Parasha: Behaalotcha · Aliyah: Sixth (Yesod)

ותדבר מרים במשה, Miriam uttered criticism of Moses, etc. It is possible that Miriam and Aaron spoke in Moses' presence. Logic would dictate that this was indeed the case. Had they only been talking amongst each other, what difference would it have made to Moses? We must assume therefore that they said what they did as a rebuke to Moses. I believe Sifri confirms my opinion as the author quotes the words: וישמע ה׳ והאיש משה as belonging together, i.e. Moses too heard what Miriam said.

הרק אך במשה דבר ה׳?? "Did G'd speak to Moses exclusively?" Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 1,14 and Jerusalem Talmud Berachot 9,7 have said that every time the words אך or רק appear they are restrictive in character. In this instance we can also detect that both words are meant as some kind of restrictive clause. Miriam and Aaron felt that the fact that Moses had abandoned normal family relations with his wife was a silent accusation against them who continued to maintain regular marital relations with their respective spouses. Sifri takes the same line expanding Miriam's complaint by accusing Moses of criticising the patriarchs by his refusal to maintain family relations with his wife. Miriam and Aaron felt it also was an act of arrogance vis-a-vis our patriarchs all of whom G'd had communicated with, and who had not stopped living normal married lives with their spouses because G'd had addressed them from time to time. Did Moses pretend to be more pious than the patriarchs? On the other hand, it is possible that Miriam and Aaron alluded to two deficiencies in Moses as a prophet. 1) Moses never began his career as a prophet until he attained the age of 80 as we know from Exodus 7,7, whereas she, Miriam, as well as Aaron had already been given prophetic powers at the age of 3, prior to Moses' birth. 2) Moses' second deficiency conisted in the fact that on the very day he was appointed as a prophet he contracted the dread disease of Tzoraat indicating he had been found wanting in the eyes of G'd (Exodus 4,6). Neither Miriam nor Aaron had ever been afflicted with that disease. The words אך and רק in our verse refer to these two deficiencies Miriam and Aaron perceived in Moses.

וישמע השם. G'd heard. The Torah had to write these words [although we know that G'd hears every word spoken by anyone Ed.] to tell us that Miriam and Aaron did not say what they said within earshot of any other creature [a third party which was not involved. Ed.]. Another reason the Torah wrote these words is to tell us that G'd heard this directly from Miriam and Aaron and not as a complaint from Moses. Moses did not complain to G'd about having been slighted.

והאיש משה ענו, The man Moses was a humble man, etc. The reason the Torah chose this point to inform us about Moses' extreme humility is that it is best demonstrated here where Moses was under extreme provocation and did not even complain to G'd. Had he responded, he would have revealed himself as not quite so humble. This, in spite of the fact that he could have given a convincing explanation for his conduct. The Torah goes out of its way to describe Moses' level of humility as "greater than that of any other human being on earth." The reason is that one could have argued that it is impossible for a person who considers himself as inferior to everybody else to at one and the same time be the greatest prophet. This is why G'd Himself had to answer Miriam and Aaron. פתאם, without prior warning. The sudden appearance of G'd was due to the אונאה, insult, seeing that Miriam's words were an insult to Moses. We find a similar instance of G'd appearing suddenly in Amos 7,6: והנה ה׳ נצב על חומת אנך. [I confess that I have not been able to follow the author in this. Perhaps he considered the last three letters in the word פ־תאם "properly aligned like twins" as similar to the plumb line which properly aligns the stones in a wall and this is the meaning of the comparison with the verse in Amos. Ed.] Our sages in Yalkut? understood the word פתאם to mean that it was "close to a spark." [Maybe the meaning is "as suddenly as a spark of lightning." I have not found that quote. Perhaps "spark-like" in its effect? Ed.].

אל משה, to Moses, etc. The reason that G'd called to Moses when it was Aaron and Miriam He wanted to speak to is that the latter were ritually impure at the time and first had to purify themselves. He called to Moses in order to give recognition to the fact that Moses kept himself pure at all times by the very fact that he did not indulge in marital relations with his wife. This is why he was able to be called upon by G'd without having to undergo any preparation. This fact contrasted with the state of Miriam and Aaron (compare Yalkut). According to the plain meaning of the verse G'd called Moses so that he would be able to offer a prayer on behalf of Miriam when the latter would be afflicted with Tzoraat. Another reason G'd called Moses also was that G'd wanted to use the opportunity to demonstrate Moses' superiority as a prophet immediately. He did this by calling to Moses before He called to Aaron and Miriam. When they would hear that G'd called Moses first, they would realise immediately that this was in contrast with their perception that they equalled him in prophetic stature.

וירד ה׳ בעמוד הענן, G'd descended within a pillar of cloud. We need to know why G'd did not first descend prior to His calling upon Moses, Aaron and Miriam. At least it appears from the order of our text that He waited with descending until after He had called to them. The fact that G'd told the three to leave their tents and come to the Tabernacle also suggests that He had not yet descended, otherwise he would have had to assign a certain place for them as they would have observed the place where the cloud had taken up position. According to the scholars who hold that both Aaron and Miriam were ritually impure at the time, we can well understand why G'd waited before He descended in His cloud. He did not want to descend and then have to wait until Aaron and Miriam had undergone their purification rites. It might also make those who had been called and had not responded promptly subject to posssible punishment. As it is not. G'd's wish to do something which results in people being punished, He decided to wait until both Aaron and Miriam were able to respond to His call. The reason G'd descended at all and did not address them by His voice emanating from higher regions as He had done when He first called out to them was in order to lend publicity to the event. When they would see the cloud take up position at the entrance of the Tabernacle all of Israel would become aware that G'd had been greatly concerned that someone had imputed base motives to His trusted servant Moses and that He had punished that someone.

שמעו נא דברי, "please listen to My word, etc." Why did G'd have to preface His words with this introduction? Was it not a foregone conclusion that the people addressed would listen carefully to what G'd had to say? Furthermore, why did G'd have to add the word נא, "please?" Since when does the master address the servant by imploring him to listen to what he has to say?

G'd wanted to make clear that when He had spoken to them in very friendly tones, i.e. ויאמר, previously, they had not been worthy to be addressed at all seeing they were still ritually impure. It was only now, after they had purified themselves, that they had become fit to be spoken to by G'd. The whole episode is a lesson to a servant to hold himself in readiness at times when his master is apt to require his services. All of this taught them why Moses had been duty bound to separate from his wife. How else was he able to keep himself in constant readiness when G'd would want to speak to him? This also provides us with an answer to the basic question why G'd did not spell out to Aaron and Miriam the reason why Moses had separated from his wife.

We may also explain the words שמעו נא to mean that G'd announced that now they were about to be castigated and to be disciplined. In this instance G'd addressed them personally rather than that He gave them the message through Moses for two reasons. 1) Since Moses was personally involved in the matter under discussion. 2) It was in the nature of things that G'd wanted to discuss the matter with Aaron and Miriam privately, not in the presence of Moses who would have found it embarassing. G'd also wanted to make clear that Aaron and Miriam qualified for only this part of what G'd had to say, as G'd had no other way of telling them. Anything else that G'd had to say He would say only to Moses. This would show that they had been wrong in claiming that G'd spoke to them also. Our sages in Bamidbar Rabbah 14,19 state that whenever the Torah writes: "G'd spoke to Moses and to Aaron," the meaning is not that G'd addressed both Moses and Aaron simultaneously, but that Moses was to communicate to Aaron what He had said to him. This is what is hinted at here when the Torah wrote the word נא.

The reason the Torah added the word דברי, "My words," something that appears totally superfluous, is to impress upon Miriam and Aaron that though they had prophesied on previous occasions the communication they were about to receive from G'd now was on a different level from anything they had experienced previously. G'd stresses this immediately when He refers to the nature of their prophetic insights with the words אם יהיה נביאכם השם.

It is also possible that G'd hinted to them that this would be the last time He would communicate with them directly. The fact that they were about to receive a communication on a more direct level than ever before did not mean that they had suddenly qualified for a higher level of prophecy and that they would continue to receive communications from G'd directly.

Still another meaning implied by the word נא is that it refers to their impurity. Normally, when one has suffered ritual impurity through contact with semen and has purified oneself, one is not fit to eat Terumah until nightfall (Leviticus 22,6). A prophet who is the recipient of Holy Spirit most certainly is not fit to receive same until after he has waited until sunset after his ritual immersion. The reason is that G'd's Holy Spirit should not be perceived as on a lower level of sanctity than the Terumah which the priest may eat. G'd said: שמעו נא דברי, "listen to My words nonetheless already now," i.e. this is an exception, an emergency; this is why I have decided to let you hear My words even though the sun has not set yet since your immersion in a ritual bath. G'd hinted that His loving concern for Moses was such that He would not wait until the morrow to rectify the mistaken impression Miriam and Aaron had of their level as prophets compared to Moses. When we find in Bereshit Rabbah 55,11 that אהבה מקלקלת השורה, this means that a loving relationship between two people is apt to interfere with accepted rules. G'd applied this principle here. He addressed Miriam and Aaron "prematurely."

אם יהיה נביאכם, "if there be a prophet amongst you, etc;" G'd refrained from addressing Miriam and Aaron directly by saying אם תהיו נביאים, "if indeed you are prophets, etc." Seeing that Miriam and Aaron themselves had implied that there were other prophets apart from themselves (as we mentioned earlier they referred to the patriarchs) G'd was careful to include also those prophets in His remarks. Perhaps the reason G'd used the singular יהיה instead of the plural יהיו was to emphasise still further the uniqueness of Moses as a prophet.

השם במראה אליו אתודע, "I, the Lord, make Myself known to him through a vision." G'd spells out to us the difference between other prophets' perceptive powers and the perceptive powers of Moses. There are three elements to prophecy. 1) the attainment of a vision. 2) The time when the prophet is granted any vision, i.e. is he able to receive transmission of G'd's word by means of a vision at any time, i.e. whenever the prophet feels the need to communicate with G'd, or is he dependent on certain times, i.e. only when G'd takes the initiative in communicating with the prophet. 3) Can the prophet attain a verbal communication from G'd at his request? (I will explain this in detail).

G'd first speaks about the kind of communications which certain prophets receive by describing them as מראה, vision. There are three levels of recognising G'd. The highest level is one that does not require prophetic insight. It is that which Moses requested in Exodus 33,18 when He asked: "please show me Your ways." At that time the word נא meant that Moses wanted to become privy to the kind of information about G'd that is normally only granted to the soul after it has departed from the body. Moses was quite familiar with the insights which the righteous would be granted after death. G'd denied this request saying that it is impossible for a living human being to gain those insights. That level of insight is equivalent to the recipient experiencing Divine light directly. Moses' level of prophecy was restricted to aural perception, i.e. G'd spoke to him and his ears heard. His (physical) eyes did not see a communication. A second (next lower) level of communication from G'd is one in which G'd radiates some light resulting in the recipient "receiving" a picture, תמונה. This "picture" has nothing in common with the way we normally understand the term "picture." It is the kind of "picture" which no living being other than Moses can perceive with his mind's eye. This is why Moses is described as ותמונת השם יביט, "he can view a picture from G'd." A third level is one in which the recipient perceives a light which emanates from G'd and the source of which seems to be very distant. It appears to a person like a candle which seems able to provide light over a great distance. This is what the Torah referred to here as the מראה. It is this which prophets other than Moses perceived. The Torah calls this "מאמר ה׳ במראה" "a word of G'd by means of a vision seen with the eye." By contrast, Moses is described as "looking at a picture from G'd."

Concerning the time when G'd would manifest Himself to different kinds of prophets, the Torah says אליו אתודע, that these "minor" prophets are not able to attain a vision whenever they want; they have to wait patiently until G'd is ready to reveal a communication to them." Moses, on the other hand, could receive communications at all times as described in Numbers 9,8 where he told the people that he would receive instructions from G'd as soon as he asked. Moses did not display the slightest doubt that G'd would respond to him as soon as he asked. Other prophets with whom G'd communicated on a lower level, could not even be certain that G'd would respond to them when they wanted on that lower level. Moses, on the other hand, though he expected a communication on a higher level, could be certain of receiving same whenever he desired. This is what G'd meant when He said בכל ביתי נאמן הוא, "he is trusted in all My house." Moses was at home in the celestial domain and had the run of that "house."

Concerning the matter of a verbal communication from G'd to a prophet, G'd told Miriam and Aaron that whereas all prophets other than Moses received such communications only in a dream, not so Moses. He was fully awake, his mind was clear when he received such verbal communications from G'd. He did not have to reassure himself if he had correctly understood what he heard while dreaming. Secondly, whatever G'd relates to a prophet in a dream is not to be understood literally, but is in the nature of a parable, or image. The Torah has told us of numerous dreams which were prophetic communications to the person dreaming them and all of which required an expert to interpret them. [Jacob needed G'd to tell him over 20 years after the event that what he had dreamt about the ladder had been a prophecy and not merely a dream (compare Rabbi Yitzchak Arama on the subject). Ed.] The prophets other than Moses were mentally overwhelmed when they experienced such prophetic dreams. When G'd speaks about appearing to prophets בחלום, this does not mean that they actually dream; rather, it describes the impact of G'd's communications to such prophets being similar to that of people who experience a dream while asleep. G'd always communicated with His prophets while the latter were awake. Only Moses was able to maintain his regular posture when G'd communicated with him; he did not prostrate himself or go into convulsions as did other prophets. Neither did he receive such communications in the form of a riddle or parable. Every communication Moses received from G'd was crystal clear, requiring no further elaboration. This is what the Torah means when it describes such communication as פה אל פה אדבר בו, "I speak with him mouth to mouth." All the Israelites saw that all the 53 times the Torah reports G'd as speaking to Moses (and to communicate what He said to them) the message was crystal clear and could be understood by anyone with a command of the Hebrew language. The same applies to all the wealth of wisdom contained in the written Torah. Anyone who immerses himself in that part of the Torah will find that he can understand it. This contrasts with the writings of Isaiah and Jeremiah many of which are extremely obscure, full of parables and enigmas. What did Ezekiel mean by the "great eagle" in chapter 17, for instance? The prophecies of the so-called minor prophets such as Zachariah are even harder to unravel so that none of us can be certain of the events to which these prophecies relate.

We need to examine why the prophecies given to Moses were all so clear whereas those granted to the afore-mentioned prophets appear so confused. Kabbalists explain that the phenomenon of man being a composite of body and spirit is bound to prevent him from being able to receive undiluted spiritual input. Any attempt to subject man to such additional spiritual input upsets the fragile equilibrium between the forces of body and spirit which constitute a human being. After all, we observe in nature that such opposites as fire and water cannot coexist peacefully except in heaven seeing that the Creator Himself has arranged it so in His domain. It is only natural, therefore, that when a human being is called upon by G'd his body will tremble, be subject to convulsions, etc. The only human being able to retain his composure when thus addressed by G'd is one who has succeeded in transforming the material part of himself into a צורה, into the perfect state G'd has created it in, as we have described on numerous occasions. Once man has achieved this, his body is no longer a hindrance to his receiving communications from G'd and he will be able to do so as a matter of course. When there are no people around who meet these specifications and G'd has found Israel worthy to receive prophetic communications, He has no choice but to choose someone to whom He transmits His word in a manner which upsets the body and mind of the recipient. As a result the world abounded with prophets who had to receive their messages in the form of parables and riddles so that the equilibrium of their bodies and minds would not be permanently upset. The reason that we find that Zachariah's prophecies were even more enigmatic than those of his predecessors is that he was the last of the prophets. Subsequent generations did not create an environment in which G'd saw fit to communicate His word to prophets anymore.

When G'd spoke about His communications to Moses being "mouth to mouth," He meant that His word did not have to travel through the airwaves or some other part of the atmosphere which diluted it (and therefore made it unclear) in order to make it accessible to less than perfect man. When G'd emphasises that His word did appear to Moses as a מראה, a clear vision, this means that Moses did not have to go into convulsions, etc., when he received communications from G'd. He, G'd, could show Moses a clear vision and Moses could behold it and understand it without it being distorted.

When the Torah adds: ולא בחידות, "not by means of riddles," this is an elaboration of how G'd's word reached Moses. The Torah is careful not to say פה אל אזן, that G'd's word travelled from G'd's mouth to Moses' ear, but פה אל פה, "mouth to mouth." Solomon (Kings I 3,9) asked G'd to grant him לב שומע, "a listening heart" to enable him to divine the truth behind the claims of litigants, etc. He aspired to the highest level of prophecy. The Torah speaks of G'd communicating with Moses as אדבר בו, "I speak within him" instead of the customary אדבר אתו, "I speak with him." This formulation also means that no one else was privy to the fact that G'd spoke to Moses. [This is in contrast to our tradition that all prophets who lived at a particular time received the same communication at the same time as the prophet whom G'd commanded to transmit the prophecy to the people or to the king. Ed.]

ומדוע לא יראתם לדבר, "why were you not afraid to speak?, etc" G'd repeats once more that they themselves should have been able to figure out that since Moses was constantly performing commands of G'd and was used by G'd as His instrument, surely He would not have chosen him for such a function if he had been guilty of neglecting such a basic commandment as family life which Miriam and Aaron accused him of. G'd stressed not only the word עבדי, i.e. that He described Moses as His servant, but He added Moses' name to indicate that this man had been destined for greatness. How could they have suspected him! It is also possible that the word במשה indicates that Miriam and Aaron did say what they said in Moses' presence, adding insult to injury. We discussed this in connection with verse 1 in this chapter.

ויחר אף השם, G'd's anger was kindled, etc. He was irritated at them and snorted at them, i.e. a description of a nasal reaction. וילך, "He went;" G'd went away in order to give vent to His irritation. Although we find a different formulation in Exodus 4,14 where the Torah reports ויחר אף ה׳ במשה, "G'd's anger was kindled at Moses," followed by a verbal retort from G'd, the situation was different then. At that time G'd wanted to activate His anger against Moses by depriving him of a spiritual power, i.e. the fitness to become the High Priest; He gave that distinction to Aaron instead as pointed out in Zevachim 102. The Talmud discusses whether mention of G'd becoming angry necessarily has an immediate noticeable consequence. In our instance, G'd imposed a severe penalty as a person afflicted with Tzoraat is considered as no better than dead (verse 11). The Torah writes בם, that G'd was angry at both Miriam and Aaron, to tell us that both were afflicted with Tzoraat. The difference was only that Aaron was cured immediately, whereas Miriam was not cured immediately, so that no one but Miriam and Moses had been aware that Aaron too had been afflicted with Tzoraat if ever so briefly.

והנה מצרעת, and here she was afflicted with Tzoraat. There was no need to repeat this seeing the Torah had already mentioned it in the first half of our verse. According to Sifri who claims that Aaron too had been afflicted the repetition could mean that whereas Aaron had already been cured Miriam continued to be afflicted. According to Sifri Aaron's affliction disappeared as soon as he turned towards Miriam. Accordingly, we would have to assume that Moses had not been looking at Miriam at all. Why else would he have to be informed by Aaron of her affliction before he would pray for her?

בי אדני אל נא תשת עלינו תטאת, "please my lord, do not lay a sin upon us, etc." It is clear from Aaron's words that he believed Moses had felt slighted by their comments. This is why he pleaded with him to forgive them their sin. It appears that Aaron reasoned that Moses would view himself as a חכם, merely a wise man who is legally entitled to waive his honour so that those who slighted it could be forgiven. Aaron presumed that forgiveness by Moses would result in the Tzoraat being cured. Accordingly, Aaron said: "though you have been offended by our words so much that we have been punished on their account, now that we have suffered the punishment please forgive us so that we will no longer be guilty of this sin." The truth of the matter was that Moses had not felt offended at all. The Torah demonstrated this by writing how humble a person Moses was specifically at this juncture. This was to show that Aaron had been wrong in his whole assumption.

The reason why Miriam and Aaron were punished is twofold. 1) Moses could not be treated merely as a חכם, a sage, but had to be accorded the status of a king. (This is based on Deut. 33,5 that Moses was king amongst the people called Yeshurun). A king is not allowed to waive the honour due him; therefore Moses could not have forgiven the insult even if he had felt like doing so. Moreover, this may even have been what G'd alluded to when He described Moses as His servant in verse 8. According to the Talmud in Shavuot 47 the king's servant is to be accorded a status similar to that of the king himself. Seeing that Moses was the servant of the King of Kings, he too was to be accorded Royal status.

2) I have already explained that G'd was very concerned at the fact that Miriam and Aaron had suspected their brother of serious wrongdoing. If G'd had not rebuked and disciplined them it would have given them the impression that G'd Himself condoned and agreed with their criticism of Moses. This is why G'd had to punish them even though Moses had not even felt offended. Moses was justified in not praying immediately that the Tzoraat be removed seeing he had not been its cause, as he had not even felt slighted by Miriam and Aaron's remarks. Had the matter been up to Moses he would not have had to pray. All he would have had to do would be to forgive (if he had felt insulted) and the Tzoraat would have disappeared. Under the circumstances, his prayer would not become effective until after seven days had elapsed. Clearly the punishment was due to either or both of the reasons we have mentioned. We cannot imagine how much more severe the punishment would have been if Moses had indeed felt offended by Miriam and Aaron's criticism of his conduct vis-a-vis Tzipporah.

אשר נואלנו ואשר חטאנו, "for we have acted foolishly and have sinned." Both expressions refer to their error when comparing their level of prophecy to that of Moses. G'd's reaction had made it plain to them that the comparison of their prophetic powers to those of Moses had been foolish; the fact that they accused Moses of not having marital relations with his wife had been sinful.

ויצעק משה אל השם, Moses cried out to G'd, etc. The reason the Torah added the word לאמור, was to tell G'd that he had not felt offended at all and that such an assumption should not result in Miriam and Aaron assuming that he harboured some enmity against them although he wanted Miriam to be cured. It had been Aaron's words in verse 12 which had made Moses feel that he had to indicate that he never harboured any resentment against them.

The word לאמור may also mean that before Moses commenced his prayer he told G'd that as far as he, personally, was concerned he had waived any honour due him so that he did not feel slighted.

א-ל נא רפא נא לה. "Please O Lord, heal her." Moses addressed the attribute of חסד, similar to Psalms 52,3 where David speaks of חסד קל. [According to Rabbi Moshe Alshich the חסד, "kindness" of G'd's anger, is its very brevity. It lasts a second, no more. Ed.] The words רפא נא are a plea to grant the cure immediately.

ואביה ירוק ירק, "if HER father had spit in her face, etc." The Torah emphasises Miriam's experience as that of a daughter of G'd, i.e. a צדקת, rather than that of any father spitting at any daughter.

The repetition of ירוק ירק indicates that had Moses prayed sooner on her behalf, her Father (G'd) would not have spat at her at all, i.e. she would not have been punished at all. The words ואביה ירוק describe a situation which already existed, meaning that Moses had allowed her father to punish her before intervening. All Moses could do now was to prevent further punishment or extension of the punishment, i.e. "spitting" a second time.

תסגר שבעת ימים, she must remain quarantined for seven days. It appears that as a result of Moses' prayer the Tzoraat disappeared at once. G'd decreed that she had to remain as an outcast. Had this not been so the Torah would have had to add "until she has been cured from her Tzoraat." It is obvious, therefore, that she had already been cured. This is also the reason the Torah did not mention the fact that she had been healed at the time it reports that she rejoined the camp of the Israelites. Acording to Zevachim 102 the reason that Aaron did not inspect Miriam's affliction either at the beginning or at the end [as is the duty of the priest who has to certify such healing having taken place Ed.] is because as her brother he was disqualified from doing so. According to our interpretation we need not even raise the question of who declared Miriam afflicted or healed seeing she had been healed before Aaron or any other priest had a chance to examine her. As a result, the only restriction Miriam would have had to undergo was quarantine, pending an inspection. Alternatively, G'd Himself performed the function of the priest and declared her as liable to quarantine. Her purification also occurred at G'd's inspection and that is the meaning of the words ואחר תאסף, "afterwards she may be brought in."

והעם לא נסע, And the people had not travelled, etc. The Torah makes the people the principals in this decision. This is why the Torah did not write ולא נסע העם, but mentioned the people first. The people had expressed their willingness to delay their departure. Although, normally, the people's breaking camp was determined by the movement of the cloud, the Torah wanted to inform us that the people were willing to inconvenience themselves on account of Miriam's many merits. Had the people been aware that their entire water supply was due to Miriam's merit (compare Taanit 9) they would most certainly have chosen to remain near their source of water.