Raising the Lights
Life Lessons from the Torah Portion Parshat BeHaalotcha (Numbers 8:1–12:16)
When an individual blows up a balloon and then secures it, his breath is trapped inside that balloon. Yet if he wants to keep his breath in that balloon , yet keep it open, there is only one way that can happen. He needs to keep breathing into the balloon.
When G-d created Man, He left his mouth and nostrils open.G-d simply continued to breath into each one of His creations. The Hebrew word Neshamah, the Divinely connected Soul is similar to the Hebrew word Neshimah, meaning breath . In essence it describes the unique and individual “breath of G-d" in each one of His creations. That is the core and source of each individual soul (the Ramchal; Derech Hashem)
Furthermore , as we are all receiving the spiritually life giving breath from the same Divine Source , we find ourselves irrevocably linked one to the other. As a result we are also obligated and responsible for each other. Whatever sparks we carry within us must be joined to the infinite number of sparks that exist all around us in creation and in His created beings in order to reveal the Divine reality of creation.
Yet the pathways of life for each one of us can become a multi convoluted and cumbersome. As we move through it we encounter obstacles, pain and doubts. We must also contend with emotions such as fear anger and arrogance. All those experiences cover, mask and hide that Breath- Neshima of the divine within every one of us.
As a result we need to find the ways to uncover that breath of G-d in ourselves and in each one of the people we encounter. That usually proves to be a daunting task. When one person offers advice or shares his or her version of truth to another, the recipient usually feels judged and discounted. Regrettably many of us tend to focus on what is missing in the other, rather than the opposite. Such an approach can never meet with lasting success.
Hillel declares in his famous statement in Pirkei Avot, “Be like the sons of Aaron,” he said. “Love peace and pursue peace, love people and draw them near to Torah.”
So it must be Aaron who will give direction.
We read in the Torah portion of Behaalotcha the following.
“Speak to Aaron and say to him: "When you raise the light in the lamps , the seven lamps shall cast their light toward the face of the menorah."( Numbers 8:2)
Rashi explains on the words "When you raise the light in the lamps-BeHaalotcha) ָ, this literally means when you cause the light to ascend. .. He is required to kindle the lamp until the flame rises by itself (Tractate Shabbat 21a). This is to teach us that the “lighter of the flame ” must hold the flame to the wick until a flame arises of its own accord. In order to do that that “lamplighter” must believe in the power of the wick to carry the flame. He must hold the flame to the wick until the flame arises of its own accord.Like that “lamplighter” we must know that our role is to ignite that Breath of G-d potential within the soul of every man and woman we encounter as proverbs says ” The soul of man is the lamp of Hashem” (Proverbs 20:27).
For that to happen we must turn to that which is holy in every individual we encounter rather than focusing on all those things that seem not to be. It is our belief in the other that gives the other an awakened belief in themselves.
It is then that the “flame arises of its own accord”.
LeRefuat Yehudit bat Golda Yocheved
