By David "Hpot" Rosenberg

This week, the parsha is parshat Beha'aloscha. The general overview (copied and pasted for your convenience from here) contains that: In this week's Torah reading, Beha'alotecha, G-d instructs Aaron concerning the Tabernacle menorah lighting. The Levites are initiated into the tabernacle service. The "Second Passover" is instituted. At G-d's behest, Moses makes two trumpets, and is instructed how and when to use them. The Israelites leave Mount Sinai, and proceed towards the land of Canaan. The people unreasonably complain about their "frugal" manna diet and receive a meat supplement, albeit with tragic results. Moses appoints seventy elders to assist him in bearing the burden of the people. Miriam speaks negatively about Moses and is punished with tzara'at (a skin disease).

While there are many relatable subjects found within this portion, the thing I would like to emphasize is the initiation of the leadership that takes place twice in this parsha.

The first initiation is of the Levi'im and their sanctification as Kohanim. Until this point, only Moses, Aaron, and his sons have been the ones with responsibilities pertaining to the keeping of rituals in the tabernacle. However, G-d decides that there is more accountability needed for the upkeep of the tabernacle and chooses the Levi'im to be the ones to fill this role. Thus, individuals aged twenty five years and older, are taken to serve until they are 50 years old, of when they no longer are allowed to facilitate the working of the Tabernacle. At this point, "retired" Levi'im do not leave their service completely but instead their role transitions from facilitator to instructor. The elder Levi'im become the ones to teach the ways of responsibilities to the youth in an apprenticeship.

The second example of leadership initiation occurs when the Jewish people begin to complain about how they crave meat and are dissatisfied with eating only Manna. IN despair at hearing the complete lack of

appreciation of his Jewish brethren for the open miracles they are witnessing, Moses asks G-d to kill him then if his role was to attend to each and every issue of complain. Instead of smiting him there and then, G-d tell Moses to gather 70 elders, of whom will become the high court or the Sanhedrin, and will share the burden of responsibility for the Jewish people.

The concept of initiation of Leadership is wholly crucial to not only the Jewish People at large, but especially so within our Habonim community. At machaneh, chanichim are given small leadership responsibilities from the first moment they arrive. Then, as they grow through the ages of our community, they are shown more and more about what is necessary to run a machaneh, be members within a youth movement, and support others in the kvutza structure.

As being an incoming Madrich for the Madatz program, the whole initiation of Levi'im made me think firstly of the Madatz program. As 17 year olds, madatzim are chanichim who have spent much time learning about the different aspects of leadership and hagshama and are finally put in a situation to learn how to apply these concepts. With their training (which could possibly be considered an apprenticeship), similar to that of Levi'im, they become fully initiated into the rule of being a madrich/a and have an understanding and skills to engage with chanichim. Simultaneously, the role of the madatz madrichim is similar to that of the elder Levi'im. Madatz madrichim no longer work directly with a majority of the rest of the chanichim and their role is largely to instruct facilitation. While the madatz structure is not exactly the same as the role of the Levi'im, it is similarly a method of education that enables the furthering of our Habo, and Jewish, ideals and values.

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