Our
sixteen year old daughter is in Israel this summer. I have tried very hard not
to be one of those parents who speaks to his/her child all the time. I
consciously decided that I would deliberately leave her alone. I wasn’t going
to “What’s App” her, or call her. In fact, before she left, I told her that I
wasn’t going to call her or reach out to her at all. If she wanted to call me
she could otherwise I wanted her to be on her own figuring things out for
herself. To her credit, she has only called me on Fridays. Given the time
difference, she calls me right before Shabbat (Israel time). This means she is
calling me around the middle of the day on Friday. Lately it so happens that I
happen to be playing golf when she calls. Our conversations have fallen into a
bit of a pattern. She calls, she wishes me a “Good Shabbos”. I ask her how her
week was, and how she is feeling. Then I ask, what must be very difficult
questions because she has a hard time answering. The question seems simple enough
to me. “Where were you this past week? What did you see?” She breathes deeply
and the lack of sleep that she accumulated all week is readily apparent. She
quietly begins with an “I don’t remember”. She follows that up with the name of
a place followed by one sentence of what she saw. Honestly it is like pulling
teeth. Both her mom and I remind her that perhaps it would be a good idea to
write it down where she was and what she saw so that way she will have an easy way
to remember this very special journey.
This
Shabbat, we read from Parsha Matot/Masei. These are the final two parshiot of
Sefer BaMidbar (Book of Numbers). Like
the end of most books, these parshiot tie up numerous loose ends. It ties up
the loose ends of the narrative such as how to deal with the Midianites
following episode with Pinchas, the daughters of Tzelophchad and issues of
inheritance, as well as the borders of Eretz Canaan, and the Cities of Refuge. All
these final issues must be dealt with since, from a narrative perspective, B’nai
Yisroel is spiritually and physically ready to cross the Yarden River and enter
into Eretz Canaan. B’nai Yisroel is about to realize the Brit, the covenant
that God made with the Avot: Avraham, Yiztchak and Yaakov.
Whenever
an individual, a group, a community or a people stand on the precipice of a
realized goal; looking back upon the journey only makes sense. Whenever an individual, a group, a community
or a people experience anxiety about the ability to handle future unknowns;
looking back at past lessons also seems to make a lot of sense. We look back
upon the journey for a variety of reasons. First we look back upon the journey
in sheer wonderment; we cannot believe we have traveled so far and finally
achieved. Second, we look back upon the journey in order to provide context and
meaning for all those who joined in the journey towards the middle or the end.
Third, we look back upon the journey as a series of opportunities that were
necessary in order to realize the stated goal. Fourth, we look back knowing
that if we overcame past obstacles and fears, then we should be able to
overcome future anxieties, obstacles and fears.
Eilah Masei V’nai Yisroel Asher
Yatzu M’Eretz Mitztrayim L'tzivotam
B’Yad Moshe v’Aharon – These
are the journeys of the Children of Israel, who went forth from the Land of
Egypt according to the legions under the hand of Moshe and Aharon … V’Eilah Maseihem L’Motzaheihem – And these are the their journeys according
to their departures. (Num. 33:1-2) God commanded Moshe to keep a record of
their travels according to their Maseihem
- destination. This is means of
recording based upon positive expectations, when there were no travails, issues
or problems. Moshe also kept a record of their travels based upon Motzaheihem their departures, when there were travails, issues and great
difficulties, when people murmured against God, against Moshe etc. Now that B’nai
Yisroel stands on the brink of entering Eretz Canaan, all the experiences, both
positive and negative gave B'nai Yisroel an opportunity to learn Faith. The journey and all that was experienced
during that 40-year journey was necessary in order to arrive at this point in
time.
No,
our daughter’s six week journey is not as dramatic as the 40 year journey of an
entire people. Her six week journey is not comparable to a people evolving from
slavery to freedom nor from people hood to nationhood. However over the course
of six weeks, our hope is that during the course of her travels, during the
course of her journeys and departures, she will have learned about herself. We
hope that when she returns, she has grown more comfortable being herself. We
hope that she is more immune to peer pressure and more intellectually curious.
Although only sixteen, we hope that her journeys and departures have afforded
her a greater perspective of what is important, what is not important, what
deserves worry and what should be ignored. In that regard, the journeys and the
departures of B’nai Yisroel serve as a symbol of the numerous journeys and
departures of each individual’s life.
Peace,
Rav Yitz
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