Dr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah 118 (That Day You Went Missing) for week of July 14, 2024
That's not like you.
He wasn't himself.
She's having a bad day.
Ever say that to or about someone?
After the beloved Miriam's death, the gracious Moses and Aaron go missing:
When Moses and Aaron took the message to the congregation, did they transmit the Glory of the Presence? Was it consistent with Kadesh, a place of testing in holiness?
When they delivered the message, did Israel see what they saw in the Tent of Meeting?
In Chukkat, there are three examples of the “sanctification of the Name” to witnesses through the death of a righteous person:
1)The death of Miriam
The death decrees of
2)Moses and
3)Aaron.
Before that, the deaths of Nadav and Avihu...
When a righteous person is judged or simply passes away peacefully, it definitely creates awe, mourning, and fear in those who see or hear it, thus sanctifying the Name.
As a result, the trio were all removed from the congregation before entering the Promised Land. Missing.
A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
A rock garden locked, a spring sealed up. (So 4:12)
A hint to our missing persons, Miriam, Moses, and Aaron, may be found in the “eyes of the people,” the Bride being tried in the wilderness:
Einayim (pl), ein, "eye," or "sight" also means a spring, a fountain. Had Moses and Aaron spoken tenderly to the sealed “rock garden,” it may have released the holy spiritual power of faith, hope, and love within the Bride. Instead, they scolded angrily, and it released only natural water. This did not really help the congregation through the test, only pointed out their shortcomings.
Nothing has changed in our Exodus story at this point. Israel is the Bride being tested according to the mitzvot, particularly the Ten Words they agreed to at Har Sinai:
In this week’s Torah portion, we can find tests of at least five of the first six Words:
First Commandment (Exodus 20:2)
I am the Lord Your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Second Commandment (Exodus 20:3-6)
You shall have no other gods beside Me.
Third Commandment (Exodus 20:7)
You shall not take the name of the Lord Your God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain [falsely, in vanity, in emptiness]
Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:8-11)
Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy.
Fifth Commandment (Exodus 20:12)
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord God gives you.
הַמֹּרִים--מִרְיָם
Sixth Commandment (Exodus 20:13)
You shall not murder.
Maybe the simplest explanation is found in the beauty associated with the Tried Bride...
Your lips, my bride, drip honey;
Honey and milk are under your tongue,
And the fragrance of your garments
Is like the fragrance of Lebanon. (So 4:11)
Torah is milk and honey; it should be pleasant to those who hear it. The Bride's fragrance is that of Lebanon, the "bones" of the Temple structure. It houses the Presence and glory of Adonai. The words spoken to the Bride of Israel should have comforted them with their pleasant encouragement and released the fragrance of Adonai's glorious Presence.
Midrash Rabbah 4§22: “Anyone who says words of Torah in public, and they are not pleasing to those who hear them is:
The midrash is explaining that if the teaching is not in harmony with the whole Word, the teacher will teach inaccurately, not discerning the hearts of those listening. Moses and Aaron needed to bring the whole glorious experience they had in the Tent of Meeting to the people whose hearts were grieving. Assurance of help coming. By omitting it, this test in the wilderness brought disgrace to Israel, especially Moses and Aaron.
Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:8-11)
Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy...Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
You shall keep My sabbath is equivalent to reverencing the sanctuary.
Our test in the wilderness of the peoples is to keep the Shabbat! As the Levitical priesthood guarded the holiness of the Mishkan and Mikdash, so the royal priesthood guards the sanctuary of holiness by creating a place of assembly in the Presence of Adonai so that we are filled with His glory to pass on to those in need.
Leaders and priests are tested to see if they will uphold the holiness of Adonai; so is His royal priesthood. If the priests are lacking a garment, they suffer a kind of death different from a typical death. Likewise, the royal priesthood will be tested for her bridal garments. She will be tested for the Ten Words to which she agreed. She should lack nothing faith supplies for her beauty.
As Boaz tested Ruth, and as The Holy One tested Israel in the wilderness as a Bride, so we are tested in the wilderness of the nations, “abroad”:
It is believed that the manna was provided in Moses’ merit and the pillar of cloud in Aharon’s merit. The water came from the Rock in Miriam’s merit.
The three siblings operated as a unit. Although the para aduma was burned in the second year in the wilderness for use in the Mishkan, the Torah portion inserts it in Chukkat, drawing the connection between the purifying water of the ashes of the red heifer and Miriam’s life, which helped to purify Israel. In this test, perhaps Moses and Aaron could have helped the Bride release the faith Miriam modeled for them, not simply to give them, but to teach them to operate their gifts from within themselves.
Moses and Aaron were to speak, not strike, the rock to release its water. Who knows if the whole congregation could have learned from their example to release Garden words with faith and kindness?
Sometimes we need, “Suck it up, Buttercup.”
Sometimes we need, “Words of life and healing are within you...release it.”
When we grieve over a missing person or opportunity, we are vulnerable. We may complain, lash out, or go missing ourselves. Chukkat is the story of the whole community. What happens when it is not the leaders who are missing, but the members of the congregation?
The Holy One is sanctified in the eyes of unbelievers when ALL contribute to the assembly. There are different kinds of prophecy, but all involve a telling or affirmation of the Word, which convicts, heals, provokes to repentance, encourages, comforts...because it is manifest through gifts, it is exactly what the grieving, exhausted, or rebellious heart needs to hear. If, like Moses and Aaron had a bad day grieving for their sister, a leader goes missing on Shabbat, a royal priesthood can stand in the gap even though they may also be grieving. Their willing presence directs attention to Heaven and releases pure, clean water for the needs at hand.
It is a Bridal test of released, purifying waters. The words we speak in the assembly should be milk and honey: purifying, edifying, provoking to repentance, comforting, healing, encouraging, inspiring joy.
When leaders or congregants go missing, the Bride has a hard day of testing.
What is worse than a Bride who dies trying? One who never tried dying.
At least Moses, Aaron, Nadav, and Avihu died serving. Our presence on Shabbat invites the holy Presence to dwell among us. It honors Him, not our emotion of the day or our purposes. He will be sanctified when someone goes missing, one way or another.
So on those days when I'm not quite myself yet, but I'm not anyone else either, that's a day to speak less as I serve, as Aaron remained silent about Nadav and Avihu. Let the assembly step in and release pure water.
Let us honor the Holy One in the assembly, using His gifts just as we received them so that they become glory to His Bride.
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