"Everything is in the hands of Heaven except for the fear of Heaven". We were put in the spiritual wilderness of this World only to be given full opportunity to express and to direct our innermost desires. The Book of Bamidbar teaches us how to follow Hashem through this wilderness. Let us listen carefully to what it has to say:
When the Holy Tabernacle was completed on the first day of Nissan, and all the details of it were prepared in correspondence to their Heavenly counterparts, the whole Celestial Cosmos was ready to directly receive Heavenly Grace. The last and highest link in the chain that was in any way possible for Man to do was to connect the World of Atzilus — that World where thought is impossible — to the world of Briah manifested in the Holy Candelabra, the Menorah. The construction of the spiritual makeup of the Menorah was above even Moshe Rabbeinu's comprehension, yet by throwing the gold into the fire, even though it miraculously took shape, it was considered Man-made. We can do only what we can. By kindling the Menorah's holy flames and staying there till they were burning brightly it was as if Aaron Hacohen himself was standing there all night long, lighting up the Heichal. We do what we can and Hashem does the rest, yet if we earnestly show our goodwill, the whole act is accorded to us.
This theme ties our Parsha together with hidden threads. The dedication of the Levite tribe who remained loyal to Hashem also required the impossible: one person lifting tens of thousands of people one after another in a prescribed ceremony all in one day. Although he received supernatural strength, the act is considered his. The exodus from Egypt was obviously not orchestrated by Man, yet Hashem made us slaughter the physical manifestation of the Forces of Nature — the paschal lamb — and He Himself then suppressed those Forces. Even in later years, and even not in Nissan, Hashem is willing to subjugate all the Celestial Powers to our puny actions. The same holds true of our travels in the wilderness. They were not spontaneous: when the Divine Presence that was tangibly manifested in pillars of clouds began to move, we followed it. Yet Hashem wanted us to express our desire to move and be elevated by yet another journey: we were the ones to blow the shofars and horns to announce the travel.
This same coin unfortunately has another side: we can also direct our will downwards and express it's negative ways. When Hashem signaled us to leave Mount Sinai we had no choice, but we should have been reluctant. When Hashem gave us food so holy that it literally shone brightly, we should not have complained. When Miriam the great prophetess felt she needed to chastise her younger brother she should not have been so hasty. If you have to, you have to, but why rush?
When Moshe Rabbeinu was approached with a request for more physicalness and less spirituality he understood that when there is no will, there is no way. If the Nation did not express their desire properly, his desire alone would not be sufficient. Only when the Seventy Elders joined him in refining their desires did Hashem concede to the Nation's request for meat. When it finally came the results were disastrous, for there was no participation of our will to justify the miraculous appearance of the quail, no minimal investment that could make it 'ours'.
Let us remember this next time a mitzvah comes our way. Even if we can't do it we can try, we can express our desire, for that is what we really are.
Based on Rabbi Vali's book on Vayikra and on "He'aros" by R' Epstein Shlita. Questions and subscriptions can be mailed to: the Yeshiva