A Light in the Desert

For 40 years the Jews wandered in the desert, making 42 stops along the way from Egypt to the edge of the Land of Israel.  Hashem promised Moshe that He would take the Jews out of Egypt and bring them to the promised land, but said nothing about all the detours!

 

The basic reason for the 40 year journey was that the spies who toured the land for 40 days frightened everyone, leading the people to cry and complain that they would not be able to live in Israel as G-d promised.  Hashem decreed that, as punishment, they would spend one year wandering the desert for every day that the spies toured the land.

 

As in all of the Torah, there is a deeper mystical explanation, as explained in Chassidic teachings – the “soul of the Torah.”  Let’s step back for a second and review why our mission in the world  is tied to the land of Israel. 

 

Hashem created us with free choice in a world where the right choice is not always easiest.  The point of us living in a “dark” world is to dispel the darkness with light.  This is not accomplished by running away from the world, rather by working within the physical world. The land of Israel, a holy place where Hashem’s radiance is felt most, is the ideal place to reveal that light into the world.

 

But Hashem wanted us to transform the entire world, not just the land of Israel.  This includes the most “spiritually desolate” places, like the desert, a place with no growth where the negative influences are most felt.   By meandering through the desert with the holy sanctuary and the Tablets containing the Ten Commandments, the Jews brought light into the darkness of the desert, setting the tone for future generations.

 

One lesson we can learn from this:  While our mission in the land of Israel is the observance of the 613 Mitzvot, we are also charged with spreading the message of goodness and kindness throughout the world.  Encouraging the world to follow the fundamental rules of ethical life that Moshe taught for the non-Jewishnations, the “Seven Laws of Noah,” is one of the goals of Judaism. 

 

Rather than taking us straight into Israel to work in our own land, Hashem first led us through the desert, teaching us to work on the rest of the world too.  This means helping to empower our friends, neighbors and associates to recognize the value of simple acts of kindness and charity.  To treat each other with dignity and respect.  To recognize that we are here by the will of the Creator and that every person on earth can make a positive difference, even if we are living in what feels like a spiritual wasteland.

 

When Moshiach comes, our Sages taught, the entire world will be filled with the knowledge of G-d.  Every act of goodness in fulfillment of Hashem’s universal laws brings that moment closer.