Parshat Behaalotecha: Enlightening Ourselves with God's Love

The awareness of love as our true essence and identity is the beginning of our own individual enlightenment.

"Speak to Aaron and say to him: 'When you light (behaalotecha) the lamps, the seven lamps shall cast their light toward the face of the menorah." (Numbers 8:2)

The message is also to enlighten ourselves. The seven lamps contain several meanings, as the seven days of Creation also encompass multiple aspects of life in its material and spiritual dimension. In the same way that six days exist as a preparation for the Shabbat, six lamps are lit facing the one in the center.

In this "formation" there is no "sequence" of days because the lamps are branches of the same one-piece candelabra. Hence, every aspect of material life must be integrated as one facing (aimed to) our unity with the Creator through His love as our common bond with Him.

This unity is the result of a refined (hammered) work with which we clear from materialistic illusions all levels of consciousness through and toward love's ways and attributes.

"(...) from its base to its flower it was hammered work." (8:4)

The lighting of the lamps is the first step to elevate our consciousness in order to fulfill the Creator's will. In the enlightenment of His love we gather our best thoughts, emotions, feelings and passions to turn them into our constant guides when we approach the illusions of ego's materialistic desires.

"Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them." (8:6)

In this sense we have to discern the choicest in us among the best of our qualities.

"Thus shall you set apart the Levites from the midst of the children of Israel, and the Levites shall become Mine." (8:14)

The Levites, as well as the priests represent the best in us, love as the common bond with God's love.

In the permanent awareness of love we move through the ways and attributes that always protect us and guard us from the perils and dangers of the desolation and avarice of materialism.

"(…) and according to the cloud's departure from over the tent, and afterwards, the children of Israel would travel, and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel would encamp." (9:17)

This means that we must be vigilant and warn ourselves about the obstacles and challenges we face in the life we have, and the material reality in which we live.

"If you go to war in your land against an adversary that oppresses you, you shall blow a teruah (a series of short blasts) with the trumpets and be remembered before the Lord your God, and thus be saved from your enemies." (10:9)

In our awareness of love all mirages and illusions disappear.

"So it was, whenever the ark set out, Moses would say, 'Arise, O Lord, may Your enemies be dispersed and may those who hate You flee from You'." (10:35)

In the same way that we blast the trumpets to remain loyal to God's ways and attributes in times of darkness, we also must do it in the times when we celebrate our connection with the Creator.

"On the days of your rejoicing, on your festivals and on your new-moon celebrations, you shall blow on the trumpets for your ascent-offerings and your peace sacrifices, and it shall be a remembrance before your God; [because] I am the Lord your God." (10:10)

The reminder in this portion of the Torah is to call our attention regarding how we must handle the lower levels of the material aspects of human life.

"The people were looking to complain, and it was evil in the ears of the Lord. The Lord heard and His anger flared, and a fire from the Lord burned among them, consuming the extremes of the camp." (11:1)

In this context the yearning for ephemeral materialistic pleasures and the illusions of lower desires separate us from the transcendence of love. Ego's materialistic desires do not understand love's delights, and crave for the ultimate emptiness of ego's desires.

"But the multitude among them began to have strong cravings. Then even the children of Israel once again began to cry, and they said, 'Who will feed us meat?'" (11:4), "But now, our bodies are dried out, for there is nothing at all; we have nothing but manna to look at." (11:6)

God's love knows the material shape of our lives, and the lengthy refinement and re-directing needed by every material aspect toward His ways. This progression implies an experiential process in order to discern between truth and illusion.

This is why the Creator gave us with free will. Hence, living in the world is an educational experience in which we learn from the "meat" of materialism until we can make a difference between the darkness of ego's illusions and the light of love. 

"You shall eat [meat] it not one day, not two days, not five days, not ten days, and not twenty days, but even for a full month until it comes out of your nose and nauseates you. Because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and you cried before Him, saying, 'Why did we ever leave Egypt?'" (11:19-20)

Again, it is our choice to live in ego's material fantasies (Egypt) or in love's ways and attributes, which are our true identity. Love conquers and overcomes the obstacles and hardships of material life.

The prophet also reminds us this in the haftarah for this portion.

"(...) 'not by military force and not by physical strength, but by My spirit,' says the Lord of hosts." (Zechariah 4:6)

Parshat Behaalotecha: Lighting up Consciousness

Behaalotecha is usually translated as "when you light the lamps" but the literal Hebrew translation is "when you ascend the lamps" (Numbers 8:2). This lighting represents an ascending process or action that takes place when we elevate all levels of consciousness to the awareness of God's Love in every aspect of our lives.

"And this was the work of the menorah (candelabra), beaten work of gold; unto the base thereof, and unto the flowers thereof, it was beaten work." (8:4)

We have said that gold symbolizes the finest and most precious quality in the material world. It is written in the Torah (Exodus 35) that the menorah was made of a single piece of gold, which also represents the finest awareness of our Oneness with the Creator.

Although Aaron the High Priest was assigned to light the menorah, our Sages say that any lay person can do it outside of the Tabernacle or Temple (Talmud, Yoma 24b).

We learn that every aspect of consciousness is able to light itself up to reach out to God's Love and become His vessel to light up the world. In this context the function of the High Priest, the highest awareness of our connection with the Creator, is there to assist us when our lower aspects of consciousness can't become the vessels by themselves.

It is interesting to note that in the same chapter of this portion is emphasized once again the role of the Levites (the Tribe that includes the high priests) as the ones in permanent connection with God.

"Thus shall you separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine." (Numbers 8:14)

The portion continues with an essential message of the Torah. In His infinite Love our Creator embraces us every time that we return to Him after we (for one reason or another) separate from Him.

"If any man of you or of your generations shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the Passover unto the Lord." (9:10)

This is the sweet Commandment called Pesach sheini, the second Pesach, which means that regardless the transgressions we may have committed when we separate ourselves from God's Love, and distance our material lives from His ways and attributes, He awaits our return to Him. Let's reflect on this Commandment.

The people who were "unclean" or "far off" were the ones who pleaded to Moses, asking for a second chance to bring the sacrifices that they were not able to bring during the time set for Passover. God gives them that second chance.

Again, it's up to us to return to Love as the means to also return to God. Consequently it is our duty to maintain our permanent awareness of Love as our true identity in everything we are and do, because He is constantly with us as our Creator and sustenance.

"So it was always: the Cloud covered it, and the appearance of Fire by night." (9:16)

The following verses (9:17-22) reiterate the permanent Divine Presence in the Tabernacle, the place that symbolizes our connection with God. When we are in constant awareness of this connection, anything that threatens Love's ways and attributes disappears. If God's Love is with us, what could be against?

"And it came to pass, when the Ark set forward, that Moses said: 'Rise up, O Lord, and let Your enemies be dispersed; and let those who hate You flee before You'." (10:35)

When our thoughts, emotions, feelings, passions and instincts are filled and guided by Love, God's Love transforms and elevates what we touch with our deeds and actions. This transformation works like fire as a catalyst for change. We have to understand the Biblical allegory of God's Fire as Divine Love. This Love is not a destroying force but a transforming one. Love is what redeems us from the darkness of materialistic illusions that we must burn in order to return to Love, our true reality, and not reality based on ego's fantasies.

The epithets with which God is related to in the Torah and the Hebrew Scriptures such as "jealous", "wrathful" and "vengeful" are contextual allegories meaning that He does not cohabit with anything different than His ways and attributes. God's Love as Divine Fire is applied in the same context.

We have said that God made His Creation for His Glory, which is Love. We are here to reveal His Love in order to proclaim His Glory. In order to fulfill that mission we have to transform all levels of our consciousness with the fire of Love as the material manifestation of God's Love.

"And the people were as complainers, speaking evil in the ears of the Lord; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and devoured in the uttermost part of the camp. And the people cried unto Moses; and Moses prayed unto the Lord, and the fire abated." (11:1-2)

This is the apparent destruction that we bring to ourselves when we separate from Love. It is indeed apparent as the "death" that is also mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures when one is "expelled" from the Oneness of God, because death ceases to be when we choose to return to Him.

"And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting; and the children of Israel also wept on their part, and said: 'Would that we were given flesh to eat'!" (11:4)

"While the flesh was yet between their teeth, it was not yet chewed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague. And the name of that place was called Kibrot-hattaavah (lit. graves of lust), because there they buried the people that lusted." (11:33-34)

We quote our Sages listing lust, along with greed, pride, envy, impatience, imprudence and indolence, as the negative qualities that corrupt our thoughts, emotions, feelings, passions and instincts. They are allegorically represented by the Canaanite nations that God commanded us to conquer and expel from the Promised Land.

The battles to conquer them are not easy when we separate from God. However, He knows that we are weak before the illusions of materialism because we experience physicality more with a materialist approach than a spiritual one.

God's Love allows us to exercise free will, and lets us learn from the choices we make. In this case lust ruthlessly punishes us by making us feel dead as in a plague.

The portion ends with the temporary expulsion or (spiritual) death for seven days of Moses' sister, Miriam, as a consequence of her negative talk against him. Once again evil talk is condemned as one of the main transgressions against our fellow man.

It's ego's easiest way to proclaim its rule in our consciousness and making us feel "separated" from the Unity of our People, the Oneness of Creation, and the Oneness of God. This episode is so important that we are commanded by Him to remember it every day.