Behaalotcha.
When you go up.
This Torah portion is the one where the preparation to enter the Land of Israel is completed and the trek forward begins.
It is the point of transition from theory to practice.
If we would stop the narrative here the story would be pollyannish, a fairytale.
Gd took us out of Egypt with technicolor miracles, proceeds to present us with the Torah, establishes the Tabernacle, the nexus of Divine and human, and then gives us the commandments-the blueprint of how to live life in a spiritual manner while living on earth.
It seems just so perfect.
But life isn’t perfect.
Our lives aren’t perfect.
If we look at our lives they are often quite messy.
Difficult relationships, illness, loss, financial challenges and that is just a small sliver of the aforementioned mess.
If we would try to relate to the Torah, it would not jive.
The Torah perspective seems perfect, how can we relate?
But the portion just not stop with the theoretical.
Because this Portion has more complaints than any other portion.
The Jewish people are dissatisfied with so much, they even long for Egypt and it’s misery for goodness sakes.
The portion details the anger, frustration, complaints which seem so petty - real life on steroids.
It is Gd saying to the people, people you are complicated.
You are a mix of resentment, jealousy, weakness and even boredom.
Gd is very real about humankind.
Gd created us in our complex nature.
Our job as human beings is to live real life with all its challenges while simultaneously working towards reaching to the ideal.
In the words of Rabbi Reuven Tradburks
“Behaalotcha assured us that the ideal is to aspire to, while the real is to manage.”
This week our family suffered a devastating loss.
A very dear family friend passed away.

Dr. Robert Cohen zl was an esteemed physician in Atlanta.
While he practiced exceptionally good medicine successfully, he dedicated much of his time to serve as a lay leader for many educational institutions in our community.
He oversaw much growth while calmly navigating financial issues and countless other problems during his lengthy tenure.
Dr. Cohen was deeply involved in the messy business of building community, but he always remained calm, professional, cheerful and respectful. By leading by example he ensured that the work was done, but never at the expense of others.
He got the job done by executing Torah values at the highest possible level.
For the past few years, Dr. Cohen entered another “messy” arena as he battled the illness that would ultimately claim his life.
Here too, he lived life and attempted every conceivable way to save life, always functioning in faith and dignity, uplifting all around him.
Today I paid a shiva call and if the many stories shared, one particularly resonated.
Dr. Cohen asked one of his children about a glass which is half full.
He did not refer to the perspective of seeing a glass half empty or half full, rather he pressed her regarding the half full glass - what else was in it?
She was stymied, just a glass half filled with water?
Dr. Cohen said that in that glass is half water, and the remainder is air, a precious commodity, something not to be taken for granted.
He was suffering from the challenge of being able to breathe and instead of focusing on the difficulty and the lack, he put the emphasis on the miracle of ever present air, something we take for granted, yet the ingredient that actually provides life.
In our lives we have to undergo many challenges, we complain, we sometimes just see the mess.
Our portion teaches us that all that is true and real, we are humans, but, and here is the big but, we can choose to see the gifts, we can choose to notice the air, and that will change us, lift us, help us go up, to become the best version of ourselves.
So take a deep breath, like the air in a balloon, it will lift you to greater heights.
Shabbat Shalom and so much love!