Parshas Bahaloscha 5785
- Torah Tavlin
- Jun 12
- 2 min read
וישארו שני אנשים במחנה שם האחד אלדד ושם השני מידד ותנח עלהם הרוח ... (יא-כט)
Eldad and Meidad were two of the men chosen to join Moshe’s seventy elders, but they stayed behind in the camp. When the רוח אלקים descended on the elders, it also rested on them, so they began prophecying among the people. Targum Yehonasan writes that when Amram directed all Jewish couples to divorce in Mitzrayim, he separated from Yocheved. During that time, Yocheved married a man named Elitzafan Ben Parnach and Eldad and Meidad were their children. This means they were Moshe’s half-brothers! But the question begs to be asked: how did Yocheved defy the Gadol Hador’s directive and remarry?
R’ Elya Svei zt”l delivered a classic sharp response. Yocheved was counted among the original seventy who went down to Mitzrayim; she belonged to an earlier generation. And sometimes, someone from a previous generation “farshteit besser”, they simply know better. Mesorah is our lifeline to connecting to previous generations and their clarity in serving Hashem correctly.
Our parsha begins with directing Aharon Hakohen how to light the Menorah, and the Torah praises him for not changing at all from the commandment. "ויעש כן אהרן - מלמד שלא שינה". Which begs the basic question, why is it so praiseworthy that Aharon, who was holy enough to be the Kohen Gadol, did not “change” from what he was told to do? The Maharil Diskin writes the following answer: There were steps in front of the Menorah to reach the wicks, but Aharon was tall and did not actually need to climb up. So that there should be no change for all future generations of Kohanim Gedolim, Aharon climbed up the steps anyway. "מלמד שלא שינה" means for later generations. He gave his successors an ancestor to look up to and admire.
Rav Dessler zt”l met a Yid in the DP camps after the war who held a battered shofar. Upon inquiring why he risked his life for it, the man explained that the shofar belonged to the Alter of Kelm, R’ Simcha Zissel zt”l. “As long as I have this shofar, I am not just a number. It’s generations of Torah. It’s Kelm. It’s the Alter. It’s my rebbi. With it, I have a past and thus, I have a future.”