This week’s Torah portion,
Be’ha’alotekha, is a full one! The menorah lampposts are built in the
Tabernacle, the Priests are further purified, their orders to serve Aaron the
high priest in his service to G-d is further explained, silver trumpets are made
in case there is ever need for a rallying call in time of war, and marching
orders are determined. Then, of course, there’s the small and uninteresting
parts where G-d makes it rain poultry, and strikes Miriam with white scales
covering her skin.
In all this mayhem, it may be easy
to miss a very short scene, four verses long, between Moses and his
father-in-law. Remember, Moses married a Midianite lady while he was in hiding
after killing the Egyptian task master. The ancient rabbinic commentators claim
that her father had “converted,” and began praying to Adonai even before Moses
found his encampment, but in the Torah itself, we have no proof how much
Tzipporah and her family blended in with Moses and his people. So when Moses
asks his father-in-law to come with them to the Promised Land, it’s a strong
statement about inclusivity for that time. The land of Israel in the Bible is
promised to the Israelites, not to Midianites. There are even disturbing and
problematic parts where G-d commands the Israelites to kill everyone already
living there when they enter. So it is significant that Moses near begs the
Midianite priest to join them. When he insists on needing to go home to Midian,
Moses says, “Please do not leave us… if you come with us, we will extend to you
the same bounty that the Lord grants us” (10:31-32).
It’s a little bit of the inverse of
Ruth’s pledge, which was read just this past week for Shavuot. After the
husband and sons of Naomi die, she tries to send away her now widowed
daughters-in-law. One is quick to take Naomi’s advice and goes home to her
family of birth, but Ruth sticks to Naomi’s side, saying, “Where you go, I will
go; your people will be my people, and your G-d my G-d.” Ruth is often treated
as Judaism’s first convert, and taught as a story about welcoming new people
into our communities, but we see in this week’s Torah portion, she is hardly
the first. She just might be the most important, since she is the
great-grandmother of the great King David, who is thought to be the line from
which the Messiah will eventually come. But since Reform Jews believe in
creating our own Messianic Age through Tikkun Olam, that all seems unimportant.
What’s important is that between the
Megillah read this past week for Shavuot, and this week’s Torah portion, we see
an ancient and living value of treating the “others” in our midst with respect.
These acts of acceptance are small forms of Tikkun Olam, and contribute to our
own building of the Messianic Age, so we won’t need Ruth’s great great great
great great grandchild to come redeem us. We accept newcomers to our
communities and families; we love them;
we revere the wisdom they have to teach us, and soon enough, forget that they
were ever “others” in the first place. True acceptance means those who seek to
be truly blended, as Ruth did, are indeed blended. And those that want to keep
their individual and original identity, as Jethro/Reul did, are indeed accepted
as friends and family, regardless of their Jewish/Israelite status. May you all
find acceptance when you need it, and always be accepting to others in your
community. Amen and Shabbat Shalom!
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