More Than What You See
When we left Egypt HaShem blessed us with three great leaders. Moshe, Aharon and Miriam. In this week’s Parsha, Chukas, Aharon and Miriam pass away. With the passing of Miriam the Well of Miriam dried up. The Well of a Miriam was a rock from which an abundant stream of water flowed ceaselessly throughout the camp providing water to 2.5 million people. Each of the twelve tribes had their own tributary that flowed through their part of the camp. This was our ancestors source of water as they traveled through the desert. Now, near the end of that 40 year trek with the passing of Miriam this well dried up.
Our prophet Micah reprimands his people in the name of HaShem “O my people what have I done to you and where have I worn you out? (a rhetorical question indicating that HaShem did nothing bad to us nor did He ask of us anything that would wear us out) To the contrary, I took you out from Egypt, and from the house of slavery I redeemed you. I sent before you Moshe, Aharon and Miriam… What does HaShem want from you only to do justice, love doing kindness and walk modestly with HaShem”
Micha is indicating the three qualities that each of our three primary leaders taught us. Moshe is the one who taught us to do justice, Aharon is the one who taught us to love doing kindness, and Miriam is the one who taught us to walk modestly with HaShem.
There is a subtle beauty of modesty is brilliant. When one has a magnificent diamond they lose its beauty if they were to set it in an excessively brilliant ring. By setting it in a more subtle ring the beauty of the diamond shines forth. The brilliant ring gets its full deserved attention when there is nothing about the ring other than its apparent brilliance. However, when that small diamond’s beauty is so magnificent you do not want to focus attention on the setting and minimize the deserved attention of the diamond. In other words, when you have something a great value you want to set it in a more humble, modest setting. If, however, you have nothing of value outside of the thing itself then it is reasonable to show it off.
Using this model we can appreciate why modesty is such a critical quality that HaShem wants us to achieve. The Jew has much internal meaning much deeper than his physical body and physical manifestation. We have a spirit that is able to connect to HaShem. The Jewish spirit has throughout the ages changed the face of Mankind. The Jew’s spirit must be set in a subtle setting, in a humble and modest setting so that he maintains his appreciation for what he is capable of doing. This is King David’s intent when he writes in Psalm 45 “The glory of the princess is found inside.” King David is implying the her glory is not visible on the outside.
In our current environment where Madison Avenue, America’s advertising industry, is the engine of our economy this attitude is not commonly found. The very nature of advertising is to proclaim aloud the beauty of a given product or person. The notion that their beauty should remain inside and serve its purpose without much fanfare is seldomly seen.
Water is a material that sustains life perhaps more than food. It feeds the vegetation and the animals. It cleans and refreshes. Its qualities are so magnificent and yet it is always running to the lowest spot. When you place your bread upon the dinner table it sits there quite proud of itself but if you will place the water upon you dinner table it will run off. Only with a solid container will the water sit on you table. How appropriate it is that Miriam is remembered as the leader in whose merit we had water in the desert. Her strength was not found by how tall she stood but who she nurtured and supported.
Have a wonderful Shabbos.
Paysach Diskind