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June 13, 2025 - 17 Sivan 5785 Dear Friends, As Israel has launched Operation Rising Lions as a preemptive strategy to keep Israel safe from external threats to its existence, we pray even more fervently for the safety of our brothers and sisters in Israel, and for the heroes of the Israel Defense Forces. Parashat B'ha'lot'cha - Never Enough
One of the movies that quickly became a family favorite during Covid was The Greatest Showman, a highly fictionalized and musical telling of the life of PT Barnum. Though we were a little late to discover the 2017 film, by the end of a year of heavy quarantine, the story, and especially the songs, became part of the daily repertoire within the Strom household. Each of us, of course, has a different idea of which song from the film is the best. Reading through this week's Parasha, B'ha'lot'cha, brought to mind the number I feel to be the film's piece-de-resistance. In his quest for success and fame, Barnum convinces famous Swedish singer Jenny Lind to tour America, with Barnum as her manager. Her debut is a smashing success. The song, "Never Enough," speaks to human ambition, what we seek and are willing to give towards finding it, and, I believe, to the Israelites: "All the shine of a thousand spotlights
The Israelites have been freed from 430 years of slavery in Egypt. They witnessed ten supernatural plagues upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians. They saw a sea split before them so that they could cross to freedom. Then they looked back and saw that same sea close upon their enemies, drowning them instantly. Food was provided for them without limit, every single day, with the raining down of manna, a heavenly sustenance that took on the taste and texture of whatever each person wanted it to be like. And yet, the Israelites complained. Again and over again. What's worse is that their complaining reveals a pining for, of all things, their time as slaves in Egypt! In Numbers 11, we read the following: “The riffraff in their midst felt a gluttonous craving; and then the Israelites wept and said, If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish that we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. Now our gullets are shriveled. There is nothing at all! Nothing but this manna to look to!” ”And Moses said to יהוה, “Why have You dealt ill with Your servant, and why have I not enjoyed Your favor, that You have laid the burden of all this people upon me?...I cannot carry all this people by myself, for it is too much for me. If You would deal thus with me, kill me rather, I beg You, and let me see no more of my wretchedness!” In other words, I hear Moses saying, "Are You kidding me, God, with this people? After all You have done for and given them, will it ever be enough? I'd rather die than keep fighting with these people." Moses may be the Greatest Showman of Jewish tradition, but this bitterness, this complaining, this repeated rejection of faith in God is just too much for him. And apparently, it's too much for God as well. For God essentially sentences these "stiff-necked people," at least the adults, who witnessed with their own eyes and ears their divine redemption from tyranny, never to see the Promised Land. They will die in the desert before the people cross over into it. It is one thing to continually strive towards holiness, greatness, knowledge, and understanding; to see that there is always something new to learn, some piece of wisdom or experience that will strengthen ourselves and deepen our experience of life. It is entirely another to be insatiable, to endlessly seek more - more money, power, fame, influence. If the goal is always acquiring more and more, then, as the song says, it will never be enough. If one sees the world as being filled with what one has yet to gain control over, there will never be an endpoint. There will never be a moment or place of contentment. There will only be unending dissatisfaction and eternal restlessness. A passage we studied from Pirke Avot asks rhetorically, Eizehu ashir? "Who is rich?" ( איזהו עשיר) The answer is simple in its brilliance and, like so much of life's best advice, is much more easily said than done. Hasameach b'chelko, (השמח בחלקו) the Sages say, "The one who is content with his lot." Let us strive to do better than our ancestors, stiff-necked in their stubbornness, and myopic in their worldview. May we endeavor to live our lives with hakarat hatov, an "attitude of gratitude" that recognizes the good in our lives, counts them as myriad blessings in an unsure world, and be more than content, and grateful, for everything in our lives that has gone right and continues to do so. Then, no matter our means, our resources, our power and influence, we will see them as more than enough, and we will consider ourselves fortunate, and rich, in the best and most important ways. Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Joshua Strom
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