The Journey's Of The Sons of
By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)
I remember the kindness of your youth, the love of your bridal days, that you followed Me into the wilderness, to a land where nothing grows.[1]
On
HaShem’s instructions the Children of
In this study I would like to understand the journeys of the Bne Israel and enumerated in parashat Masei - Bamidbar (Numbers) 33. In the annual Torah cycle this parasha is normally read during ther three weeks between Tammuz 17 and Tisha B’Av. In the triennial Torah cycle this parasha is read near the beginning of Adar and near the middle of Av.
As we study this fantastic section, we shall see that this was not only the journey of that generation, but the journey of the last generation as well. These are the stages of our redemption! Rabbenu Bachya explains that during the final redemption many Jews will go out in the desert and pass through these places, and HaShem will sustain them and direct them as He did for the Israelites in the desert. The double mentioning of “their starting points”, in verses one and three, is an allusion to the two Exoduses, first from the Egyptian exile, and then the final exile.
Why did the Torah record this boring list of forty-two places where the Bne Israel camped in the wildwerness? The Midrash tells us one of the purposes for the recording of these journeys in the Torah:
Midrash
Rabbah - Numbers XXIII:1 The Holy
One, blessed be He, said to Israel: 'During all those forty
years that you spent in the wilderness I did not make it necessary for you to
escape, but I cast your enemies down before you by merely being with you. Nay,
more! There were numerous snakes, fiery serpents, and scorpions there’; as it
says, The... wilderness, wherein were serpents, fiery serpents, and scorpions
(Deut. VIII, 15) ‘yet I did not allow them to harm you.’ For this reason the
Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: ' Write down the stages by which Israel
journeyed in the wilderness, in order that they shall know what miracles I
wrought for them.’
The Midrash goes on to tell us another reason for recording these journeys in the Torah:
Midrash
Rabbah - Numbers XXIII:3 THESE
ARE THE STAGES (XXXIII, 1). It is like the case of a king whose son was ill. He
took him to a certain place to cure him. On their return journey his father
began to recount all the stages, saying: ‘Here we slept;
here we cooled ourselves; here you had a headache.’ So the Holy One, blessed be
He, said to Moses: ‘Recount to them all the places where they provoked
Rashi also provides us with the reason for recording these journeys in the Torah:
Why were these
journeys recorded? To make the Omnipresent's benevolence known. For, although
He decreed to move them about and cause them to wander in the wilderness, do
not say that they wandered and were moved about from journey to journey all
forty years, and had no rest--- for there are only forty two
journeys here. Subtract fourteen, all of which took place during the first
year, before the decree, from their journey from Rameses until they reached
Rithmah, from where the spies were dispatched, as it is said, "after, the
people journeyed from Chatzeroth, etc. Send, for yourself, men,
etc.," and here it says, "they journeyed from
Chatzeroth and camped at Rismah," you learn that it was in the
The fact that the Midrash records more than one reason for recording the journeys and Rashi tells us a third reason, suggests that there is more to these journeys than meets the eye. Further, we need to ask another similar question: What is the reason for these forty-two stops in the desert? There is a mystical concept that the purpose of these encampments was for the Children of Israel to release and gather the sparks of holiness which are trapped in the desert's emptiness. Each of these stopping places correspond to a letter of HaShem's forty-two letter Name (The first forty-two letters of the Torah), and so by gathering the sparks from each place a little more of HaShem's Name, His recognition in the world, is revealed.
Three thousand years later, the
Jewish People are still journeying, a hundred years here, two hundred there. On
their journeys through
The whole trip the Bne of Israel take from Mitzrayim (Egypt) to the Promised Land is understood spiritually as a metaphor for the journey that we all take from leaving the straits of the birth canal, to the many years of our life that we spend trying to do the right thing (traveling in the desert and messing up for forty years), to the moment of our own death (The Promised Land).
Each Jew's life may be analyzed in terms of these forty-two
journeys of Bne
Bamidbar
(Numbers) 33:1-2 "These are the journeys of Bne
R' Shlomo Halberstam z"l (the "Bobover Rebbe”) asks:
What is added by "motza'aihem / their goings-forth"? The main focus
of the parasha appears to be on Bne
Our parasha alludes to all of the major exiles that Bne Israel were destined to undergo in their history: The initial letters of "Eleh masei Bne Israel" / "These are the journeys of Bne Israel" allude to the four exiles of the Jewish people: alef-Edom (Rome - our current exile); mem-Madai (Persia); bet-Bavel (Babylon); and yud-Yavan (Greece). But the verse also alludes to our redemption.
In light of all of the above, we can answer the questions we
posed, says R' Halberstam. The word "motza'aihem / their goings-
forth" alludes to the future "goings-forth" of Bne
And these are their journeys according to their starting places (Num.33:2) The Hebrew word for starting places or departures (motza'eihem) comes from the same root as descendants, alluding to the future redemption and the ingathering of the exiles that will occur in the Messianic era. At that time, all forty-two journeys made by the Children of Israel in the desert will be duplicated by the Jewish people as they make their way back to the Land of Israel.[5]
Sefat Emet, a great Chassidic master explains, that each of
these forty-two places offered its unique challenges to the Jewish people. In
each place, the Jewish people were afforded the opportunity to accomplish a
specific tikkun, a spiritual "repair". Furthermore, the Sefat Emet
observes, the Torah juxtaposes the listing of these encampments to a reference
to the Jewish people's leaving Egypt. This was to
indicate, he explains, that just as the Israelites' leaving
Abarbanel teaches that since most of the place names here occur nowhere else in the Tanach (Old Testament), it appears that they were given by the Israelites to commemorate specific events.
Rabbenu Bachya explains, that the Israelites' existence in the desert was, for the most part, sedentary. Some twenty-two of their forty-two encampments in the wilderness were established in the first and last of the forty years and of the remaining thirty-eight years, half of them, some nineteen years, were spent in one place, Kadesh, which means “a holy one”.
The forty-two journeys, therefore, relate to forty-two
states of leaving Mitzrayim (personal or national
restrictions and confinements), before we reach the true and ultimate freedom of
These stages
are not only a record of the past, but also an allusion to the future exiles
and the ultimate redemption through Mashiach.
In the Torah's listing of all forty-two campsites, this is
the first time that we ever heard of many of these places. Just like we tell a
story by citing the highlights, the various narratives we have read from the
time Bne
HaShem has many names. Among the
shorter names that HaShem has is two lettered Hebrew
name Eil (Aleph Lamed) or Adonai (yod hay vav hay). According to the Mystics,
Adonai (spelled with the letters Yod Yod) is really the entire Hebrew alphabet twice. Each letter Yod embodies the
entire alphabet, hence the number forty-two (two times 21). These forty-two
camp sites are synonymous with Bne Israel's
forty-two stages of spiritual development, spiritual awareness and getting to
know HaShem. Each location was another opportunity for Bne
It is no coincidence that the annual Parashat
Masei coincides every year with the three weeks of
mourning (for the Temple)
between Tammuz 17 and Av 9,
for these are the Torah
portions of exile.
Journeys 1 through 11 were in the first year following the Exodus, journeys 32-42 in the fortieth year, meaning that there were nineteen journeys in the intervening thirty-eight years. According to the Midrash, 19 of these 38 years were spent in Kadesh, and the other 19 wandering through the desert.
Rabbenu Bachya tells us that “All the predictions of our
prophets concerning the redemption of the future clearly indicates that this
redemption will largely reflect earlier redemptions. The more we know about the
redemption from
The Baal Shem Tov teaches that the forty-two
journeys in the wilderness – from
These forty-two journeys allow us to align our lives to the compass a higher rhythm, as defined by the forty-two journeys in the Torah, and actually create a strategy that rides and taps into these rhythms.
Read By One Reader[6]
“Our sages provide a hint regarding the great things comprehended by this listing of the stopping stations by pointing out that the total of forty-two journeys counted correspond to the Explicit Name. The Torah begins with this Name - from "In the beginning..." (Genesis 1:1) to "which God created to make" (Genesis 2:3), six letters for each of the seven days of the creation, and it ends with His Name, thus linking the conclusion of the Torah to its beginning, by means of the Holy Name.”[7]
The fourteenth century Hakham David ben Yosef Abudraham[8] pointed out that the entire Song at the Sea,[9] the entire Ten Commandments,[10] and the listing of the forty-two camping places[11] must be read in their entirety, without being subdivided to accommodate several aliyot. The forty-two camping places were read in their entirety because it is symbolic of the Divine Name comprised of forty-two letters.
For this reason, the Reader may not break up the reading containing this listing of the stops; he must include them all in one reading when an individual is called up to the Torah.[12]
Y Y Y
Annual Torah Cycle readings for Bamidbar chapter 33:
Torah: Bamidbar 33:1 – 36:13
Haftarah: Yerimiyahu 2:4-28; 3:4
[Yerimiyahu 2:4-28; 4:1-2]
The triennial Torah cycle readings for Bamidbar chapter 33:
Torah: Bamidbar 33:1-56
Ashlamatah: Yeshayahu 11:16 – 12:6; 14:1-2
Tehillim: Tehillim 106:19-27
Matitiyahu: 25:1-13
Y Y Y
The following table and map gives a list of the forty-two stops:
|
# |
Camp |
Meaning |
Strong’s # |
Strong’s Definition |
|
1 |
Succoth - סכת |
Temporary Shelters |
5523 |
Booths |
|
2 |
Etham - אתם |
Contemplation |
0864 |
With
them: their plowshare |
|
3 |
Pi Hahiroth - החירת פי |
Mouth of Freedom |
6367 |
Place
where sedge grows |
|
4 |
Marah - מרה |
Bitterness |
4785 |
Bitter |
|
5 |
Elim - אילם |
Mighty men,
Trees, Rams |
0362 |
Palms (plural
of “ram”) |
|
6 |
|
|
3220 /
5488 |
|
|
7 |
Sin - סין |
|
5512 |
Thorn or
Clay |
|
8 |
Dophkah - דפקה |
Attack |
1850 |
Knocking |
|
9 |
Alush - אלוש |
Wild |
0442 |
I will
knead (bread) |
|
10 |
Rephidim - רפידם |
Weakness |
7508 |
Rests or Stays or Resting Places |
|
11 |
|
Hatred |
5514 |
Thorny |
|
12 |
Kibroth
Hattaavah - התאוה קברת |
|
6914 |
|
|
13 |
Chazeroth - חצרת |
Courtyard |
2698 |
Settlement |
|
14 |
Rithmah - רתמה |
Smoldering |
7575 |
Heath |
|
15 |
Rimmon Perez - פרץ רמן |
Spreading Pomegranate
Tree |
7428 |
Pomegranate
of the breach |
|
16 |
Livnah - לבנה |
White Brick |
3841 |
Pavement |
|
17 |
Rissah - רסה |
Well Stpped Up
With Stones |
7446 |
Ruin |
|
18 |
Kehelathah - קהלתה |
Assembly |
6954 |
Assembly |
|
19 |
Shapher - הר־שפר |
Beautiful |
8234 |
Beauty |
|
20 |
Haradah - חרדה |
Terror |
2732 |
Fear |
|
21 |
Makheloth - מקהלת |
Assemblies |
4722 |
Place of
Assembly |
|
22 |
Tahath - תחת |
Bottom |
8480 |
The Under
Part |