Behaalotekha | Flesh and Spirit

Summarized by Rav Eliyahu Blumenzweig

            Flesh and spirit - these are two mutually opposing worlds, and yet they appear in our parasha in close proximity to one another. Following the dedication of the altar, a moment which represents one of the pinnacles of the nation's spirituality, and prior to the parasha which describes the bestowing of God's spirit on the elders, the Torah recounts the story of the rebels who desired meat.

"'He who loves silver will not be content with silver, nor he who loves abundance with increase' - ...Our Rabbis taught that this refers to talmidei chakhamim (Torah scholars) who love the words of Torah... R. Nachman said: He who loves Torah is not satiated with Torah... R. Yitzchak said: Someone who loves [to perform] the mitzvot is never satisfied with the mitzvot [which he has performed]." (Devarim Rabba 2:18)

            The truth is that in their interpretation of the verse from Kohelet (5:9), our Sages have not deviated from the simple understanding of the text. If a certain person has a strong desire for silver - a lust for materialism and physical commodities - then we should seek and analyze the roots of this desire. A person's innermost desire can sometimes be redirected and diverted from its original object. The thirst for spirituality and for Torah exists in the heart of every individual; sometimes, though, this thirst and desire are expressed in a most negative way - through the lust for the fleshpots.

            There are two types of desire, and Moshe was faced with both of them. There is the desire for flesh, and there is the desire for desire itself: "They lusted after lust" (Bemidbar 11:4) - this indicates those who were satisfied and were now hungry for a desire to arise within themselves.

            This idea finds expression in Chazal's two explanations for Moshe's response (11:22): "Shall enough sheep and cattle be slaughtered for them...?" R. Akiva understood this literally: "Who will provide for them sufficiently?" (Tosefta Sota 6:4) - can any meat be found in the world that will satisfy them? The provision of the physical demands of their cravings will not solve the problem. The material demand requires a more profound solution - the filling of their spiritual void.

            R. Shimon, on the other hand, addresses himself to the other sort of desire - "Shall sheep and cattle be slaughtered for them - in order that they be killed?!" (ibid.) - i.e. if You supply their physical needs, You will be killing them by doing so. Not only does this not represent a solution, but - on the contrary - it makes the problem much worse. The fulfillment of all one's desires and lusts brings in its wake the lust after lust itself; the need to fill the void left in a life devoid of purpose and challenge.

            It is in response to Moshe's assertion that Bnei Yisrael's complaints indicate nothing more than a spiritual void, expressed through their material demands, that God rests His spirit on the elders of the nation.

(Originally delivered at Seuda Shelishit, Shabbat Parashat Beha'alotekha 5731.

Translated by Kaeren Fish.)