Machshavot HaLev - Yeshivat Lev HaTorah

172
Beha’alotecha
The Will to Succeed
Leo Katz
T his week’s parasha, Parashat Beha’alotcha, can be divided into two parts. The first
half of the parasha details the final preparations for the mishkan, Pesach in the desert,
Pesach Sheni, a meticulous account of B’nei Yisrael’s camp-breaking procedure, and
the divine signs of B’nei Yisrael’s travels. All the events recorded have positive or, at
the very least, neutral connotation. However, as soon as B’nei Yisrael leave Har Sinai,
their sinful nature manifests itself. They antagonize Hashem and engage in repeated
sins, culminating in Miriam and Aharon speaking lashon hara about Moshe. In fact,
according to the Ramban, even B’nei Yisrael’s departure from Har Sinai was a sin.
The Ramban (10:35) quotes a midrash that states that the nation ran from Har Sinai
with the same zeal as schoolchildren running from school, since they were so eager
to avoid the stifling burden of even more commandments. The Torah even includes
a small portion of text situated in between two inverted nuns, which Chazal call a
separate book of Torah. Its purpose, according to Rashi (10:35), is to avoid recording
three Jewish sins in succession.
The interesting thing is that right between these two halves of the parasha is an
unobtrusive passage involving Yitro, Moshe’s father-in-law. In it, Moshe asks Yitro to
join B’nei Yisrael in their travels, Yitro declines, and then Moshe requests a second time.
This time, Moshe includes a number of reasons Yitro cannot abandon the people. As
well, both times Moshe gives him some incentive to remain with them by promising
him blessings from Hashem and, according to many commentators, a portion of the