Parashat Beha'alotcha - Sixth Aliyah
Read the biblical text and try to understand it on your own, before reading the commentary.
Numbers 10:35 - 11:29
How moving is the sixth aliyah of Parashat Beha’alotcha. These verses, which open with “And it was when the Ark traveled,” and continue through the story of the complaining people, the crisis of the manna, their grievance over the lack of meat, and Moses’ cry for help and the establishment of the council of seventy, are like an inner journey, emotional and spiritual, into the depths of the soul of the individual and of the nation.
Let us begin precisely with the passage set apart by two inverted nuns, like “biblical parentheses” framing two short but powerful verses:
“Vayhi binsoa ha’aron vayomer Moshe kumah Adonai veyafutzu oyveicha veyanusu mesan’eicha mipaneicha. Uvnucho yomar shuvah Adonai rivvot alfei Yisra’el” (And it was when the Ark traveled, Moses said: Arise, God, and let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You. And when it rested, he said: Return, God, to the myriads of the thousands of Israel) - Numbers 10:35-36.
These two verses stand as a book of their own. They contain a bond between movement and the Divine Presence, between going out to battle and returning to peace. But quickly, that peace shatters.
The portion rolls us into one of the low points of Israel in the wilderness: “Vayhi ha’am kemit’onenim ra be’oznei Adonai” (And the people were as those who complain evil in the ears of God) - Numbers 11:1. A short but chilling description. The people complain, and God responds with a scorching fire. This pattern will recur again and again in the wilderness: complaint, an outburst of wrath, prayer, calm. But here, for the first time, Moses’ own personal crisis is also revealed in full force.
Among the people’s tears over the meat they do not eat, other tears emerge, tears of an exhausted leadership. The peak of the pain is heard when Moses turns to his God:
“He’anochi hariti et kol ha’am hazeh… me’ayin li basar latet… lo uchal anochi levadi laset et kol ha’am hazeh…” (Did I conceive all this people? … From where shall I find meat to give? … I cannot bear all this people alone…) - Numbers 11:12-14.
This cry is shattering. Moses, greatest of the prophets, asks “Hargeni na harog” (Kill me, please, kill me) - verse 15. Nothing less. The burden of leadership weighs upon him.
Here comes the astonishing response of the Holy One: the appointment of seventy elders, the spreading of the spirit that was upon Moses onto them, and in essence the sharing of the burden. And at its depth, this is a statement: even the greatest of prophets needs help, needs partnership, was not meant to carry it all alone.
And from here comes a precious moment of prophecy beyond the system: Eldad and Medad prophesy in the camp, not from within the Tent. Joshua cries out, but Moses responds with a verse rare in its beauty and depth:
“Hamkane atah li? Umi yiten kol am Adonai nevi’im ki yiten Adonai et rucho aleihem” (Are you jealous on my behalf? Would that all the people of God were prophets, that God would put His spirit upon them) - Numbers 11:29.
How much greatness lies in this answer. Not control, but a longing for the spirit to spread to all: not a prophetic monopoly but a dream of universal inspiration.
This is the heart of this aliyah: between the complaint over meat and the vision of the spirit, between the leader’s crisis and the elevation of prophecy, between the weeping people and the weeping leader, and between sharing the burden and sharing the spirit.
We have something to learn: at times the hardships are part of the journey. But we were not created to bear them alone. And precisely from the rupture, a shared bearing and a new spirit can arise.
More Questions on the Parsha
How Does the Verse 'Al Pi Hashem B'yad Moshe' Symbolize the Connection Between Heaven and Earth?
The phrase 'al pi Hashem b'yad Moshe' (Numbers 10:13) is short but loaded. How does it embody the connection between divine command and human leadership, between heaven and earth.
Why Do the Levites Retire from 'Active' Service at Age 50, and Is This Age Set Up for Spiritual Success?
Why do the Levites retire from active service in the Tabernacle precisely at age fifty? The transition from physical shoulder-work to a mature spiritual role, and the connections of the number 50 in Judaism.
Why Was Pesach Sheni Not Given Directly to Moses, but Passed Through the Children of Israel?
Pesach Sheni was given only after impure people approached Moses and asked 'lama nigara' (why are we left out). Why was this law not given directly from Hashem, and what does it teach about a human question creating new Torah.