Backwards Fish – Parshas Beha’aloscha 5769
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Loading ...ויהי בנסע הארון… (י:לה).
“And in was when the Aron departed…” (10:35).
Written in the Sefer Torah, this verse and the following verse are surrounded by the famous Nunim Hafuchim, backwards Nunim (נ). Let us find the significance and highly practical lesson which can be gleaned from this.
Rashi tells us that these backwards Nunim show an interruption in the narrative between two negative events (sins) which occurred before and after these two verses. It must be noted that when we talk about the sins of the Jews of that great generation, we do not ever think that we can comprehend their true actions and intentions. On their lofty level, Hashem saw these actions as a sin. We strive to learn the lesson that the Torah is providing us with by recording Hashem’s disappointment in their actions. We must take out the lesson available for us.
The catastrophic event following the verse is obvious. The Mis’oninim and Asafsuf incident transpired as the Jews complained that the spiritual Manna that they were eating was not good enough for them, they wanted real meat! Hashem granted their demand and many of them perished as a punishment. What though is the negative sin proceeding these two verses? Tosafos (Shabbos 116a) informs us. The proceeding verse states that the Jews left from their encampment at Sinai. They had remained there after receiving the Torah and now it was time to depart. Instead of leaving heavy-heartily from that great place of inspiration and growth, in deference to their achievements they had gained there, they left with terrible disrespect! They ran away like a child bursts out of school at the end of class. Hashem was not happy with their disrespectful display. Hence, we have discovered the negative events that occurred, however, what do they have to do with a backward Nun?!
The Kli Yakar fills us in on this mystery. The word Nun, means fish in Aramaic. Fish live and thrive only in water. Once a fish leaves the water, it is only a matter of time before it will perish. Thus, fish keep themselves under water! A backwards fish is one that is acting the opposite of how it should, i.e. it is trying to leave the water. A fish that gets out of the water is unattached from its life source and is in danger of perishing.
The two sins which the Jews committed stemmed from this exact point. They were not living up to the standard expected of them as people connected to and pursuing closeness with Hashem. If they would have appreciated how vital Hashem and His Torah were to their lives, they never would have committed either of these sins.
They complained about the food showing that the very kindness which Hashem was delivering to their doorsteps was totally unappreciated by them! They ran away from Sinai in a way that told Hashem that they did not value His closeness as they should have. This is exactly akin to a backwards fish. Klal Yisrael were guilty of swimming away from their life-source!
I would like to suggest that the two verses in between the two sins are the antidote to the terrible sins and show us the correct perspective. The first verse acknowledges how Hashem protected the Jews from all harm, thus appreciating what He did for them and teaching us to see His eternal kindness. The second verse is a request that Hashem should dwell with them in the desert. This is the perspective of a correct fish, recognizing its life source and striving to live that way!
Categories: Hashkafah, Parshas Beha'aloscha Life, Limud HaTorah
