Parashat B’haalot’cha
Week of 23-29 May 2010
Torah Portion: Numbers 8:1- 12:16
Haftarah: Zechariah 2:14 -4:7
Readings for Sunday:
One day while I was cleaning, my three-year-old daughter announced, “Look Mommy, sun crumbs!” Indeed what she was seeing and marveling over were dust particles floating gently near our sunlit window. As I pondered this, I easily connected the cosmic solar dust we were watching in our window as a glimpse of the Genesis Creation. To some this may seem fanciful, but for others it reveals the essence of seeing God, the Creator, in all things.
In this week’s parashah the Israelites have completed the construction and outfitting of the Tent of Meeting as commanded. The Levites have been set apart for service. The time has finally arrived for the Eternal to dwell in the midst of these Hebrew sojourners. No longer will God be present only to chosen individuals, as with the patriarchs and Moses, but now God chooses to manifest a continual and central presence amongst these people This change represents dramatic evidence of the Lord’s intrinsic concern for Israel and underscores Fox’s translation of Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh as ‘I will be there howsoever I will be there’ (Ex. 3:14).
If no human eye may see God, how were the Israelites to know of this wonderment? In one way the location of the mishkan, the Place of Meeting, was centered within the encampment and surrounded by three tribes on each of the four sides. Thus, upon opening their tents, all eyes were able to focus on the Presence of God. Even more visually apparent was the presence of the cloud and the pillar of fire over the mishkan. Its movement signaled where and when the Israelites were to move or to stop. But was this just a coincidental cloud and a fiery aberration or was this truly a sign of the Invisible God? In the section detailing God’s signal for the Hebrews’ encampment or for their moving on, Plaut has alternated the translation of al pi from at a command (of the Eternal), or literally according to (the Eternal), in previous verses to on a sign (from the Eternal) in Numbers 9:23. One ponders why this sign, that was so obvious to some, seems to have been obscure or missed by others.
As we continue reading, we learn of Israelite complaints regarding the provision of manna. To some their daily bread offered no insight into the hand of its Provider, no kneading fingerprints of the Almighty. Further evidence of discontent is recorded with the prophesying of Eldad and Medad (10:27). Moses clearly saw this as work of the Divine, the others could not. For Moses, God was centered within the camp and within his soul. And what of Miriam’s protest? One wonders if our ability to see the presence of God in our lives and in the lives of others depends on our focus… self-centered or God centered.
Back to the dust; was it just dust, an annoying bit needing cleaning in my house, or evidence of something else? Thankfully my daughter caused my focus to be on the Divine. Signs of the Lord and the Eternal’s Presence are everywhere and for everyone. In reading this week’s parashah, one is reminded of words penned by Elizabeth B. Browning, “Earth is crammed with heaven, And every common bush is afire with God: But only he who sees, takes off his shoes. The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries.”
For Reflection and Discussion: How do you look for and interpret signs of and from God in your daily life? As Christians celebrating the Holy Trinity, what evidence do you see of God’s creativity, redemptive love and sanctifying power in your life?
Bibliography: ( Plaut (ed.), The Torah, A Modern Commentary (New York, 2006); E. Fox, The Five Books of Moses (New York, 1997); Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Seventh Book of Aurora Leigh
