Behaalotekha - Rabbi Mark Diamond

Short Is Beautiful

June 14, 2008 / 11 Sivan 5768

Rabbi Mark S. Diamond
Executive Vice President
The Board of Rabbis of Southern California

Beha'alotekha ("When you elevate the lamps..."), Numbers 8:1-12:16
Haftarah: Zechariah 2:14-4:17

"As the cloud withdrew from the Tent, there was Miriam stricken with snow-white scales. When Aaron turned toward Miriam, he saw that she was stricken with scales. And Aaron said to Moses, 'O my lord, account not to us the sin which we committed in our folly. Let her not be as one dead'…So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, 'O God, pray heal her!'" (Numbers 12:10-13)

As the people of Israel proceed on their trek through the wilderness, Aaron and Miriam step forward to challenge Moses' leadership. God orders them to approach the Tent, where they soon learn the consequences of rebelling against God's chosen prophet and lawgiver. Miriam is stricken with leprosy, and Aaron is left to plead her cause before the very man whose authority they have questioned. How ironic it is that it is Moses alone who has the power to beseech God to heal the sinner!

Moses faces a profound emotional and moral challenge in the face of Aaron's plea. As the editors of the Etz Hayim Torah and Commentary note:

"Moses is caught in a dilemma. On the one hand, Miriam had spoken openly against him and deserved to be punished. On the other hand, as his sister, she evoked his compassion. The result is this terse prayer ("O God, pray heal her"). Its brevity seems to reveal Moses' lack of enthusiasm and minimal compliance with Aaron's plea" (Etz Hayim, p. 825)

According to this commentary, Moses' five-word Hebrew prayer (El na refa na la) reflects his ambivalence about interceding on his sister Miriam's behalf. He cannot allow her to remain in this terrible condition, afflicted with a horrible skin disease. Nor can he pray wholeheartedly on behalf of a woman who has just spread malicious gossip and slander about him. Hence the terse, half-hearted appeal to God to heal his sister.

I take a different view of this simple prayer uttered by Moses in Miriam's hour of need. Its brevity and simplicity do not stem from less kavanna (intention) on Moses' part. On the contrary, short prayers are among the most beautiful and eloquent supplications in Judaism and other faith traditions. Moses' five-word entreaty is a poignant plea for Divine healing in a time of great personal and communal crisis. The Hebrew prayer El na refa na la and its variations are recited daily by rabbis, chaplains and people yearning for healing of body and soul. These poetic words have been used as mantras, set to music, and chanted as liturgies in healing services and in numerous other settings.

Several years ago I spoke at a conference on healing and mental health. I began my study session with this text, and invited the assemblage of clergy, psychologists and health care workers to recite the words together with me. We repeated the lyrical Hebrew phrase over and over again. The effect was mesmerizing, and you could hear a pin drop as we intoned the words in unison. After the session, participants from diverse faith traditions approached me and shared their intention to incorporate El na refa na la within their own healing work.

People often wonder why Jewish prayer services "take so long," especially the famously lengthy synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. In lighter moments, I wonder if the rabbis who edited and redacted the siddur (weekday and Sabbath prayer book) and mahzor (holiday prayer book) got paid by the word. They didn't, but they certainly had a preference for adding new prayers to the core liturgy and a concomitant aversion to deleting "old" prayers. Moses most certainly did not get paid by the word. His eloquent healing prayer stands as vivid testimony to the awesome power of a few well-chosen words.