Turn, Turn, Turn

Our parsha begins with an account of the 42 journeys of the children of Israel as they went out of the land of Egypt. The Lubavitcher Rebbe teaches that Egypt is not only a place but also a state of mind. Mitzrayim, the Hebrew word for Egypt, also means "confinement". From this Rabbi Jonathan Sacks teaches us that "this is why all 42 journeys, not merely the first, were a "going forth out of the land of Egypt." 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 Egypt, beyond the narrowness of the soul".

The Torah is eternal beloved, not only teaching us about our past, but also teaching us about our future, our destiny. It says that every Jew is obliged "to see himself as if he had traveled out of Egypt that very day." The 42 journeys therefore have a special eternal significance for each of us, and hint to the journeys that we will take.

There are many Egypts we must pass through. In some cases it may be the confinement of the world, which seeks to hold us captive. In other cases it may be our own narrow thinking that holds us captive. Regardless we must constantly strive to move forward. A spiritual life is not a matter of suddenly arriving, but of constantly journeying.

The journeys of the Israelites from Egypt serve as a warning against the two kinds of error into which we can fall. One is to believe that we have arrived, that we can rest and be content. The other is to despair, to focus on our failures. We must remember beloved that there is always a new journey just on the horizon. Even a single step is the start of a journey and even that small step brings us that much closer to liberation from each personal as well as national Egypt. Rabbi Lazer Body says that we must also remember that the direction in which we are going matters more than how far one is along the way, and with HaShem's loving grace we will get there.

Mattot and Massei are always read in the period of the three weeks between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av. They are set in this time of bitter confinement between the first breach in the walls of Jerusalem and the Temple's destruction. Rabbi Sacks tells us that the significance of their timing is that they convey to us, at the time when we most need reminding, the concept of "destroying in order to rebuild." Destruction may be for the sake of replacing a building, or a character trait with a better and stronger one. The Baal Shem Tov commented on the verse "It is the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it", saying that salvation is not something that simply follows trouble: It is implicit in it. Here, too, we find the fusion of the two opposites-destroying and rebuilding, affliction and salvation-that can come only when we leave the confinements of human reasoning and journey towards the all-encompassing expanses of faith. It is only though the eyes of faith, of emunah that we can see G*d's goodness everywhere, even in times that seem the darkest. Seen from the eyes of a child, punishment may seem harsh, but through the eyes of a loving father, punishment is for the child's own good. We need to see the dark places in history and in our lives through the eyes of G*d, in doing so we are able to turn G*d's hidden mercy into open kindness, and change trying times and the darkness of exile into the light of the Time to Come. Remember the joy is in the journey beloved. May this generation see the rebuilding of the Holy Temple by the hand of G*d, Amen and Amen
Shabbat Shalom, with much emunah, Elisheva Amaris