The narrative next explains the way in which the Ark and the Israelites moved.  When they were settled, God's cloud would linger over the Mishkan (Tabernacle).  When God wanted the people to move, the cloud would lift and they would assemble and leave.  When they reached their destination, the cloud would descend and the people would know to stop.  It is here that Moshe takes some initiative.  As the ark would journey he would say: "Arise, God, and let Your foes be scattered, let those who hate You flee."  God doesn't tell him to say this; Moshe does it on his own.  It is as if he knows that the Israelites need a bit more than just a cloud to motivate them.  The student becomes a teacher. So intense is this moment, so central to our tradition, that it is featured, and re-enacted, each time we take the Torah out of the Ark during prayer services.

The final change in Moshe is, to me, the most striking.  At the end of the Parasha, Miriam and Aaron speak with disdain about Moshe.  God becomes so infuriated that he strikes Miriam with Leprosy.  Moshe, seeing his sister sick and in pain, becomes so horrified by God's ruthless punishment that he knows what he must do.  He yells out a short prayer to God that is so "to-the-point", so terse, that it is more of a command than a petition.  "Please God Heal her!" is all Moshe says.  But God hears it loud and clear. In fact God hears it so clearly that he limits the sentence to a mere week.  Has the teacher now become the pupil?  Did God hear the need for compassion that was in Moshe's voice?  Did Moshe's words force God to look at Miriam's service to God and the Israelite nation and make Him recognize that her transgression was nothing compared to the positive things she ha done?