(Ep.34) Parsha Behaloscha: Lighting someone else's flame

So in this week's Parsha, Parshas Behaaloscha, in the very beginning, Hashem tells Aaron to light the Menorah in the Mishkan.

But the Torah uses a really interesting phrase for the lighting the candles.

It says, "Behaaloscha es ha'neiros", which literally means when you cause the lamps to rise.

Rashi notices this weird phrasing and explains what it means practically.

Aaron wasn't just supposed to touch the fire to the wick and walk away.

He had to hold his flame next to the candle until the new flame caught on and could burn brightly on its own.

This isn't just a lesson on how to light candles, it's a huge lesson on how we treat people nowadays.

Think about how we interact with our friends, our family, or people who are going through a hard time.

Sometimes we help someone just to check it off our to-do list, or we do everything for them in a way that makes them depend on us.

But true kindness means helping someone in a way that empowers them.

It means spending enough time with a friend who is struggling or mentoring someone at school or work until they get their confidence back and can stand on their own two feet.

Nowadays, it's easy just to send a quick text or give a fast piece of advice and move on.

But Behaaloscha teaches us that if we want to truly lift someone, we have to invest in them until they find their own strength and their own light.

So this Shabbos, let's look out for someone who might need a little extra warmth, and let's hold that flame for them until they can shine on their own.

So in this week's Parsha, Parshas Behaaloscha, in the very beginning, Hashem tells Aaron to light the Menorah in the Mishkan.

But the Torah uses a really interesting phrase for the lighting the candles.

It says, "Behaaloscha es ha'neiros", which literally means when you cause the lamps to rise.

Rashi notices this weird phrasing and explains what it means practically.

Aaron wasn't just supposed to touch the fire to the wick and walk away.

He had to hold his flame next to the candle until the new flame caught on and could burn brightly on its own.

This isn't just a lesson on how to light candles, it's a huge lesson on how we treat people nowadays.

Think about how we interact with our friends, our family, or people who are going through a hard time.

Sometimes we help someone just to check it off our to-do list, or we do everything for them in a way that makes them depend on us.

But true kindness means helping someone in a way that empowers them.

It means spending enough time with a friend who is struggling or mentoring someone at school or work until they get their confidence back and can stand on their own two feet.

Nowadays, it's easy just to send a quick text or give a fast piece of advice and move on.

But Behaaloscha teaches us that if we want to truly lift someone, we have to invest in them until they find their own strength and their own light.

So this Shabbos, let's look out for someone who might need a little extra warmth, and let's hold that flame for them until they can shine on their own.