Welcome to your ASBEE Mishpacha
Anshei Sphard - Beth El Emeth Congregation
120 East Yates Rd. North, Memphis, TN 38120
901-682-1611, Fax: 901-682-1641
asbee@aol.com
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Welcome to your ASBEE Mishpacha Anshei Sphard - Beth El Emeth Congregation 120 East Yates Rd. North, Memphis, TN 38120 901-682-1611, Fax: 901-682-1641 asbee@aol.com |
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Beha'alotecha: Complaints, Complaints, Complaints!"The mixed multitudes desired a desire, and they said, who will feed us meat? We remember the fish which we would eat in Egypt for free, the cucumbers and the watermelons." Questions: 1) What desire did the multitude desire? 2) If they desire meat, why do they reminisce about fish and vegetables? 3) Why are they complaining? They have cattle of their own, as Rashi pointed out. The manna from heaven tastes like meat, if you want it to. Why all the fuss about meat?Let's now look at the words of Miriam, who, in our portion, together with her brother, is also guilty of a form of murmuring. "And Miriam and Aharon spoke of Moses, about the Kushite woman he had taken, for he had taken a Kushite woman." This too poses some difficulties. 1) What did they say about the Kushite woman? 2) Why does the text repeat the fact that Moses took a Kushite woman? The answer to all of the above is that complaints and gossip are often not really "about" anything. Often people just complain because they complain. The underlying cause of gossip is a feeling of inferiority, disgruntlement, a lack of fulfillment, or emptiness. What is the antidote to this inner restlessness? It says in our parasha that when a trouble or a challenge presents itself, we need to call out to G-d using the trumpets and Shofarot, and that through this sincere cry, we will be remembered before G-d. If we have things which are eating away at our souls, we need to call out to G-d about them, to bring them into the open. We need to confront our innermost angst and let out the screech of the shofar or of our voices to deal with the issues which lay beneath the surface. Only by confronting the real issues can we bring peace to our communities, families and ourselves. |
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