There are certain portions in the Torah that we are drawn to again and again, sometimes for no clear reason. For me, Parashat Beha'alotcha is one of these. Seemingly, there's no central theme to this parasha, rather it’s a mixture of unconnected things thrown together. Nevertheless, I'm drawn to it anew each year.

The parasha begins with instructions for lighting the Menorah. Most of the traditional commentaries are connected to this. The Haftarah that the Sages chose for it is the same haftarah we read on Shabbat Hanukkah, prophet Zecharia's beautiful vision of a menorah that is filled by magic, that ends with the immortal words

But then we read the instructions for the initiation of the Levites. Some scholars say that the whole Book of Number is the Torah of the Levites, just as the Book of Leviticus is the Torah of the Priests. After the initiation of the Levites, the People are commanded to celebrate Passover, and a question is brought to Moses that he doesn't know how to answer. This is the second time he has to bring a question from the community back to God (the first time was in the case of the wood collector on Shabbat in Leviticus, and this will happen again a few more times in the Book of Numbers, two of them regarding the daughters of Zelophehad). God's answer was to declare Pessach Sheni, a second chance, one month after the holiday, for anyone who was prevented from making the sacrifice on time.

Now, finally, the huge camp is ready to move, but Moses hears that his father in law, here called Hovav, will not be traveling with them, but will go back home to Midian. Moses pleads with him to remain, but Jethro/Hovav insists, and they say goodbye. Maybe if he had stayed with the People, we could have avoided some of the “pitfalls” on the journey.

Another important detail is explained here, the silver trumpets which are the main communication tool for the entire camp, and then we read the two verses (separated in the calligraphic tradition by two backwards letters Nun) – and the whole camp begins to march.

As soon as everyone moves out, in chapter 11, the troubles begin. Like a class of schoolchildren on a hike in the desert, the People begin complaining. They're suddenly hungry for all sorts of vegetables that grew in Egypt. The Manna that God miraculously feeds them every day isn't delicious. In this respect, there are parallels between Numbers 11 and Exodus 16 – the people are hungry, God provides Manna, and they are not thrilled.

In chapter 12, Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses, and Miriam is punished. Moses pleads one of the shortest prayers in the Torah:

and Miriam is healed.

So what can we learn from this parasha today? For me, this parasha is a lesson in patience. A lesson for the leader – Moses – who needs patience for himself and his people, for his commanders, even those closest to him, his sister and brother, his father in law – none of them are automatons – they all have free will and make their own decisions. Moses doesn’t have it easy. If he loses his patience, he’ll lose control.

It’s also a lesson in patience for the People – each as an individual and all of us together – for when an army begins to move, each soldier needs to wait patiently for a long time until his/her unit begins to move. And a people is not an army. The individual needs patience for the group, and the group needs patience for each individual.

This parasha is a kind of a watershed in the Torah – before it we had Shavuot, the annual festival of learning, and before that seven weeks of intensive study during the Omer. After it, we spend the summer reading the great legends of the desert Exodus – the sin of the spies, the rebellion of Korach and his rabble, the death of Aaron and Miriam, and the follies of Balak and Bilaam and the talking donkey.

We're standing on a watershed today in Israel, too. The leadership is pulling forward, they passed a national budget that will certainly drive many regular citizens to continue the protests. Will the fire of God begin to eat at the edges of the camp, as in this parasha? Will the leaders fight among themselves? What about today's Hovav/Jethro? Perhaps Israel's non-Jewish citizens will join the protests? Perhaps the non-Jewish nations – allies who have stood at our side so loyally – will say "we have to go now"? And will the nation answer the call, if the trumpets are blown by this government?

In the American Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote:

The protests in this country are continuing full strength, against Netanyahu’s government, which shows no sign of changing course. What might tip the political balance in this situation?

In the last verses of our parasha, we read about the punishment of Miriam:

Midrash Sifrei says about this:

After all the preparations, the changes, the corrections, everything was ready to move, and the whole thing had to wait another week. How did Moses find the patience?

"במדה שאדם מודד בה מודדין לו"

“With the measure that a man measures, so is he measure.”

May we all be blessed, the people and the government, with the patience and the humility that Moses showed to Miriam.

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