Temple Solel Paradise Valley Arizona

Rabbi Linder B'haalot'cha 06/21  In this week’s Torah portion, B’haalot’cha, we find the Israelite community, and those who have chosen to join them, on the first anniversary marking their Exodus from Egypt. In this first year, God has given the Torah to all present at Mt. Sinai (and each generation to follow), and the entire community has participated in building the portable Tabernacle or Mishkan, at the heart of which is the ark to carry the stone tablets of Torah. Those tablets, a manifestation of the divine, will now serve as the Jewish people’s living, eternal guidebook and moral compass; helping them navigate their way through the wilderness to the Promised Land, and wherever the road will lead our people.  The Israelites now have what they need to continue their journey, though understandably, with great trepidation of the unknown. The familiarity of slavery in Egypt is more comforting than the uncertainty of freedom that lies ahead. As with all human beings, the Israelit