By Rebbetzin Lauren Levin
Matot-Masei
This week, the rollercoaster book of Bamidbar draws to a close. There have been shattered dreams, disappointments, rebuilding, forty years of wandering, death and birth. In the second of the double portion, there is a description of all the journeys and encampments over the forty years. My grandfather, writing in 1949, saw tremendous significance in this description and application to the times he was living in, post holocaust and one year into the State of Israel’s naissance.
Excerpt from my grandfather’s sermons, Rabbi Maurice Lew, 22nd July, 1949
“These are the journeys of the children of Israel.”
Forty-two times, the Bible uses the same words: “And they journeyed” — “and they encamped.” Every place which had previously been mentioned is described again. Why are these journeys repeated? Why are they described in such detail at this stage, when they were all over, and need not have been recalled?
The Midrash gives a good answer: “God said to Moses, write down the wanderings of Israel, in order that they might remember how many miracles I did for them.” Now that their tiresome wanderings were over, the people might forget how God came to their help during all their troubles.
It was important that they should not forget. When we are in trouble, we think of God and pray to Him. But when we are at peace and our needs are taken care of, we are apt to forget the part God plays in our life. God wanted the Israelites to realise that it was not by their own efforts alone that they had reached that far.
The words “and they journeyed forth, and they encamped” apply not only to the Jews who marched through the wilderness, but to Jewry throughout the generations, all over the world. It began with the first Hebrew, Abraham, to whom God said: “Get thee out of the land of thy birthplace, to the land which I will show thee.” Since that time, Jews have always heard the same order — unfortunately, not always did this order come from God.
From Jerusalem and Babylon, from Persia, Greece, and from Rome. From Mesopotamia and Spain, from France, Germany, and Italy. From England, Russia, and from Poland. From all these countries, they were driven out at some time in our history. Always our ancestors journeyed and encamped in some other place, where they hoped to find peace.
There are many these days who ask whether the period of Three Weeks of National Mourning, which we are observing now, need be continued — or, for that matter, Tisha b’Av itself. But the words of the Midrash are as applicable to-day as they were in the times of Moses.
“Write down the journeys of Israel, in order that they might remember how many miracles I did for them.” The proud possessors of a new State, with all the difficulties of its infancy, must remember all the reasons which brought about the destruction of the two earlier states.
Reading, as we shall on Tisha b’Av, the Lamentations of the Prophet and the Kinnot — the various poems describing the sorrows of the years after the destruction of the Second State — we can gain valuable lessons for our present-day struggles and difficulties.
Avoiding the pitfalls and the many failures of our people in the past, we can gain not only courage, but understanding of how to help in cementing our new State soundly and securely. These days of National Mourning, when we think of the days gone by, are also to be days of hope for a better, brighter future.
The world at present is in somewhat of a turmoil. All the nations of the world have at present their own difficult problems, both economic and spiritual. In the midst of all this, revived Israel struggles on amongst the nations, to establish her place in the world. A glance backwards will help us.
Recently a book was published consisting of fragments of learned expositions on the Bible, by a Rabbi who died in a Concentration Camp. He went through endless suffering, and one can read utter despair in his writings. But when he reached his commentary on the Sedrah of this week, he describes how, reading the words “and they journeyed … and they encamped” forty-two times, he began to feel comforted; his hopes revived again, and his confidence was strengthened.
He concludes with the following words: “In this detailed description of Israel’s journeys lies great hope and consolation, both for myself and for my poor brethren. When we consider the great wonders that God wrought for our ancestors in the wilderness, we think: surely this same God is powerful enough to help us also now.”
This is the kind of lesson which we must take from the memories of the past, and from the description of the journeys in the wilderness. The preservation of Israel in the Diaspora all these years is even a greater miracle to-day. The God who has been with us all these centuries, and preserved us in the face of many difficulties, can and will help us to overcome present-day obstacles too.
The God that scattered us is gradually gathering us together. The day is near when Israel will dwell securely. There will be no more “and they journeyed”, only — no more journeying from place to place, but a safe place in the land of Israel, for all the people of Israel.
Today’s world:
Reading about the journeys makes us appreciate being able to settle. Yet at the same time it reminds us of how integral journeying, both literally and metaphorically, is to our national identity, and to our individual growth. The thought of journeying is daunting and perilous but as it was for the Jewish people in the desert, it is our key to survival.