Long Is The Road We Must Travel On Down (John Barlow & Brett Mydland- "I Will Take You Home")

I had a chance to spend some time with our 26 year old daughter last week.  She happened to have a few days off so we met and drove to Saratoga, NY to attend a concert of my favorite band. As we drove to the concert site, and began seeing more and more people on the road heading towards the concert, my daughter casually pointed out that it looked like a pilgrimage. For some reason, I have always wanted to share the joy of the music and the “scene” with my children as they grew older.  When we arrived at our seats (actually our seats were on the lawn) there was a family sitting next to us: parents and their two university age kids. The father and I spoke and we both agreed that this was something that we wanted them to share because it was important to us. Interestingly enough, this concert only included three members of the original band. One of the new members of the band, (the lead guitarist and vocalist) is substantially younger than the rest of the band, and his appeal is to a younger generation, my children. However because the youngest member of the band enjoys the music, plays the music exceedingly well, and does so in a respectful manner that pays homage to the legendary leader of the band who wrote the music for so many of the band’s songs and defined the band with his guitar playing and mournful voice; older concert attendees, like myself, see this “re-incarnation” of the original band, as a powerful message regarding the transition of time as a journey.

This Shabbat we read from Parshat Chukkat. The Parsha receives its name from the Chok, (the statute) of the Red Heifer. The Kohen Gadol would take a completely Red Heifer, and offer it on behalf of the people as a form of national atonement. The Parsha resumes with the narrative of B'nai Yisroel’s wandering in the wilderness. However, the narrative is 38 years later, towards the end of B’nai Yisroel’s wandering in the wilderness. Now, the Torah shares the final year of B’nai Yisroel’s journey.  Miriam dies and the water dries up. God commands Moshe and Aharon to speak to the rock in order to draw more water for the people.  However after hearing more complaining, Moshe hits the rock out of frustration. Aaron and Moshe are punished. The journey resumes, battles are fought, faith is tested and sometimes B’nai Yisroel passes these tests and sometimes they fail and are punished. The Parsha ends with B’nai Yisroel on the plains of Moab ready to enter into Eretz Yisroel.

With each trial and tribulation, B’nai Yisroel and its leadership must be able to find the blessings and sanctify God.  Even with the death of Aaron, even the Edomites refusing Moshe’s request to travel through their lands and thereby forcing them around on a longer route, this generation that was born in the freedom of the wilderness still needs a shared common experience with the preceding generation.  VaYishmah Ha’Canaani Melech Arad Yoshev Ha’Negev Ki Ba Yisroel Derech Ha’Atarim VaYilachem B’Yisroel Vayashb Mimenu Shevi – The Canaanite king of Arad, who dwelled in the south, heard that Israel had come by the route of the spies, and he warred against Israel and took a captive from it. VaYidar Yisroel Neder L’Adoshem, VaYomar Im Naton Titen et Ha’Am HaZeh B’Yadi V’HaCharamtie et Areihem – Israel made a vow to Hashem and said, ‘If You will deliver this people into my hand I will consecrate their cities’. Hashem heard the voice of Israel, and He delivered the Canaanite and it consecrated them and their cities. It named the place Horma (Num.21:1-3). The Midrash explains that the Amalekites lived in the Negev, and the Arad was really from the tribe of Amalek. Knowing what happened to Amalek the last time (nearly 40 years before); Arad had his army speak Canaanite even though they were wearing Amalek uniforms. As a result B’nai Yisroel prayed for help against “this nation”. In their vow, Israel wouldn’t keep the spoils but rather dedicated it to the Mishkan (Tabernacle). Rashi points out that the vow wasn’t realized until B’nai Yisroel formally entered the land under Joshua’s leadership. Rashi continues to explain that the verse is here because of the vow of consecration and an acknowledgment that over the passage of time, this generation will ultimately fulfill the vow. Torah doesn’t refer to B’nai Yisroel as “B’nai Yisroel”; instead it refers to them as Yisroel, This vow was the first time that B’nai Yisroel tried to give back to God like their ancestor, Jacob did all those centuries before when he also made a vow to God.

Some journeys are for a nation and a people, they are centuries in the making and require tremendous trials and tribulations. Some journeys are 40 years and require trials and tribulations as a covenant is passed from one generation to the next. Some journeys are between parents and children. Hopefully they don’t require forty years, but the journey does require time. The journey also requires an awareness that the journey itself is important, that an experience is to shared and even if it’s not the exact same experience, it is similar enough to be worthy of replication. No it wasn’t the exact same band that I saw thirty five years ago. No the mournful voice that made a ballad sound so beautiful and so haunting was silent. Maybe I felt it was a rite a passage, or maybe I thought it was a powerful bonding experience. Maybe, as a parent, we want to share important things with our children so that they either understand us better. However, as I watched my daughter smiling, listening to the music, understanding the lyrics and absorbing the scene, maybe she understood me just a bit better.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Saw A Bird With A Tear In His Eye Walking To New Orleans My Oh My (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Liberty")

This has been an unusually crazy, anxiety ridden week. In the macro sense, there has been an election. As painful, as frequently embarrassing that the campaign has been, the President elect has merely taken the first step, the first step of governing a highly divided, suspicious and angry people with very deep divisions in terms of social values, economic values, and vision for the country. In the micro sense, my father had knee replacement surgery late last week, however there have been several complications (nothing to do with his new knee) that have forced him back into the hospital. Interestingly enough my father voted prior to this knee replacement surgery, however my mother had to leave her husband’s side and run out and vote. My father had anticipated that a week after the surgery, he would be standing, and even taking a few steps. Instead he is lying in bed, dealing with several a post-operative complications that has made the recovery, that much slower and that much more difficult. In both situations, a country and an individual, it seems that both will have to learn to walk again.

This week's Parsha is Lech Lecha. In it, God commands Abram to leave his father, his homeland and everything he has ever known and go to a place where God will show him later. Abram does. He heads down towards Egypt because of a famine. Eventually, Abram leaves Egypt with money, flocks, servants, and wealth. Lot, Abram's nephew, and Abram decide to part ways since each their respective flocks not only become intermingled but their hired hands fight among each other. Abram then fights against several kings in an attempt to protect Lot. Then his wife Sarai, who is barren, tells Abram to make Hagar (the maidservant) the surrogate mother. Abram listens and Hagar has a son named Ishmael. She runs away and then returns. God tells Abram a prophecy. Abram will become the father of a great nation, and that nation will become enslaved for several centuries and then will return to the land that God promised Abram. Then God instructs Abram to circumcise himself, his son Ishmael and all the males of his household. All these events are linked together by the theme of "Lech Lecha" of going, of traveling.

            The Zohar, the rabbinic book of mysticism, comments upon the first verse "Lech Lecha Mei'Artzecha uMimoladtcha, U'mibeit Avicha El Ha'Aretz Acher Areka- Go for yourself from your land, from your relatives, and from your father's house to the land that I will show you (Gen 12:1). Instead of a physical journey, the Zohar explains that Abram was commanded to embark upon a spiritual journey. The soul, while residing in the World to Come, exists in close proximity to God. Because of the spiritual clarity and intensity revealed there, no free will and no chance for spiritual growth and advancement can occur. Like the angels, the soul in the World to Come is called an Omaid, a standee. In this World however, we know that a person has Free Will. This means that we all have the opportunity to advance spiritually as long as we remain in this World. The soul in this world is call a Holiach, a walker, someone who goes, much like Abram went.

            Like Abram, we are all commanded to Lech Lecha. Abram walked and traveled, and so did Lot. Yet Abram epitomized the individual who retained his integrity and ideals despite the difficulties of life, and despite the growing cynicism brought on by age. Abram managed to remember that God is the end and everything else is merely a means to that end. However all the wealth and all the prosperity are not ends in and of itself. We are all commanded to leave our homes, our birthplaces and face the world. We are all commanded to face the challenges of this World and retain our integrity, our ideals and our sense of purpose. That goes for individuals who have to learn to walk following knee replacement surgery as well as entire nations who have to learn to walk together under the new leadership of a President-Elect. The challenge is to enter the physical and material world and retain the priorities consistent with the world from where our Neshamah, our soul came, the spiritual world. For my father, he will have to keep his goals for recovery squarely before him, maintain his sense of humor and do the work. For the United States, it will require an inspired inclusive vision embodying the Constitution with a goal towards a future so that no one is left behind.

 Peace,

  Yitz

Lately It Occurs To Me What A Long Strange Trip It's Been (Robert Hunter, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Jerry Garcia - "Truckin'"

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