Behaalothecha: Playing with Fire

This is a dangerous parsha.  Gd tells Aaron how to light the menorah. He follows the rules. All is well, Following the rules is the approved way of dealing with divine instruction. Consistency counts, 

The second, annual Passover is announced. This Pasover ritual was always protrayed as an annual event, but it doesn't count until it is done. 

But there are times when the rules cannot be followed.  Hence the  polluted people cannot participate, Surprisingly, the request generates a unique, unanticipated alternative;  a second chance to do the ritual one month later.  The best possible solution. 

But when the people express a desire for meat: that brings the flames of destruction This desire for meat to supplement or replace the (delicious) manna is not greeted kindly.  This is not a request for an opportunity to serve Gd by participation in the sacrificial rite, It is a desire for flavor and texture, it is a longing for Egypt,  an undoig of Pesach. 

Gd again provides a surprising solution: give them exactly what they want... and then make them pay...with their lives.  That is, perhaps, the nature of earthly desire.  You can get what you want, but you pay with your life. You pay with your time.  The desire is like fire.  It is insubstantial and it consumes

I am in Poland.  For me, the image of the ritual flame is the yahrzeit candle, the flame commemorating the departed, the murdered, the cremated.  In my house, even  the shabbath candles were also memorial candles. 

The flame symbolizes an image of the killed. The body descends into the grave and the soul ascends. The flame  violates gravity.  It is delicate,  it ascends. It is insubstantial, but it illuminates and warms. What we can get from the memory of the dead is that warmth and light,  The history is a narrative, a fire that can burn 

Naso:the same thing only different

Naso:the same thing only different

The parsha can be divides into three parts.  It begins with the specific  task assignments to the various Levite families.  Each family has its own group of labors associated with the dismantling, transport and assembly of the Mishkan, the portable sanctuary. each group has its own place in the assembly line, Specialization leads to proficiency.  The tasks are also honors.  Everyone has his place. 

The core of the parha is the sota, the nazir and the priestly blessing.  The sota deals with the most private of human interactions:sexual fantasy - what a husband  thinks his wife is feeling.  It deals with his insecurity, which is probably born (in part) from the projection of his own (testosterone fueled) fantasies upon his wife.  If there was an infidelity, she was probably  looking for freedom more than love. (The movies, by romanticizing the wayward relationship, have made it more difficult to understand.)  Sota is generally founded on male insecurity.  That is why the Biblical solution is a non toxic ritual.  The waters are poisonous if someone adds the  poison.

I imagine the nazir looked like we, my 1970's friends and I, looked back in the day. The long hair, the vows of abstinence, the life affirming  behaviors. The nazir is the adolescent searching for unique individuality  by means of a formula.  Dealing with desire trough its denial.  It is a rite o passage

Finally, there are the twelve , seemingly identical, gifts to the Sanctuary from the tribal princes.   Should this have been a capitalist contest to see who could be most creative or most generous?  Each prince giving the same gift was unifying, generous and humble. And the gifts did not mean the same thing to each prince. The tribe of Judah was twice the size of Benjamin, some tribes were wealthier than others.  To the givers these offerings were different

Everybody is unique.  We look more alike  than we think. 

Bamidbar: identity

Bamidbar: identity

We are dealing with levels of identity.  In the wilderness, where there can be no identification with place, each person finds herself in a tribe and a family. The leaders are identified, some need no introduction: Moshe, Aaron.  Others are designated the leaders of tribes.  Most are anonymous, part of a large number, 

The numbers are repeated. The numbers are intended to frighten the potential enemy.  Confronting Israel  means facing over 600,000 soldiers, organized as armies and divisions. Don't tread on me. 

At the core  is the Ark of the Covenant and its sanctuary, ministered by Priests aided by Levites. At the core are the  documents of relationship between humanity and Gd. 

In our times of computers ( and the NSA) we can understand that an intelligence that is powerful enough can relate to each individual over many dimensions.  To Gd we are not just numbers. 

Bechukthai: Values

Bechukthai: Values

The first part of the parsha is a contract: follows the rules and prosper, break the rules and suffer.  The second part of this parsha ( the parsha that ends Vayikra) speaks of valuation, absolute worth.  Fifty shekel for a man between 20 and 60, my value has declined to 15 shekel  - alas.  The valuation of cattle and fields is also stated.

The parsha touches on both macro- and micro- economics.  The faithful execution of the covenant between the people and Gd determines the fertility of the land and the freedom from  military threat.  If the people, as a whole, abide by the Sabbatical and other laws, the land will be fertile, the rains will come, they will live in peace and everyone will do well.  If the people as a whole violate the contract,  there will be drought, famine and holocaust.  The individual is subsumed.

But the people consist of individuals who own animals and parcels of land, each with ts own worth. The price of redemption , if those possessions are pledged to the Lrd's earthly agency, the temple, is defined ( subject to modification [based upon means]).   Loss aversion is addressed by the 25% penalty for redemption of pledged property.

If we all stand together in righteousness, we have a Divine promise of prosperity. Greed destroys everyone for the temporary benefit of a  person; worth no more than 50 shekel