Hukkat- Passing the Torch

Kach et Aharon v’et Elazar b’no v’ha’al otam hor hahar.  V’hafsheit et Aharon et b’gadav v’hilbashtam et Elazar b’no v’Aharon yei’aseif umeit sham… Vayafsheit Moshe et Aharon et b’gadav vayalbeish otam et Elazar b’no vayamot Aharon sham b’rosh hahar…

Take Aharon and Elazar his [Aharon’s] son, and bring them up to the base of Mount Hor. And strip Aharon of his clothes, and dress Elazar his son, and Aharon shall be gathered and die there… And Moshe stripped Aharon of his clothes, and laid them upon Elazar his son, and Aharon died there at the top of the mountain.

This section of Torah is replete with lessons on leadership. Each week we are treated to vivid images of leaders: good and bad, charismatic and self-differentiated, those working b’shem shamayim (for the sake of God and heaven) and those looking for power. We see the effects of these leaders, and, in Hukkat, we see the passage of leadership.

Miriam’s leadership comes simply through being who she is, and she leaves the position through her death, mourned by the entire community. Moshe will lay his hands on Joshua before going to God. For Aaron, not only does the theoretical and philosophical mantle need to be passed on, but the literal mantle as well.

Together, Moshe, Aaron, and Elazar come to the base of the mountain God has designated as Aaron’s burial site. There, commanded by God, Moshe strips Aaron of his mantle, and passes it on to Aaron’s son Elazar.

There are a number of lessons we can take from these few verses. As leaders we need to do these things:

-       To be able to recognize when others need to step down, even when we are swayed by personal feeling, and be able to talk to others about the need and the time of passing on leadership. God tells Moshe it is time to do this. Perhaps Moshe feels for his older brother, and sees the end of his own position in this passing.

-       We must be willing to hand over the mantle of leadership. Aaron is often quiet in our text, but our traditions see him as actively involved, deep in thought, rather than passively accepting. Aaron understands it is time to pass the mantle to the next generation, and he submits gracefully.

-       Finally, we must be compassionate about this passing. Was Aaron vigorous until the end? Did he die due to his loss of position/purpose, or was his death near, and therefore he was ready for Elazar to take over. Having Moshe act as the conduit of power from Aaron to Elazar may also remove some of the sting of the loss.

We will never know the true feelings of those standing at Mount Hor that day. We can learn from their actions. We can work to create positive experiences at all stages of leadership, helping renew our organizations, while continuing to appreciate the lessons learned from those who came before.

Korach- United We Stand; Divided We Fall

Hibad’lu mitoch ha’eidah hazot...

Separate yourselves from this community.

Hein gava’nu avadnu kulanu avadnu.

Behold, when we are undone, when we perish, we are all lost.

Korach and his followers attempt to wrest the leadership of the community from Moshe and Aaron. With their downfall comes the downfall of their wives, their children, and all of their households. The entire parasha is a reminder that leadership within the Jewish world comes not from a prideful desire, but hopefully from the heart of those chosen by God, a calling.

However, beyond the attempt to gain power is a message of the damage done to the community through such a division. Even as Moshe and Aaron try to broker peace with Korach and his followers they stand as one community. So entangled are they that God has to tell them to step aside, to create two separate communities so He could punish Korach.

Ingrained in us is the idea that we are one community. Hillel taught (Pirkei Avot 2:4), “Al tifrosh min hatzibor; do not separate yourself from the community.”  The Rabbis expounded on this saying we should be a pliant as a reed. Alone, a reed is flexible, bending in the wind, but combined with others its strength is enormous. Korach’s strength was in his creation of a separate community within the greater Jewish community. Unfortunately, instead of using his power for good, to lead the entire community forward, he wielded it like a club, destroying not only himself, but also generations with him.

Such is the power of many, for good or for evil. We have strength together, but as our parasha later states, “Hein gava’nu avadnu kulanu avadnu; behold, when we are undone, we perish, we are all lost.” Our actions produce ripples which spread throughout our community in all directions, binding or dividing us, giving us strength or tearing us apart. Al tifrosh min hatzibor. In other words, united we stand; divided we fall.

Shlach Lecha- Reminders

…v’amarta aleihem v’asu lahem tzitzit al kanaf bigdeihem l’dorotom vnatnu al tzitzit hakanaf p’til t’cheilet. V’hayah lachem l’tzitzit ur’eetem oto uz’chartem et kol mitzvot Hashem va’asitem….

…and say to them, “And you will make for yourselves fringes on the corners of your clothes for all generations, and place in these corner fringes a thread of blue.” And you will look at these fringes and see them, and you will remember all God’s mitzvot and do them.

A cherished idea in Judaism is free will. Without free will, we could not be human.  Whatever you think of the place of animals in our world, in Judaism it is this idea, that knowingly we can choose a negative path, that makes us human, and therefore separate from the animal kingdom.

Parashat Shlach Lecha begins with a reminder that we can act as independent beings. We had been following for so long, first as slaves in Egypt, then following (or trying to) instruction from God or Moshe, this idea may come as a surprise. Shlach lecha, send for you, for you and not for me, or send if you wish. God is giving Moshe and the people a chance to choose for themselves.

Whether this choice was clear to Moshe, or whether a people raised for generations in slavery were ready to make an informed choice is lost from our text. We know only that the scouts are sent out with instruction and the charge “v’hitkhazaktem” be of good courage. Perhaps they were not ready, for this piece of instruction they could not follow. They were “like grasshoppers in their own eyes, and so in the sight of the Canaanites.”

A new generation had to be raised up to take possession of the Land, a new generation that would understand and be fully informed of the choices to be made. It is a story repeated through our history. We have accepted our wanderings with hope that the new generation we raise is the generation that will triumph in whatever challenges God sets before us. To keep this idea of informed choice alive in every generation we make tzitzit, fringes on our clothes. The fringe is the ultimate string around our nation’s finger, reminding us of the mitzvot we should choose to follow.

And if there is ever a question as to why, we add a thread of t’cheilet, royal violet-blue, to remind us that we are a special and chosen people, taken from slavery to freedom, and there is a responsibility that goes with the privilege.

B'ha'alotecha- Not By Might & Not By Power, but by Spirit

Vzeh ma’asei hamenorah… kamareh asher her’ah Hashem et Moshe…

And this is how the menorah was fashioned… according to the pattern Hashem had shown Moshe…

The menorah is an ancient and powerful symbol. Its creation and design are commanded by God. Its light illuminated the Ohel Moed during our wandering and the Beit Mikdash afterwards, until being carried into exile, as we were, by the Romans. This is a recognizable picture to any familiar with the Arch of Titus. For centuries, Roman Jews have refused to walk beneath this arch, which has symbolized the end of our sovereignty in the Land of Israel.

In Haftarah B’ha’alotcha, Zechariah sees a vision of the menorah. An angel explains to him the meaning, “…lo b’chayil v’lo b’choach ki im b’ruchi amar Hashem Tz’vaot; not by might and not by power, but by My spirit said the Lord of Hosts.”

Today, the menorah stands outside the Knesset and adorns the emblem of Israel. On the emblem, it is flanked by olive branches with Yisrael beneath. The image of the menorah is taken from the Arch of Titus. Its presence on the emblem represents a return from the Diaspora to the Land. The connection of the menorah to our haftarah stands for the Jewish ideal of peace, hope, and faith.  We have reached this point not by might and not by power, but by Spirit. With the two olive branches representing the balance between secular and religious, the symbol of the menorah connects our history as a great and ancient nation, but also just as connected to our ancient religious traditions.

When David Ben Gurion declared the establishment of the State of Israel, the chief rabbi gathered the Roman Jewish community by the arch. Together they walked, in solemn procession, under the arch towards Israel acting out our return. With the establishment of the modern state, the tangible menorah may not have returned, but the one forever illuminating our hearts burns bright.

Naso- Moderation

V’zot torat hanazir byom m’lot ymei nizro yavi oto el petach ohel moed. V’hikriv et korbano la-donai… l’olah… l’chatat… lishlamim.

And this is the law of the nazir- upon fulfilling the days of his consecration he shall bring it to the ohel moed [tent of meeting]. He shall present his offering to the Lord… for a burnt offering… for a sin offering… [and] for a peace offering.

The nazir is an interesting person in the Jewish world.  He, or she, dedicates himself to God for a period of time (although there are nazirites whose lives are also specifically dedicated). During that time, the devotee abstains from cutting his hair, from the drinking of alcoholic beverages, and contact with a dead body. Upon fulfilling his vow of nazirut, he is to present himself at the entrance to the ohel moed with three sacrifices, the standard burnt offering- olah, the sin offering- chatat, and the peace offering- shlamim.

Within parashat Naso the reasons for these three offerings are not given. The olah seems logical.  It is a standard offering. Having completed his consecration, this standard act would be the logical end, so too with the shlamim. The nazir has spent his designated period of time specially consecrated to God. Having ended that period, one may argue that it makes sense to offer a peace offering to God. Shlamim also has the meaning of completeness. The nazir has completed his time in special consecration and is also making peace with his return to being a complete part of the Israelite people instead of set aside from them.

Why though the chatat, the sin offering? One would think that to consecrate oneself especially to God, to separate himself from the community in order to be closer to God would be an act of praise, a spiritual level others would want to emulate. This is not true. Judaism teaches us that when we die, and are called to stand before the Kadosh Baruch Hu, that we will be called upon to answer for every legitimate pleasure we denied ourselves. The basis for this is set forth in the Torah. The Torah understands that some individuals need a method to be closer to God. That is the nazir. However, this ascetic attitude, ever trying to attain a holier level, is not the ideal of Judaism. When we seek to be closer to God than the general community, whether through a new chumrah, a stringency added onto the law, or denial, we separate ourselves from our community and we must seek to repair this rift.