Parashat Bamidbar (in the desert) - by Yahal Porat
This parasha deals mainly with a very long and not very interesting Mifkad, made by Israel people while on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land.
The mifkas is probably not as excting as we do in Habonim Dror, but no doubt it is much bigger. Hundred of thousands of Israel people are gathered and being counted by the leaders. This entirely happening in the desert.
Few scholars had related to the question of desert in the Jewish history. Many different important things have happened in the dessert, such us the formation of the nation, the writing of torah, the basic laws and so.
Why was it all in the desert?
Well some say it is not the material way of understanding the word but spiritual. The desert that took to cross 40 years is much more a state of mind then actual piece of land.
The people of Israel were to live one country and one state of mind – slavery, before entering the Promised Land. They have to live all their familiar known ways of life, to give up much all, and then go through many difficulties – the desert.
If to relate to our life, we all need not only to want to live the known comfy zone of our regular life, but when we do challenge our selves and being challenged by others, we are actually walking in a desert: there is not enough food or water, not many other habitats, and we are in between two worlds. The desert, a no man land is the best place to think really deep of everything. This is the environment one cannot be influenced by media or others, and have his own quest.
The desert in Israel of today is a place that was bitten by human, as part of the fathers of the Zionist ideas. The land and the liberation of land, which means fighting the desert, was a novel thing to do. Today, we all understand that there are very good values of just preserving the nature and the desert.
We in HDUK are about to travel to this spiritual desert every now and again. We all have to deal with moral issue, with our fears, with our values and believe. And it is hard; it makes one sweat and tired, just like a walk in the desert.
But there is an outcome to all the effort – is there?
Shabbat shalom! |
