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"Step by Step, Inch by Inch...!"

07/08/2020 04:44:31 PM

Jul8

Rabbi Reuben Israel Abraham, CDR, CHC, USN (ret)

In this week’s double Torah reading, Parshiot Mattot-Mas’ei, we find the following: “These were the encampments of B’Nei Yisrael, who went out of the Land of Egypt by their legions by the authority of Moshe and Aharon. And Moshe recorded their goings out for their travels by the word of Hashem, and these were their travels for their goings out.” (BaMidbar 33:1-2) What follows is a long list of all the encampments the B’Nei Yisrael made on their 40-year journey to the Promised Land. So, why such detail? What do we learn from this list of their journeys? I offer the following parable:

Danoff was a wealthy merchant who had plenty of money. His lifelong wish was to retire and spend the rest of his days in the Beit Medrash engaged in Torah learning. To achieve this, Danoff knew that he must properly train his only son Izak in the fine points of trading and international commerce. If he did not do this, Danoff was certain that his import-export business with its fleet of ships would literally be sunk. He decided to make his son Izak take a tedious journey that involved performing a myriad of tasks on the way to his ultimate destination. Danoff told his son: “I want you to embark from the port of Odessa and sail to Istanbul. Whatever the ship’s captain tells you to do, you must do! Remember: the fact that you are my son will not win you any special privileges until you have completed the tasks I have assigned you. If you perform your job well, I shall step down and turn everything over to you. Your reward shall be exceedingly great!”

The journey from Odessa to Istanbul was unbearable for Izak. The churning water of the Black Sea caused him terrible seasickness. Even worse, he was forced to do the most menial tasks on board the ship during the journey, including cleaning the sanitary facilities and shlepping heavy crates. Upon his arrival in Istanbul, Izak received a telegram from his father ordering him to purchase a very special type of silk of a certain high-quality costing a very high price. For three weeks, Izak was lost in the labyrinth of Istanbul’s many market places unable to find the specific type of silk his father wanted him to purchase. All this time he kept reminding himself that he should not become discouraged because his father was counting on him. And suddenly, the very next day, he found exactly what his father wanted.

As he made his way to Athens, Izak was barely able to escape a band of thieves bent on robbing him of his wares. In Italy, he received another telegram from his father sending him on to Switzerland, there to become acquainted with the world of international banking. From Switzerland he traveled to Paris. By this time, he had been away from home for one full year. All this time, Izak had worked on his father’s ships and bought, sold, and traded imported and exported goods, all under his father’s watchful eye. Danoff was very pleased with his son’s accomplishments. Izak had proven himself up to everyone of his father’s tasks. He was ready to come home to Odessa! Upon his arrival, his father gave him a hero’s welcome and happily turned the entire business over to him. Izak had everything he had ever dreamed of for the rest of his life.

The description found in the Torah reading of each of the B’nei Yisrael’s journeys from place to place in the desert together with the accounts of what they experienced on the way are important to take an accounting of. Why? Because just as Danoff sent his son Izak on a set of difficult journeys across Europe to learn the necessary skills of business management and to prove himself to his father, so, too, HaShem sends us --- H-s children --- on our journeys through life in order to perfect our souls through the mitzvot (duties) of the Torah. By withstanding all that is thrown at us on our journeys, we gain and develop our “skills” in learning to believe in and trust Hashem. In so doing, we correct and refine our souls.

May we never stop our journeys until we, Am Yisrael, arrive at our unique destination, a destination ordained for us by HaShem!

Fri, March 29 2024 19 Adar II 5784