BESHALACH- english

STIMULATION OF THE SENSES                 

Generally, pleasure or enjoyment involves stimulation of any one of the five senses, which are where most pleasures are found. We enjoy tasting certain foods and seeing a nice view of nature or a beautiful painting. Usually, the place where we chose to live is because we liked how it looked when we first saw it.

We enjoy listening to music, and we enjoy being in a quiet setting; both are examples of pleasure derived from the sense of sound. We enjoy certain smells. And we are stimulated when we smell a barbecue or an oven full of freshly baked breads. We like the way certain clothes feel more than others. The common denominator of all these pleasures is that when the experience is new, we notice it. This is strange. We always eat things we like. We generally find ourselves in work, school and even in family life in situations that we chose, because they were pleasing to us. As time goes on, we get used to “enjoyment of the senses”,  and their strength starts to wane . We already know this experience – it has lost the element of surprise. So, we look for a fresh stimulus.  Taste – a new restaurant. Sight – a walk through nature. Sound – a new music album. Enjoyment is felt most keenly the first time it is experienced. It’s not that we no longer enjoy things that have become familiar; rather, we tend to ignore our enjoyment, as we have gotten used to it. Whether we realize it or not, we are all subconsciously seeking enjoyment. When we find it, we are calm; when we do not, we are anxious.

Enhancing Enjoyment in Life

We have established that the five senses provide enjoyment.  If we want to enjoy life, we do not have to look for new things or travel far. We are constantly enjoying things, even if we do not notice it. We just have to make a point of realizing that we are experiencing pleasure. One can enjoy life so much by just paying attention to and making mention of the pleasures that we have, around the clock in our everyday lives. A Jew does this by making his blessings in the morning with concentration, giving serious thought to the words he is saying. Adopting this practice makes life a much more enjoyable experience.

This week’s parasha tells of the reaction of the Jews to the mannah that fell from heaven. And they said to one another that this is Mannah, for they did not know what it was. The Midrash (Devarim Rabbah 1:11) asks, Why did G-d not tell them what it was called? For, if he would have relayed this to them, then the Jews would have said, “We had this food already on Pharaoh’s “table” . The Jews in the desert did not know the real name of the Mannah . They guessed it. G-d did not tell it to them , so that they would not complain that they had already had it inEgypt once before. End of Midrash.

There may be some difficulty in understanding the question and answer of this Midrash. If there exists no such food, or even substance, in the world, what could possibly be the significance of G-d’s telling them what this food is called in Heaven, and that it is the food of angels?  When the Jews received it for the first time, the Manna was completely unknown. How would telling them its name make any difference? The answer the Midrash gives is also hard to swallow! Would knowing the name of this “Mannah” in heaven make the Jews lie, saying that they had already known it in Egypt, and that it was nothing new?

But this is the way of the human psyche. The real pleasure we have from a stimulus is through the element of surprise: we know neither that it will be nor what it will be. For example, often, a “soon-to-be” parent prefers not to know if the child is a boy or a girl, as this knowledge detracts from the excitement of the unknown element in the birth itself.

In order to make it possible for the Jews to regard their sustenance with awe, G-d, in His mercy, did not let the Jews feel that the Mannah was any less than unique, special and new.  This added to their pleasure in the holy food – the same pleasure experienced by the angels. There is no real name for this celestial nourishment. It has no specific taste. It is always the new taste you wanted it to have. It is always a “first time” sensation. It is always relishing tasting, not just eating. If G-d would have told them in advance what this food was it would not have held the excitement of the unknown for them.

We can gain more pleasure in life if we do not say to ourselves – “We know this feeling, taste, view, sound (etc).” We can be conscious of the fact that we not only eat, but we taste! We can be aware of the miracle of sight; everything we see, is a kind of exploring, discovering, and not just an automatic parade of vision before our eyes.

This is the excitement and the drive in life as well. Lack of challenges, life that is purely routine brings more than just boredom: it’s life without pleasure. One of G-d’s many kindnesses is His giving us challenges and unexpected stimuli, increasing and enhancing our pleasure.

The Adjective “Good”

Until now, we have discussed the pleasures that are dependent upon our senses.  Almost every expression in which the adjective “good” appears pertains to the senses. A good steak. A good looking car or piece of art . A good piece of music. Contemplating the concept of “good”, we will find that sensory-based benefits are relative, not absolute.  An elegant meal will be less than enticing for someone who is suffering from indigestion.  A magnificent painting will have little worth for a person with failing sight, as will a philharmonic concert for a person who is hard of hearing.

There is, however, a different source of pleasure, one which is not dependent upon any outside stimulus – one which carries us to heights that can be equaled by nothing that the senses have to offer.

The ultimate achievement is, of course, our connection with our Father, our Creator, Who designs everything (whether we are aware of it or not) for our …good!  Fine-tuning our senses to recognizing the Good that G-d has prepared for us, we can sing with King David the words of Tehillim ואני קרבת אלקים לי טוב And for me, relationship with G-d is good. For the deepest part of me, deeper than the senses, the only thing that is good is my relationship with the Creator. This is the ultimate good that the world has to offer.

 Element of Impulsivity – Noise of Evildoers

The Midrash writes that their failure was not the lack of a valid point; rather, it was the way they made it. One of the things that separate the successful from those who fail is knowing the appropriate way of saying what needs to be said.

So many problems in life could be avoided, if we would just think before we say what we feel. There is a certain element of impulsivity in every dispute. It seems that the Hebrew word for an evildoer,  “Rasha“, has its root in the Hebrew word that shares the same letters – “Raash”, noise.

People who are always looking for trouble usually make a lot of noise; it seems that this is either because they do not think before they talk, or because they are looking for attention. When there is trouble and we do not know its origin, we turn to the troublemakers. When someone is causing a dispute, and we do not know who it is, we turn to the people who are always making noise.

And on the Seventh day, people from the nation went out to gather Mannah, and they did not find any. (16:27) The Midrash (Or Va’afela) states that these people were none other than the infamous Datan and Aviram,  “…for any evil acts that we can ascribe to the Evildoers – we attribute (the acts) to them.

This is not injustice. This is simply being aware of the consistency of human behavior. Our first experience with Datan and Aviram was when they reported Moshe Rabbeinu to Pharaoh for killing an Egyptian. This resulted in Moshe’s nearly being killed and chased out ofEgypt.

Datan and Aviram’s end came when they joined Korach against Moshe. They were swallowed up by the ground. When the Torah makes mention of the fight against Moshe (Devarim 11,6),  it mentions only Datan and Aviram, but not Korach. This can be because they had nothing to gain in the quarrel; they argued only for the sake of arguing, while Korach was fighting because he wanted a more significant position. All Datan and Aviram wanted to do was to make noise.

Interestingly enough, we find in this week’s parasha another mention of Datan and Aviram. And Pharaoh said (לבני ישראל)  to Bnei Yisrael, they are confused in the desert…(14:3)  Rashi explains that the words here (לבני ישראל)  mean (על) in regard to Bnei Yisrael. The Midrash, however, understands this to mean literally to Bnei Yisrael. Targum Yonatan writes that the only two Jews who stayed behind in Egypt were Datan and Aviram. They remained close to Pharaoh, for they were the two tale bearers who talked incessantly! The Midrash Aggada writes, as well, “And Paraoh said to Datan and Aviram, who remained in Egypt and came with Pharaoh to Yam Suf. Afterwards, when they saw the splitting of the sea for the Jews, they had regret and they joined their brothers and came out of the sea(with them). (Midrash Agadda and Targum Yonatan)

This is quite strange. We know that there were 600,000 adult Jewish men who leftEgypt. This was only one fifth of the Jews who had lived there. The rest died in the plague of darkness, as they did not want to be redeemed and to leave Egypt. If so, how did Datan and Aviram stay behind alive?

The Edut Biyehosef answers that Moshe asked Pharaoh that Bnei Yisrael be permitted to leave for only three days.  The Jews did not want to leave for such a short period of time. They surely did not want to go through the hassle of borrowing utensils and clothes from the Egyptians for only three days.

G-d told Moshe to speak in the ears of the nation (דבר נא באזני העם) …whisper to them that, in fact, you are never going to return. The reason to whisper was that Datan and Aviram, the Jewish informers, would pass on this piece of information to Pharaoh. The rest of the nation was told that this should remain a secret. For this reason, Datan and Aviram did not leaveEgypt. They thought it was ridiculous to go through all the trouble of borrowing utensils and clothing from the Egyptians for just three days. And, because they did not know the truth that the Final Redemption had arrived, they were not liable for death in the plague of darkness.

It seems that Datan and Aviram spent their lives looking for trouble; looking for opportunities to make noise. This type of noise is often similar to the noise of one who talks without thinking. Both types of noise cause problems. Both types of noise get others and ourselves into trouble.

Shabbat Shalom, Yosef Farhi

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