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Be'halot'cha(Numbers 8-12)
Selling the present for the future
"When told of a man who had acquired great wealth, a wise man replied, 'Has he also acquired the days in which to spend it?'" - Ibn Gevirol
After leaving Egypt, the Jewish People wandered 40 years in the Sinai desert. Being in such a desolate environment, especially with children and elderly amongst them, we can understand their occasional anxiety. For example, in this week's Parsha their concern is expressed in the form of a complaint: "We remember the fish we ate for free in Egypt..." (Numbers 11:5).
This complaint is perplexing, given the fact that the Jews were well taken care of in the desert. God provided them with "manna," a very special food which tasted however the person eating it desired it to taste: Like ice cream, pizza, or filet mignon! Plus each Jew was given a satisfying quantity every day. What a deal! So why are the Jews complaining about free fish in Egypt?!
Rashi (11th century France) explains that in one important respect, slavery in Egypt was "free" in comparison to life in the desert. The manna that God provided came with certain "strings attached" - the Jews were simultaneously expected to perform Mitzvot; whereas the food in Egypt did not come with these obligations. Therefore, says Rashi, the Jewish People's use of the word "free" refers to their desire to be "free" from doing Mitzvot.
Yet Rashi's answer seems problematic. Could it be that the Jews preferred eating fish amidst harsh slavery, rather than observing Mitzvot in total freedom - and eating the miraculous manna - which obviously could also taste like fish?!
THE VIRTUES OF SLAVERY
The Western world views slavery as abhorrent. But to appreciate the Jewish People's desire to choose Egypt over the desert, we have to appreciate how deeply appealing slavery can be.
"Freedom" can often feel the most enslaving of all. Problems, pressures, and difficult decisions - about career, marriage, children, life goals - can often feel like the yoke of bondage. Therefore, to let someone else make your decisions is in some ways more appealing than the idea of freedom.
Furthermore, real freedom requires effort - to discover one's purpose in life, set goals, and examine actions to correct mistakes. These are the "freedoms" that made the Jewish People prefer "slavery!"
Today also, each of us to some extent prefers the "illusion of freedom" that comes with not thinking about life. Here are some examples of contemporary slavery:
THE SLAVERY OF SEDUCTION
People often eat without focusing on the pleasure of taste. They "space-out" and let the food stimulate them into a better mood. It requires effort to think about the food you are eating and to focus on the pleasure of every taste! Rather than pro-actively using the food, they prefer to have the food seduce them. It's much easier to let the taste of the food manipulate you. Notice how advertisements for food and soft drinks encourage this behavior. In this way, a person becomes a "slave" to food.
The manna had a miraculous aspect to it: it tasted however the person desired. And if you didn't consciously think of any taste? Then the Manna tasted like nothing!
This is why the Jews in the desert preferred real fish -as opposed to Manna which can taste like fish. Real fish requires no understanding, no consciousness. You just eat it. You don't need awareness. Just an open mouth.
Food is symptomatic of how we treat everything. We are constantly looking for outside stimuli, rather than picking ourselves up. Movies, drugs, Disneyland is all about letting an outside force take control of your mood.
THE SLAVERY OF WANTING MORE THAN YOU NEED
A key to mental health is "never wanting more than you need." Yet we see today how people will work like slaves to obtain more than they need. They may be a slave to status, or a slave to "security" - living for a time that may never come, rather than enjoying the time that is now.
The manna in the desert lasted only one day. New manna had to be gathered every day. You couldn't store it on the shelf for tomorrow. The Jews in the desert lived with a stark reality: Tomorrow is not worth worrying about because there is nothing you can do about it until it comes.
This is real freedom. Freedom from worry. But it's a freedom that has a price. The price is trusting that God will provide for tomorrow.
That reality was as real in the desert as it is for us today. We can choose that freedom. But many time we prefer the slavery of worrying about having enough for tomorrow. At first, it feels like freedom to know you have enough for tomorrow. However, you always end up working harder to protect it. You end up selling today... for the hope of tomorrow.
FREEDOM IS...
Ask yourself: Do I spend any significant portion of my day enjoying the efforts of my labor? Or do I simply plough it back to obtain something in the future?
Freedom is enjoying the here and now. It's eating the manna and focusing on the taste of fish. Freedom is appreciating "now," rather than worrying if you will enjoy tomorrow.
Does your life has the sense that it isn't all it should be... Do you have a sense of being "manipulated" but can't pinpoint the source... Are you looking for answers in a life-style that was supposed to be the answer... Are you passing up the real pleasures of life for some promises you aren't sure can be met... Are you working for the future instead of getting the most out of the present?
Freedom is closer than you think. But rather than running to "find," you need only slow down to "see."
Stop living for the future and try living for the present. The future sounds like it holds freedom, but real freedom is right here and right now. If you are not free - if you don't enjoy the here and now - then the world offers you an irony: Freedom will taste as slavery, and slavery as freedom.
Start now. Dedicate 15 minutes of today - to living just for today.
BRAINSTORMING QUESTIONS TO PONDER
Question 1: If all the money you made had to be spent before the end of the day or it would vanish, how would you spend your days?
Question 2: Would you rather be a miserable billionaire - or a happy pauper?
Question 3: Do you find yourself looking forward to the "good times," or do you consider the good times to be now?
(8) John D Dique , February 11, 2007
FREEDOM IS WITHOUT SELF-INDULGENCE
If you read "The SEICUS circle" by Clare Chambers it tells of a slavery of American youth through the process of the Humanist movement from spirituality to carnality.
The $2o Billion porn industry is such an attraction, more films than Hollywood. Why do Moslems have problems? Perhaps they see their children reduced to slaves in a "freedom" which is the "American way", where 30 plus thousand died from domestic gunshot in the US. All assisted by the visual media which destroys family values....
(7) Evan , June 22, 2003
Sensible but Simplistic?
First let me say how much I enjoy all these articles. They keep me connected to the Torah, which is sometimes a challenge for me living in a 98% non-Jewish area.
I'm intrigued by the advice to "live for the present, not for the future". Doesn't this go against much of the advice we deal with every day? Part of being good people is that we work hard today so that we can be better people tomorrow. If we are farmers, we plant today, or else we can't harvest tomorrow. If we are office workers, we work hard today, so we can afford better things tomorrow. If we are parents, we save for childrens' education today, so they can university graduates tomorrow.
I'm sure I'm missing something here. Certainly the advice to live for today doesn't mean we should spend all our money every day, without worrying about saving for the college education, retirement home, or for a pilgrimage to Israel.
Can somebody explain this further?
(6) Gershon Perlman , May 26, 2002
Very thought provoking, very interesting and very true. I see this every day in many situations. Just as we have the potential to turn our manna into ice-cream or steak. We can turn our mundane lives into what we want them to be.To do this we must lean to love ourselves and to do this we must recognize G-d's love for us.
(5) Anonymous , June 8, 2001
Majestic Insights
I am getting ready to throw away all my "self-help" books. It is all in the Torah! Thanks for helping me understand the message.
(4) Anonymous , June 7, 2001
Inspiring, but idealistic
This article is very inspiring and uplifting, and maybe I have been brainwashed by society, or maybe I am cynical, but don't we have to worry about the future? I think that ideally I would like to always live in the here and now, but because of the way the world works, don't we have to be concerned about the future? Do these questions demonstrate a lack of emunah on my part? I would love to discuss this at length with someone if it is possible.