This Lelamed Dvar is also available in your local App Store (iTunes and
Android). I hope you enjoy and share this camping Dvar (in honor of
summer)...
One of this week's Parshiot, Parshat Maasei, lists the many places where
the Jews in the desert traveled through and camped. Since the Torah doesn't
waste any words or letters, it would seem strange to list places that the
Jews visited, if it meant nothing for us today. As commentaries help
explain, when you love someone, you want to remember everything you did
together, and G-d's love for us is no different. This love that G-d has for
us is the reason why the Torah spends so many Pessukim (verses) listing the
places the Jews visited. As Rabbi Twerski asks, though, at each point the
Torah says (33:1-12) that they "traveled from A and camped at B. They
traveled from B and camped at C", when it could have saved words and simply
said that they camped at A, B, and C?
Commentaries help us understand this by explaining that the forty years
that the Jews spent in the desert was filled with spiritual growth, and the
"travels" represented that growth. The Torah attests to the fact that not
only did the Jews travel to point A, but they camped/grew there. The lesson
for us is simple and true: If you want to "travel" through Torah growth,
make sure you not only travel along a solid path, but make sure you "camp"
at every stage, and make sure you're comfortable with it, before you move
onto another level. For example, you can't jump to Kaballah (mysticism)
before you know Halacha (law) and Talmud. There's a process that requires
"camping" at every step of the way. So before we venture off to see the
wonderful sites the Torah has to offer, make sure you take a road map
(Torah), a guide (Rabbi), and patience. Only then will you truly enjoy the
life camping adventure.
Shlomo Ressler
Quotation of the Week:
"Some people dream of success, while others wake up and work hard to
achieve it."
This Lelamed Dvar is also available in your local App Store (iTunes and
Android). I hope you enjoy and share this camping Dvar (in honor of
summer)...
_______________________________________________
One of this week's Parshiot, Parshat Maasei, lists the many places where
the Jews in the desert traveled through and camped. Since the Torah doesn't
waste any words or letters, it would seem strange to list places that the
Jews visited, if it meant nothing for us today. As commentaries help
explain, when you love someone, you want to remember everything you did
together, and G-d's love for us is no different. This love that G-d has for
us is the reason why the Torah spends so many Pessukim (verses) listing the
places the Jews visited. As Rabbi Twerski asks, though, at each point the
Torah says (33:1-12) that they "traveled from A and camped at B. They
traveled from B and camped at C", when it could have saved words and simply
said that they camped at A, B, and C?
Commentaries help us understand this by explaining that the forty years
that the Jews spent in the desert was filled with spiritual growth, and the
"travels" represented that growth. The Torah attests to the fact that not
only did the Jews travel to point A, but they camped/grew there. The lesson
for us is simple and true: If you want to "travel" through Torah growth,
make sure you not only travel along a solid path, but make sure you "camp"
at every stage, and make sure you're comfortable with it, before you move
onto another level. For example, you can't jump to Kaballah (mysticism)
before you know Halacha (law) and Talmud. There's a process that requires
"camping" at every step of the way. So before we venture off to see the
wonderful sites the Torah has to offer, make sure you take a road map
(Torah), a guide (Rabbi), and patience. Only then will you truly enjoy the
life camping adventure.
Shlomo Ressler
_______________________________________________
Quotation of the Week:
"Some people dream of success, while others wake up and work hard to
achieve it."
