Journeys....Physical and Spiritual

This week’s double Torah portion is comprised of parshiot Mattot and Massei.  When looking them both over, I found that the latter portion tugged at my heart strings.  For most people it would seem like a very long, repetitive recounting of the various places to which the Israelites journeyed during their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.  Some might even ask, why go into listing all of the places that they stopped and encamped?  Why not just say they left Egypt and ended up ready to cross into the Land of Canaan?

 Rashi suggests that there is an element of nostalgia in this list. It is meant to remind the people of God’s great love for Israel. Imagine a king, Rashi says, whose son became ill and needed to be taken to a doctor in a far-off land. Once cured, the king and his son return home. As they travel from place to place, the king reminds his son of all that transpired on their journey to see the doctor. He tells him, “Here we rested, here you became very sick, here you had a headache.” In a sense, Massei is the end of the Torah; Moses reminds the people of all that has happened during their journey.

Rambam, Moses Maimonides, offers a different explanation. He suggests that the list of locations was meant to refute the claim that the reason it took Israel so long to reach the Promised Land was that they were lost and Moses – being a guy – refused to ask for directions. The Torah states that all the journeys took place al pi Adonai, “according to the word of God.” Nothing was accidental or pure chance along the way. Every step of Israel’s journey was essential in preparing them to enter a nation.

Journeys are part of our human experience.  There’s a prayer written by Rabbi Alvin Fine found in the Gates of Repentance machzor that I’ve always found very meaningful it.  I will share it with you now.

Life is a Journey

Birth is a beginning
And death a destination
And life is a journey:
From childhood to maturity
And youth to age;
From innocence to awareness
And ignorance to knowing;
From foolishness to discretion
And then perhaps to wisdom. 

From weakness to strength or
From strength to weakness
And often back again;
From health to sickness,
And we pray to health again. 

From offence to forgiveness,
From loneliness to love,
From joy to gratitude,
From pain to compassion,
From grief to understanding,
From fear to faith. 

From defeat to defeat to defeat
Until, not looking backwards or ahead,
We see that victory lies not
At some high point along the way
But in having made the journey
Step by step,
A sacred pilgrimage.
Birth is a beginning
And death a destination
And life is a journey. 

  This prayer talks about personal journeys leading us from birth to death.  The journeys recounted in parshat Massei on the other hand, tell of our journeys from our birth as a nation which occurred when we were redeemed from slavery until we reached the River Jordan prior to passing into the land of Canaan.  That journey had a defined objective, one which had an end goal promised to us.  The journey had a definite destination although it took 40 years to arrive there.  Thinking back upon the miracles wrought by G-d, the dangers faced, and the years of challenge is definitely more than just a dry list of place-names.  Knowing what it took for us to arrive at the threshold of our destination indeed made that destination all the more precious. However, you should note that the Torah ends before we entered the Promised Land.  It was the journey that was important in helping us become a holy nation.

This parasha obviously is resonating very deeply with me.  Whether one enters their 70’s and looks back at all of the stops along the way, or thinks about moving to a new land and a new life, the idea of journeys resounds.  But life’s journeys do not need to be as major as making Aliyah or entering the final years of one’s life.  Everyday when each of us awakens from our slumber and ventures forth into the world, we are putting our trust and hope in the fact that we will return safe and sound to our homes later that day.  Everyday we might wish we could take shortcuts to get to the desired results on our personal journey, but the fact of the matter is that we really only can deal with the here and now. 

  Rabbi Yirachmiel Yisrael Danziger, a Hasidic rabbi, suggested that life is like a piece of rope: when you stretch the string out, you can grab only the piece of rope in front of you. The past is behind you and the future has not happened;  So, we must learn to take hold of the present moment!  Part of that taking hold of the present moment is also realizing that no journey is without some kind of risk.

The tefilat ha-derech, prayer for travel, took into account that there were dangers when one left home to travel.  I just ran into my copy that I carry with me when I travel to Israel.  It reads:

Tefillat Haderech

Yihi ratson milfanecha, Adonay Eloheynu v’Elohey Avoteynu,
May it be Your will, O Lord our God, the God of our ancestors,

Shetolicheynu l’shalom, vivitatsideynu l’shalom vitadricheynu l’shalom vitagiaynu limchoz cheftseynu lichayim, lisimcha, ul’shalom.
To bring us in peace, and to walk with us in peace and to enable us to reach our destination in life, in joy and in peace.

Vitsatsileynu mikaf kol oyev viorev
Vilistim vichayot raot baderech.
Protect us from the clutches of every enemy and every ambush,
From robbers and from wild animals who may attack us on the road.

Umikol miney puraniut hamitragshot lavo l’olam.
And protect us from any other kind of danger that may befall the world.

Vatishlach bracha bichol ma-asey yadeynu
Utinenynu lichen ulechesed ulrachamaim b’eynecha
Uvi-eyney chol ro-eynu.
Send Your blessing over all that we do,
And grant us grace, loving kindness and compassion
In Your sight and in the sight of all those whom we meet on this journey.

Vatishma kol tachanuneynu.
Ki El Shomea Tefillah vichanun Ata. Baruch atta Adonay, Shomea Tefillah
Please listen to this, our plea,
For You are the God who listens to prayer and who are most compassionate.
Blessed are You, O Lord, who listens to prayer..

We might not be worried about robbers and wild animals attacking us on our journey any longer.  However, reaching our destination in life in joy and peace certainly is a prayer to which we can relate.  Especially during this time of COVID19 when we are acutely aware of the challenges and even dangers of traveling beyond our own homes, I think it is important for us to think of these words and use them to express our hopes that we be protected from the unseen dangers in our present existence.

As you are navigating this new world of COVID19 how does it affect your physical journeys?

How does it appear to be affecting your spiritual journeys?`            ~