Weekly Torah Lesson – 2
Parasha: Masei “journeys of”
Torah: B’midbar 33:1 – 36:13
1 These are the journeys of the children of Israel, when they went forth out of the land of Mitzryim by their hosts under the hand of Moshe and Aharon. 2 And Moshe wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of Avinu: and these are their journeys according to their goings out. (B’Midbar 33:1-2)
** In Hebrew, “their goings out” could be translated “their comings out”.
Today’s lesson is a “snap shot” of the life of a Believer as he “comes out” of his own modern “Egypt”. In today’s world, we are struggling against the confinement of sin that restricts us from a closer relationship with Avinu. Here are a couple of observations that past Believers had about their journeys:
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happens to them all. (Ec 9:11)
Why seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (Heb 12:1)
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto you are also called, and have professed a good profession before many witnesses. (1Ti 6:12 )
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: (2Ti 4:7 )
One of this week’s Torah portions begins with an account of the 42 journeys by which the Israelites left Egypt and came to the borders of the Chosen Land. The opening verse, however, suggests that all of the journeys were an exodus from Egypt, whereas in fact the first four destinations brought them to the Red Sea where Avinu miraculously brought them through the Sea and out of the clutches of the Mitzryim. We believe that Egypt is not only a place but also a state of mind. Mitzrayim, the Hebrew word for Egypt, also means “confinement,” and there is an obvious contrast with the land of Israel, which is called the “good and spacious land.” The questions that confront us, therefore, are: What is “confinement” and “spaciousness” in the life of the Believer? And, what is the significance of the idea of a “journey.”
One Exodus or Many
“These are the journeys of the children of Israel by which they went forth out of the land of Egypt.”
This verse raises a well-known difficulty. For only the first four of the journeys mentioned in our Sidra—from Rameses to Hahiroth —constituted “going forth out of the land of Egypt.” The others were all made outside Egypt. Why, then, does the verse use the plural, “these are the journeys?”
Also, what is the significance of these 42 journeys in traveling from Egypt to the land of Israel, the “good and spacious land?” The word “spacious” is opposed to “confined” or “restricted.” But as soon as the Believer had “left Egypt”, they had left their confinement. Why was it only after 42 journeys that they were said to have reached “spaciousness?”
These concepts of confinement and spaciousness have a spiritual sense: “Out of my confinement I called upon Avinu. Avinu answered me with enlargement.” As a Believer moves towards his spiritual goal, he passes from the straits of inner conflict to the open spaces of serenity, from the narrow path through secular distractions to the broad plain of unity with Avinu. Every stage he reaches is spacious in relation to the level he has left, and restricted in relation to the level he is heading towards, until he reaches the final open space, the Messianic Age, with the crossing of the Jordan that marks the divide between journeying and arriving.
This is why all 42 journeys, not merely the first four, were a “going forth out of the land of Egypt.” For every journey that brought them nearer to the land of Israel and their destiny made the previous stopping point seem like a confinement, another Egypt. Each stage was a new exodus. They had already left the physical Egypt. But they still had to pass beyond the Egypt, the narrowness of the soul within every Believer.
** We too are on that same journey. As we struggle from one destination to another, we grow in faith and are able to achieve an ever closer relationship with Avinu.
Our goal is set. Our destiny is reserved. When will we take the next leap?
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