The Torah will soon detail for us that neither of these
options is acceptable. They will complain about the manna that
falls from heaven daily and the seeming lack of variety in their meals. They
don’t like the water supply, which is never guaranteed to them. They remember
the good food that they supposedly had in Egypt.
According to Midrash, only a small minority actually wishes
to return to Egypt on a permanent basis. They will press forward with Moshe to
reach the promised Land of Israel, but they will do so reluctantly and half-heartedly. This
leads inexorably to further rebellion, tragedy and the death of an entire
generation – notwithstanding its being a dor de’ah – in the
desert of Sinai. Our parsha is a sad and depressing one, for we
already know the end of the story. We can already see that this generation has
doomed itself to desolation and destruction.
Coming to the Land of Israel and its Jewish state, whether
as a tourist and most certainly when someone immigrates, requires commitment
and enthusiasm. Many who came to Israel over the past century did so by default, but the country has truly been
served and built by those who came with a sense of mission, purpose, happiness
and expectation.
Moshe’s clarion call, that “We are traveling to the place”
of our destiny, echoes throughout the Jewish ages. Not all such calls are heard
and even fewer are followed. Nevertheless, the call has resonated within the
Jewish people throughout its history. It is that call, which appears in today’s parsha, which is the
same call that Moshe proclaimed millennia ago—the guiding motive for the
existence of the State of Israel today.
Just as then in the desert, there are options for Jews
today. The many “Egypts” of the world beckon with their seeming allure but also
possess great underlying faults and dangers. And there are those who wish to
continue to live in a desert that demands nothing from them and contemplate
themselves somehow as being a dor de’ah. History has always arisen
and smitten these options from the Jewish future. The long trek begun by
Moshe and Israel in this week’s parsha continues. We hope that we are
witnessing, at last, its final and successful conclusion.
Shabbat shalom, Rabbi Berel
Wein
You can access "A nation of complainers", Rabbi Wein's devar Torah for the same parashah last year, here.
