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Can We Go Back to Life Before Corona?
In this week’s Torah reading we hear an oft repeated refrain
uttered by many in the generation that found itself in the desert of Sinai.
They said that we want to return to Egypt. The present is too difficult, and
the future is too uncertain so let us go home to Egypt which we were familiar
with and where we knew what to expect.
All human beings fear uncertainty. The future is always
somewhat terrifying because of its unknown quality. We lack the self-confidence
to know that we can somehow overcome all difficulties, even those which are
currently not apparent. There is always that inner voice within that bids us to
attempt to return to a known past rather than to advance to an uncertain
future.
This psychological weakness permeates the entire series of
events which are reflected in the Chumash of Bamidbar. There is security in the
past, even in a past that was not pleasant or congenial. We see this in the
Jewish world today when people want to return to the eastern European past that
can never be renewed, instead of attempting to create a great future which will
be relevant to its time.
This statement of let us return to Egypt is therefore
representative not only of the generation of the desert but it is something
that we hear repeated often throughout all Jewish history and in our time as
well. It is a seductive statement but a dangerous one. Even if we wish to do
so, there never was an ability to return to Egypt and to recast the world as it
once was instead of what it is.
As we emerge from the scourge of the Corona epidemic, we
again hear within us the refrain to return to what was – to the world that we
knew just a few short months ago. However, that is a false hope and an
unrealistic view of the matter. No matter how we will judge current events
there can be no question that the world has changed and that certainties we had
may no longer remain. It is the
uncertainty of the future that is now descending upon us that makes us anxious
and somewhat frightened.
Human beings and especially the Jewish People are extremely
adaptable and capable of facing the challenges of the unknown future. It is
within our power to renew our self-confidence and to proclaim that we are
willing and able to undertake building a newer and morally healthy and humanly
beneficial society. Because of this we
will have an opportunity that has not been granted too many times, to mold and
shape the Jewish future in a productive
and holy fashion. We should appreciate having such an opportunity and make
certain that we do not squander it on nostalgia and, even worse, on repeating
errors of the past. Going back to Egypt has never been a positive solution.
Rabbi Berel Wein
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Basic Training • Torah.org
“When the cloud lingered upon the Tabernacle many days, the
Children of Israel would maintain the charge of G-d and would not journey.”
(Bamidbar/Numbers 9:19) The Children of
Israel possessed a Divinely directed pillar of cloud that informed them when to
pack up camp and move on to their next destination, a location that would
become known only when the cloud stopped. Some destinations became home for as
long as nineteen years, others for as
little as one night.
Ramban (1) explains that at times the cloud would tarry
specifically in a location that was unpleasing to the nation, a place from
which they desired to depart; nevertheless because of their relationship with G-d and His
indication that they should not travel, they did not. Similarly, if after a
couple days’ rest they were tired and weary, they still followed the dictates
of the cloud. There were times that after one night’s rest the cloud started
moving on, a physically taxing charge; or worse, after two days at the
location, when they had finally unloaded their packs with the confidence that this
stop would be extended, they would get the signal to pack up and travel again.
Why was this strange routine necessary? Why did this have to
be the forum for G-d’s Dominion to become manifest in the Jewish people?
Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler (2) responds that these exercises were
actually the training program for Divine service, a lesson that spans the
generations. Many have the faulty notion that when life becomes quiet and
serene, then we are free to serve G-d. Rather, it is only when we learn to acclimate, to serve G-d while
carrying life’s heavy burdens through extreme conditions, that we are truly
equipped to accept the Torah.
The Talmud (Eruvin 65b) teaches us that the content of man is
measured by “koso, kiso, v’ka’aso” – his cup (his response when intoxicated),
his wallet (financial pressures), and his anger. The G-d conscious Jew understands
that his relationship with the Divine permeates all precincts of life, infusing
all facets of life with holiness. Yet, the moments when he is most taxed, most pressured and most burdened
are the greatest opportunities to allow his own G-dliness to radiate. It is in
these times of greatest challenge to the strength of his character that he fortifies
his G-dly nature and propels himself to new spiritual
heights.
Have a Good
Shabbos!
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Appreciate the Present
The Torah reading of this week emphasizes to us the rule in
life of seizing the moment of opportunity. Moshe tells the Jewish people that
“we are traveling now to the place that the Lord has promised” to give to us as
our national homeland. But this proposed victorious march somehow unravels.
There is an incident with Yitro, the father-in-law of Moshe himself, who does
not agree to accompany his adopted nation to its destination, the Land of Israel. Moshe’s entreaties to him are of
no avail. He has what to him are legitimate, if not even holy reasons to return to his home
and abandon Israel. His behavior makes an impression, albeit only subconsciously on the psyche of the Jewish people in the desert.
Their optimism and self-pride is weakened. They begin to
complain about their present conditions in the desert. Having given up on their
future, they can think only of their present.
One’s present is always frustrating and fraught with
problems. Now, the manna that fell from
heaven daily is no longer an acceptable menu. When one is in a bad mood no food
can taste good in one’s mouth. A wife may have prepared the tastiest gourmet
meal for her husband’s supper, but if he arrives in a foul mood carrying his
work’s problems home with him, then the meal will somehow be unsatisfying. The
complaints regarding the manna will lead directly to the disaster of the spies
that will appear in next week’s Torah reading. And the result of that debacle
is that Moshe’s grand march to the Land of Israel will never take place for the
generation that escaped Egyptian bondage and lived under miraculous conditions
in a vast wasteland.
Every human being, and nations as well, have moments of
opportunity that are present to be grasped. No opportunities in life are
permanent except for the ever-present ability to repent and improve.
Opportunities that we allow to pass us by will, in the main, never return. This
is true in commerce, personal health, family relationships and all other areas
of life as well.
The rabbis in Avot taught us that every person has “his hour”
– his particular opportunity for
advancement and accomplishment. The wise and holy person recognizes such
moments and opportunities and acts immediately upon them. The fool and the lazy
let these opportunities escape them. Rabi Akiva said that one should never procrastinate
or postpone Torah learning for the opportunity may not arise again.
Judaism is about action, optimism, and enthusiasm.
The national tragedies that the Torah deals with in this
week’s reading and in next week’s parsha as well all stem from weakness of self
and demoralization. If we do not believe in ourselves then nothing can be good,
even manna from heaven. A generation of
complainers and naysayers eventually becomes a generation of tragedy and doomed
hopes. Our generation has been blessed with many great opportunities, not the
least of which is the ability to study
Torah and to live in the Land of Israel. These opportunities should be grasped
and treasured.
Shabat shalom.
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