Traveling Along the Road of Life

 

Dianne_Lacourciere

 

Eileh ma-asei b’nai yisrael… “These are the travels of the Israelites… .” Begins the final Torah reading in the book of Bamidbar – which literally means, “in the wilderness.” The reading starts off sounding like an ancient version of the classic “How I spent my summer vacation” essay, and then moves into a discussion about what will happen next, once the people have crossed over the Jordan River and moved into the Promised Land. Or, “Here’s your class schedule and your book list … and haven’t you already read the first few chapters???”

There’s a saying in rabbinic literature, Shiv′im panim la Torah, “the Torah has 70 faces.” It’s usually taken to mean that any verse in the Torah can have multiple legitimate meanings and interpretations, even if they contradict each other. To me, it’s also a reminder that each time I read a passage in Torah, I find new meaning. Sometimes, it’s because I read the Hebrew instead of the English, or vice versa, sometimes because I’m looking for something in particular, and sometimes a thought will just pop into my mind.

Today, when I began reading the list of places where the Israelites camped in the wilderness (40 years that seem to have gone by in the blink of an eye), my first thought was, “This is a life review!.” While very little information is given about what actually transpired at most of those locations, we as readers can imagine filling in the blanks. Our great medieval commentator Rashi, in explaining this list, quotes a Midrash about a king once took his ill son abroad to find a cure. during their journey home – after the boy had been cured – the king recounted the stops along the way, “here you had a fever … here we rested … etc.”

Seeing these verses (Numbers 33:1-49) as a life review as opposed to simply a laundry list of places is a reflection of my point in life and my rabbinic work today. As a Baby Boomer I’m thinking more concretely about the aging process – both the physical and the emotional – and wondering what difference I’m making in the world, or at least my small part of it. I look back at what has led me on this path, and I look forward as I plan ahead.

Planning ahead segues beautifully into the second aliyah of Masei, where the Land of Israel is to be divided up as an inheritance for each family in each tribe according to their size. Even though it’s a fairly cut and dried process, at least in theory, it gives us a good biblical foundation for the idea of giving thought to what we will leave behind; both the tangible assets and the intangible legacy, what we might call an “ethical will.”

As Moses takes the people on a not-so-sentimental journey down memory lane, he points out some positive things, such as the “12 springs of water and 70 palm trees” in Elim. He also mentioned not having water at Rephidim and Aaron ascending Mount Hor, where he would die. Every journey – every life – has its ups and downs, good times and sad times, and perhaps times we’d like to forget. It’s all part of what makes us who we are and can help us as we move forward into our next version of the Promised Land.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Sermons

Moses & Yitro At The Mountain
Moses & Yitro At The Mountain

Yitro, this week’s Torah reading, is famous for containing the Aseret haDibrot, commonly translated as “The Ten Commandments.” There’s no question that a law code is necessary for a community to be cohesive, to have a set of principles to guide them, and to create a...

Chayeh Sarah-What We Learn From Abraham
Chayeh Sarah-What We Learn From Abraham

Va y’hihu chayay Sarah may-ah shanah v’esrim shanah v’sheva shanah shnay chayay Sarah And the years of Sarah’s life were 100 years and twenty years and 7 years, the years of Sarah’s life. This week’s Torah reading is Chaye Sarah, the life of Sarah. However, it begins...

Artificial and Real Intelligence: Rosh Hashanah 5784
Artificial and Real Intelligence: Rosh Hashanah 5784

Shalom, dear congregants, As we gather on this auspicious occasion of Rosh Hashanah, we celebrate not only the Jewish New Year but also what is often referred to as the “Birthday of the world.” The concept of creation holds a profound place in our faith, and today,...

Latest Midrash HaZak

Chukat: The Red Heifer and Our Stuff, Rabbi Andra Greenwald
Chukat: The Red Heifer and Our Stuff, Rabbi Andra Greenwald

Photo Credit: Rennett Stowe on Flickr Chukat: The Red Heifer and Our Stuff Rabbi Andra Greenwald Is it sacrilegious to feel that some pieces of the Torah just don’t make sense? In parshat Chukat, the Law of the Red Heifer presents us with one of the statutes for which...

Devarim: The Power of Retelling, Rabbi Jane Rachel Litman
Devarim: The Power of Retelling, Rabbi Jane Rachel Litman

Image from Medfield, MA public library, wallaceshealy-com-OPvCP3-clipart The Power of Retelling Rabbi Jane Rachel Litman A few weeks ago, I was invited to speak to a university class about being one of the first generation of women and queer rabbis. At these kinds of...

Mattot: What Words Can Create, Ilene Winn-Lederer
Mattot: What Words Can Create, Ilene Winn-Lederer

Illustration ©2009-Ilene Winn-Lederer Mattot: What Words Can Create Ilene Winn-Lederer Although I grew up with a strong Jewish identity, I did not experience a traditional Jewish education and came to Torah in my late teens through influential involvement with a...

Latest Personal Blogs

Blessing My Bended Knees-A Poem
Blessing My Bended Knees-A Poem

This past week, I participated in a Ritualwell class with Alden Solovy on "Writing From One Word of Torah." I distilled 3 stream-of-consciousness prompts on the word "Baruch/Berekh," the root of which can mean "blessing' and "knee, into this poem. Blessing my bended...

The Eshet Hayil In Our Lives
The Eshet Hayil In Our Lives

Photo: publicdomainpictures.net The Eshet Hayil In Our Lives An email from My Jewish Learning about “A Woman of Valor” prompted me to pivot the next evening’s planned adult learning session to looking at these 22 verses from Mishlei, the Book of Proverbs. These verses...

Live Long and Prosper?
Live Long and Prosper?

By Oklahoma Heritage Association, Gaylord-Pickens Museum - Author, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25656727 Live Long and Prosper? January 5, 2022 began the third year of the seven and a half-year cycle of Daf Yomi, the practice of...

Pin It on Pinterest