Are we ready for what tomorrow may bring us? Do we have our affairs in order? Do we have a chain of succession? Are we even willing to make ourselves prepared to face what’s in front of us now, let alone what will be in front of us in the future? These questions are of great importance in every generation because we’re a people of continuity. We’re a people who live by the value of לדור ודור/L’Dor v’Dor (in each and every generation). Chapter 20 of the book of במדבר/BaMidbar (Numbers) forces us to ask these very questions. From the very beginning of the exodus epic, the beginning of the book of שמות/Shemot (Exodus), we’ve had three leaders that took care of us: משה/Moses, אהרן/Aaron and מרים/Miriam. Those three siblings were each remarkable in all they did for our people. Chapter 20 opens with the death of מרים and continues with the declaration of the eventual passing of the torch from משה as he was declared ineligible to enter ארץ ישראל/the Land of Israel. Before the chapter closes, we learn that אהרן died and thus the entire generation was gone. They could not live forever as our people needed to build a sustainable legacy and be able to stand לדור ודור.
Just how remarkable were משה, אהרן and מרים? The answer is found in an often-referenced piece of the תלמוד בבלי/Babylonian Talmud: Taanit 9a. The תלמוד teaches that because of the merits of the three siblings, we had three miraculous items while in the wilderness: a water well, a pillar of cloud, and manna. The well (which is believed to have traveled with us) was on behalf of the merits of מרים. The pillar of cloud was on behalf of אהרן and the manna was on behalf of משה. The linking of this stems in large part from the death of מרים being right next to the statement that the people of Israel did not have water. The water seems to have disappeared in conjunction with the death of מרים. She had been linked with water so many times and so this makes sense. She watched her brother, משה, as he was in the Nile River. She was one of the only named people in the epic discussion of the crossing of the Red Sea. And now we have this lacking of water after her death.
The three siblings who had been our leaders were dying out and it was time for the people to show they had the ability to keep all of their work going strong. The Jewish People do, indeed, hold the distinction of being the only people from the ancient western world still around today. They managed to pass along their value system and managed to preserve their faith, their heritage and their culture through all of these centuries while all other peoples have disappeared. The decision to continue to move forward and to craft a line of succession is of supreme importance in all families, communities and countries. It’s essential that current leaders be concerned about the leaders of tomorrow. It’s essential that people see the current leaders endorsing, and in fact listening, to the next leaders. Before אהרן died, he was brought up by his brother, משה, and his son, אלעזר/Elazar, to his final resting place and stripped of his sacred vestments. He oversaw his own transfer of power to show he was aware his time was ending and thus gave his blessing to the future. Before משה died in the book of דברים/Devarim (Deuteronomy), he publicly appointed יהשוע/Joshua time and again. This is, simply put, an essential element for us to emulate and to make a part of our core being.
Concern about a people and a community means to be concerned not only about the now, but also about the future. It means being aware and cognizant of the real need for the community to go on even after we’re gone. To lay the groundwork for a future without us might feel scary and might be something we want to push to the side, but it’s the only way to assure we remain an eternal people who remain in a relationship with God that’s existed all the way back to the days of משה, אהרן and מרים.
