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Torah Portion -
masei
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Written by d fine
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Every letter and word of the Torah is precious and for a reason - but a bulk of Masei seems superfluous and for no reason whatsoever! When the Torah summarises the journies Bnei Yisrael undertook through the desert, it says (one example 33;18)'They journeyed from Chatzeiros and camped in Rismah. They journeyed from Rismah and camped in Rimon Peretz.'
Why does it repeat the place they started off in (in this case Rismah) - we know that if they journeyed to Rismah then the next journey obviously started from Rishmah?? And it is like this for every journey that's recorded in Massei; why repeat the same place as the destination for one journey and the point of origin of the next journey?
An answer given is that this is a message in life. The journey of the Bnei Yisrael through out the desert represents our spiritual journey in life (R' Tatz). Whenever we make a spiritual journey to achieve growth, we must be sure
1) where we are coming from and
2)have a goal/destination point.
We have to know who we are - where the journey began from, and where we want to get to. This is why the Torah repeats the destination & origin; to teach us that whenever we are making our personal journey then we must be conscious and sure of the point of origin & goal; even if we think one might be obvious or clear - we must still concretise it and have it clear and in our consciousness. GOOD SHABBES.
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