The idea to “pay it forward” is a nice concept—in theory. However, when it comes to practice, we often rethink this principle, and we start to question: How long do we have to pay it forward? Did we truly benefit that much? Perhaps we can only pay forward a little bit and the rest can be paid up at a later date. The excuses start to pile up.
In this week’s Torah portion, Be’ha’alotecha, we learn about an interesting story. Miriam, Moses’s sister, comes down with a rash called T’zaraat. She got this rash because she talked behind Moses’s back to their brother, Aaron. As a result of this rash, she was to remain outside of the “camp” for a period of seven days when the rash would go away. (Clearly, this was a spiritual punishment for a spiritual sin.) What happened was fascinating. Although the Jews were about to travel, they waited the full seven days to do so, until Miriam was ready to travel.
Why did all the Jews wait for Miriam?
Because G-d, Moses, and the Jewish people gave thanks to Miriam for the time that she waited for Moses.
When did Miriam wait for Moses?
When Moses was an infant and was placed in a basket in the Nile River, Miriam waited to see what would happen to the baby. When she saw that Pharaoh’s daughter took him, and then needed a wet nurse for him, she ran to help.
It is this action that merited all the Jewish people waiting for her, this time for seven days, to show their gratitude.
The lesson for us is profound. Not only should time not decrease our appreciation, time should increase it.
Miriam waited a few minutes while all the Jewish people eventually waited a few days. It is not the amount of time, nor the number of people, but the lesson that matters. We should be looking for reasons to help others, not for excuses to back out.
Shabbat Shalom,