Parshas Masei 5776

In Parshas Masei, the wanderings of the Bnei Yisrael during their 40 years before entering Eretz Yisrael are listed as 42 distinct encampments. What is the message of this list of encampments, many of which were already mentioned? Furthermore, the Torah records these journeys in a puzzling manner: “And Moshe wrote their destinations according to their travels … and these are their travels according to their destinations.” Why is “destination” mentioned before “travel?”

The Seforno answers that from the list of encampments we see that the Jews traveled based on Hashem’s command alone; it had nothing to do with their own decisions. The fact that there were 42 encampments within 40 years shows that they moved quite often. No normal person would choose to move as much as that. Also, sometimes they barely had time to settle before they had to pick up and leave again, as it states: “Sometimes the cloud would remain from evening until morning, and the cloud would be lifted in the morning and they would journey” (Bamidbar 9:21). They did this with joy, knowing that this was Hashem’s will.

The Seforno understands that the Torah’s placing of the word “destination” before “travel” implies that the nation was leaving a better place in order to move to a worse place. Even when in a good encampment, the Jews were ready to leave when ordered, and if they saw that they were heading to a worse place, their willingness to fulfill Hashem’s will was not diminished. It was in this merit that the Bnei Yisrael entered Eretz Yisrael, explains the Seforno.

Rav Yechezkel Levinstein infers from here: 1) A person’s main focus should be on what Hashem wants, not what he feels would be beneficial to him. Just as the Jews in the desert were focused solely on Hashem’s will, so too we should be. 2) Ultimately, an exceptionally good thing came out of the nation’s many travels — they merited Eretz Yisrael! In our lives, when we are doing Hashem’s will, if we come on to hard times, we should trust that ultimately, things will prove to be for the good, even if right now we don’t see it.

Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz adds another benefit of focusing on Hashem’s will. The prophet refers to the nation’s journeys in the desert as the “love of your youth” (Yirmiyahu 2:1). For the Bnei Yisrael, even 40 years of frequent travels were a labor of love because they were focused on Hashem’s will. So too, any Jew who is focused on doing Hashem’s will can feel happiness even amid harsh circumstances. He may be mired in difficulties, but he barely feels them, because his focus is on getting close to Hashem and in this he is succeeding.

I see a living example of this in many of the families that have come to live in Eretz Yisrael, even though they had a much more comfortable lifestyle in chutz la’aretz. Although they do have difficulties, they are focused on the spiritual advantages of Eretz Yisrael.

The Talmud (Brachos 5a) states that not only hardships but also pain should be accepted with love. This is hard to understand: Let’s say a person is in the throes of a migraine headache. What could be good about it? How can he “accept it with love?”

The Maharal (Nesiv Hayissurim 1) writes that we see in Mishlei (3:11) that pain and affliction are among Hashem’s ways of chastising us for our own good, and we therefore must not recoil from this. Pain is positive because it can motivate us to search out the sins we need to fix. Even if we don’t find any sins, the Gemara (ibid.) refers to pain as “afflictions of love,” designed to bring us closer to Hashem. When a Jew resolves to continue serving Hashem despite the fact that he is in pain, his extra efforts bring him closer to Hashem. The Maharal adds that if a Jew is too focused on material pleasures, pain helps him free himself from his materialistic mindset.

If one does not make use of pain to come closer to Hashem, he has lost the precious opportunity pain was supposed to provide. If one just bickers about his lot, he is doing the opposite of what Hashem wants.

Many people would come to Rav Shach for advice in dealing with their hardships. Often, he found solutions to problems, but when a problem seemed unsolvable, he would advise: “Don’t become embittered. Everything is for your good; it’s all Hashem’s mercy, try to accept it with love.”

Once, Rav Shach was suffering from an acute headache that left him almost unable to learn. As he struggled over his Gemara, unable to conceal his pain, Rav Shraga Grossbard came to visit him. Rav Grossbard mentioned that he knew of a new medicine that could take away his headache entirely, but one of its side effects would leave him in a mentally cloudy state for a few hours. During that time he would have to rest, but afterwards he would be able to learn unimpeded.

Rav Shach refused the medicine, explaining: “Right now I can still learn, although with difficulty. If I take that medicine, I won’t be able to learn at all for a few hours. That surely is not what Hashem wants, that I should stop learning and get rid of this headache. He clearly wants me to learn despite the headache. How can I not accept this pain with love?”

May we internalize that all that happens to us is for the good!

Exciting news! Rabbi Krieger will soon be publishing a sefer featuring the “best” of the weekly Parsha sheet. If you would like to share in this celebration, please go to www.bircas.org for further details.