Beha‘alotcha: On Listening and Leadership

Beha‘alotcha: On Listening and Leadership[1]

Hebrew

Some events are so significant that they split time in two: “before” and “after.” In the midst of events, the fracture often comes as a surprise, but in retrospect it may be possible to discern preliminary cracks that were not properly understood in due time. The mission of the tribal heads who toured the land, the subject of next week’s parasha, caused such a fracture. This morning, we read about the cracks that might have warned of its approach.

Like the Book of Numbers as a whole, the parasha begins with the detailed instructions about the organization and preparations necessary for the Israelites to advance to the Land of Israel. When everything is ready, Moses turns to his father-in-law, here called “Hovav,” and invites him to join the journey. When considering this short conversation, I would like to focus on Moses’s mood:

We are marching to the place about which The Eternal promised: that-one I will give to you; go with us and we will do-good for you, for The Eternal has promised good-things for Israel…. So it will be, if you go with us, so it will be: [from] that goodness with which The Eternal will do-good for us, we will do-good for you!

                                       Numbers 19:29, 32; translation: Prof. Everett Fox, Sefaria (modified)

In both the Hebrew and this literal translation, the word “good” appears five times in two verses. Moses is looking ahead to a perfect future. When the preparations are completed, the journey begins. At first glance, the expectation of orderly progress is realized. The verses that end the chapter seem to confirm this:

When the Ark was to set out, Moses would say: Advance, O Eternal, May Your enemies be scattered….  And when it halted, he would say: Return, O Eternal: You who are Israel’s myriads of thousands! Numbers 19:35-36; translation: JPS 2006, Sefaria (modified)

Leningrad codes

 In Torah scrolls, these verses are framed in inverted letters נ. In the Talmud, the Sages say that these letters indicate that the verses were not written in the correct place. However, it seems to me this is exactly where they belong, because they summarize Moses’s miracle-oriented perception, and also contain a hint of things to come. Note that verse states, “Moses would say.” In contrast to the parting of the Red Sea, when the entire nation saw the miracle and participated in the singing, now only Moses sees the miracle and only he speaks.

Detached from the miracle, the people start complaining but the text doesn’t tell us why. Rather, God sends a punishing fire (Num. 11:1). Why bother trying to solve a problem when it can be silenced with pyrotechnics? But...

Silencing is effective for only a very short time. Soon the “ אספסףrabble” are kvetching about the menu (Numbers 1:4). This is the only appearance of the word “rabble” in the entire Bible, but whoever they were, it’s apparent that they learned something. To solve a problem, it is important to specify what hurts, not just grumble. It’s a shame that the other side hears only their words, not their deeper distress.

God again gets angry and Moses, who was so optimistic in his conversation with Hovav (perhaps two weeks earlier), sinks into suicidal depression. God does listen to him and suggests a change in the work arrangements to make it easier for him. To Moses’ credit, he accepts the offer and is willing to delegate his powers to the elders. This is proof that listening can lead to a solution, but the lesson learned is not applied to the people’s complaints. Moses is not wise enough to take advantage of the elders’ greater closeness to the “street” in order to understand what is really bothering the people.

What would have happened if, instead of being insulted by the talk about Egypt, Moses had explained:

True, we’ve only been eating nothing but manna for nearly 13 months.[2] Travelling from Sinai to Kadesh Barnea on the border of Moab takes an ordinary caravan eleven days.[3] Our pace is slower, so it will take us a month; maximum, six weeks. I hope (but can’t promise) to celebrate Shavuot on the border of the Land. Then, we will be able to feast. A little patience and we will be home soon.

What would have happened? We will never know. Again, the Divine response is a show of angry force: first, a huge excess of quail meat and then a plague. How many people have to die due to lack of communication? 

There is more. The next defiance against Moses’s leadership comes from two of the people closest to him: Miriam and Aaron. They make two claims, about his wife and about his prophecy. Again, Moses does not try to clarify the matter; he does not even inquire about the connection between the two claims. If Moses cannot talk to his siblings, with whom can he talk? Instead of a substantive discussion, the narrator declares, “And the man Moses was exceedingly humble,” as if humility exempts him from interpersonal dialogue. A truly humble person would ask:  “How can I improve?” Moses is silent and God enters the picture again, rebuking Aaron and Miriam and punishing only Miriam. Then Moses does open his mouth with a short prayer for Miriam, and she recovers. Can Moses speak only to God?

This is the end of the parasha, and these are the cracks that opened in the social fabric of the Israelites as they set out from Sinai. If they had been noticed in real time, would it have been possible to prevent the great rift and save 39 years of wandering?

I won’t dare guess, but I will draw some conclusions.
In the interpersonal realm, we have seen how important it is to pay attention to the pain behind the words, even in moments of crisis when painful words are spoken, and that proper attentiveness might lead to a solution.

In the public realm, leadership that speaks only to itself, has poor PR, does not listen to the people, and then tries to solve problems unilaterally, using force, did not bring the Israelites to the Promised Land. What was true then, still applies today.
May we not only learn the parasha but learn from it, speedily and in our days, and let us say Amen.

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[1] This drasha was written before the beginning of the operation against Iran.

^[2] According to Exodus 16, the manna started to fall in the second month after the Exodus and according to Numbers 10, the Israelites began their journey on the 20^th day of the second month of the second year.

[3] Deuteronomy 1:2