NUMBERS VIII:1-XII:16

THE AUTHENTIC OMBUDSMAN

It is very difficult to penetrate the spirit of Moshe (Moses) and understand his reaction to the constant difficulties he had to face during his leadership. Although the people had emerged practically unscathed from the Egyptian persecution, there is no doubt that the desert that they would later travel through for 40 years presented an inhospitable and hostile environment, fertile for complaint and depression, conducive to insurrection. For Moshe it was an unprecedented adventure, even more so when from the beginning – as expressed in the episode of the Sne, the burning bush – he had declined the invitation to lead the people.

Moshe listened to the advice of his father-in-law Yitro (Jetro) and appointed 70 wise men to accompany him in the task of teaching and settling the differences between litigants and to issue a judgment when necessary. Although he exercised leadership in conjunction with this body, which eventually led to the establishment of the Sanhedrin,(the high court of justice)the people knew that authentic leadership rested upon Moshe. Hence Moshe’s personal desperation in the case of the people’s discouragement over the consumption of Man, the manna that rained down daily from heaven, and his insatiable appetite for meat consumption, which is clearly scarce in the desert.

Because of the discontent of the people and their lack of appreciation for all that had been done, God became angry with our ancestors and Moshe reacted in kind. But in Moshe’s case, the disgust was probably twofold: although he was angry with the people, perhaps he was even more angry with himself. That is why Moshe wished for death, but preferably at the hands of God and not for an ungrateful people.

Although Moshe intervened on behalf of the people, so that God would not exchange them for another, at the same time he could not hide his disappointment at the lack of chivalry of the masses. Ultimately, the cause of the protest was not the tasteless taste of the Man which, according to the Midrash, tasted according to everyone’s taste. The protest was a manifestation of discontent with the routine life of the desert, with the absence of change and the consequent boredom.

It was a rebellion against Divine Providence, because after receiving a set of laws at Sinai that had imposed a check on their carnal appetites and demanded general ethical behavior, the uniformity of the desert panorama produced no spiritual satisfaction.

They even felt nostalgic for slavery on the banks of the Nile River, with its changing nature, melting pot of the most important cultural environment of the time. But an authentic leader does not allow himself to be carried away by the disappointment and ingratitude of the people, he reflects and empathizes with human weaknesses and, above all, highlights the virtues that emerge among the people because of the challenge of the rigor of the desert.

Despite setbacks and personal reservations, Moshe becomes the great defender of the Hebrew people and argues with God so that he does not choose another people, even assuming the guilt for the mistakes of others. The leader has an ambivalent role: he must keep distance from those he leads, and, on the other hand, he must identify himself totally with their destiny, feel in his own flesh the pain and anguish that envelops his people. 

Moshe prepared for eighty years to assume the leadership that ended after 40 years on the borders of the Promised Land. He did not set foot in the Promised Land, but he visualized it. He climbed Mount Nevo, got a panoramic view of Israel’s nature, but perhaps something more compelling: a review of the events of the last 40 years and a perspective on what the future would be for that rebellious but heroic people. A people willing and able to spread to the ends of the earth the idea of the existence of the one Creator.  the God of Humanity.

MITZVAH: ORDINANCE OF THE TORAH IN THIS PARSHA

CONTAINS 3  POSITIVE MITSVOT AND 2 PROHIBITIONS

380. Numbers 9:11 Offering the Pesach Sheni on the 14th of Iyar.

381. Numbers 9:11 Eating the Pesach Sheni offering on the 14th of Iyar.

382. Numbers 9:12 Leave nothing of the Pesach Sheni offering  for the next day.

383. Numbers 9:12 Do not break any offering bones PesachSheni,

384. Numbers 10:9-10 During battles and every offering, the Trumpets are sounded in the Temple.