Parshat Matot-Masei  1 Av 5761, 21 July 2001

Efrat, Israel -There is no more exciting book of the Bible than the Book of Numbers - albeit tragic in the various rebellions against Moses, but nevertheless dizzyingly compelling as it quickly moves from one shocking event to another even more shocking event.

And then we come upon tediously boring repetitive verses which catalogue in painstaking detail each of the forty-two way-stations which served as temporary Israeli settlements during their 40-year-long desert sojourn (Numbers 33:5 - 49). To add insult to injury, since each location is not only a destination for encampment but is also - as the travelogue continues - a former place from whence the Israelites are setting forth, each area-name is mentioned twice! And Moses is clearly and specifically commanded by G-d to record the details of "their goings forth according to their stations" (Numbers 33:1,2). What possible lesson can be derived from what appears to be an inconsequential listing of place names?

Nachmanides, after he cites the insights of both Rashi and Maimonides, concludes his commentary: "Thus the watering down of the journeyings was a commandment of G-d, either for reasons mentioned above or a purpose the secret of which has not been revealed to us." (adloc). "Secret" would suggest something esoteric as well as significant; I would maintain that the understanding of a strange switch in the order of two nebulous terms - as well as the painstaking repetition - provides nothing less than the secret of Jewish survival during our long and arduous diaspora-ridden history.

The entire travelogue sequence opens: "And Moses wrote their starting points for their travels (motzehem l'masehem) at G-d's command, and these are their travels of their starting points (mas'ehem l'motzehem)." (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. They traveled from origin A in order to arrive at destination B. But what is the plain definition of the end of the verse "and these are the travels for the purpose of their starting points (mas'ehem l'motze'hem)? After all, they did not journey backwards? Why conclude the verse with an opposite and contradicting formulation to the way it began?

Fundamental to our history as a nation is that we are constantly travelling - in all of our wanderings - on the road to the Promised Land, on the journey towards redemption. But our travelling is not an aimless wandering; it is with a clear compass and a purposeful direction. And that direction was given to us at the dawn of our history in Hebron, at the Covenant between the Pieces, in Jerusalem, at the binding of Isaac, and at Sinai, with the Divine Revelation. Our starting points are also our end-goals; these three places of origin set down the ultimate destiny of our nation: to perfect the world through the teaching of ethical monotheism, "the word of G-d must emanate from Jerusalem." As we move down the road of time, 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; to the interviewer's surprise, he answered he was born in Jerusalem. The interviewer pointed out that everyone knows he was born in Buczaz, a town in Galicia. Agnon corrected him: "I was born in Jerusalem more than 3000 years ago. That was my beginning, my origin. Buczaz in Galicia is only one of the way stations along the road of my life's travelogue. However, my real origin - the beginning which provided the ultimate goal - was and is Jerusalem: Only two Princes of the Tribes, who serve as scouts, did not fall prey to foolish cowardice and thus ultimately reached the Promised land: Caleb and Joshua. Joshua was an understandable candidate; his name was changed to include the name of G-d, and he was a faithful disciple of Moses beginning from even prior to the Revelation at Sinai. But what was the special merit of Caleb? Our Sages tell us that when the scouts began their mission to Israel, Caleb detoured to the Cave of Machpela at Hebron - in order to pray at the grave-site of our patriarchs and matriarchs. Caleb understood that Hebron was not only a starting point but was also an end-goal, and that only those who were mindful of this starting point would remain committed to the realization of the end goal.

In this week's Torah portion, we have the catalogue of Jewish wanderings in the desert - a fore-shadowing of the many places in which Jewish communities would be established and forsaken as we wended our way to Israel and Jerusalem (ma'asei avot siman le'banim). Which Jews would have the strength and fortitude to resist the temptation of assimilation? 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 Aleppo (Haleb) and Vilna to Brooklyn and Johannesburg, the vision of Abraham and Moses to the State established by Herzl and Ben Gurion. I have a student who named his son Shlomo after his grandfather Shawn who was named after his grand-father (Rav) Shlomo. We chart our future by re-discovering our past - and we must forever call and inspire our children by the names - and visions - of our grand-parents and great grand-parents. The points of our origin must be the goal of our future.

Shabbat Shalom.

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