 |
|
May 20, 2013
Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star
The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
On the road again — and again and again
By
Rabbi Berel Wein
It sure took a long time for the Jews of the Exodus to reach the Promised Land. It wasn't by accident
JewishWorldReview.com |
The Talmud lists travel as one of the things in life that are enjoyable in moderation but destructive in abundance. Therefore, the listing of the forty-two different travels and way stations of the people of Israel in the desert of Sinai is truly daunting. No wonder the people complained and grumbled. And even though the foremost commentator, Rashi, points out that the Jewish people encamped in one place, Kadesh Barnea, for thirty-eight of their forty years in the desert, the travels of the people in those two years — forty-one journeys — were certainly grueling experiences. What, therefore, was the purpose of all of these travels and travails?
What was the ennobling quality of that travel experience that was meant to improve Israel's spirituality and Godly mission? And what are we, the descendants of those desert-wandering Israelites of almost three millennia ago, to learn from their experience of travel in order to better our lives and society?
| STIMULATION AND INSPIRATION |
| Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes "must-reading". Sign up for the daily update. It's free. Just click here. | |
I think that there are a number of hard-won lessons here. Firstly, that all worthy goals in life involve travel, loneliness, sacrifice, discomfort and dogged persistence. There are no direct, non-stop flights in life. There are always close connections to be made, transfers to be accomplished, and luggage to be stored, taken with or discarded, as the case may be. We are always on the road as long as we live. Our task is to have clearly defined destinations and the strength of will to reach those destinations, no matter how many detours in life we are forced to take.
The Torah (Bible) prescribes for Jews both national and personal destinations and goals. It also outlines for us a road map of life to help us accomplish our journey.
The past decades — and even centuries — have shown us how catastrophic it can be for Jews, individually and collectively, to ignore the Torah's road map and instead follow their own sense of direction. The generation of the desert was forced to endure forty-two way stations on its way to the Promised Land. But it had the distinct advantage of knowing where it was heading.
The only way to survive the trip that life bids us take is to know our destination. Then, the unavoidable difficulties of the trip somehow become more bearable. Secondly, there is the understanding that our journey is a dangerous one.
The Talmud enjoins Jews returning home from a major voyage to recite a blessing of thanksgiving for having survived the journey. Rashi observes that Moses reminded the Jewish people of the problems, dangers and deliverance that occurred at each and every one of the forty two desert way stations.
Rashi uses the metaphor of a parent reminding a child "that here you had a headache, here you stubbed your foot, etc." — in order to impress upon us that every way station in life is fraught with dangers and cruelties. Even with G-d's protective clouds and fire hovering over the Israelite camp in the desert, the Jews of that generation were not spared the heartbreaks and disappointments of life. And successfully dealing with one challenge of life, leaving one-way station whole and strong does not diminish the difficulties of the next — and there always is a next — challenge in life.
Thus, the travels of our ancestors in the Sinai desert light the way for our journey in life as well. The blessing of thanksgiving to G-d is one that should be remembered on a regular basis throughout our trip to our holy destination.
Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Rabbi Berel Wein is one of Jewry's foremost historians and
founder of the Destiny Foundation.
He has authored over 650 tapes, books and videos which you can purchase at RabbiWein.com.
Comment by clicking here.
© 2004, Rabbi Berel Wein
|
