B"H
Monday, Sivan 13, 5781 / May 24, 2021
This week’s Parsha is Beha’alotcha. The Parsha begins with the daily mitzvah of lighting the menorah in the Tabernacle (Mishkan), which was performed by Aaron, the High Priest.
Later in the Parsha we read about how the Jewish people travelled from Mount Sinai towards the Land of Cannan, which G-d was going to give to the Jewish people. It was supposed to be a journey of only eleven days and even that G-d was going to shorten. Unfortunately, the Jewish people had a lack of faith and decided to send spies to scout the land. When the scouts came back with a negative report, the people refused to go. This caused G-d’s anger and they were kept in the desert for forty years.
In last week’s Parsha, Naso, we read that the heads of the Twelve Tribes brought a gift of twelve oxen and four wagons for the service of the Mishkan (Tabernacle).
Moshe gave the wagons and oxen to the Levite families of Gershon and Merari, to be used for the transportation of the Tabernacle. However, Moshe didn’t give any of the wagons to the family of Kehot, whose job was to transport the Holiest objects of the Tabernacle.
The Torah states the reason why, “But to the Kehot family he [Moshe] did not give any; because their’s is holy work, they shall carry it on their shoulders.”
The holy Ark was very heavy and the Ark cover, the Kaporet and Cherubim, were of pure gold. In the Ark were the broken First Tablets and the Second Tablets which were of stone. Thus, the weight of the Ark was extraordinarily heavy. Yet, instead of giving them a wagon to transport the ark, which would make it easier for the family of Kehot to transport it, the Torah tells us that “because their’s is holy work, they shall carry it on their shoulder!” How do we explain this?
Our Rabbi’s explain that holiness doesn't usually go together with easiness. In fact, the holier the action we have to accomplish the more resistance one will encounter and the more effort we are required to put into it. Because the Ark was the holiest object in the Temple, much more human effort was required when transporting it as the Jewish people traveled through the desert.
But at the same time, once the tribe of Kehot committed to making this great effort and carried the Holy Ark on their shoulders, our sages tell us that in reality it was, “the Ark which carried its carriers.”
Every story we read in the Torah is a lesson. The mitzvah of carrying the Ark was only temporary. It applied only while the Jewish people traveled through the desert until the Holy Temple was built.
Yet, the lesson is eternal for all of us. G-d promises to help us achieve our spiritual goals, no matter how difficult they may be. However, G-d requires one condition, that we be ready and willing to give it our best shot and effort no matter how impossible it may seem.
HAVE A HAPPY, HEALTHY, SUCCESSFUL AND WONDERFUL DAY