Despite what Apple’s marketers might want you to believe, you can’t pray with your iPods‘ earbuds in your ears, no matter how hard you pray. Praying is to be a time of talking to, but more importantly listening to, God.

If you’re also busy listening to Ted Pearce, Sue Samuel, or even Paul Wilbur, you can’t exactly hear the L-RD above the din. While music can be used by God to speak to you, it’s important to remember to let Him use his own inner voice, the still small one, at least once in a while, and not limit him to only speaking to you through song lyrics… no matter how wholesome the praise chorus may be.

Here’s my commentary on Korach. Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashah for today is Korach or “Korah” and covers Numbers chapters 16 through 18. This week’s reading covers the events surrounding an outright rebellion against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. The seeds for this rebellion were planted in last week’s portion, at the end of chapter 14, when we read the following:

Numbers 14:40-45
Early the next morning they went up toward the high hill country. “We have sinned,” they said. “We will go up to the place the L-RD promised.” But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the L-RD’s command? This will not succeed! Do not go up, because the L-RD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the L-RD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword.” Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the L-RD’s covenant moved from the camp. Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.

Now, this passage is something I think many of us can relate to in our own lives. If one has lived the life of a believer for any amount of time, we have all had experiences where we have become a bit too full of ourselves and our relationship to God, ignored wise counsel, and have done things we were told not to do.

Whether it was as a child, ignoring the advice of a parent to not take part in a risky activity, or as a single pursuing a relationship that was all wrong for us, or as an adult taking a job because of the financial compensation because we believed money was a sign of God’s favor, rather than prayerful confirmation from God being a sign of God’s favor – I think in one way or another we can all think of examples when we thought we were doing the right thing, thought we were listening to God, ignored advice to the contrary and found out, oops, we should have listened to that wise council telling us we were about to mess up.

On a basic level, we can understand that episode, but there is a deeper undercurrent at play here. These people of the generation of the Exodus are displaying an outright disregard for the advice of the L-RD through Moses, and are doing so in the self-delusion that what they are doing is correct and spiritual and blessed by the L-RD.

Now, this whole drift of the people against Moses and Aaron has come to a head as the people select a leader to oppose Moses and Aaron. His name is Korach, as we read in:

Numbers 16:1-3
Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites–Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth–became insolent and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the L-RD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the L-RD’s assembly?”

As we can tell from this passage, this was no small uprising of nobodies; these were leaders in the community who, caught up in their responsibilities in caring for the tent of meeting, began to view themselves as being equal with Moses in terms of their intimacy with the L-RD. While the L-RD certainly had the capacity to accept any of these leaders at that level of intimacy, by their actions we can see that Korach and the others were not communicating with the same God.

We must remember that the L-RD is not an author of confusion; He does not tell one person in a group, “Go left,” while telling another person in the same group, “Go right.” Yet that is what is evidenced here by the actions of Korach and his fellow rebels. They claim to possess the same level of holiness and to be the same sort of friends to the L-RD.

But is their claim valid? Remember, many of these are the same folks who charged into the Promised Land without the blessing of the L-RD, even though they were warned against it. Did that experience bring them back in touch with the proper humility before the L-RD? Sadly, no. They persist and persist in the idea that they know the mind of the L-RD as well as Moses, even in the face of absolutely no evidence supporting their presumptuous attitude. So they instead accuse Moses of doing exactly what they are doing; going too far and being too presumptuous.

We read this in:

Numbers 16:4-7
When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the L-RD will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers and tomorrow put fire and incense in them before the L-RD. The man the L-RD chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!”

So what is going on here is that Moses basically tells Korach and his followers, “You think you’re holy? You think the L-RD is with you? Terrific! Let’s put it to the test. Let’s prove it. Let’s allow the L-RD to show who He is with and who He is not with.”

Moses challenges Korach’s dissatisfaction. You see, Korach was of the Levites and Moses points out all the blessings the L-RD has poured out on Korach and his followers. He’s set them apart from the rest of the tribes, exempted them from military service and allowed them to draw near to the L-RD by their service in the Temple. And yet, despite all of that, it’s not enough. They want and lay claim to more.

So Moses challenges them to a contest of selection, yet Korach, along with Dathan and Abiram, refuse initially. We read this in:

Numbers 16:12b-14
But they said, “We will not come! Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert? And now you also want to lord it over us? Moreover, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come!”

Now, notice how out of touch with the truth these men are at this point. All Moses has suggested is that they put fire and incense in their censers and allow the L-RD to choose a leader, yet they accuse him wanting to, what? Fix the result? No. They are so irrational, they claim Moses wants to gouge out their eyes!

So Moses repeats the challenge and this time it is accepted. When they come before the Tent of Meeting, the L-RD says He wants to destroy the entire assembly, but amazingly Moses once again prays for the L-RD to show mercy, even to those who are the enemies of Moses! We read this in:

Numbers 16:20-22
The L-RD said to Moses and Aaron, “Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.” But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, “O God, God of the spirits of all mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?”

So at this, the L-RD tells Moses to order the people who do not want to share in the fate of Korach, Dathan and Abiram to stand away from their tents… well clear, as a matter of fact. And then Moses tells the people about the judgment the L-RD is about to pass upon them.

We read this in:

Numbers 16:28-33
Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the L-RD has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the L-RD has not sent me. But if the L-RD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the L-RD with contempt.” As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah’s men and all their possessions. They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.

This is how Korach was brought to an end by the L-RD, but his rebellion was not over. Those who followed Korach approached Moses shortly after this and confronted him, trying to blame him personally as a murderer of Korach. Then the L-RD sends a plague out and 14,700 people die as a result – all of them among those who were eager to follow Korach back to slavery in Egypt, rather than to follow the L-RD and their chosen intermediary, Moses.

After this massive loss of life, the L-RD follows it up by offering further instructions for the Levites, so that such presumptions by the people might be less likely to arise in the future. Of course, what we can also understand here is that these 14,700 who died in the Korach rebellion were all doomed to never see the Promised Land anyway; the L-RD declared that already in last week’s portion.

So what can we draw from this episode? Perhaps this: that no matter how righteous and genuine someone may seem, no matter how well and persuasively they speak, no matter how much they speak of having the L-RD on their side, none of that is of any value. It does not indicate their true standing with the L-RD. What does? There are some questions one can ask to help discern this.

Do they pray, or just talk about praying?

When they pray, do they seek the L-RD’s will, or use it as an opportunity to promote their own ideas?

Do they seek the L-RD and His will, or their own way?

Do they listen to the L-RD, or do they harden their heart to Him in order to cling to what they want?

In all these ways, Korach fell short. He talked about the whole people of Israel being holy, but never spoke once to the L-RD. He promoted his own agenda in all he said, never humbling himself to ask the L-RD what He wanted. He sought to have things go in his favor, refused to listen to warnings about his destructive path and hardened his heart so much, he didn’t even attempt to flee his own destruction.

Most importantly, he never saw himself as in the wrong. He thought of himself as a good guy, a champion of the people. Right and wrong, for him, was all turned around. That is the path of Korath and it should serve as a warning to anyone who seeks to use religion and the L-RD to further their own agenda, rather than to serve the L-RD according to His will and agenda.

Erring in this area is not something the L-RD takes lightly, which the consequences of this week’s portion make clear. Only a few chapters ago, the Torah declared that Moses was the most humble man who had ever lived; in Korach, we see someone who is anything but humble, even while projecting an image to the contrary.

Korach led thousands to destruction, and he is only one of many shadows of the false Messiah. Far superior is the path of Moses, who is a shadow of the true Messiah, our Messiah Yeshua.

Shabbat Shalom.

I know we ought not obsess on the physical to the detriment of the spiritual, but at fifty pounds overweight, it’s time for me to start putting enough energy into improving my physical self that I can have better health and life expectancy. I was hoping to try something light and easy, like a Kettlebell system, but so far it’s just thoughts, which doesn’t exactly help one lose weight. Anyway, here’s my Sh’lach L’cha commentary. Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashah for today is Sh’lach L’cha or “Send for yourself” and covers Numbers chapters 13 through 15. This week’s reading covers the entire episode when Moses and Aaron send spies into the promised land, the report of the spies, and the L-RD’s reaction to their report. Next to the episode of the Golden Calf, this ranks as one of the most disappointing episodes in all of Israel’s history, and quite often the true cause of this episode is either overlooked completely, or minimized.

For the past couple weeks, Rabbi Stan has taught on the dangers of lashon horah – evil speech – and the destruction it can bring upon any individual or community of people. Also, in last week’s Torah commentary, we looked at how evil speech affected the community of Israel when they grumbled about the manna the L-RD provided, as well as how the grumbling of Miriam – the sister of Moses – was also dealt with harshly by the L-RD.

We’ve learned that committing evil speech does not require the telling of a lie. Often, those who commit lashon horah are telling the truth about another person. But it doesn’t matter. The problem is not the truthfulness of the speech, but the intent of the speaker. So, even if one speaks the truth, if the intent of one’s heart in sharing something about another person is to damage their reputation in the eyes of others, the result is considered evil speech.

This week’s portion reveals yet another aspect to how evil speech can be manifested. Moses and Aaron send a group of twelve spies into the land promised to them by the L-RD. What was the purpose of their mission?

We find this in:

Numbers 13:17-20
When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)

So, this is the mission of the spies. To simply gather intelligence on the conditions in the Land, and bring back some fruit of the land if they are able. That’s it. That’s all. Just gather information and fruit, and report back to Moses and Aaron.

Is that what happened? We find this in:

Numbers 13:27-29
They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”
Now, to this point, those reporting back to Moses and Aaron have lived up to their responsibilities. They have stuck to the parameters given to them by Moses. They have gathered information and reported it, but they have not gone beyond that specific mission. Yet things are about to take a turn for the worse. After this, Caleb speaks up and offers a faithful conclusion to the report, saying, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

Caleb’s summary comes through the eyes of faith. Faith in the ability of the L-RD to deliver on His promises. Yet not everyone who went with him to spy out the Land agree. Instead of trusting the L-RD to make good on His promises, they instead respond out of fear, in the flesh. We read this in:

Numbers 13:31-33
But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

This is where the behavior of the spies sent into the Land veers off-course from their mission. After delivering an accurate initial report, they allow fear to rule over them, rather than faith in the L-RD who brought them up out of Egypt and rescued them from slavery in Egypt. Instead of trusting in the L-RD as Caleb had suggested, they choose to fear the odds against them and the forces that will oppose them, and they go a step further by spreading that fear to others throughout the camp.

This is important to understand; it is their words and the intent behind their words that get them into trouble here. Are some of their claims honest? It would appear so. After all, we know that in time, in the generation of David, David will battle a giant from Gath named Goliath – or Golyat, if you prefer the Hebrew version of his name. So is it true that there are giants in the Land? Certainly. But again, when it comes to lashon hora, the truth of what is said is not at issue; what is at issue is the intent of the speech, which here, very clearly, is to cause fear and sew division among the people.

This is important to notice: Caleb and Joshua did not go on a separate mission from the other ten spies! They traveled together. They witnesses the same things. They had the same facts at their disposal. So what is the difference?

The difference is how they reacted to what they saw and what they knew. Ten of them give into fear; fear is a lack of trust, which is the same thing as a lack of faith. Only two – Caleb and Joshua – look at the same information, the odds stacked against them, and say, “The L-RD is able. He can give us the victory.”

Yet their voices were hard to hear over the din of complaints and fear. We read this in:

Numbers 14:1-4
That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the L-RD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

Notice how lashon hora has taken deep root in the community of the Israelites at this time. It grows and grows as time goes on, the complaints growing louder and spiraling out of control. In the last parashah, we saw how thousands died because of evil speech over the manna the L-RD provided the people to eat; we read about Miriam’s punishment for speaking against the leadership of her brother, Moses. While corrective actions were taken on each occasion, the habit of evil speech is now so deeply ingrained in the people that the problem continues even though those who were guilty of it before had been severely punished by The L-RD. Now, they are at the point of outright mutiny, making plans to return to Egypt as soon as they can find a willing leader to challenge and replace Moses.

So, what is the solution to this explosive situation? We read this in:

Numbers 14:5-10a
Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the L-RD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the L-RD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the L-RD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” But the whole assembly talked about stoning them.

Moses and Aaron respond with prayer; Caleb and Joshua respond by speaking a better truth – a truth based in trusting The L-RD – to the people, urging them not to rebel. Yet it doesn’t work, does it? By this time, the people have become fatally infected by the sin of lashon hora, to the point that none of them can pull back from their urge to rebel against the L-RD. From Mount Sinai, when they changed the terms of the agreement, telling Moses to be their mediator and not have the L-RD speak to them anymore lest they die, to complaints about food, until now where an evil report about the land causes them to want to strike down Moses and Aaron and return to slavery in Egypt, this is a group of people who have been saying, “No,” to the L-RD for so long, they simply can’t stop saying, “No,” to Him.

Finally, the L-RD has had enough. Once again, the L-RD declares His desire to strike them all down and build a new nation out of Moses himself. Once again, Moses intercedes for Israel, begging the L-RD to show mercy. Once again, the L-RD agrees to forgive them for Moses’ sake. He won’t wipe them out all at once and thus given the Egyptians a reason to speak of the L-RD with contempt. But this time the L-RD does not back down so completely. Let’s listen in to this passage in:

Numbers 14:20-24
The L-RD replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the L-RD fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times–not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.

And the L-RD is not light in his punishment of this rebellion, either. As He revealed of Himself to Moses, the L-RD does not leave the guilty unpunished, but he punished the children for the sins of their fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Him. He is about to illustrate this literally and directly, as we read in:

Numbers 14:28-35
So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the L-RD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: In this desert your bodies will fall–every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. But you–your bodies will fall in this desert. Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. For forty years–one year for each of the forty days you explored the land–you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’ I, the L-RD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this desert; here they will die.”

Why is the L-RD so harsh with the Israelites here? I would suggest that what we see here is a rejection of even the amended covenant the L-RD had made with Israel at Sinai. Remember, the original terms were that the people would hear the voice of the L-RD. That was all they had to do. Instead, they asked for a mediator – Moses. And God gave them what they asked for! He amended the covenant and as a result they were no longer called “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Now, they want to reject the mediator of their own choosing, Moses, going so far as to plot his overthrow. And yes, that means they were planning to kill him.

So the L-RD decides what their punishment must be; none of them who rejected him so thoroughly and continuously will live to see the promised land themselves. That will be left to their children, who will be put to hard labor in the wilderness for their survival there as a punishment for the sins of their parents. Their parents had not had to struggle to survive in the desert; they will be made to. So, except for Joshua and Caleb, the entire generation of the exodus from Egypt will perish in the desert and never see the land promised to them.

And why? Because of a lack of trust, a root of bitterness, and most importantly, because of careless talk, evil speech, lashon hora. Unkind words and evil speech led to the destruction of an entire generation, over 600,000 men of military age, and perhaps as many as 1.5 million people overall. Only two survive. So, the next time someone tells you that words are not important, can’t hurt you or that God doesn’t care about it… point them to these last two Torah portions. The truth is exactly the opposite of the wisdom of this world.

Shabbat Shalom.

I’ve been thinking a lot about RVs lately. Growing up, they were considered the way to travel the country in style. It was a big deal when my uncle and aunt took my Grandma Hensel to the Grand Canyon and back in a huge one. Actually, it was more of a motor home when you get right down to it. Of course, back then gas was well under a buck a gallon. I’d hate to see the gas bill these days, though I’m sure modern RVs get much better fuel efficiency … to a point. Anyway, here’s my commentary on B’ha’alotcha. Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashah for today is B’ha’alotcha or “In your setting up” and covers Numbers chapters 8 through 12. Chapter eight concerns itself with the setting up of lampstands and the preparations of the Levites. Chapter nine focuses on regulations surrounding the celebration of the Passover, allowing even those who are ceremonially unclean due to coming in contact with a dead body to take part in the feast, as well as how the Israelites moved their encampment only when the cloud over the Tent of Meeting moved, and how they stopped when it stopped.

Chapter ten concentrates on further instructions for moving the encampment, both at a time of battle and at a time of peace. Chapter eleven relates the events that happened when the people of Israel grew tired of manna and begged the L-RD to send them a wider variety of food. And finally, chapter twelve focuses on the consequences of some family troubles among Moses and his siblings, Aaron and Miriam.

So this is a rich Torah portion, ripe with topics for discussion, but the part that I kept being drawn back to was chapter twelve, because I believe what it teaches us about the L-RD is so important and, too often, overlooked by many believers today.

We read this in:

Numbers 12:1-2
Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. “Has the L-RD spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the L-RD heard this.

So, what do we have here? Well, we have the sister and brother of Moses complaining against him. The first fault they find here is that Moses has married a Cushite wife. The King James translates the word Cushite as “Ethiopian.” So what do we know about the wife of Moses?

Actually, we know very little about her. The first thing we know is her name, which is Zipporah. She is the daughter of Jethro, the priest of Midian, and therefore would most properly be considered a Midianite.

Zipporah’s name specifically appears in the Torah only four times. Her name appears twice in Exodus chapter two, where she is named as the daughter of Reuel (another name for Jethro) who is given by Jethro to Moses as his wife, and that she gave birth to his first-born son, Gershom.

Zipporah’s name next appears in Exodus chapter four, when she circumcises Moses’ son because he had failed to, and the L-RD was about to strike Moses down for failing to do so. The final appearance of her name in the Torah is in Exodus chapter eighteen, when we are told that Moses had sent his wife and two sons ahead of Israel to stay with Jethro during Israel’s ordeal fleeing from slavery in Egypt.

Directly from the Torah, that’s all we know about Zipporah, the wife of Moses. Of course, rabbinic tradition has attempted to fill in the blanks, but there is no basis in the Torah itself for much of what is taught about her.

What we do know is that Miriam and Aaron were complaining about Moses having a Cushite wife. Is it Zipporah’s origins in the land of Cush… or Midian, or Ethiopia… whatever you wish to call it… that matter here? No. The core of this issue is not where Zipporah IS from, but where she is NOT from; she is not an Israelite.

Now, this information was, of course, nothing new to Miriam and Aaron. Moses has been married to Zipporah for a few years at least, had two sons by her – Gershom and Eliezer – and yet it is this fact that spurs Miriam’s complaint against her brother. When she complains, “Has the L-RD spoken only to Moses? Hasn’t He also spoken through us?” she is not speaking anything untrue. In fact, the Sage Rashi suggests that Miriam never even intended harm to Moses by what she said! We read this from:

Rashi
“…and although Aharon and Miriam did not mean to hurt Moshe they were still punished; how much more so, then, will a person who wishes to hurt another be punished?”

And it is this quote from Rashi that draws up closer to the real issue at hand here, and that is a Hebrew word you may have heard used by some people at times here at Beth Yeshua, but which you may not understand. That word is lashon hora, and it means, “evil speech.” Stan taught about it last week.

Evil speech and its consequences is a theme that is repeated generally in the Torah, and especially in this week’s Torah portion. What is evil speech?

Well, it goes deeper than just malicious gossip and lies. As a matter of fact, one can be speaking things that are absolutely true about another person, and yet still be guilty of evil speech.

Think about it. Was it true that Moses had married a Cushite as opposed to a Hebrew woman? Certainly. Was it true that the L-RD had spoken to Aaron and Miriam as well as Moses? Sure it was. So, why were they punished for speaking the truth?

Because nothing that was said, although true, was meant to build up Moses. The intent was to diminish Moses, even if not exactly to harm him. The words being spoken were coming from negativity and a root of bitterness. Bitterness is often taken for granted these days; we hear of a person’s misfortune and the injustices they have suffered and, of course, we understand why a person might be bitter today. But are bitterness and envy – understandable though they may be – fruits of the Spirit or qualities that offer life and healing?

We read this in:

Acts 8:18-23
When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

We also know what is said in:

Proverbs 14:30
A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

These are just a couple examples; there are many. And what both of these passages point out is that bitterness and envy are not compatible with ministry or a life led by communication with God – the Holy Spirit. Because Peter recognized the bitterness and envy in Simon’s heart, he did not just refuse to lay hands on him, but actually told him, “You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.”

And what is the fruit of bitterness and envy? It is lashon hora, evil speech! Let’s take a look at another part of this week’s portion, and see the consequences of yet another instance of evil speech. We read this in:

Numbers 11:4-6
The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost–also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”

Now, like the source of most bitterness, we can understand the complaint these people have. Manna was a wonderful, perfect food to be sure, but as most chefs will tell you, too much of anything, even a really good thing, can get monotonous. So some of the people eventually complain that it’s manna for breakfast, manna for lunch and manna for supper, and it’s easy to understand that they decide they would like some meat.

However, you see, it doesn’t end there. They let a minor dissatisfaction with the lack of variety of food grow and grow until their complaint becomes a lot more than just wishing they had a steak now and then. They let this complaint grow and fuel their dissatisfaction until they’re not just asking for a wider variety of food, but are claiming that they were better off under the yoke of slavery in Egypt. All over what? Food!

So the L-RD hears their complaint, but his response is not to their surface complaint of a lack of meat, but to the root of bitterness in their heart.

We read this in:

Numbers 11:18-20
“Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The L-RD heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the
L-RD will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month–until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it–because you have rejected the L-RD, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”

You see, the true problem here is not meat. The Israelites did indeed have herds of cattle and flocks of sheep; if they had wanted meat, their was meat to be had. This is instead a problem of attitude and a condition of their hearts being rooted in complaints and envy and bitterness, rather than rejoicing and praise and the Spirit of the L-RD. This is not a matter of what they were given; this is a matter of desiring whatever they were not given, as we read in:

Numbers 11:31-34
Now a wind went out from the L-RD and drove quail in from the sea. It brought them down all around the camp to about three feet above the ground, as far as a day’s walk in any direction. All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers. Then they spread them out all around the camp. But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the L-RD burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved other food.

And that’s the key phrase. They craved “other food,” as in any food other than that provided by the L-RD. The manna was not the problem here. The L-RD could have provided them anything, be it steak, turkey, cheese pizza, popcorn, whatever! And no matter what He provided, their desire would have been for whatever was not on the menu. It was not merely about wanting something new to eat, it was about wanting something not provided by the L-RD.

You know, the traditions of the rabbis are sometimes filled with tales that add on to the Biblical text. Sometimes what they add provides insight, sometimes not. One of the traditions surrounding this episode with the quail and the manna states that those who ate the manna were compelled to follow the Torah and obey all that the L-RD commanded them in order to receive the full benefits of the manna. Whether that’s true or not, the tradition offers the insight that what the people complaining here really wanted was food that came with no strings attached, with no requirement to follow the Torah and obey all that the L-RD commanded them. So ultimately what they wanted wasn’t a twenty-ounce porterhouse on their plates, but they wanted the L-RD out of their lives.

And as a result of a minor complaint about food, thousands died there in the desert. Remember, these were a generation of people who had already said no to hearing the voice of God directly, a voice that would have allowed them to become what God desired them to be: a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. As we know, they instead chose to hear from a human mediator, rather than the L-RD. They chose to worship a golden calf, rather than wait for the return of that mediator. The L-RD had promised that not one of their generation would live to see the Promised Land, save for Caleb and Joshua, and this is one of the episodes on the way to Him fulfilling that promise.

So how does this tie in to the evil speech uttered by Miriam? Let’s take a look at the L-RD’s response in:

Number 12:4-8
At once the L-RD said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the Tent of Meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them came out. Then the L-RD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward, he said, “Listen to my words: “When a prophet of the L-RD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the L-RD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

When the Spirit of the L-RD departs, Miriam, who has spoken evil against her brother Moses first, was struck with leprosy. It was a death sentence and yet, because Moses interceded on her behalf, the L-RD spared her life, though she had to sit outside the camp for seven days before she was healed and declared clean once more.

What this ought to make clear is that, as far as the L-RD is concerned, the old saying, “Words can never hurt me,” is not relevant. The excuse repeated by so many, “Well, all I was saying is…” does not stand up to scrutiny. Whether it is careless talk, gossip, evil speech, or even lashon hora, what comes out of people’s mouths, their words and the intent of their hearts, matter quite a bit to the L-RD. Being careful with what one says can bring unity to a community; being careless about what one says can destroy it, as we’ll see next week. Is there a cure for lashon hora? That’s what Stan will speak about in a little bit.

Shabbat Shalom.

Good news! I have audio blogging versions of my commentaries, dating all the way back to the very first one, available now on this blog! Just look for the linked text that says, “Or listen to it!” Click on that and the .mp3 file will download into your preferred player.

All audio is taken from a live taping of me delivering these messages at Beth Yeshua, though some of the early ones were taped at Kehilat Sar Shalom. One or two I recorded after the event because the live taping didn’t turn out.

I’ll continue to add audio as we go, now, though it’ll go up a few days after the text is posted, due to production reasons. Enjoy!