in front of all Israel: "Be strong and courageous! For you shall come with this people to the land which the Lord swore to their forefathers to give them." (ibid 7).

This theme and writing style spills over into Sefer Yehoshua, causing many modern commentators to say that Sefer Devarim and Yehoshua were written by the same author, the Deuteronomic author or the Deuteronomist. We will bring an alternative theory, that Yehoshua and Devarim had separate authors,

It is clear from Sefer Yehoshua that Yehoshua himself had difficulty filling Moshe's shoes. He is constantly reminded "not to fear the enemy", to be "brave and strong" and that God will not abandon him (see Yehoshua 1:5-9).

It is for this reason that God performs for Yehoshua similar miracles to that what he id performed for Moshe.

Moshe's greatest miracle was the splitting of the Red Sea. In order for the people to know that Yehoshua really was Moshe's legitimate successor "that they may know that as I was with Moshe, so will I be with you" (Yehoshua 3:7), God splits the Jordan for him so that He will "make you great in the sight of all Israel" (ibid).

Of course, splitting a whole sea is a far greater miracle than the splitting of a river, however, no one is suggesting that Yehoshau was just a s great as Moshe, only that he was the rightful heir. Indeed the Rabbis state that Moshe was the sun while Joshua was the moon. The moon is an impressive celestial object, but the sun is far more impressive. So too, Yehoshua was a great leader, but Moshe was far greater. Indeed, Moshe shone on his own while Yehoshua gained his light from Moshe.

The point is for the people and Yehoshua himself, to appreciate that Yehoshua was indeed Moshe's legitimate successor.

Sefer Yehoshua brings numerous other examples to prove this point: "The Lord spoke to Yehoshua, saying" (ibid 20:1) is a deliberate and precise copy of the standard biblical verse attributed to Moshe. Furthermore, at the beginning of Yehoshua, Moshe is described is the "servant of the Lord", while Yehoshua is described as "Moshe's apprentice" (ibid 1:1). However, upon his death, Yehoshua is described as "the servant of the Lord" (ibid 24:29), the same epitaph given to Moshe.

Therefore, it is possible tha rather than Devarim and Yehoshua having the same author, that the author of Yehoshua deliberately wrote his book in the style of Sefer Devarim, because he wants to give not just his book Biblical authority, but because he wants to subtly show in a more latent way, that Yehoshua was the true successor to the path that Moshe could no longer walk.

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat Nitsavim-VaYelech, entitled: "Alone in a Crowd" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007/09/parshat-nitsavim-vayelech-alone-in.html.

Pashat Va'Etchanan

The View From On High

At the beginning of this week's parsha, Moshe describes how god denied him his request to cross over the Jordan and enter the Promised Land. However, god does grant Moshe one concession. He may see the land from the peek of Mount Nevo.

"Go up to the top of peek and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward and see with your eyes, for you shall not cross this Jordan" (Devarim 3:27).

The question we must ask is why Moshe would want to look towards the east. Canaan is ahead of towards the west and the north and south west. However east is away from Canaan. Moshe would be looking towards present day Iraq and Saudi Arabia – they my have a lot of oil, but they are not part of the holy land.

Rabbi Menachem Leibtag suggests that in order to answer this question we need to look at the two other occasions the Torah talks about these four directions.

The first time is with Avraham:

"The Lord said to Avram…., "Raise your eyes and see, from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward" (Bereshit 13:14)

The place Avraham was standing was Bet El (see ibid 3).

The next occasion this expression appears is with Yaakov. It was also at Bet El:

"Your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall gain strength westward and eastward and northward and southward; and through you shall be blessed all the families of the earth and through your seed" (ibid 28:14).

The Rabbis understand Bet El to mean Jerusalem, literally, the House of God.

The purpose of the Jewish people conquering Canaan and establishing a unique relationship with God, is not because God has given up on the rest of humanity. On the contrary, it is because He wants Israel to be light unto the nations, to help spread the word of God to humanity (see my blog on Parshat Yitro, http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html).

The word of God therefore, is not meant to be tied down to Israel; it is to spread to all humanity, in all four corners of the earth. Therefore, God tells Moshe not just to look at Israel's home, but at the influence Israel will have over the whole world.

Perhaps this is why the opening pesukim appear in Parshat VaEtachanan, even though they are thematically linked to Pashat Devarim In VaEtchanan Moshe reminds Israel of the time they accepted the Torah, i.e. the time when Israel accepted its mission to be a treasured nation. Therefore, when the Rabbis divided the Torah into weekly portions, they understood that God telling Moshe to look eastward, away from the Holy land, as linked to Moshe's repetition of the Ten Commandmentswanted the giving of the Torah (Devarim Chapters 4 and 5).

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat Va'etchanan entiled: "The Two Tablets" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007/07/parshat-vaetchanan-two-tablets-in-this.html.

Another Sedra Short on Parshat Va'etchanan entiled: "Despair and Hope" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006/08/parshat-vaetchanan-despair-and-hope.html.

Parshat Beha'alotecha

Moshe's Response to the Complaints

Just as Israel is about to being their march toward the Promised Land, the complaints begin.

"The multitude among them began to have strong cravings. Then even the children of Israel once again began to cry, and they said, "Who will feed us meat? (Bemidbar 11:4).

This is not the first time that Israel erred. We see a number of cases in the book of Shemot, including the infamous Golden Calf.

What is different here is Moshe's reaction.

Throughout Shemot, Moshe struggles with God and works with Israel to try and make things better. The climax of this idea is Moshe shattering the Two Tablets and his threat to God: "If You forgive their sin But if not, erase me now from Your book, which You have written" (Shemot 32:32).

However, in our parsha, Moshe seems to give up at the first sign of trouble:

"Moshe said to the Lord, "Why have You treated Your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in Your eyes that You place the burden of this entire people upon me? Did I conceive this entire people? Did I give birth to them, that You say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom as the nurse carries the suckling,' to the Land You promised their forefathers? Where can I get meat to give all these people?" (Bemidbar 11:11-13).

God's response to Moshe is ok, you are fired: "Assemble for Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the people's elders and officers, and you shall take them to the Tent of Meeting, and they shall stand there with You" (ibid 11:16). God then said that He "will increase the spirit that is upon you and bestow it upon them. Then they will bear the burden of the people with you so that you need not bear it alone" (ibid 17).

This challenge is so great to Moshe's authority that Yehoshua wants two of the elders reprimanded: "The lad ran and told Moshe, saying, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!" Yehoshua the son of Nun, Moshe's servant from his youth, answered and said, Moshe, my master, imprison them!" (ibid 27-28).

It is difficult to understand how the strong and resolute Moshe from Sefer Shemot, turns into the panicky and irresolute character he portrays in Sefer Bemidbar.

I think that the answer to this problem lies in the type of problems Moshe faced in Shemot to the type he faced in Bemidbar.

In Shemot he comes up against the Golden Calf - this is a spiritual and religious issue. Moshe, who has just spent forty days and night on Sinai with God, knows how to handle this issue. However, in Bemidbar, Moshe faces a materialistic issue. The people who have enough Manna as nourishment, want something different meat.

The same Moshe who "remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water" (Devarim 9:10) has difficulty understanding the issue.

"Where can I get meat to give all these people? For they are crying on me, saying, 'Give us meat to eat'" (Bemidbar 11:13). Moshe sees his leadership role as a religious and spiritual role, not as a supplier of meat. He has no patience for this issue and asks for help, for others to be concerned with these practical problems.

Last years' Sedra Short on Parshat Beha'alotecha, entitled: "Moshe's Leadership" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html.

Another Sedra Short on Parshat Beha'alotecha, entitled: "The Incident at Tav'era" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html.

Parshat Beshalach

The Miracle at the Sea

The splitting of the Red Sea is generally considered to be the greatest miracle ever performed.

Indeed, when Yehoshua takes over the leadership from Moshe, God tells him that he will make him great in the eyes of the people so "that they may know that as I was with Moshe, so will I be with you" (Yehoshua 3:7). God does this by performing for Yehoshua, a similar miracle that He had performed for Moshe. As Moshe had split the Red Sea, so too, Yehoshua would split the Jordan River (ibid 13-16).

It is therefore, of interest that the text of this week's parsha and some commentaries, explain the miracle in natural terms.

"The Lord led the sea with the strong east wind all night and He made the sea into dry land and the waters split." (Shemot 14:21). Note how the text does not say that God made the sea split. It says that He used an intermediary: the wind. The wind made the sea split and the sea into dry land.

How? Firstly, it as not just any wind: it was an east wind. Rashi states that the east wind is the strongest wind. Yet, it was not just any east wind: it was a strong east wind, i.e. the strongest of strong winds.

However, this wind did not just blow the waters apart; it also made the sea into dry land. How was it possible that the seabed was not muddy? The Rashbam says that the wind froze the soil, in the same way that winds freezes rivers. He is even bold enough to say that God used natural sources.

Yet, there was one final miracle. "The waters were to them as a wall from their right and from their left" (ibid 22). How was it possible the water stood still as two walls that encompassed them? The Sephorno explains that not only did the wind freeze the seabed; it also froze the waters into two walls.

We can therefore assume that the walls of ice began to melt and that once the first cracks appeared; they crashed down on the Egyptians.

However, none of these sources suggest that the splitting of the Red Sea was not a miracle. The fact that it was predicted, that began when Moshe raised his hand, that it ended when Moshe raised it hand, that there was enough time for all Israel to cross safely, that the waters crashed down right at the moment when all the Egyptians were trapped on the seabed, all show that the event was a truly fantastic miracle.

However, these commentators are arguing a subtle point. God always or almost always uses nature to make miracles, the miracle is in the timing. Therefore, miracles continue to happen today. When a natural event occurs to help us out in a difficult situation, we can thank God for the miracle that He has performed for us.

Rather than saying that God does not exist for He does not do miracles anymore, we are actually able to see God daily as He manipulates nature, to allow us to live.

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat Beshalach, entitled: "The Shorter Way" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html.

Another Sedra Short on Parshat Beshalach, entitled: "The 3 Day Game" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006_02_01_archive.html