Why were we forty years in the desert before entering our Promised Land? We all know what the Torah tells us -- or do we? Our member Rabbi Steven Ettinger challenges our reflex answer to this well-known question
If you were to ask most anyone with basic knowledge of the narrative of the Five Books of Torah why the Children of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years, they would most likely answer that it was because Hashem punished them for despairing over the negative report of the spies. Hashem condemned them to sojourn one year for each day that the spies scouted in the Holy Land. This is written in black and white in the text.
However, in Parshat Eikev Moshe provides a
completely different and quite strange answer, one that is repeated, presumably
for emphasis, twice in quick succession! Hashem forced them to travel forty years in
the desert:
לְמַ֨עַן עַנֹּֽתְךָ֜ לְנַסֹּֽתְךָ֗ לָדַ֜עַת
אֶת־אֲשֶׁ֧ר בִּֽלְבָבְךָ֛ הֲתִשְׁמֹ֥ר מִצְוֺתָ֖ו אִם־לֹֽא׃
וַֽיְעַנְּךָ֮ וַיַּרְעִבֶ֒ךָ֒ וַיַּאֲכִֽלְךָ֤
אֶת־הַמָּן֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹא־יָדַ֔עְתָּ וְלֹ֥א יָדְע֖וּן אֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ לְמַ֣עַן
הוֹדִֽיעֲךָ֗ כִּ֠י לֹ֣א עַל־הַלֶּ֤חֶם לְבַדּוֹ֙ יִחְיֶ֣ה הָֽאָדָ֔ם כִּ֛י
עַל־כׇּל־מוֹצָ֥א פִֽי־יְהֹוָ֖ה יִחְיֶ֥ה הָאָדָֽם׃
In
order to test you by hardships to learn what was in your hearts:
whether you would keep the divine commandments or not. [God] subjected you to
the hardship of hunger and then gave you manna to eat, which neither you
nor your ancestors had ever known, in order to teach you that a human being
does not live on bread alone, but that one may live on anything that ה decrees.(Deut 8:2-3).
הַמַּאֲכִ֨לְךָ֥ מָן֙ בַּמִּדְבָּ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר
לֹא־יָדְע֖וּן אֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ לְמַ֣עַן עַנֹּֽתְךָ֗ וּלְמַ֙עַן֙ נַסֹּתֶ֔ךָ
לְהֵיטִֽבְךָ֖ בְּאַחֲרִיתֶֽךָ׃
Who fed
you in the wilderness with manna, which your ancestors had never
known, in order to test you by hardships only to benefit you in the end (Deut 8:16).
In other words, they wandered in the desert
for forty years not because of a sin but so Hashem could test
them by feeding them manna! This
almost sounds absurd.
For a question that seems so big, there is
a dearth of commentary. Only Ramban provides a detailed explanation of this
test of the Manna.
כִּי הָיָה
נִסָּיוֹן גָּדוֹל לָהֶם שֶׁלֹּא יָדְעוּ עֵצָה לְנַפְשָׁם וַיִּכָּנְסוּ
בַּמִּדְבָּר הַגָּדוֹל לֹא מְקוֹם לֶחֶם וְאֵין בְּיָדָם כְּלוּם מִן הַמָּן,
אֲבָל יָרַד דְּבַר יוֹם בְּיוֹמוֹ וְחַם הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וְנָמָס וַיִּרְעֲבוּ אֵלָיו
מְאֹד. וְכָל זֶה עָשׂוּ לִשְׁמֹר מִצְוַת הַשֵּׁם לָלֶכֶת כַּאֲשֶׁר יְצַוֶּה.
וְהַשֵּׁם הָיָה יָכוֹל לְהוֹלִיכָם בְּדֶרֶךְ הֶעָרִים אֲשֶׁר סְבִיבוֹתֵיהֶם,
אֲבָל הֱבִיאָם בַּנִּסָּיוֹן הַזֶּה כִּי מִמֶּנּוּ יִוָּדַע שֶׁיִּשְׁמְרוּ
מִצְוֹתָיו לְעוֹלָם:
[The
manna itself] was a great trial to them. They did not know what counsel to
adopt for themselves when they entered the great wilderness, a place of no
food, and they had none of the manna [in reserve because it could not be stored
from day to day] but each day’s portion came down on its day, and as the sun
waxed hot, it melted, although they hungered mightily after it. All this
they did to keep the commandment of G-d, to follow as He commanded. Now G-d
could have led them through the [populated] cities that were around them, but
instead He brought them into this trial [of never having any food in reserve] for
He knew that as a result [of this experience] they would keep His commandments
forever.
However, in light of how Moshe connects the
forty-year wandering in the midbar to the manna, perhaps the repetition
of י֣וֹם לַשָּׁנָ֞ה
foreshadows that their task was not to earn forgiveness for their sin but to
exhibit steadfastness in faith in the face of ongoing adversity.
If we interpret this correctly, Moshe is
saying that the forty years was preordained.
It had less to do with their despairing over the spies and much more to
do with Hashem wanting to be assured that the Jewish nation could withstand daily
hardship and remain committed to His commandments. Extrapolating from this, the
fact that we have been afflicted with (and continue to experience) so many
calamities and intense hatred and have nevertheless endured is simply a
continuation of this trial – through the centuries we have merited Divine
protection (our manna) but must continuously prove steadfast in our worthiness
to remain his Chosen People.
Ultimately, there is another “day” that is a constant test that we not simply hope, but are promised, will be לְהֵיטִֽבְךָ֖ בְּאַחֲרִיתֶֽךָ for our benefit in the end. Every day, like the test of the manna falling, as a fundamental element of our belief as Jews we must proclaim regarding the Mashiach: “We await him that he may come any single day.” אֲחַכֶּה לּוֹ בְּכָל יוֹם שֶׁיָּבוֹא. May today be that day!
