In Memory of our beloved David Schwartz, who fell in battle sanctifying God’s name, on 27 Tevet, 5784 (8 January 2024). “Le’David Barchi Nafshi” is a compilation of essays written on the weekly Torah reading by David Schwartz, of blessed memory. First published on the occasion of his marriage to Meital, David’s unique Torah thoughts that delve into the depths of the Torah are shared now to elevate his memory and sanctify his soul. The people of Israel left Egypt after 210 years of harsh servitude. They received the Torah and were only a few days away from entering the Land of Israel. The generation that left Egypt saw the awesome miracles, such that “even the maidservant in Israel saw God’s miraculous hand at the splitting of the Sea.” They witnessed the hand of God performing miracles that broke the rules of nature. In light of all this, it is very difficult to understand how the people of Israel can make claims against God and refuse to receive His kingdom with love and joy. At the beginning of the Torah reading of Behaalotecha, the Torah states, “And the people took to complaining bitterly before God. God heard and was angry. A fire of God broke out against them, ravaging the outskirts of the camp … The rabble in their midst felt a gluttonous craving; and then the Israelites wept and said, “Who will give us meat?” … and God was very angry and Moshe was distressed … and the anger of God blazed forth and struck the people with a great plague. (Num. 11:1,4,10,33) From the verses it is evident that their complaints and gluttonous behavior brought about severe punishment. After their complaints, it says, “the fire of God broke out against them.” And with regard to the gluttonous people it states that God struck them with a great plague. The sin and decree of death and destruction which followed require clarification. At first glance, these sins on their own do not seem so terrible. In the sin of the murmuring complaint, the people of Israel moan about the difficulties of the path ahead, and in the sin of gluttony the people of Israel are hungry for meat. What exactly brought about the severe decree and punishment that followed their complaints? Rashi explains, “The Hebrew word here for complaining means they were seeking a pretext. It means they were seeking a pretext to move away from following God.” Likewise the Sforno (Ovadiah ben Jacob Sforno, 1475-1549) writes, “They did not have any reason for which it was appropriate to complain.” From these two explanations, it is evident that the severe punishment that they received was not due to their complaining alone but for their venture to separate from God. While the desire of the rabble for meat is a serious matter, the pretext of the nation while lacking a reason can be seen as even more serious. Yet, it is still necessary to clarify why a decree of death with great anger from God ensued. The commentaries explain that the desire for meat and the basis of the complaint is not a momentary request, but was a pretext to completely separate from God, and this is why the sin was so serious. The great hassidic leaders explain that the purpose of the Torah and mitzvot is to foster a connection between the people of Israel and God. The mitzvot are a pathway for Israel to cleave to God. In the Talmud it states: “Abba Shaul says on the verse ‘And I will glorify Him.’’ This means be similar to Him.” Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto writes that the purpose of man’s service is to cling to God imitatio Dei. He writes, At every moment man needs to strive to rise in levels of holiness and purity for this goal. It seems that the request of the rabble for meat, and the sin of the complainers was only how to find a means to separate from the path and direction of God. With this explanation it is possible to understand why the reaction to the sin was so stringent, as the request for meat is not a request only a human request, but stands behind a pursuit of God’s guidance. These sinners were completely opposed to God’s command and the purpose of man’s service. This connects well with the way that the discussion is framed in the commentary of the Netivot Shalom of R. Shalom Noach Berezovsky (1911-2000). In the Netivot Shalom , it is written that “Even if a jew sins but his heart is broken within him because of his distance from God then God is with him, even at the time of sin as the sin, as the sin itself is not so severe.” The severity of the sin is measured by the distance with which it draws one away from God at that moment. A person needs to determine if the sin came at a specific point or if God forbid is a breach opening the gates to throwing off the yoke of God. We can say this as well regarding mitzvot in the opposite manner. A mitzvah is not based on its source or content but rather on whether one invested in it and intended to fulfill it. This is the case as when a person does the mitzvah with the intention of fulfilling it, he gets closer to God, and draws closer to the ultimate purpose of fulfilling the mitzvah. The Ramban (Moshe ben Nachman, 1194-1270) offers a different perspective. “And it was evil in the eyes of God, since they should have followed after God with happiness and gladness of heart by reason of the abundance of all good things which He gave them” (11:1). In our days, the face of God is hidden from us in the world, but it is upon us to believe and remember that everything is from God. As our sages state, “Everything is from God except for the fear of God.” It is our responsibility to serve God with joy and gladness. All the more so then it was the case in the days when the revelation of the Divine was apparent with miracles before their eyes. The responsibility then as now was to be happy and serve God with clear and complete faith. The Ramban explains that essentially their desire for meat and their complaints show us that even then there were people who were not satisfied with God’s providence, and they were not serving God with joy. In the Hebrew Bible we read how King Solomon declared: “I therefore praised enjoyment” (Eccles. 8:15). Our sages tell us that this is the enjoyment of performing a mitzvah. Our ancestors praised that type of joy through all the generations. In this manner, Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah writes: “The joy that gladdens man in the performance of a mitzvah … is a great act for God and whoever holds back from worship with this joy, deserves punishment as it is said in the Torah “because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart” (Laws of Lulav, 8:15). Vidal of Toulouse (14th century) expands on this law of Maimonides in his commentary thereon, the Maggid Mishneh . “They said ‘I therefore praised enjoyment’ - this is the enjoyment of performing a mitzvah (Shabbat 30b). The essential thing is that it is not appropriate for a person to do a mitzvah with a feeling of being obligated to do it, in a manner of being compelled to do it. Rather he is obligated to be joyful in its performance, so that he does good with a positive approach, choosing to find truth, and making light of any bother he may encounter in doing the action. Thereby, he understands that it is for this reason he was created to serve his Creator. And when he does what was created for him, he will be happy and rejoice, because the the joy of other matters is dependent on secondary matters that are not permanent, but the joy in performing a mitzvah and learning Torah and wisdom is a true joy, and this is what Solomon in his way of edification praised joy and happiness of wisdom, saying, 'My son, if your mind grasps wisdom, mine too will be gladdened.'” (Mishlei 23:15). Bahye ibn Pekuda (1050-1120) explains this issue at length. “Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy - The verse in the Torah chastises them because they did not serve God with joy. We are obligated to serve with joy when performing the commandments, and the joy of performing a mitzvah is in and of itself a mitzvah. Aside from the reward that accrues from performing a mitzvah, there is reward for joy. And therefore one who does not serve God with joy is punished, and therefore a person is required to act with joy and full intention.” Chassidim placed a great emphasis on the importance of joy at the time of performing a mitzvah. The words of the Baal Shem Tov are also well known. “Sadness locks the gates of heaven. Prayer opens gates that are locked shut. But joy has the strength to break down walls.” The verse cited above by Bahye ibn Pekuda about serving God with joy is from the parsha of Ki Tavo (Deut. 28:47). There we see there are terrifying curses that ensue if the people do not serve God with joy. Happiness is a critical and essential part of our performance of the mitzvot. The sins in this week’s Torah reading point our attention to a path that follows for those who do not accept the will of God, upon which we are meant to live and serve in happiness. This is the root of the problem in the parsha and why their sin was so severe. May it be His will that we always merit to serve God with happiness and gladness of heart with all that is needed. Translation by Akiva Herzfeld (akivaherzfeld@gmail.com)
