Torah Commentary: Shelach Lecha

In the second year of their journey from Egypt, God instructs Moses to send twelve scouts, one from each of the twelve Israelite tribes, to spy on the Promised Land (Numbers 13 ff). Moses requests that the spies bring back a detailed report of the land they plan to invade and conquer.

The spies return and tell Moses, essentially, there is good news and bad news.

The good news is that the land is wonderful. It is rich and fertile; it “flows with milk and honey” (Numbers 13:27). To prove their point, the spies return with a cluster of grapes so rich and lush that it took two men to bear the pole to which the grapes were attached (Numbers 13:23). To this day, two men carrying a huge cluster of grapes is the official seal of Israel’s Ministry of tourism.

The bad news, according to ten of the twelve scouts, is that the land is unconquerable. The people are “giants” and we will seem to them “like grasshoppers” (Numbers 14:33).

Two of the scouts, Joshua and Caleb, disagree contending that God has promised us this land, and we need to have the faith and courage to do our part and carry out God’s plan.

Nevertheless, the naysayers rail against Moses for ‘rescuing’ them from Egypt only to die out in the wilderness. “It would be better for us to go back to Egypt. Let us head back to Egypt (Numbers 14:3-4).”

As when the Israelites made the golden calf, God is angry enough at the people’s lack of faith to destroy them.

But once again, Moses stands between the people and God’s anger.

Using the same argument as with the golden calf, Moses, says: “When the Egyptians, from whose midst You brought up this people in Your might, hear the news, they will tell it to the inhabitants of that land…If then You slay this people to a man the nations who have heard Your fame will say, It must be because the Lord was powerless to bring that people into the land He had promised them on oath that He slaughtered them in the wilderness” (Numbers 14:13-16).

Moses’ appeal to God’s concern for the divine reputation is an example of biblical humor that misleads some into labeling God as a vain and self-absorbed deity. Au contraire. God could not care less what either the Egyptians or other nations think. The intent is to demonstrate the sacred partnership between God and Moses.

Those times when he restrains God’s wrath are Moses’ finest hours.

Even though God promises to glorify Moses with a new and improved nation, Moses will not have it. This is Your people, Moses insists, whom You freed from the land of Egypt. You cannot destroy them.

The crucial message of this incident⎯as with the golden calf–is that Moses and God are partners. When God seemed ready to give up on the people, Moses offered encouragement, perspective and hope. When Moses runs out of faith, God strengthens him.

I hope that it is that way with us. When life is most difficult, I hope we hear a voice within⎯I call it God⎯that urges us to continue. It is a voice imploring us to believe in ourselves and to believe that our lives have purpose.

Like our Eternal Covenant I believe the relationship is reciprocal. Through our god-like acts of compassion and sharing, we inspire God’s compassion just as Moses had done.

Kurzkommentar zum Wochenabschnitt B’ha-ah-lo-techa (Numeri 8-12)

Diesmal ist es keine Überraschung, dass die Kinder Israels sich beschweren. Jetzt ist es die Wüstenküche, die nicht nach ihrem Geschmack ist. Sie verlangen, dass Mose ihnen Fleisch gibt.

Moses gerät aus der Fassung. Es wird ihm zu viel und in seinem Schmerz schreit er zu Gott: “Soll ich dieses Volk an meiner Brust tragen wie ein stillender Vater (Wie ich dieses Bild liebe!) Säuglinge trägt?” (Numeri 11:12)

Obwohl der Ewig Eine ebenfalls sehr böse ist über das Volk, sagt Gott Mose, er solle sich entspannen, weil er zu viel auf sich nimmt.

Dann instruiert Gott Mose er solle 70 Älteste bestimmen, die ihn unterstützen, damit er nicht in der Wüste ein Burnout erleidet. (Numeri 11,16)

Interessanter Weise lesen wir vor diesem Vorfall von einem Gespräch, in dem Mose seinen Schwiegervater (Jethro in Exodus, nun Reuel genannt. Offensichtlich haben wir es also mit zwei verschiedenen literarischen Quellen zu tun.) bittet bei dem Volk zu bleiben, um ihnen – als ihr Auge – mit seiner Ortskenntnis zu helfen. Reuel sagt nein. Er muss zu seinem eigenen Volk in sein eigenes Land zurückkehren (Numeri 10:29-32). In Exodus war es Jethro, der Mose den gleichen Rat gab, den Gott ihm im aktuellen Wochenabschnitt gibt (Exodus 18,14-26).

Egal welche Quelle, der Rat ist wichtig.

Der Talmud macht es kurz und bündig: “Wenn du zu viel machst, machst du am Ende gar nichts.” (B. Sukkah 5b) Oft, wenn wir an Predige gewinnen, besteht die Gefahr der Selbstüberschätzung.

Und schon muss Gott Mose, die größte und wichtigste Person der Tora (Deuteronomium 34,10), erinnern, dass er nicht zu viel auf sich nehmen soll. Wenn das so ist, sollten wir diese Botschaft nicht auch für uns selbst beherzigen?

Und schon muss Gott Mose, die größte und wichtigste Person der Tora (Deuteronomium 34,10), erinnern, dass er nicht zu viel auf sich nehmen soll. Wenn das so ist, sollten wir diese Botschaft nicht auch für uns selbst beherzigen?

Translation: Pastor Ursula Sieg

Quick Commentary: Parashat Naso (Numbers 4-7)

This week’s Torah portion speaks of those who voluntarily take on the vow of the Nazirite, usually for a limited amount of time. This text seems far-removed from our contemporary concerns, but it raises a vital question for us today.

Those who took the Nazirite vow could not go near a dead body for any reason, even to mourn a close relative. They could not cut their hair or trim their beards, nor could they partake of wine or strong drink.

The Torah makes clear that the purpose of the Nazirite vow was to make one “Holy to the Eternal One. (Numbers 6:8).”

We rightly wonder. How could imposing these strange restrictions upon oneself make a person more holy to God than he or she was before?

The answer eludes me, but it does not matter.

The more important question is: What can we do today to make ourselves more “Holy to the Eternal One?” What can we do to inspire ourselves to more fully embrace our covenantal obligations as descendants of Abraham and Sarah to: “Be a blessing (Genesis 12:2),” to embrace God’s teachings and be worthy of them (Genesis 17:1)” and to do our best and teach our children and grandchildren to do their best to fill the world with “Tzedakah (righteousness) and Mishpat (justice) (Genesis 18:19)?”

Certainly, the acts we perform to inspire ourselves have changed over the millennia, but the goal remains the same.

We seek to more closely live up to the Divine Image in which we were created and to use the talents with which God has blessed us to make a more just, caring and compassionate society for all of God’s children!

Quick Comment: Bemidbar (Numbers 1-3)

 In parashat Bemidbar (Numbers 3:1-7) God instructed the Levites to care scrupulously for the sacred vessels of our ancient tabernacle in our people’s journey to the Promised Land. Today, our sacred vessels are the children we teach, and how we do it can change their lives.

On the first day of class Shulamit Steinlight, my first Hebrew teacher, who died in 2010 at the age of 95, asked us our Hebrew names. I had no clue.

“Ask your parents,” Mrs. Steinlight responded. “And if they don’t know, ask your grandparents, and tell me next class.”

When I asked, my parents informed me that my Hebrew Name was “Siskin Labe.”

Mrs. Steinlight, who had lived for some time in Israel, exclaimed with a slight wrinkling of her nose, “That’s Yiddish!” You need a Hebrew name. It will be אריה . And אריה (Aryeh) it has been from that day to this.

Mrs. Steinlight gave me much more than my Hebrew name.

We were a rowdy bunch, but Mrs. Steinlight never lost her temper and never raised her voice. She made it clear, though, that she was there to teach, and we were there to learn. But I was not interested.

Mrs. Steinlight made me feel loved anyway.

Eventually, Hebrew and Jewish learning became vital to me, and I realize that Mrs. Steinlight was one of the reasons.

A couple of years before she died I located her and called her on the phone to tell her what she meant to me. Although she was thrilled almost to tears by my call, I sensed that she did not remember me. But no matter! I will always remember that she treated me like a sacred vessel entrusted to her care. And I am so glad I could tell her.

Kurzkommentar zum Tora-Abschnitt Behar (Levitikus 25, 1 . 26.2)

Wie verrückt suchte ich im Internet die Worte von Yitzhak Rabin, eingemeißelt in meine Erinnerung, aber offensichtlich vergessen von Google ob seinen bedeutenderen Reden.

Es war im Juli 1974. Rabin sprach vor dem Kongress und beschrieb wortreich, wie er als Kind die Worte auf der Liberty Bell in ihrem Hebräischen Wortlaut lernte: “U `kratem dror ba-aretz L`chol yoshveha – Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all of its inhabitants (Levitikus 25,10)   – Verkündet Freiheit allen Bewohnern des Landes!”

Rabin zeigte auf, dass diese zentrale Grundlage der Demokratien

von Amerika und Israel aus der Tora-Lesung dieser Woche stammt.

Leicht gesagt, aber schwer umzusetzen

Wie jüngste Ereignisse von Ferguson bis Baltimore in den USA und Demonstrationen in Tel Aviv und Jerusalem in Israel belegen, bleiben sowohl die 238 Jahre alte USA wie das 67 Jahre alte Israel hinter diesem Ziel zurück. Obwohl keines der beiden Länder seine hehren Ziele erreicht hat, versäumt keines, seine Ideale hoch zu halten. Es ist leicht von einer gerechten, fürsorglichen und mitfühlenden Gesellschaft zu reden, aber schwer sie zu erreichen. Wie leicht kann man Verzweiflung und Trauer nachgeben, wenn wir uns in der Welt umsehen. Viele tun es. Aber ist es nicht in jedem Fall besser, etwas zu tun, wie wenig auch immer, um die Welt auf den Tag zu zubewegen, an dem es heißen wird: “Sie sollen nicht verletzten noch zerstören auf meinem Heiligen Berg” (Jesaija 11,9).

Wir alle müssen tun, was wir können

Wir mögen nicht Krebskranke heilen, aber wir können Hungernden zu essen geben. Wir werden nicht den Weltfrieden herstellen, aber wir können einem Kind das Lesen beibringen. Möglichkeiten gibt es zuhauf. Wenn wir die Kerzen anzünden um den Schabbat des Friedens und der Freude in unser Leben einzuladen, lasst uns darüber nachdenken, wie wir eine Kerze anzünden können, die Frieden und Freude in das Leben anderer bringt.

Translation: Pastor Ursula Sieg