Page 534 - 24107

24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 17 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Cyan
24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 17 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Black
#24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 17 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Yellow
24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 17 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Magenta
#
#24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 17 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Yellow 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 17 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Magenta 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 17 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Cyan 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 17 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Black
#
Orchard of Delights
or perfunctory manner, they would not have accomplished their goal.
The people understood then, as we do now, that the messages Moses
wished to impart reflected his genuine concern for the nation. Since
the messages came from his heart, they entered the people’s hearts.
This insight draws our attention to one of the greatest mysteries
of this book: a style and syntax quite different than that of the first
four books of the Torah. The first four books were dictated by God
to Moses word for word, so they are written in the third person. The
uniqueness of this book is that it was spoken by Moses “from his own
mouth,” that is to say, in his own words in the first person (Megillah
31b). Later God commanded him to write down the exact words he
had uttered. In this way, Deuteronomy perfectly unifies the Oral
and Written Torahs, fulfilling the dictum of making His will your
will, so that He will make His will your will (Pirkei Avot 2:4). Moses
had truly reached this level by the end of his life; therefore, his words
simultaneously expressed his will as well as God’s. The expression
the Rabbis coined to express this exalted spiritual level is that the
Shechinah, God’s Presence, spoke through the throat of Moses (see
Zohar 3:256).
That Moses’ reached this level is all the more remarkable when
we remember that at the burning bush Moses argued that he was
incapable of leading the people because he could not speak properly!
Even after returning to Egypt and despite God’s personal assurances
that He would be with him, Moses complained that no one would
listen to him as he was of “uncircumcised lips” (Exodus 6:12). His
ultimate ascension to the level where even those words that came
from his heart were perfectly aligned with God’s will, (so that he
therefore merited transmitting God’s word to all future generations)
should inspire us all.
534
masei י ֵע ְס ַמ
£The Dynamics of the JourneyThe Dynamics of the JourneyThe Dynamics of the Journey
££
Masei, the last portion in the book of Numbers, marks the end
of Israel’s forty year sojourn in the desert. The entire book of
Deuteronomy takes place during a brief thirty-seven day period.
Therefore, in Masei, the Torah summarizes the forty-two journeys
that occurred during Israel’s wanderings in the desert, from the time
the nation left Egypt to the current encampment in the plains of
Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho.
These journeys are introduced by a verse that creates a mirror
image: “And Moses wrote their going forth according to their journeys
at the command of God, and these were their journeys according
to their going forth” (Numbers 33:2). The words “going forth” and
“journeys” found in the first half of the verse occur in the opposite
order in the second half of the verse. The ArtScroll Chumash quotes
Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch on the significance of this inversion.
The first half of the verse – “Their going forth according to their
journeys” – is written from God’s perspective, as each time they went
forth their journey had a specific purpose, while the second half of the
verse is written from the people’s perspective. Since the people were
often restless or dissatisfied, the journey itself is emphasized and not
its purpose. As the verse makes clear, the journeys were more about
leaving than about going anywhere – “their journeys according to
their going forth.”
This point although subtle is so true. Oftentimes we have the
forethought to map out our next moves in life in keeping with our
long-term plans, with regard to a broader vision of where we are
going in life. Sometimes though we really do not know what should
come next but our intuition, at best, or our fears, at worst, compel
523