Speak to Aharon and say to him, "When you mount the lamps, let the seven lamps give light at the front of the menorah." Aharon did so; he mounted the lamps at the front of the menorah, as Adonai had commanded Moshe. Now this is how the lampstand was made: it was hammered work (mik'shah) of gold... (Numbers 8:2-4).
The midrash teaches that Aharon is being noticed for constructing the menorah exactly as Moshe had conveyed God's instructions to him. Doing so was apparently a challenge for both Moshe and Aharon. The menorah was made of gold that was mik'shah -- hammered or beaten. The midrash says this is a hint that the menorah's design was kasheh -- it elicited questions, challenges, discussion! Kasheh is the Talmudic term for "open to an objection, subject to debate." You may know it from Pesach -- the Fir Kashes or Arba Kushiyot are the Four Questions/Puzzlements.
Moshe and Aharon were the supervisors for setting up all of the ritual objects and procedures. As such they were accustomed to back-and-forth with each other and with God. They were among the founders of questioning and pressing one's own viewpoint, which are of course paramount Jewish values.
But here, the midrash observes that sometimes we can "hammer" our own perspective too hard. Sometimes it's a matter of objecting, placing my point of view over yours. Sometimes it is more subtle. In an argument with a loved one or coworker, we listen but impose our own interpretation on someone else's words. This is what Aharon could have done, but the midrash says he went the extra mile to implement God's instructions as they were intended.
Peter Elbow, longtime professor of English at UMass-Amherst, talks about two stances he calls the "believing game" and the "doubting game." We are taught to play the "doubting game" with texts and ideas, to think critically about them. But he advocates taking the time to play the "believing game" whenever we encounter an idea that is new, unfamiliar, or provokes our doubts. The believing game entails doing everything possible to find and experience the truth in an idea. What would it be like to believe this? What does it feel like to be the person who said what I just heard?
We can apply the believing game to Jewish traditions and laws that strike us as outmoded. We can apply it when we are mired in arguments with other people about things we care about. It's not the easy or most natural thing to do. We are wired to see things from our own perspective. But following Aharon's lead in a difficult situation is a path of generosity. It can help us bring the light of different lamps into a single illumination.
Comments