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Orchard of Delights # Vayeilech
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humanity to unity through a true understanding of its relationship
with the Creator, was set apart from the other nations.
Indeed, as Balaam declared when he tried in vain to curse Israel:
“They are a nation that will dwell alone and will not be considered
among the nations” (Numbers 23:9). Just as being alone can be
interpreted as either a blessing or a curse, Jewish history has shown
that Israel’s uniqueness and chosen status has taken on elements
of both – as a badge of honor and as the cause for a virulent anti-
Semitism that has hounded us in every generation.
Rashi comments on the verse, “And Israel shall dwell securely,
alone” (Deuteronomy 33:28) that all the Jews will tranquilly “sit
under their own grape vines and fig trees” (Zechariah 3:10) and
settle throughout the Land, as they will not need to live together to
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protect themselves or to rapidly band together to repulse an attack.
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The sense one gets from Rashi is that this state is both ideal and
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natural. While the blessing that each person should feel safe, and,
even more importantly, at ease, in the Messianic era is utopian, it
is also the most natural request in the world. Indeed, even though
human beings seek companionship and feel at peace when they live
without fear of external attack, ultimately peace of mind is not a
function of something outside ourselves; rather, it has to be found
within our own hearts, minds, and souls.
One of the most powerful methods for achieving this type of peace
of mind entails the spiritual practice of hitbodedut (literally, lone
meditation), where a person goes out into nature alone and communes
with God. The word “hitbodedut,” is derived from the Hebrew word
meaning “being alone” (boded), the very word used in the above
verses. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, following in the footsteps of
the patriarch Isaac and his own illustrious great-grandfather the
Ba’al Shem Tov, established the spiritual service of hitbodedut.
He encouraged his students to set aside a certain amount of time
each day to be alone, preferably in nature, during which time they
would talk to God just like a person talks to his or her best friend.
This kind of spiritual practice must be tailored to each and every
individual and can be accompanied by singing, praying, learning,
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law grants one the ability to ”walk” and ultimately advance from
this world to the World to Come. Halachah, becomes the bridge, as
it were, that enables us to cross from this world to the next.
The observant Jewish lifestyle is designed in effect to train us in
how to seamlessly make transitions: from night to day and from day
to night, from the mundane weekdays to the holy Shabbat and back
again, from month to month and year to year, from joy to sorrow,
from being single to being married, from being a child to being an
adult, and so forth. Rabbi Natan, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov’s
foremost student and the transmitter of his teachings, writes on the
first page of his book Meshivat Hanefesh that in order to do teshuvah
one needs to be proficient in Halachah and a master of the dynamic
of “run and return.” In fact, living an observant lifestyle teaches us
how to “run and return,” training us every day in how to make the
transitions from one situation to another not only with grace but
also with trust, with the full realization that God is with us during
life’s highs and lows.
After spending one’s life walking with the law, its influence prepares
us for the ultimate transitions – from life to death and from death to
life after death. As the Jewish people were preparing to cross from
one side of the Jordan to the other, from one reality to another,
Moses was also preparing himself to cross from life to death, from our
physical world to another more elevated spiritual dimension. That
Moses makes this transition with vigor and no sense of regret speaks
volumes regarding the spiritual level he had attained.
The phrase “And Moses went” also alludes to the very first time
God spoke directly to Abraham, the first Jew, when he commanded
him: “Go out to yourself (lech lecha) from your land and the place
of your birth and from your father’s house to the land that I will
show you” (Genesis 12:1; see “The Ten Trials of Abraham” for more
on this translation of the verse). The Hebrew word for “go” (lech)
has the same root as “went” (vayelech), the name of our portion.
The Jewish people’s journey began when Abraham left his familiar
surroundings to begin a new life of constant spiritual striving. His
personal spiritual quest is implanted in the consciousness of every
Jew in each and every generation. Now, at the end of the Written
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