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June 8, 2001/Sivan 17, 5761, Vol. 53, No.36
Portion cryptic about Israelites' desert sins
Torah Study
RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN
Behalotcha/Numbers 8:1-12:16
This week's Torah portion is one of the most tragic in the entire Torah; it delineates the failure of the newly freed slaves to realize the culmination of their mission, to enter the Promised Land and begin their task of redeeming the world.
The books of Exodus, Leviticus and the first 10 chapters of Numbers depict the Israelites' upward climb from abject servitude to miraculous freedom, the acceptance of a divinely ordained legal system, and the establishment of an ideal social-political structure.
Then, with Chapter 11, everything turns sour. Instead of moving into the next stage of development, everything degenerates into the sin of the scouts, rebellions against Moses' leadership, and the demise of that entire generation in the desert.
The sages of the Talmud suggest that Chapter 11 is the beginning of a new - and disappointing - biblical book, which opens with the phrase, "The people took to complaining (k'mitonenim) bitterly before the Lord." (Numbers 11:1). The substance of this initial complaining is not expressed within the biblical context, although the verse concludes that "a fire of the Lord broke out against them, ravaging the outskirts of the camp."
What was their problem, and why was it so serious that it led to the delay of the fulfillment of the dream?
An ingenious interpretation is provided by the Kli Yakar. He takes the word mitonenim to be derived from onen, the term for a mourner who has just heard of the death of a close relative. Such an individual is forbidden from sexual relations. Herein lies the source of the dissatisfaction - leading to their depravity and descent - of the Israelites in the desert.
The Kli Yakar argues that although the fundamental complaint expressed in the biblical context concerns the lack of food, the Bible often uses food as a metaphor for sex. "Such is the way of an adulteress; She eats, wipes her mouth, and says 'I have done no wrong.' " (Proverbs 30:20)
God also punishes the initial complainers with a devouring fire, and fire is the usual metaphor for sexual lust.
The Talmudic sages picked up on the analogy between food and sex. The story continues: "Moses heard the people weeping, every clan apart. ... The Lord was very angry, and Moses was distressed." (Numbers 11:10).
Once again we are not told what they were weeping about and why the anger. Rashi cites the Midrash Sifrei, "they were weeping concerning the sexual relationships which were biblically forbidden to them."
What emerges from this interpretation is the realization that our sexual morality is one of the most difficult and important aspects of our right to be seen as a "light unto the nations of the world."
From this perspective, we may better understand the opening and closing portions of our Torah reading. Behalotcha begins with the menorah - perhaps because it symbolizes the tree of eternal life, from which we shall be permitted to partake once we repair the sin of Eden and transform the world into the garden of bliss.
Many of our respected commentaries see the fruit of knowledge as symbolizing erotic sexual lust, and the serpent as a phallic symbol.
The Torah portion concludes with scandal concerning Moses and the "Ethiopian wife he had taken" - with the Netziv suggesting that this referred to his having married a Gentile wife who had not been converted.
All of this only strengthens the Kli Yakar's contention that sexual morality is the prime challenge of proper Jewish behavior.
Shlomo Riskin is the spiritual leader of Efrat, Israel.
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