NUM83 When Moses asked for new elders to help him, God told him that he should pick those whom he already knew to be worthy [this verse with Rashi commentary). (Continued at [[EXOD101]] Exodus 5:14 AMEMEI 198 beaten).

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NUM84 (Continued from [[DEUT215]] Deuteronomy 6:5 love SINAI2 43). In our time the devout, observant Jew is like the Sage and scholar of Talmud days. Others look to him to set and maintain high standards; and they look at him, with eagle eyes, ready to find supposed defections and shortcomings, and thus derive supposed justifications for col davar assur, every kind of forbidden activity that they permit themselves. If a professed observant Jew walks into a non-kosher restaurant, even if only to make a telephone call, he may be seen and misjudged; and may cause a profanation of the Name. Every action must be carefully considered. Let us bear in mind the foremost case of hillul ha-shem that our Written Torah describes: the tragedy that resulted when Moses, instead of speaking to the rock to bring forth water, as the Almighty had commanded him, boldly struck the rock (Numbers 20:7–13). We may find it hard to understand the heavy punishment that Moses received: to us, what he did may seem but a slight, unimportant deviation from the Divine command. But as the Midrash makes clear, Moses acted in anger (Midrash Tanhuma, Hukkath 9-10 (ed. Buber, 29-30), repeated in Rabbah, Numbers xix 5 and Yalkut Shim'oni I §763; Midrash D'barim Zuta, in Yalkut ibid.) And when the greatest of the prophets, the man who spoke with the Creator "face to face" (Deuteronomy 34:10) as it were, exhibits anger and impatience, the hillul ha-shem is far-reaching. The Midrash puts it in moving words: "But had not Moses said something harsher [than his present words of anger]? For it is stated [that he complained], 'if flocks of sheep and herds of cattle be slain for them, will they be enough for them?' [this verse]. There too he showed no faith, and it was a greater misdeed than this; why did the Holy, Blessed One not decree death upon him then? We may answer with a parable: A king had a friend who dared to speak hard words with him when the king and he were alone, and the ruler did not mind. In time he arose and showed the same haughtiness before his troops. Then [the king] decreed death for him (for he could not overlook or forgive a public disgrace of royal honor). Even so the Holy, Blessed One spoke to Moses [as it were]: What you did between you and Me, is forgiven you. Now it was before the multitude; that cannot [be forgiven]'" (Midrash Tanhuma, Hukkath 9-10 (ed. Buber, 29-30), repeated in Rabbah, Numbers xix 5 and Yalkut Shim'oni I §763). Let us learn from this unfortunate incident in the life of Moses, the most wonderful career we know. If high standards are demanded of us in public, let us accept them graciously. There is a good reason for them: the Name of Heaven, the "standing" of the Almighty in the eyes of our fellow man is at stake.

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NUM85 See [[GEN568]] Genesis 6:6 regretted AGUS 40-1

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NUM87 See [[EXOD266]] Exodus 17:9 us SINAI2 109

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NUM86 R. Levi said: If one utters a word [i.e., if he renders a decision] in the presence of his master, he goes to his grave without a child, as it is written:" "And Joshua answered … and said: My lord, Moses, confine them!" and it is written (I Chronicles 7:27): "Nun, his son, Joshua, his son" [the line ending there] (Eruvin 63b)

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NUM88 Why so? For it is a breach of derech eretz [proper conduct], being comparable to a student's rendering a decision in the presence of his master (Sanhedrin 17a)

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NUM89 Despite emphasizing the need to participate in the community and help the Jewish community when in trouble, Judaism also recognizes the difficulties and disadvantages of being involved in communal work. When Eldad and Meidad were prophesizing in the camp and Joshua, believing them to be false prophets, wanted them to stop and desist, he said to Moses Kla'aim [this verse], which means "restrain them." Rashi (commentary on this verse) offers two explanations of how to restrain them. One is the simple explanation--to put them in jail. But Rashi also quotes the explanation cited in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 17a) that Moses should give them some community responsibility, which would automatically make them stop prophesying. What does this mean? Why would they stop prophesizing if they had community responsibility? Other commentaries explain that since a prophet had to prophesy out of a sense of joy (see the chapter "Prophecy"), a community worker would never feel joy and thus would not prophesy. Therefore, it seems that even then was understood the great discomfort caused by involvement in Jewish communal work. The Jerusalem Talmud (Jerusalem Talmud, Berachot 11a) makes a statement about a particular person, that he rose to greatness in the community and still lived a long life. The implication of this statement is that those who work on behalf of the Jewish community normally do not have long lives. For whatever reasons, it seems that communal work shortened peoples lives. Even today, it can clearly be seen that world leaders age very rapidly while in high office.

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NUM90 Each Jewish blessing … reflects this idea of a personal relationship with God. The term Baruch Attah at the beginning of every blessing means blessed are you God, using the familiar "you" in a second person and not in the more distant third person. In the Torah, when the prophets Eldad and Medad were prophesying back in the camp without the knowledge of Moses, Joshua wanted to lock them up. Moses responded by commenting, "Would that all of Israel be prophets like these" [this verse]. Why did Joshua wish to lock them up and what was Moses' response? According to one explanation, Joshua thought that all contact with God had to go through Moses, much as does the Christian approach. There had to be a go-between for God to relate to the people. All contact with God in the past had been through Moses and, therefore, Joshua believed that any prophecy that was not sanctioned by Moses had to be false prophecy. Moses responded by saying that the prophecy situation was such that until now no one was worthy, but if all the people could communicate as prophets directly with God, that would be the highest level of all. Hence, we see from this episode that Judaism does indeed encourage a direct communication with God. In fact, in most traditional synagogues, the verse that is prominently displayed in the front of the chapel during prayer is "God is always before me" [Psalms 16:8], indicating that every person sees God before him or her.

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NUM91 Focus on the good someone is doing or has done. The Torah teaches that when the Israelites received the spirit of God and started to prophecy, Joshua, Moses' assistant and successor, became alarmed, and asked Moses to restrain him. But Moses refused, saying, "Are you wrought up on my account? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets" (Numbers 11:26 – 29). Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav (1772-1810) taught that an envious person should force himself to focus on the good traits of those whom he envies. Don't look at the person whom you envy with an 'evil eye,'" Rabbi Nachman cautioned, and don't downplay or try to explain away any good that person has done. Rather, look upon that person with a "generous eye"; if you force yourself to appreciate her good actions, you may come to believe that her good fortune was deserved, which will help you to stop envying her.

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NUM92 Help others to fulfill their potential. Since loving our neighbor involves wishing for others what we wish for ourselves (see pages 12–13), we need to do what we can to help others achieve their goals. Sometimes we hold back out of fear that our peers' achievements will come at our own expense. We all know, or have heard, of instances in which managers have refrained from promoting subordinates because they feared the subordinates might outperform them. Compare this behavior with an incident in the Torah. During the Israelites' sojourn in the desert, an unnamed man comes to tell Moses that two man, Eldad and Medad, are prophesizing. Although there is no implication that they are speaking falsely in God's name, or are saying untrue or irresponsible things, nonetheless, Joshua, Moses' top aide, says to Moses: "My lord Moses, restrain them." Apparently, he is concerned that the two men might become Moses' competitors. Unlike Joshua, Moses is not bothered, and he responds: "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and the Lord put his spirit upon them!"(Numbers 11:26–29). Moses' trust in God and his generous love of neighbor freed him from the ego concerns that cause many of us to act unlovingly to others, and to refused to encourage their accomplishments.

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