Looking Back Moving Forward (Bamidbar 5774)

This is a season filled with looking back -- at all we have experienced or accomplished or learned during the school year -- and moving forward -- toward summer and the year ahead.  There is an unusual passage in this week's Torah portion, Bamidbar, that echoes this dynamic as it describes the wilderness journey:  

"The community will make camp with each individual encamped by his troop and each by his own flag." (Numbers 1:52).  At first blush this camping posture seems impossible.  How can one camp in two places at one time - by her troop and by her individual flag?  It seems impossible.

But if we consider our posture at this season -- with one foot, so to speak, set on the path we have taken to arrive at this moment and the other foot on the path of the journey ahead - then we well can imagine standing in two spots at the same time.  

That is looking back and moving forward.

Givers, Takers, and the Impact of Motivation (Bechukotai 5774)

Minneapolis Park Old Fashioned Teeter Totter

In a motivation study of the medical staff at a hospital, Adam Grant put up two versions of a sign to encourage handwashing.  

One sign reminded doctors and nurses that their patients could catch diseases if medical staff was lax about handwashing.  The other sign focused on how doctors or nurses could catch diseases themselves if they were lax about handwashing.  Which sign do you think had the most impact?

I’ll come back to that study soon. First a connection to the Torah portion this week as we wrap-up the book of Leviticus with a parsha that is itself a study in motivation.  The Torah portion, Bechukotai, puts up a similar range of "signs" during the wilderness journey of the ancient Israelites seeking to motivate them.