I don’t usually do this, but this week I’m going to introduce an idea here on the blog, and then continue developing the concept in services on Saturday. I know, I know; not everyone who reads the blog attends services, so this may seem unfair. First of all, I’ll be totally honest with you: I like to create incentives to try and get people to attend services. ;-) Second, I stumbled upon an interpretation and commentary on a section from this week’s Torah portion that simply cannot be encapsulated in four paragraphs on a blog. I could, of course, write a longer post... but I’m not going to. If anyone isn’t joining in for services, but wants to know more, feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment here on the blog. So, what I wanted to talk about are two subjects; meat-eating and prophecy. Super-related concepts, right? Well, let’s see if we can’t link them together.
As you’ve probably heard me speak (or write) about in the past, the Torah is filled with peculiarities throughout the text. Sometimes these look like typos, other times they are big letters, little ones, strange omissions, references to texts we no longer have, and so on and so forth. Occasionally, a principle that helps us unravel these mysteries is the idea that there are multiple authors. The Torah was potentially *not* written at one particular time; by Moses or ANY one individual. Rather, it is a compilation of sources and traditions, assembled over centuries. So when I stumbled upon this week’s oddity, I instinctively wanted to chalk it up to two intertwined narratives... but there's actually a lot more going on here. In the Book of Numbers, chapter 11, two seemingly-unrelated stories play out simultaneously. The first is about the Israelites grumbling and complaining (big shock...), and the second is about Moses’ frustration at constantly being the target of the people’s ire. Well, those two storylines sound pretty linked, right? Or do they...?
While they start out seemingly similar, one story unfolds into telling us how God promises to send the people quail, because they are sick and tired of eating Manna all the time. The second narrative has God instructing Moses to choose 70 elders to help relieve some of his burden of leadership and prophecy. While they still may sound connectable, the text jumps back and forth between these stories in a most awkward fashion. It breaks down like this:
Verses: Subject:
4-15 The desire for meat
11-15 Moses' crisis of leadership
16-17 Prophecy: The seventy elders given by God in response to Moses.
18-22/23 Meat: God responds to the craving for meat by providing the quails.
23-30 Prophecy: the seventy elders
31-34 Meat: the punishment
On Saturday, I’ll talk more about how we determine whether these are one narrative or two. But I read a wonderful commentary by Rabbi Alex Israel on the juxtaposition of these two, and the idea that the Israelites are grappling between the needs of the flesh and the needs of the spirit. And he adds: “Possibly, the people are still dithering between meat and spirit, between Egypt and Israel.” What a fabulous insight! These two stories represent their (and our...) struggle between, on the one hand, our bodies’ cravings and the related allure of idolatry, and on the other hand, faith in God and focusing on mental and emotional well-being. Ancient Egypt represented one extreme - of subservience, dependence, and fear - while the promise of a new homeland represented self-determination, unity, loyalty to God, and communal responsibility. And indeed, in all our lives, we often find ourselves waffling between the right-now needs of sleep, hunger, and instant gratification, and the long-term health of meditation, journaling, and introspection. Sometimes we think these are two totally disparate conversations, when in reality they are quite intertwined. And if you want to see more about just how linked these two narratives are - for our ancient forbearers AND for us - come to services on Saturday! ;-)
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