Torah Stories By Hannah Parasha Beha’alotecha

This week’s story starts with the commandment of lighting the lamps. Aharon had to light the lamps so that the seven lamps should give light in front of the lamp stand. Aharon did as HaShem had commanded Moshe. This was how the lamp stand was made: it was hammered work of gold; hammered from base to petal, according to the pattern which HaShem had shown Moshe, so he made the lamp stand.

Moshe was then commanded by HaShem to take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. Moshe had to sprinkle on them water of purification, and let them go over their whole body with a razor, and let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves. Then let them take a young bull, and its meal-offering, fine flour mixed with oil, and another young bull for a sin-offering. The Levites then had to be presented before the Tent of Meeting; and Moshe had to assemble the whole congregation. The children of Israel had to lay their hands upon the Levites.

And Aharon was to offer the Levites before HaShem for a wave-offering from the children of Israel, that they may be to do the service of HaShem. The Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bulls; and offer the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering, to HaShem, to make atonement for the Levites. Moshe was commanded to set the Levites before Aharon, and before his sons, and offer them for a wave-offering to HaShem. The Levites were thus separated from among the children of Israel for HaShem. After that the Levites were to go in to do the service of the Tent of Meeting; and Moshe were to cleanse them, and offer them for a wave-offering. For they are wholly given to HaShem from among the children of Israel; instead of all that opens the womb, the first-born of all the children of Israel. For all the first-born among the children of Israel belong to HaShem, both man and beast; on the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt HaShem sanctified them for Himself. And He has taken the Levites instead of all the first-born among the children of Israel. And I have given the Levites--they are given to Aharon and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, that there be no plague among the children of Israel, through the children of Israel coming near to the sanctuary.

So Moshe and Aharon and the whole congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites; according to all that HaShem commanded Moshe concerning the Levites, so they did. And the Levites purified themselves, and they washed their clothes; and Aharon offered them for a sacred gift before HaShem; and Aharon made atonement for them to cleanse them. And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aharon, and before his sons; as HaShem had commanded Moshe concerning the Levites, so did they to them.

Moshe was then commanded: This is the rule for the Levites: from twenty five years old up they shall go in to perform the service in the work of the Tent of Meeting; and from the age of fifty years they shall retire from the service of the work, and shall serve no more; but shall assist with their brother Levites in the Tent of Meeting, by standing guard, but they shall do no manner of service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in regard to their duties.

And Moshe was commanded by HaShem in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they came out of the land of Egypt: Let the children of Israel keep the Passover in its appointed time. In the fourteenth day of this month, at dusk, they shall keep it in its appointed season; according to all its rules and its rites.

Moshe instructed the Yisraelites, to offer the Passover sacrifice; and they offered the Passover sacrifice in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that HaShem commanded Moshe, so they did.

But there were some men, who were unclean by a corpse, and they could not keep the Passover on that day; and they came before Moshe and Aharon on that same day. Those men said to them: “We are unclean by a corpse; why must we be debarred from presenting the offering of HaShem in its appointed season among the children of Israel?” Moshe said to them: 'Stand by, and let me hear what HaShem will command concerning you.'

And HaShem spoke to Moshe, saying: 'Speak to the children of Israel, saying: If any man of you or of your generations shall be unclean by reason of a corpse, or be in a journey afar off, would like to present the Passover offering to HaShem; they shall offer it in the second month on the fourteenth day at dusk; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs; they shall leave none of it to the morning, nor break a bone of it; according to all the laws of the Passover sacrifice they shall keep it. But the man that is clean, and is not on a journey, refrains from keeping the Passover, that person shall be cut off from his people; because he did not bring the offering of HaShem in its appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.

And if a stranger who resides among you, would offer the Passover offering to HaShem: he must do so according to the laws of the Passover offering; there shall be one law for both the stranger, and for him that is born in the land. On the day that the tabernacle was set up the cloud covered the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting; and at evening there was on the Tabernacle the appearance of fire, until morning. So it was always: the cloud covered it by day and the fire by night.

Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the Tent, the children of Israel would set out to travel; and in the place where the cloud stayed, there the children of Israel would camp. At the commandment of HaShem the children of Israel set out, and at the commandment of HaShem they camped: as long as the cloud stayed on the Tabernacle they remained encamped. When the cloud lingered over the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel observed HaShem’s mandate, and did not travel. Whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud lingered upon the tabernacle, staying over it, the children of Israel remained encamped, and did not travel; but when it was taken up, they travelled. At the commandment of HaShem they encamped, and at the commandment of HaShem they travelled; they kept the command of HaShem, by the hand of Moshe.

And HaShem spoke to Moshe, saying: 'Make two trumpets of silver; of beaten work shall you make them; and they shall be for the calling of the congregation, and for causing the camps to set forward. When they hear the blast, the congregation shall gather themselves at the door of the Tent of Meeting. If there is one blast, then the chieftains, the heads of the tribes of Israel, shall come to you; When you blow short blasts, the camps that on the east side shall move forward. When you blow short blasts the second time, the camps on the south side shall move forward.

So the short blasts are to set the camp in motion, and the long blasts are to gather the congregation together. And the sons of Aharon, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and they shall be to you an institution for ever throughout your generations.

And when you are at war in your land against an aggressor who attacks you, you shall sound short blasts on the trumpets; that you may be remembered before HaShem your God, and be delivered from your enemies. Also in the day of your joyous occasions, your fixed festivals and new moon days, you shall sound the trumpets over your burnt-offerings, and over the sacrifices of well-being. They shall be a reminder of you before your G-d.

In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from the Ark of the Covenant. And the Yisraelites set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud came to rest in the wilderness of Paran.

When the march was to begin, at HaShem’s command through Moshe, the first standard to set out, troop by troop, was the division of Yehudah, and in command was Nahshon the son of Amminadab. In command of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar. In command of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon. And the Tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who bore the tabernacle, set forward.

The next standard to set out was the division of Reuben and in command was Elizur the son of Shedeur. In command of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. In command of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel. Then the Kohathites who carried the sacred objects, set forward, that the tabernacle might be set up before they arrived. The next standard to go forward was the tribe of Ephraim; and in command was Elishama the son of Ammihud.

In command of the tribe of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. In command of the tribe of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni. Then, as the rear guard of all the divisions was the tribe of Dan, and in command was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. In command over the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ochran. In command of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan. Such were the order of the march of the Yisraelites as they marched troop by troop.

(The picture above was obtained from http://www.neshamaart.com thanks to Liora)

Moshe said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moshe's father-in-law: 'We are travelling to the place of which HaShem said: I will give it you; come with us, and we will be generous with you; for HaShem has promised to be generous to Israel.' And he said to him: 'I will not go; but I will return to my own land, and to my people.'

And he said: 'please do not leave us, inasmuch as you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and can be our guide.’ So if you come with us we will show the same bounty to you that HaShem grants us.'

They marched from the mountain of HaShem a distance of three days. The Ark of the Covenant of HaShem travelled in front of them on three days' journey, to seek out a resting-place for them. And the cloud of HaShem was over them by day, when they moved forward.

When the ark set forward, Moshe would say: 'Rise up, O HaShem, may Your enemies be scattered; and may Your foes flee before You!' And when it rested, he said: 'Return, O HaShem, You who are Yisrael’s myriads of Thousands.'

And the people took to complaining bitterly before HaShem; and when HaShem heard it, He was angry, and a fire of HaShem broke out among them, and ravaged the outskirts of the camp. The people cried out to Moshe; and Moshe prayed to HaShem, and the fire died down. The place was named Taberah, because the fire of HaShem had broken out against them.

The riffraff in their midst felt a gluttonous craving, and then the Yisraelites wept and said: 'If only we had meat to eat!’ We remember the fish, we used to eat free in Egypt; the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; Now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all; we have nothing but this manna to look forward to.'

Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its colour was like bdellium. The people would go about, and gather it, and grind it between millstones or beat it in a mortar, boil it in a pot, and made cakes of it; and it tasted like rich cream. When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall upon it.

Moshe heard the people weeping, family by family, each person at the door of his tent; HaShem was very angry and Moshe was distressed. And Moshe said to HaShem: “Why have you dealt ill with Your servant? And why have I not enjoyed Your favour that You have laid the burden of all the people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I bear them that You should say to me: Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land that You have promised on oath to their fathers?

Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? When they whine before me and say: “Give us meat, to eat.” I cannot carry all this people by myself, for it is too much for me. If You would deal thus with me, rather kill me, I beg You, and let me see no more of my wretchedness!”

Then HaShem said to Moshe: 'Gather for Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom You know as elders and officers over the people, and bring them to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. I will come down and speak with you there; and I will take of the spirit which is on you, and will put it upon them; and they shall share the burden of the people with you, and you shall not bear it alone. And say to the people: Purify yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have kept whining before HaShem, saying: If only we had meat to eat! Indeed we were better off in Egypt; HaShem will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall not eat one day, not two, not five days, nor ten, nor twenty; but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils, and becomes loathsome to you; for you have rejected HaShem who is among you, by whining before Him and saying: Why, oh why did we ever leave Egypt?'

But Moshe said: 'the people, who are with me, number six hundred Thousand men; and yet You say: I will give them enough meat, to eat for a whole month! Could enough flocks and herds be slaughtered, to suffice them? Or could all the fish of the sea be gathered for them, to suffice them?' And HaShem answered Moshe: 'Is there a limit to HaShem’s power? You shall see whether what I have said happens to you or not.'

Moshe went out, and reported the words of HaShem to the people; he gathered seventy of the people’s elders, and stationed them around the Tent. Then HaShem came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, He drew upon the spirit that was on him, and put it upon the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they spoke in ecstasy but did not continue.

Two men, one named Eldad, and the other Medad; had remained in camp yet the spirit rested upon them - they were among those recorded, but they had not gone out to the Tent - and they spoke in ecstasy in the camp. A young man ran out and told Moshe, and said: 'Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.' And Joshua the son of Nun, Moshe’s attendant from his youth spoke up, and said: 'My lord Moshe, restrain them.' But Moshe said to him: 'Art You jealous for my sake? Would that all HaShem's people were prophets, that HaShem put His spirit upon them!' And Moshe re-entered the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

A wind from HaShem started up, and swept quail from the sea, and strewed them over the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey on the other side, all around the camp, and some two cubits deep on the ground. The people set to gathering quail all that day, and all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails; even he that gathered least gathered ten heaps; and they spread them all around the camp.

The meat was still between their teeth, nor yet chewed, when the anger of HaShem blazed forth against the people, and HaShem struck the people with a very severe plague. That place was named Kibroth-hattaavah, because the people that had the craving were buried there.

Then the people set out from Kibroth-hattaavah to Hazeroth.

When they were in Hazeroth, Miriam and Aharon spoke against Moshe because of the Cushite woman he had married. They said: 'Has HaShem spoken only through Moshe? Has He not spoken through us as well?' And HaShem heard it. Now the man Moshe was a very humble man, more so than any other man on earth. Suddenly HaShem called to Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam: 'Come out you three to the Tent of Meeting.' So the three of them went out. HaShem came down in a pillar of cloud, stopped at the entrance of the Tent, and called Aharon and Miriam; and they both came forward. And He said: 'hear these, My words: when a prophet of HaShem arises among you, I make Myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moshe; he is trusted throughout My household; with him I speak mouth to mouth, plainly, and not in riddles; and he sees the likeness of HaShem; why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant, against Moshe?'

Still angry with them, HaShem left; as the cloud was removed from the Tent, there was Miriam as white as snow; when Aharon turned to Miriam; he saw that she was leprous. And Aharon said to Moshe: 'Oh my lord, account not to us this sin, which we committed in our folly, let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed.' So Moshe cried out to HaShem, saying: 'O G-d, pray, heal her.'

And HaShem said to Moshe: 'If her father spat in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut out of camp for seven days, and after that she shall be re admitted.' So Miriam was shut out of camp seven days; and the people did not march on till Miriam was readmitted. After that the people marched from Hazeroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.