Behalotecha
When do we ask for support?
Reflection by Carrie Watkins, US Community Manager:
"Two years into their sojourn through the desert, when Moshe had just said goodbye to his dear father-in-law and trusted advisor Yitro, the Children of Israel once again began to complain. `Moshe heard the people crying out clan by clan, each one at his tent’s opening` (Numbers 11:10). They cried for cucumbers and melons and garlic and fish, wistfully reminiscing about Egypt. God, hearing them, began to get angry.
For Moshe, it was too much.
We’ve all experienced overwhelm, that shut down that happens when it feels unbearable. Moshe’s words encapsulate the feeling perfectly.
`I cannot bear all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me` (11:15).
`לא-אוכל אנכי לבדי לשאת את-כל-העם הזה כי כבד ממני`
Moshe, holding the weight of a struggling nation, calls out in desperation.
God might have responded out of anger, a feeling already burgeoning in relation to the people. Instead, God responds in a moving display of attunement and action.
`Then the Lord said to Moshe, Gather for me seventy of Israel’s elders, whom you know to be the people’s elders and officers, and bring them to the Tent of Meeting. Let them stand there with you . . . I will take some of the spirit that is on you and place it upon them; they will share the burden of the people with you, and you will not have to bear it alone.`(11:17).
God reflect’s Moshe’s words and responds with supportive action. This moment recalls other moments of Moshe’s overwhelm. At the burning bush, when Moshe doubted himself, God told him Aaron would accompany him. When the people had just been freed and Moshe was worn out from judging disputes, Yitro, Moshe’s Father-in-Law, advised Moses to set up other leaders to serve as judges. In fact, Yitro used the language:
`It is too heavy a burden for you. You cannot carry it alone`
'כי-כבד ממך הדבר לא-תוכל עשהו לבדך' (Exodus 18:18)
Two years later, Moshe used almost exactly the same language he’d heard from Yitro. In this moment of grief after he said goodbye to his Father-in-Law, he recalled his same words. It was too heavy. He couldn’t carry it alone. God, remarkably, responded in much the same way Yitro had responded. Bring in others. You don’t have to do this alone.
It’s a lesson for all of us, how to respond in the midst of our own overwhelm.. We live in societies that place high values on self-sufficiency and individualism. How supportive it can be to remember that even Moshe, the paragon of leadership and humility, fell into despair when he felt alone. We cannot do it by ourselves. When we’re overwhelmed, the best thing we can often do is ask for help."