History and Your Story

Parshas Masei

Posted on July 28, 2022 (5782) By Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah | Level: Beginner

 

Moshe wrote their goings out according to their journeys at the bidding of HASHEM, and these were their journeys according to their going out…” (Bamidbar 33:2)

 

These are the journeys: Why were these journeys recorded? To inform us of the kindliness of the Omnipresent…-Rashi

 

This is the introduction to the 42 journeys made by the Jewish People during their 40-year stay in the desert. There are a few points to take note of here. Their journeys were “at the bidding of HASHEM”. They were not wandering aimlessly. Every move was according to Divine guidance.

 

Also, it seems that Moshe is keeping a journal, a travel log and writing down all of the journeys.

 

What would be the purpose of documenting all the traveling that the Jewish People did? Rashi tells us that it is in order to inform us of HASHEM’s kindliness. How so?!

 

Years ago, I started a big project traveling throughout New York City and the New York Metropolitan area. I was charged with learning Torah with big businessmen, doctors, lawyers, men of industry, and influence. Before taking my first baby step onto the field I realized I had a problem. I had been learning in Yeshiva for years and teaching in Hebrew Day School but I had little experience in the business world and I was feeling outmatched and ill equipped to sit before people with vastly more practical and worldly experience than I had. So, I approached a senior colleague for some advice. Here was a man with many-many years of experience in the field. For sure he could answer my burning question. I asked him, “Which periodicals shall I subscribe to? What should I be reading and studying in order to remain current and in the conversation?” He looked at me oddly. Then he gave an answer I never expected but it turned out to be priceless for this project and ever since. He said, “You don’t need to subscribe to any particular periodical. Just know your own story! Know your story!”

 

I was more than a little surprised, but I took it to heart. I went home and started writing my life story.

 

It was an amazingly therapeutic process and it has proven to be very practical. I have learned to spell out some version of that “story” whether I have 2 minutes in the elevator or an hour in front of a large audience. People are always fascinated and beyond curious to hear about me and how I transitioned from being an all American-Jewish kid who went to public school and was captain of the football, basketball, and baseball teams, but ended up in Yeshiva and is raising a Torah family. How does one get from here to there or there to here?

 

Maybe that explains why over and over again the Torah records not only where the Jewish People traveled to but where they came from each time. That’s part of the story. Each move is a fascinating chapter by itself. How does one transition from there, wherever it is we came from, to here, to where we find ourselves now? Life is way too interesting. Truth is stranger and more symphonic than fiction!

 

King Solomon writes, “Trust in HASHEM with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways know Him, and He will make your ways straight.” (Mishlei 3:5-6)

 

What is King Solomon the wisest of all men telling us here? This is how to live a successful life.

 

Trust in HASHEM with your whole heart. We cannot possibly manage enough details in life to create a guaranteed result. We need to work with our Supreme Partner, HASHEM. That is Bitachon. (trust in G-d) It’s a division of labor. I do my job and my All-Knowing Partner I must trust will take care of the rest. What is my job? Know HASHEM in all my ways. We follow daily Torah instructions, some spiritual by nature and others quite earthy. We are painting by numbers.

 

Standing up close to the canvas of life it is hard to discern what we are doing. When we stand back and observe where we have been, a beautiful picture is revealed. We just tried to do the right thing at each moment and in the end a masterpiece emerges. “Who wrote this beautiful story?!” It can only be attributed to the author of all existence and the playwright of history and your story.

 

Growing Pains

Parshas Masei

Posted on August 1, 2019 (5779) By Rabbi Elly Broch | Series: Kol HaKollel | Level: Beginner

 

“These are the journeys of the children of Israel, who went forth from the land of Egypt according to their legions, under the hand of Moshe and Aaron.” (Bamidbar/Numbers 33:1) The beginning of the portion details the entire forty-year journey traveled by the nation, from their departure from Egypt until their encampment across the Jordan River, prepared to enter the land of Israel. As the Torah contains no extraneous letters, no less extra words, why was it deemed necessary to recall all these locations, each already explained in detail in the previous sections of the Torah?

 

Sforno (1) expounds that G-d recorded all the stages of the travel to teach us the devotion of our forebears who followed him in the terrible wilderness. It was that devotion that earned them entry into the land of Israel. The Torah reports numerous weaknesses and faults of the Jewish nation – they denied the benefits they had received, often declaring they would prefer to live in Egypt, they slandered the Promised Land and Moshe, and they provoked quarrels. Now, the Torah describes another side of Israel, revealing the national trust in the Divine, following G-d in the harsh wilderness despite the challenges.

 

The Talmud (Sanhedrin 110b) records the statement of Rabbi Yochanan that the generation that traveled the wilderness was very highly regarded by G- d, despite the recorded infractions they perpetrated. This generation was chosen to be witnesses of the most wondrous miracles demonstrating the presence of the Master of the Universe – the Ten Plagues, the Splitting of the Sea, the national prophesy of the Revelation at Sinai. But because of this exalted status and greater responsibility they were the recipients of severe chastisement.

 

The period in the wilderness was the paradigm of how our physical life in this physical world is a test in recognizing the Creator: “And you shall remember all the way which Hashem your G-d had led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to afflict you, to test you…He afflicted you and he caused you to hunger in order to make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by all that comes from the mouth of Hashem…As a man chastises his son, so G-d chastises you.” (Devarim/Deuteronomy 8:2-5).

 

A superficial reading of the text could yield the erroneous conclusion that this generation was rebellious, unappreciative, and impudent. However, a careful study reveals that they were subjected to challenges and were faulted for even reasonable arguments due to their exalted stature and privileged existence. G-d was training them to be cognizant of His presence, His love and His intervention, not unlike strict measures a parent may use with his child to impart essential lessons.

 

Rabbi Eliyahu Munk (2) asserts that this lesson applies to every generation. We, the Jews of 2000 years of Diaspora life, have had our travel through “the wilderness”. We have trekked through places and times of great physical and spiritual challenge, filled with our own “fiery serpents and scorpions, arid lands with no water”. And we could not have survived without copious doses of Divine Mercy. The “great civilizations” of history – the Greeks, Persians, Babylonians, and Romans – all exist today as only an archaeological relic. The Jewish people, while our numbers may be small, thrive and flourish to this day.

 

We have experienced various vicissitudes both in our physical and spiritual condition, but as a nation we are still vivacious in following the Creator. As did our ancestors we have crossed the wilderness, the continents and the centuries, by following our devotion to the Divine.

 

Have a Good Shabbos!

 

The Stuff of Real Life

Parshas Masei

Posted on July 6, 2021 (5781) By Rabbi Naftali Reich | Series: Legacy | Level: Beginner

 

This week’s Torah portion concludes with an overview of the Jewish nation’s wanderings in the wilderness, as well as key laws and preparations associated with their inheriting the land. Moshe Rabbeinu designated six Levite cities, three in Eretz Yisrael and three in Trans-Jordan, as cities of refuge where an accidental murderer can escape an avenger from the victim’s family.

 

Although his act of homicide was not premeditated, the Torah considers him culpable for being negligent and not adequately protecting another’s life. The time he spends in the Ir Miklat will enable him to realign his values and correct the habits that led to his negligent behavior. The Levite city was the ideal place to achieve this rehabilitation. The Levites were landless and wholly devoted to teaching and guiding their fellow Jews. Even while in Egypt, the Levites were preoccupied with spiritual advancement and distanced themselves from the pursuit of material prosperity.

 

Their conduct was emblematic of the highest degree of moral responsibility. Living among people of this caliber would re-educate and sensitize the murderer to the supreme sanctity of human life.

 

The Talmud asks why were there precisely the exact number of “refuge” cities in Trans Jordan as there were in Israel? After all, Trans Jordan was only home to two and a half tribes, while the remaining nine lived in Israel. Why not distribute the cities of refuge in a way that would more accurately reflect the demographics?

 

The Talmud answers that in Trans Jordan there were more homicides and the population’s sensitivity to human life became diminished. The likelihood of accidental murder was therefore greater. The average citizen was less conscious of the need to exert himself to the utmost to protect his fellow Jew; he would be more likely to pursue his own needs at the expense of his fellow citizen.

 

The great sage R’ Itzel of Volozhin offers a different interpretation of the Talmud’s assertion that bloodshed was more prevalent in Trans-Jordan, thus requiring more cities of refuge in that region. The problem, he explains, lay not in the higher incidences of accidental homicide in Trans-Jordan but in the over-eagerness to avenge it. Since the inhabitants of Ever HaYarden were less sensitive to murder, it was far more likely that an accidental killer would be pursued by a family member driven to exact vengeance for unsavory reasons. The Torah therefore provided the perpetrator with more immediate access to an Ir Miklat.

 

The culture of tolerance toward bloodshed would delude people into thinking they were motivated by moral principles in trying to avenge their relative’s death, when all too often they were simply trying to even the score with a hapless fellow Jew.

 

The underlying message of the portion is that nothing affects our mindset and value system more than our social environment. We are all conditioned by repeated and constant exposure to the prevailing culture. Harmful outside influences can easily pollute our ability to distinguish right from wrong and can easily desensitize us from appreciating the value and sanctity of every human’s life.

 

This underscores the importance of ensuring that our homes are bastions of light, joy and an appreciation for the kedusha of Klal Yisroel. These values must permeate the atmosphere to the point where they are imprinted on the minds and hearts of our children. Only by building our homes according to the Torah’s blueprint can we turn them into lighthouses of positive energy. They will thus become the miniature ‘cities of refuge’ that will protect ourselves and our families from the steady onslaught of moral decay and corruption in the surrounding culture.

 

Wishing you a wonderful Shabbos