special savingss event Lloyd/Flanders® spirituality ► Torah portion lA A Favored Child? Parshat Bamidbar: Numbers 1:1-4:20; Hosea 2:1-2:22. Enjoy this summer in style by joining us for a special savings event! Celebrate with an additional 20% off our everyday sale pricing on Lloyd Flanders custom and inventoried collections. Visit Lloyd Flanders website to print coupon. PALM BEACH PATIO & CASUAL FURNITURE (248) 666-2880 - 7350 Highland Rd. (M-59), Waterford Hrs: M-TH 10-8 - T-W-F-S 10-6 - Sun 12-4 www.palmbeachpatio.com areMinders® 1834270 HOME CARE Providing total quality home care for better living • Skilled nursing care such as wound care, insulin administration and infusion treatment • Personal care such as bathing, dressing, and grooming • Companion care services include shopping, cooking, and cleaning, as well as transportation • Home care for children with autism, seizure disorders, or other special needs • Care for clients who suffer from traumatic brain injuries and other long-term disabilities It's really all about living a better life at home, CareMinders makes it possible for people to live safely at home." - Richard Lampear, owner and operator of CareMinders in W Bloomfield & Lansing CareMlnders® HOME CARE 5829 West Maple Rd, Suite 115 I West Bloomfield I 248-851-HELP (4357) 3225 West St. Joseph I Lansing I 517-908-3200 www.careminders.com 1831520 48 May 9 • 2013 JN W ho is the most favored child? In my house, there are occasional disagree- ments over privileges, whether it is who is in the front seat, who gets to tell me their story first, whose song is to be played on the radio or who gets to pick what we are making for dinner. I recently met with a fam- ily while preparing to bury their elderly grandmother. Each grandchild recounted for me, "We each believed we were her favorite:' What a beautiful statement: This beloved figure instilled con- fidence, pride and an enduring sense of being special in each of her precious grandchildren. In this week's parshah, God has to come up with a way to make all of the Children of Israel feel that they are "the favored ones" as we move through the wilderness on our way to the Promised Land. Like children, the Israelites were a quarrelsome bunch, and it was likely that the Jewish chil- dren would ask, "Whom does God love the most? Who is God's favorite tribe?" God has a plan to deal with this potential source of discord. God arranged each tribe in a con- figuration around the mishkan. The mishkan was our moveable Tent of Meeting, our Jewish U-Haul complete with Ark of the Covenant, menorah and implements for sacrifice. This mishkan was placed in the exact cen- ter of the Jewish marchers. All of the tribes are arranged around the east, west, north and south, with three tribes on each side. Now, there was still a "front seat:' In the east was the division of Judah (to be the future tribe of kings); Moses, Aaron and the kohanim (the Jewish high priests) were placed directly behind the division of Judah and clos- est to the mishkan. We were walking mainly eastward, so clearly these guys were the VIPs. And the other Levite families also had interior placement. Yet, this arrangement tried to offer something to everybody. Every tribe other than the Levites, including the kohanim, was equidistant from the mishkan, the moveable Tent of Meeting. It was clearly understood that the mishkan was the place where the spirit of God dwelled. So, all who marched were the same distance away from God's presence. This plan was not merely a wise way to avoid argu- ments. The arrangement offered a new way to look at our place in life, not just in terms of birth order, or where our home is in the neighbor- hood or the corner office to which we aspire. We are reminded that when we move together as one through any wil- derness (violent times, times of tribu- lation, times of upheaval or sadness or even just times of change), we function better when we measure our proximity not to each other, but to God, the spiri- tual center in our lives. In this week when we celebrate the giving of our tradition, I will try to make my own children feel equally cherished. I hope that I can convey to them the wisdom of this week's por- tion, that we all have equal access to God's love and to the gifts of our tradi- tion. ❑ Keren Alpert is a rabbi at Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Township. Conversations • How do you make all of your loved ones feel treasured? • Do you have family members for whom this is more challeng- ing? • Is there a way to ref rame your aspirations beyond status and "your place" in the world?