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PARSHAT
BEHAALOTECHA, NUMBERS 8:1-12:16
In part, Behaalotecha is about
us, a disgruntled people: We do not want
manna; we crave meat. And so we grumble
and bellyache. And it is not only the
people at large, but even so with Moses’ brother and sister. They find fault with their brother through
disparaging his wife, Tziporah. At this
point it is difficult to ascertain how we will ever be a light unto the
Gentiles.
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There is a disconnect between us and Hashem. Hashem through His servant Moshe is endeavoring to transform us into an exalted kingdom of Priests, giving us His Torah, the Shabbat and a chance at redemption in the Land of Israel. But consider our level of spirituality? what do we long for instead?
At 11:4-5:
זָכַרְנוּ,
אֶת-הַדָּגָה, אֲשֶׁר-נֹאכַל בְּמִצְרַיִם, חִנָּם; אֵת הַקִּשֻּׁאִים, וְאֵת
הָאֲבַטִּחִים וְאֶת-הֶחָצִיר וְאֶת-הַבְּצָלִים, וְאֶת-הַשּׁוּמִים
“We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free of charge, the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic”.
וַיֹּאמְרוּ,
מִי יַאֲכִלֵנוּ בָּשָׂר
“And they said: Who will feed us meat?’
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Reflections
on the Land of Milk and Honey, Israel:
This Shabbos I was thinking about my family and
the negative impact of assimilation on our numbers. I became kind of glum, but it
being Shabbos I had to work my way out of the doldrums.
I came across a passage from the Book of
Numbers, chapter 23, verse 9. It is a response from the gentile prophet Billam
to the king of Moab in which Billam visualizes a future Jewish Nation. Billam
says that the Jewish Nation will be a nation alone, and that it will not
consider itself to be like the nations of the world.
Literally [my translation] -
“…they are a people who will live alone and it will not consider
itself within the nations.”
הֶן-עָם
לְבָדָד יִשְׁכֹּן, וּבַגּוֹיִם לֹא יִתְחַשָּׁב.
And it is true: Israel is a place for Jews to
be Jewish
In many ways, Israel is unique. We are one of a
kind.
We do not belong to any bloc of nations.
Israel is the only country in which Hebrew is
the spoken language.
Israel is the world’s only Jewish State.
Israel is unique in that it is partly religious
and partly secular, yet it is a liberal democracy with an ideological mission
called Zionism.
In the Book of Leviticus, 19:2, HaShem says:
“You shall be holy; for I the LORD your God am holy.” The Hebrew word for
“holy” is kodesh which has as its root kdsh. Implied in this root is something
that has been separated. So old Billam got it right.
It was a good Shabbos.
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Reflections on Jerusalem Day:
On Thursday night,the 21st of May we began celebrating Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day ( יום ירושלים) .
Yom Yerushalayim is an Israeli national holiday commemorating the reunification of Jerusalem and the establishment of Israeli control over the Old City in June 1967. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel declared Jerusalem Day a minor religious holiday to thank God for victory in the Six-Day War.
The song, "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" was written in honor of this day:
David said it all in Tehillim 122:
I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:
Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.
For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.
Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.
Religious Zionists recite special holiday prayers with Hallel. Some synagogues, whose congregants do not recognize the religious significance of the State of Israel, do not observe Yom Yerushalayim. I do not daven with them.
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Reflections on the influence of journalist Caroline Glick:
In June, 2017 when President Trump signed a waiver whose effect was not to move the USA Embassy to Jerusalem Caroline wrote:
“I am appalled by President Trump's decision to sign the waiver and not move the US embassy to Jerusalem.
What I find particularly disgusting is this sentence in the White House announcement: “[N]o one should consider this step to be in any way a retreat from the President’s strong support for Israel and for the United States-Israel alliance."
Why should no one consider it to be a retreat from the President's strong support for Israel and for the United States-Israel alliance?
I mean it is a retreat -- a major retreat. It is also a betrayal of Trump's promise to his voters.
Talk is cheap”.
However, on May 14, 2018 the Embassy opened in Jerusalem. Some of us think that in making the historic move to Jerusalem, President Trump must have heeded Caroline’s words.
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Reflections of a Muslim journalist’s musings on the “Palestinian situation” from 2015:
As excerpt from an Opinion Piece published by Aljazeera, analyst Sharif Nashashibi sums up where the Israeli government stood in 2015:
“Arguably the most right-wing, extremist government in Israel's history - and that is saying something - consists of five parties: Likud, Jewish Home, United Torah Judaism, Shas and Kulanu.
Between them, they either explicitly rule out a Palestinian state, or accept one with conditions that make the likelihood of its establishment, let alone its viability, impossible.
These conditions include:
Israel keeping East Jerusalem,
Israel being recognized as a Jewish state,
Israel keeping the largest settlement blocs,
which are built on the West Bank's water aquifers and most fertile land, and hinder the territorial contiguity of a Palestinian state.
That [Palestinian] state, meanwhile, would have to be demilitarized and renounce the rights of Palestinian refugees.”
I THINK SHARIF HAS NAILED IT: ALL THIS SOUNDED PRETTY GOOD TO ME THEN AND NOW!
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