We Should Appreciate People When We Have Them

There is poetic symmetry to the fact that the Jews’ sojourn in the Wilderness began with a Song (in Parshas BeShalach) and basically concludes with a Song (here in Parshas Chukas). Although we read Parshas Chukas only a couple of weeks after Parshas Shlach, the historical narrative in Parshas Chukas jumps ahead almost 40 years to the very end of the period of wandering decreed in the aftermath of the episode of the Spies.

This week’s Parsha contains the Shiras HaBe’er [Song of the Well]. There are two significant differences between the Song after Kriyas Yam Suf [the splitting of the Red Sea] and the Shiras HaBe’er. The first difference is that the Shiras HaYam begins ‘Then Moshe and the children of Israel sang this song.’ [Shemos 15:1] The Shiras HaBe’er begins ‘Then the children of Israel sang this song’ [Bamidbar 21:17] with the notable absence of the name of Moshe Rabbeinu.

The second difference is that this is a song about the miraculous Be’er [Well] that was with them virtually the entire time that they were in the Wilderness, rather than about Kriyas Yam Suf, which was a singular event. The Shiras HaYam was sung spontaneously, in ‘real time’, so to speak. Why did it take them 40 years to first now sing about the Be’er that was with them for these many decades?

I saw an insight that addresses both these issues. This week’s parsha contains the death of Miriam. Chazal say that the Be’er was given to the Jewish people in Miriam’s merit. When Miriam died, the Be’er disappeared. It required another miracle from Moshe Rabbeinu to restore their water supply.

Klal Yisrael only saw in very real terms what Miriam had done for them after the Be’er Miriam disappeared. It is the tendency of human beings to take things and people for granted. We go to the faucet and we turn on the water. We expect the water to be there. We do not realize that we have the water because of an entire geological and engineering infrastructure that allows the water to become available to us. We don’t think about the ‘miracle’ involved in receiving our water.

Now imagine if we went to a Rock-Well in the middle of the desert and were able to get water whenever we wanted. We would get used to that as well. Certainly our children would think that this is the way it is supposed to be. When Miriam died and they saw the Be’er was gone, they first ‘got it.’ They said, ‘Look what Miriam did for us all these years.’

Therefore, the Shiras HaBe’er is not just a tribute to the Be’er. It is a tribute to Miriam. People take people for granted. The only time they begin to appreciate people is in their absence. They think people are just there to turn the water on for them and that the water will always be there. Sometimes, the person leaves and then you finally ‘get it’: It was only because of that person that we ever had the water.

That is the nature of people. In his righteousness and his wisdom, Moshe Rabbeinu appreciated Miriam’s role all along. He did not need the absence of the Be’er to realize what she was doing for the Jewish people all these years. It did not take him 40 years to appreciate Miriam. He was not suddenly inspired to sing 40 years later. It was only the rest of us that first sang after the belated recognition – ‘Then Israel sang this song…’ It is very sad when we do not appreciate people while we have them.