Bahaalothecha: Limited resources
One of the climactic moments in the parsha is when Moshe reacts to the people's demand for meat and Gd's promise that the people will eat meat for a month. Moshe doubts that the resources are available. Gd seems to bristle at Moshe's doubt of Gd's power. Then the slav, the quail, arrive, accompanied by the plague ( which probably limited the consumption) .
This story is the explicit statement of Gd's power. But it seems to come short of omnipotence. Even Moshe needed to be convinced that Gd could fulfill the promise. What are the limits to Gd's power? Is it OK to question that power? Why does the all-powerful allow this situation to arise? Why do we live in a world of deprivation?
This story touches upon the question of what kind of world we live in. What does Gd's intervention mean? What does an answered prayer look like?
I was trained to consider questioning Gd's omnipotence as a terrible sacrilege, a dangerous thought that should be banished. Perhaps I could allow the question of the creation of an immovable stone to enter my consciousness, but that ancient Gd paradox was the limit of tolerance. Any deeper thought in the matter of a Gd with boundaries was too apikorsish for me.
But the story in the parsha raises these, exact questions. And the doubts are expressed by none other than Moshe!
The story of the slav tells us that the Gd can find a way to fulfill a promise that even Moshe found incredible. Gd comes through. Therefore, prayers can be answered, even for requests that we may believe are hopeless. Gd is the antithesis of hopeless.
The fulfillment of those (doubt-filled) prayers may take an unexpected, surprising form. And the miracle may have a hidden penalty. We should be used to this mixture of wonder and curse. We live in a world in which darkness can be instantly banished by the flip of a switch. We pay for that with money ( some which went to publish the Protocols of the Elders of Zion), we lose the ability to see most of the stars ( through light pollution), we destroy the atmosphere with the discharges from the power plants. One stumbling is replaced by another. Omnipotence maintains the orbits and eddies set in motion at The Creation.
This story touches upon the question of what kind of world we live in. What does Gd's intervention mean? What does an answered prayer look like?
I was trained to consider questioning Gd's omnipotence as a terrible sacrilege, a dangerous thought that should be banished. Perhaps I could allow the question of the creation of an immovable stone to enter my consciousness, but that ancient Gd paradox was the limit of tolerance. Any deeper thought in the matter of a Gd with boundaries was too apikorsish for me.
But the story in the parsha raises these, exact questions. And the doubts are expressed by none other than Moshe!
The story of the slav tells us that the Gd can find a way to fulfill a promise that even Moshe found incredible. Gd comes through. Therefore, prayers can be answered, even for requests that we may believe are hopeless. Gd is the antithesis of hopeless.
The fulfillment of those (doubt-filled) prayers may take an unexpected, surprising form. And the miracle may have a hidden penalty. We should be used to this mixture of wonder and curse. We live in a world in which darkness can be instantly banished by the flip of a switch. We pay for that with money ( some which went to publish the Protocols of the Elders of Zion), we lose the ability to see most of the stars ( through light pollution), we destroy the atmosphere with the discharges from the power plants. One stumbling is replaced by another. Omnipotence maintains the orbits and eddies set in motion at The Creation.
posted by Sheldon Goldberg at 9:42 AM
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