Thoughts
on The Parsha
Parshas
Beha'aloscha
Everyone
Needs Encouragement
וַיֹּאמֶר
ה'
פִּתְאֹם
אֶל משֶׁה וְאֶל אַהֲרֹן וְאֶל מִרְיָם
צְאוּ שְׁלָשְׁתְּכֶם אֶל אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד
וַיֵּצְאוּ שְׁלָשְׁתָּם:
וַיֵּרֶד
ה'
בְּעַמּוּד
עָנָן וַיַּעֲמֹד פֶּתַח הָאֹהֶל
וַיִּקְרָא אַהֲרֹן וּמִרְיָם וַיֵּצְאוּ
שְׁנֵיהֶם
“Hashem
said suddenly to Moshe, to Aharon, and to Miriam, ' You three, go out
to the Tent of Meeting.' And the three of them went out. Hashem
descended in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance to the Tent,
and He called, 'Aharon and Miriam'; and the two of them went out.”
-Beha'aloscha
12:4-5
After
giving us the Torah at Har Sinai,
Hashem was ready to take us straight into Eretz Yisroel.1
However, if there was ever a time to use the expression “so close
but yet so far”, it was then. Despite the fact that B'nei
Yisroel seemed to have
everything living with the shechina
in their midst, the Torah relates a series of disturbing events which
begin in this week's parsha.
In
a seemingly unrelated event, the Torah's cameras turn to Moshe,
Aharon, and Miriam. During the time that the zekainim
(elders) received nevuah
(prophecy), Moshe's wife,
Tziporrah, commented to Miriam that life of the wives of those who
got nevuah will become
more difficult because they would be forced to separate from their
husbands, as her experience was with Moshe rabbeinu.2
Miriam was unaware that Moshe had separated from Tziporrah and she
went and mentioned it to Aharon.3
Hashem then appeared to Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam and told the three
of them to go to the Ohel Moed.
Hashem
then told Aharon and Miriam to leave as he spoke to them privately
about the greatness of Moshe.
Rashi4
writes that the reason Hashem separated Miriam and Aharon from Moshe
before telling them the greatness of Moshe was because it is derech
eretz (ethical) to only say part
of a person's praise in his presence. If one wants to say all of a
person's praises, he should do so when not in front of him.5
The
question on this story and Rashi is
why did Hashem have to say any praise in front of Moshe at all?
Hashem was coming to reprimand Miriam and Aharon for saying lashon
harah (evil talk) about their
brother. Why did Moshe have to be involved? Hashem should have just
explained the extent of Moshe's greatness to Miriam and Aharon alone
without Moshe present.
The
S'forno6
writes one line which answers our question. He suggests that the
reason that before sending Aharon and Miriam out to speak to them
privately, Hashem first called Moshe in with them to the Ohel
Moed, was because Hashem wanted
to show Moshe that He was makpid on
(stringent; deeply concerned for) Moshe's kavod
(honor).
This
S'forno leads us to a
much greater difficulty. Why would Moshe rabbeinu need
Hashem's assurance that He was there for him during this hard time?
First of all, we are talking about Moshe – someone who followed the
word of Hashem exactly. Nothing that He did was without calculation
of what Hashem wanted of him and therefore there was no way that
anyone saying anything to him would make him feel uncomfortable with
his actions. Furthermore, we are dealing with Miriam and Aharon here
who were obviously not saying anything purposely against Moshe, their
brother, in a negative way. So, let us re-ask our question: Why did
Hashem first take Moshe into the Ohel Moed with
Miriam and Aharon to hear part of his praise? Why was this necessary
at all?
Perhaps
the S'forno is coming
to teach us the following very important lesson. Everyone needs
encouragement. No matter how great or accomplished someone might be,
every individual gets enjoyment from being acknowledged and feeling
appreciated. Also, even at times when we may be “on a roll” and
feel unstoppable, often times all it takes is a few “crushing
words” to make our positive adrenaline come to a screeching halt.
No matter how accomplished and independent an individual may be,
everyone is hurt by insults and everyone gets distressed by crushing
words; and no matter how great a person may be, everyone feels good
when one hears encouraging words. Even Moshe rabbeinu who
was hand-picked by Hashem to lead the B'nei Yisroel
out of Mitzrayim and
be the primary one to receive the Torah, was still a person and
benefited from a reminder that everything he was doing was good in
the eyes of Hashem.
May
Hashem help us realize the power of our speech and how despite the
fact that it is a mere light wind blowing out of our mouths in
different forms, it has the capacity to be quite destructive by
saying crushing words to people, or very constructive, as by when one
offers words of encouragement.
1Rashi
Bamidbar 11:1
2See
Rashi Bamidbar 12:1
3Bamidbar
12:1
4Bamidbar
12:5
5Rashi
continues that Hashem did this
by Noach as well (See Beraishis 6:9
and 7:1 and Rashi there).
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