Reflections on time spent in the desert
As we approach the end of the book of Numbers, Bamidbar,this week, it is worthwhile for us to reflect upon its main themes and teachings. Bamidbar, which means “in the desert”, is the fourth book of the Torah and contains some ofits most powerful stories. Journeying through our annual cycle of reading Torah, we read of the trials and tribulations of our Patriarchs and Matriarchs in the book of Genesis and are captivated and enthralled as we read of the exodus from Egypt, the crossing of the sea of reeds and the receiving of the Ten Commandments at the foot of Mt Sinai. It can often be lost on us, unless we attend services regularly on Shabbat morning, that most of the Torah focuses on the trials and tribulations of the Israelites as they journey through the desert. The desert is where the children of Israel actually learn what the true meaning of freedom really is. God, in the Torah narrative, could have instructed Moses to have taken the Israelites straight from Egypt to Israel. From even a quick glance at a map of the region it is obvious that the Israeliteswould not have needed forty years to rea
Perhaps the most powerful aspect of Bamidbar is that it describes all kinds of human and societal challenges, ranging from the personal to the communal, the social to the political. The message emanating from the narratives we find in Bamidbar teaches us that freedom is not just the absence of slavery but is something that has to be worked towards, fought for and rigorously pursued daily in our lives and in society.
The desert in our tradition is where Israel – and where we – learn the value of freedom, justice and compassion in our efforts to build a kehilah kedusha – a sacred community with a strong egalitarian ethic. This perspective is highlighted in a midrashic teaching that focuses on the importance of the desert. “Had the Torah been delivered in Israel proper, perhaps the tribe which hosted the event would exercise proprietary rights to Torah. To ensure a democratic distribution of Torah, it was delivered in the desert – literally in no man’s land – so that it would be viewed as public provenance.”
Additionally, the desert is our spiritual teacher. It can be a contemplative place of deep silence where prophets like Moses and Eliyahu heard the Divine voice. In Hebrew the word desert – midbar – can also be read as medaber, which means to speak. It is from the silence and deep listening of being in a midbar – desert-state, a state of introspection, that medaber, clear speech emerges. We hear and can articulate for ourselves a kind of clarity that enables us to focus on what is essential and important in our lives and for the world. May the journey through the midbar we have all taken together this year help bring healing, insight and clarity in the wake of one of the saddest, most tragic years in the last 80 years that the Jewish community has ever had to endure.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi George Mordecai
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