Parshat Matos Masei 5785
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in the second of this week’s parshiyot about the journeys of Bnei Yisrael through the desert. The Torah emphasizes in the first pasuk of the parsha (Chapter 33, Pasuk 1), אלה מסעי בני ישראל אשר יצאו מארץ מצרים. These travels took place upon their leaving Eretz Mitzrayim. The Sfas Emes teaches that we learn from this pasuk that the miraculous events of Bnei Yisrael leaving Mitzrayim continued into the desert; these journeys themselves were miracles. What was so miraculous about being in the desert?
Aside from the miracles Bnei Yisrael experienced in the desert, like receiving the mahn and the be’er which accompanied them throughout their sojourn, being sustained in the desert itself was a miracle (see the Ramban who brings the Rambam from Moreh Nevuchim who discusses this point). And the Torah obligates us to remember this miracle, as we read in parshat Eikev (Chapter 8, Pasuk 2) וזכרת את כל הדרך אשר הוליכך ד' אלוקיך זה ארבעים שנה במדבר למען ענותך לנסותך. You must remember that Hashem took you through the desert, in order that you should suffer in the desert, and to test you. And what was the reason for the test? The pasuk continues, התשמור מצותיו אם לא; to see if you would keep His mitzvos are not.
The Sfas Emes adds another reason for the suffering in the desert. The Gemara in Berachos 5A teaches that there are three presents that Hashem gave to Bnei Yisrael; Torah, Eretz Yisrael, and Olam Haba. And each one of these presents was given with suffering. The suffering in the desert was a prerequisite for receiving the present of Eretz Yisrael.
The desert itself is considered inhabitable. The pasuk in sefer Yirmiyahu (Chapter 2, Pasuk 6) states, המוליך אותנו במדבר...בארץ לא עבר בה איש ולא ישב אדם שם. The midbar Bnei Yisrael travelled in upon leaving Mitzrayim was a place no man had passed through or settled. Though the world was created to be settled (Yeshayahu, Chapter 45, Pasuk 18), לשבת יצרה, Hashem created areas that were not meant to be settled naturally. And this was the desert. The only way Bnei Yisrael survived was by living a life above nature. Only through Divine intervention were they sustained.
The Gemara in Yoma 54B teaches that Eretz Yisrael is the main place of creation from where the rest of the world was created. This was the great present Bnei Yisrael received. And they needed to suffer first in the inhabitable desert in order to appreciate this present. When one lives in a place where survival is not natural, and only possible through Divine intervention, it proves to us that the entire world is run by Hashem as well. The exception to the rule proves the rule. Just as Hashem provides for us in the inhabitable, He provides for us in the habitable as well.
There is another pasuk in sefer Yirmiyahu which extols the virtue Bnei Yisrael travelling through the desert. The pasuk says (Chapter 2, Pasuk 2), זכרתי לך חסד נעוריך אהבת כלולותיך לכתך אחרי במדבר בארץ לא זרועה. Hashem remembers the chesed and love of Bnei Yisrael following after Him in the harshness of the desert. It was in the desert that we learned to nullify our own interests and desires and to follow the will of Hashem. This is why the desert was such a necessary prelude to entering Eretz Yisrael. And this is why the desert was considered a continuum of Yetzias Mitzrayim. Egypt was considered a fiery furnace; a כור הברזל through which Bnei Yisrael were refined before becoming a nation. And in the desert, Bnei Yisrael learned to follow blindly in order to merit Eretz Yisrael, the centerpiece of creation. In order to survive in Eretz Yisrael we need to have faith in Hashem and accept His will. This is how we survived in the desert, and this is also necessary to survive in Eretz Yisrael as well.
Good Shabbos
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