B'haalot'cha

Numbers 8:1−12:16

D'var Torah By: Rabbi Philip "Flip" Rice for ReformJudasim.org

Shout for joy . . . for on that day many nations will attach themselves to God . . . (Zechariah 2:14-15)

Why is it so difficult to journey from a place of self to a place of other? Why are we so afraid as a society and as individuals to lower our shields and swords, and pick up pruning hooks in order to plant a world that overflows with grapevines and fig trees? Would that not make us all shout for joy? And if peace eludes our world, will you also allow it to elude you?

The utopian vision for community, expressed by the Prophet Micah thousands of years ago, called for a day at some point in the future when all people would gaze with pleasure upon God's house and declare, "Hey, let's go up there, to the house of the God of Jacob, that the Holy One may instruct us to follow God's ways and we may walk in God's paths!" Nowadays even traffic can prevent folks from wanting to go up to the house of God. Any number of obstacles can deny us the time to vision a better world for ourselves, much less for others. It is not that we do not share in the dream of peace--a time when all of us together would find some grass in a park and sit down under some shady trees, and "none shall be made to feel afraid" (Micah 4:1). Is it just that we are all too busy?

There are obstacles. First and foremost is that, as Jews, we have enemies. Who and what are our adversaries? Rabbi Cathy L. Felix writes, "foes of Israel, of the Jewish people as a whole, but also individuals, situations, and even psychological conflicts that block our emotional and spiritual growth." 1

This week our Torah portion, B'haalot'cha, provides us with a peculiar scribal anomaly not found anywhere else in the Torah, which is meant to comfort and encourage us as we seek our goals. Set apart by two upside-down Hebrew-letter nuns are two verses that ask for God's help in overcoming obstacles as a community and as individuals. These nuns act like parentheses. What do these self-contained verses say?

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