Beha'alotcha

In this parsha

God instructs Aaron to kindle the seven lamps of the menorah, and the Levites are purified for their service. A second Passover is provided for those unable to bring the offering in its time. A cloud and silver trumpets direct the people's travels as they finally depart Sinai. The people complain and crave meat, wearying of the manna; God grants seventy elders a share of prophecy and sends quail. Finally Miriam speaks against Moses about his wife and is stricken with tzaraas until Moses prays for her.

Themes

• Ner mitzvah, or Torah
• Kindling the soul's hidden light
• Holy desire versus craving
• Elevating the self through mitzvos
• The Leviim's song of avodah
• Drawing Heaven down to the vessel

Must-read teachings

1. 1Mitzvos Drawing Torah Light InwardIn describing the mitzvah of lighting the Menorah, The midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah 15:2) says that the lighting of the Menorah is not for HaShem’s sake, but rather for the sake of Bnei Yisrael. Furthermore the Mitzvah is compared to a candle w…תרל"א
2. 2Mitzvos as the candle for Torah's lightIn the Midrash: "Hashem desired, for the sake of his righteousness, to make the Torah great and glorious" (Yeshayahu 42:21). The Midrash opens with the verse that Hashem desires to magnify the Torah, framing a discussion of how Torah become…תרמ"א
3. 3Menorah's eternal supernal lightThe Midrash teaches that HaKadosh Baruch Hu consoled Aharon: yours is greater than the dedication of the nesi'im (princes) — the korbanos last only as long as the Bais Hamikdash stands, but yours endures forever. Aharon felt left out when t…תרנ"א
4. 4Candle of mitzvah, light of Torah, and the hidden lightIt is written, "A mitzvah is a candle, and Torah is light." This pasuk in Mishlei distinguishes two related but distinct entities: the mitzvah as a "ner" (candle/lamp) and the Torah as "ohr" (light). The Sefas Emes builds his whole derashah…תרנ"ז
5. 5Repairing the roots of craving, jealousy, and honorRegarding Kivros HaTaavah, where they said "We remember the fish… that we ate in Mitzrayim for free (chinam)" — Chazal expounded "free from mitzvos" — and it is astonishing to suspect such a dor de'ah (generation of knowledge) of, chas v'sh…תרמ"ד
6. 6Mahn, berur, and the Tree of LifeNow it is written, "like those who complain of evil" (Bamidbar 11:1). The Torah describes the people as complainers; the Sefas Emes will explain that their complaint was not simple wickedness but something subtler. The explanation of the ma…תרמ"ז - תרמ"ח - תרנ"ב
7. 7Birkas Kohanim, the Avos, and Aharon's eternal blessingIn the Midrash on the sequence of the sections — Birkas Kohanim, the dedication offerings of the Nesi'im, and the kindling of the Menorah — [the lighting of the Menorah came] to console Aharon and his tribe, who had no part in this chanukas…תרנ"ד
8. 8Body and soul: weekday lamp and Shabbos lightThe parsha of the Menorah is placed next to what was written in the previous parsha, "And when Moshe came… it spoke to him." The Sefas Emes notes the juxtaposition: the lighting of the Menorah follows directly upon Moshe receiving the Divin…תרס"א