BS"D
REMARKABLE REWARD:
PARSHAT BEHAALOTCHA
Shira Smiles shiur 5782
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
One
of the six mandated remembrances in Judaism is to "Remember what... Hashem
did to Miriam on the way... out of Egypt." (Devarim 24:9) The actual
incident occurs in our parsha, Parshat Behaalotcha. Miriam spoke loshon
horo about her brother Moshe, a brother that she loved dearly and to whom
she meant no harm. She noted that he had separated from his wife, a seemingly
innocuous observation, yet Hashem afflicted her with tzora'as. While it
is important to always remember the gravity of negative speech, it is helpful
to also explore and discuss additional ideas raised by this incident. It is
also important to hear Moshe's short but poignant five word prayer for her
recovery, "Please Hashem, heal her now."
As
a metzora, Miriam was quarantined and sent out of the camp of Israel for
seven days. The Torah tells us that the people did not journey until Miriam was
brought back in, implying that while the Clouds of Glory had indeed lifted,
signaling that Bnei Yisroel should travel, yet in homage to Miriam, with
Hashem's acquiescence, Bnei Yisroel waited for her to return to the camp at the
end of her quarantine. The medrash tells us that this wait, and Hashem's
assent, was a reward for Miriam's waiting on the banks of the Nile River when
the basket carrying the infant Moshe was put among the reeds.
Rabbi
Druck in Aish Tamid asks the obvious question: Miriam stood guard for
only a short while, yet all of Bnei Yisroel waited a full week for her. How did
such a small act merit such a great reward? Why is this also the correct time
for the reward, asks Rabbi Svei. This is a prime example of how a small mitzvah
can merit a great reward; we are not the judges. As Rabbi Scheinerman notes,
citing the Sifsei Chachamim, Miriam acted naturally in trying to protect
her brother, and her "guard duty" was only for a short while, yet she
merited such a great reward. How much more can we merit when we act positively
when it seems unnatural to do so.
How
greatly does this differ from Western mentality. The West values quantity and
achievement, while Judaism values effort over accomplishment, continues the Ohel
Moshe. See, for example, how Joshua merited succeeding Moshe Rabbenu in
leading Bnei Yisroel. We are told Joshua served Moshe. Our Sages tell us that
Joshua's service consisted of setting out the mats so the disciples could sit,
a relatively minor task. Yet his reward was great. Or consider the husband of
the Prophetess and Judge Devorah. He encouraged his wife to go to Shiloh to
expound Torah and judge the nation. To facilitate this mission, he made thick
wicks to increase the light of Torah, and so Devorah is referred to as Aishet
Lapidot/the wife of Lapidot/the wife of Torches. Was this his given name or
his sobriquet and title?
Let
us not overlook the small things, teaches us Rabbi Pincus, for we do not know
the impact even a smile or a kind word may have on another at any given moment.
Bigger is not always better. Often the greatest impact is made with the
smallest of actions. Hashem provides so many opportunities for chesed, writes
Rabbi Ochion in Ohr Doniel, but we often either don't recognize the
opportunity or discard it as irrelevant. We don't know the importance of what
we do or don't do, but every detail is recorded, every cheerful smile, every
offer of a drink of water, the smallest acts of chesed.
When
Moshe sees Miriam afflicted, he voices a short but eloquent five word prayer,
"Kel na refa na lah/Please, Kel/God heal her now." From
Hashem's response we learn that one of the ways of studying and understanding
Torah is through making inferences, kal vachomer/a fortiori. Hashem
tells Moshe that had her father spit in Miriam's face, certainly she would have
been humiliated for seven days..." Unwritten but derived -- I, the Father,
see fit to rebuke her [to "spit in her face], should she not be closeted
and separated in humiliation at least equally?
Actually,
it is this same reasoning method that Moshe himself used in separating from his
wife, the source of Miriam's comments, notes Hinachem Nafshi. Hashem had
commanded Bnei Yisroel to separate from their wives for three days in
preparation for receiving His word. Moshe reasoned that Bnei Yisroel were
encountering God only once, yet they had to separate from their wives. Kal
vachomer/How much more so must he separate from his wife and be in constant
readiness any moment that Hashem wishes to speak with him "face to
face." This was the reasoning Miriam overlooked, and this was why she was
punished here.
Hinachem
Nafshi
offers yet another insight Each of the thirteen attributes of Hakodosh Boruch
Hu parallels one of the ways we can learn and study Torah. The third word of
the thirteen attributes is Kel, the name parallel to to the method of
derivation, a fortiori. Moshe uses this name of God specifically in pleading
for Miriam's recovery, as he understands that Miriam's sin stemmed from a fault
in this reasoning. We also learn a kal vachomer from the reward
itself. If Miriam is getting rewarded for an act that any sister would do
for her brother, how much more so, will we get rewarded for great acts that we
do.
While
a punishment should reflect the transgression, a reward should also reflect the
positive act at some level, writes Chochmat Hamatzpun. We don't know the
"back story" of Miriam at the banks of the Nile. How much was she
suffering along with her baby brother, adrift on the water? What were her
thoughts and her prayers? When we are involved in mitzvoth, we need to invest
not just time, but purity of mind and spirit in the performance.
Miriam
was suffering with her brother, nosei b'ol im chavero/carrying the
burden of suffering with him. Empathy has the power to relieve some of the
suffering of another. Rabbi Druck notes that for the duration of World War I
the Chofetz Chaim refused to sleep on a bed, for he felt the suffering of
Jewish soldiers. In the desert, all of Bnei Yisroel felt the suffering of
Miriam in quarantine, and could not move through the pain for the duration of
the seven days' quarantine.
Rabbi
Cohen brings the example of Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz who was celebrating the bris
of his son during the War of Independence. With bombs going off constantly, and
Jews being forced to run from house to house as they sought cover, Reb Chaim
came across a young boy, crying and cowering in an alley. Although he himself
was in danger, and the child had already received medical attention. Rabbi
Shmulevitz stayed with the child and cried with him.
If
we can create mental images of the suffering of another, we can internalize
their pain and share their burden, suggests Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv. Hashem
Himself shared the pain of Bnei Yisroel when they were enslaved in Egypt.
According to the medrash, Hashem kept a sapphire brick under His throne as a
constant reminder of the bricks Bnei Yisroel were forced to build during their
enslavement.
The
point of doing chesed with empathy rather than only as an obligation, is
further emphasized with the mitzvah of lending money to your brother. The Torah
states, "When you lend money to your brother with you..." As Rashi
points out, if you are lending him money, certainly he is with you. But the
extra words are meant to teach you to put yourself in his place, to feel his
embarrassment at asking for help. As the Sifsei Chaim adds, when you
imagine yourself in his position, you give with a smile, not with a dismissive
grunt at the inconvenience of opening your door to him. Step outside yourself,
outside your own comfort zone, and give not only of material goods, but also of
yourself to others.
Hashem's
judgment is different from ours, writes Rabbi Shmulevitz in Sichot Mussar.
Hashem considers the effects of a punishment not only on the transgressor, but
also on others in his circle. Is the pain of those who love him also warranted?
If one seeks the advice and prayers of a Gadol/great Rabbi, and the
rabbi is pained by our suffering, does Hashem want this Rabbi to feel pain?
Hashem may ease the suffering of the transgressor just to eliminate the pain of
the Rabbi, the collateral and undeserved pain. Even the cherubim protecting the
Ark were embracing at the hour of the destruction of the Temple, supporting
each other as they felt the pain of Bnei Yisroel and feeling the closeness of
Hakodosh Boruch Hu.
Hashem
punished Miriam, but at the same moment, he remembered her empathy for Moshe.
Similarly, writes Rabbi Gamliel Rabinowitz in Tiv Hatorah, when we view
someone's actions negatively, we must also try to remember the good things they
did, and judge them positively.
Coming
from a completely different perspective, Rabbi Michoel Rabayov posits that
Miriam's reward was for her complete trust in Hakodosh Boruch Hu, that He would
fulfill her prophecy. She prophesied that her mother would give birth to the
redeemer. Miriam was waiting and watching in anticipation to see how that
prophecy would be actualized. Because she saw how her prophecy had been so
greatly fulfilled, Miriam could not conceive of Moshe's prophetic spirit being
even greater than hers. She did not realize that Moshe was "the most loyal
and trustworthy in all of [Hashem's] house," or that Hashem spoke to him
"mouth to mouth," more clearly and intimately than He spoke with
Miriam herself. However, even within this miscalculation, we must learn
Miriam's message, that every Jew is great, every Jew, like every angel, is on a
mission from Hashem. We must believe in ourselves, just as Miriam believed in
herself and in the power of her prophecy, writes Rabbi Svei.
Indeed,
every Jew is an olam katan/a small world. However, in Sichot
Ba'avodat Hashem we get two interpretations of this phrase. True, olam,
in simple translation, is our finite world, limited in space and time. But olam
also means that which is hidden. We should never accept our apparent
limitations, but must push ourselves beyond the visible confines of our
circumstances. We must seek out the hidden resources within ourselves, as
Miriam did. We must invest every act with a spirit that elevates it, for even
the most simple of acts has tremendous potential to change worlds. Even if we
feel we can offer no material aid to another, our mere presence and empathy is
powerful in supporting others. Hashem records everything. We do not know how
the smallest of acts can prove to be our greatest merit. Miriam, a prophet and
a leader, especially of women, even when she sinned, continued to teach us many
lessons.