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July 20, 2001/Tamuz 29, 5761, Vol. 53, No.41
Moving backward to move forward
Torah Study
RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN
Matot-Masei/Numbers: 30:2-36:13
There is no more exciting book of the Bible than Numbers - albeit tragic in the various rebellions against Moses, as it quickly moves from one shocking event to another even more shocking event.
Then we come upon tediously repetitive verses which catalogue in painstaking detail the 42 way-stations which served as temporary Israeli settlements during their desert sojourn. And since each location is not only a destination for encampment but is also a former place from whence the Israelites are setting forth, each area's name is mentioned twice.
What possible lesson can be derived from what appears to be an inconsequential listing of place names?
Nachmanides provides an explanation in his commentary: "Thus the watering down of the journeys was a commandment of God, either for reasons mentioned above or a purpose the secret of which has not been revealed to us."
The understanding of a strange switch in the order of two nebulous terms provides nothing less than the "secret" of Jewish survival during our long and arduous history.
The entire travelogue sequence opens: "Moses recorded the starting points of their various travels (motze'hem l'masehem) as directed by the Lord. Their marches, by starting points were as follows." (Numbers 33: 2)
The Hebrew word motza (as in motze' hem) means place of origin, starting point; the "lamed", or "l" connotes purpose, rendering the phrase to mean that Moses was commanded to record each place they started out from in order to reach their next destination.
But what is the plain definition of the end of the verse "their marches, for the purpose of their starting points"?
Fundamental to our history as a nation is that we are constantly travelling on the road to redemption, to the Promised Land. But our travelling is not an aimless wandering; it is with a purposeful direction. And that direction was given to us at the dawn of our history in Hebron, at the covenant God made with Abram; in Jerusalem, at the binding of Isaac; and at Sinai, with the divine revelation.
Our starting points are also our goals; these three places of origin set down the destiny of our nation: to perfect the world through the teaching of ethical monotheism.
As we travel forward, we must always keep in front of our eyes the places of our origin.
When Shai Agnon received the Nobel Prize for Literature, he was asked about his birthplace. He answered he was born in Jerusalem. The interviewer pointed out that he was born in a town in Galicia.
Agnon corrected him: "I was born in Jerusalem more than 3,000 years ago. That was my origin. Galicia was only one of the way stations along the road of my life's travelogue. However, my real origin... was Jerusalem."
In this week's Torah portion, we have the catalogue of Jewish wanderings in the desert - a foreshadowing of the many places in which Jewish communities would be established and forsaken as we wended our way to Jerusalem.
Which Jews would continue their wanderings from place to place, understanding that they were travelling the road to redemption? Only those who made their previous way-station the goal of their new habitation, only those who brought the Torah to Vilna, Brooklyn and the modern state of Israel.
We chart our future by rediscovering our past - and we must forever call and inspire our children by the names - and visions - of our grandparents and great grandparents.
The points of our origin must be the goal of our future.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is the spiritual leader of Efrat, Israel.
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