How many times have I heard this from my now teenage daughters, “keep up with the times” and even from my husband! Is this a phrase you have heard as well? Usually I hear it in reference to using technology or the words I am using…I am trying to keep up “with the times,” but it is clear…I am stuck somewhere in the past!

There are some advantages of being stuck in the past, and our ancestors may have agreed with that, In this week’s Torah portion, when we were wandering in the desert it is stated in Num. 11:4-6- “If we only had meat to eat! We remember the fish that we used to eat free in Egypt, cucumber, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. Now our gullets are shriveled. There is nothing at all! Nothing but this manna to look to!” 

Everything looks so much better in the past, so much simpler, so much easier.

Even though manna tasted absolutely amazing- like rich cream; food was still different and represented a break from what the past looked like. Our ancestors kvetched about this, and we still kvetch. It’s not the change that we complain about, it is lack of “ease” of getting used to change.

It is much easier for me to allow my youngins’ to teach me all the latest and greatest in this day and age, but in addition, we must also attempt to learn and grow as well. In this week’s portion, our people rely on Moses to make the changes, however, it serves us and our community better to try to adjust, learn and grow on our own.

How long does it take to get used to a change? For some of us, it is quickly- we love change. We are adventurous and we thrive on change. For some of us, it takes time, and we have a process much like our ancestors longing for the past.

This Torah portion teaches us about the process of how we journey through change.

In the beginning of the portion, we are lighting the eternal light, which is a sign of God’s presence. When I respond to my family about being an “old fashioned Iowa gal” I say- “the more things change, the more things stay the same.” What doesn’t change is that sense of God’s presence, community, and how we can help each other through change.