Mattoth-Massey - How Did I Get Here?

Parshas Massey lists the stops of the children of Israel from the time of the exodus from Egypt until they arrived to the border of the Promised Land. The listing is lengthy with the 42 places they camped covering 46 verses. Some of the places had names that were generally known at the time. Others were given their name by Israel. Some seem to be descriptions of the place. For example Har Shefer (הר שפר) literally means Mount Beauty and the Targum Yonathan says it was a mountain with beautiful fruit. Others recall an incident. For example Kivrot HaTaavah (קברת התאוה) literally “graves of craving” recalls how God killed the people with insatiable gluttony. Some of the places were previously mentioned. Others are only mentioned here. The form of the verses is that they left a particular place and camped at a particular place, thereby mentioning each place twice.

Rashi asks, why were these journeys recorded, and gives two explanations.  The first is to show the kindness of Hashem by proving that the people were not constantly moving with no rest. Rather most of the time they resided in one place. The second he says is analogous to a king whose son became sick, so he took him to a far away place to have him healed. On the way back, the father began citing all the stages of their journey, saying to him, “This is where we slept, here we were cold, here you had a headache etc.”

The Ramban gives a different reason. He explains that the generation that experienced these signs and wonders knew they were true. However later generations would deny them and change the story so they could claim it was all natural phenomenon Therefore the Chumash was lengthy so as to emphasize that it they really happened.

The Bartenura explains that while Israel was in Egypt, they were sick and steeped in idolatry and sin. The holy One blessed be He brought them into the desert and Mount Sinai to heal them and teach them Torah. This was because they were entering the holy land and they should be on the level of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who constantly had the divine presence before them. Therefore it mentions all of their travels to get there, including the miracles and the missteps. The names of the places sometimes are chapter headings and hints.

There is to learn a number of lessons from this parsha. When a person is on his way to Israel, it is useful to to consider the place that was left and the place where one is. This is the reason for the double form in the verses. It is also good advice for life in general. In addition it is helpful to remember the mistakes and miracles that brought us to any given point. Our memories can be deceitful and self serving therefore it is useful to record our journeys in writing. If a person is ethical he can say, no matter what the situation, I always made the best decisions I could and this is where it brought me. Therefore it must be good.

לע"נ  האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח

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