King of Opposites by Rav Moshe Weinberger

The Degel Machaneh Ephraim, zy”a, teaches, in the name of his grandfather the Baal Shem Tov, zy”a, that the forty-two journeys of the Jewish people in the desert correspond to the journeys each individual takes in his life. When a person leaves the womb, this corresponds to when the Jewish people left Egypt. And when the Jewish people entered Eretz Yisroel, this corresponds to a person’s journey into the land of eternal life after 120 years in this world.

How do we retain a sense of equanimity and centeredness when we must transition from one journey to another throughout our lives? Reb Leibele Eiger, zy”a, points out that the word “of them, bam” in the pasuk “And you shall speak of them,” has the numerical value of forty-two.

The pasuk continues, “And you shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” We must speak of them, words of Torah and emunah, wherever we go and wherever we travel. We can thrive through every test and trial we face if we hold onto truth and faith. If we remain certain in our purpose, then we will succeed despite all of the contradictions and challenges of a world in which many people seem to have taken leave of basic human decency and morality.

But the Baal Shem Tov’s teaching about the 42 travels of the Jewish people does not only apply to people on an individual level. It also speaks to the travails of our nation as a whole as we journey on toward the times of Moshiach.

Parshas Masei King of Opposites

By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf

The Encampments

We know that the names of our stops during our journey in the desert (Bamidbar 33:5-49) have profound meaning. I was struck by the contradictions implicit in those names and how they speak to the contradictions of life today, particularly in Eretz Yisroel.

On one hand, it says we camped in Miska, from the Hebrew word meaning sweetness. Many aspects of our lives are sweet, and we have much to be thankful for. But we also camped in Mara, meaning bitterness. Dozens of our brothers have been killed in years past sanctifying G-d’s name.

The Jewish people camped in Har Shafer, meaning “beautiful mountain.” Sometimes are on top of the world. The view is stunning. But at other times, we camp in Tachas, meaning “low.” When we watch the parents, brothers, sisters, and wives of all of the soldiers killed protecting our people, we feel like we are living at the opening of Gehenom, at the lowest place.

We camped at Refidim, which means weakness. Our Torah, mitzvos, and emunah suffer and we often do not do what Hashem expects of us. But we also camped in Midbar Sinai, where we received the Torah, attaining the highest level of prophecy and connection to G-d’s will. Today too, we have seen how even people with little outward connection to Torah and mitzvos have begun saying Tehillim, lighting Shabbos candles, putting on tefillin, and doing many other mitzvos and acts of kindness in order to merit the salvation of the Jewish people.

At one point, the pasuk tells us we camped in Makheilos, meaning, “community” or “congregation.” We were united. And we see how, in the past few weeks, our people have been united more than any other time in the recent past. We are united in prayer and resolve, knowing that our cause is righteous. But at other times, we stop off in a place called Chatzeiros, meaning “courtyards.” Especially when we are not besieged from the outside, every Jewish group separates itself into its own courtyard and unfortunately barely views other Jews as part of the same people.

We camped in Sukkos, a place named after temporary, rickety structures. Surrounded by enemies, many times we feel vulnerable and frightened. We feel as if our entire existence is dependent on the protection of some flimsy walls and roof which the wind could blow away at any moment, leaving us completely exposed. But at other times, we feel we are camped in Eisam, meaning strong. We feel grateful for how Hashem has blessed our people with the resolve, ingenuity, resources, and intelligence to build up one of the most powerful militaries in the world in just a short time.

We sometimes feel we are encamped by the Red Sea, encircled on all sides by enemies and pushed up against the sea. We feel we have no escape. But at other times, we sense that we are camped in Eilim, where the pesukim tell us there were wellsprings, date palms, and where we were able to rest from the weariness of our travels. We enjoy

the prosperity and economic success with which Hashem has blessed our people.

But at other times, we feel we are camped in Dafka, meaning “stricken” or “beaten.” We feel pressed, hit, and beaten by attacks from all directions, physically, emotionally, and diplomatically. We feel we are under siege wherever we live in the world, whether it is in the U.S., Britain, Paris, Morocco, or anywhere else in the world.

We sometimes feel camped in Rimon Paretz, meaning “break through.” We break through every attempt by our enemies to attack us and put us on the run. But, sadly, too often we are camped in Charada, meaning “trembling.” Our brothers and sisters tremble in fear in their bomb shelters and safe rooms.

We sometimes feel we are camped in Chashmonah, where we feel as mighty as the Chashmonayim, or in Etzyon Gaver, meaning “effective strategy” and “strength.” At those times, we take pride and comfort in how our military neutralizes our enemies while protecting our soldiers and minimizing the battle’s impact on civilians.

But at other times, we feel like we are in Kivros Hata’avah, buried in the desires of this world, completely helpless to use all of our might to reign in our own animalistic desires. And at other times, we camp at Kadesh, meaning “holiness.” Our connection to holiness and our desire to do Hashem’s will is often strong and we use those times to increase our connection to Hashem and improve ourselves.

Dovid Hamelech, King of Opposites

My thoughts return to the ultimate hero of the Jewish people: Dovid Hamelech. and when he went out to war, he hardened himself like wood.” Chazal are not teaching us that Dovid suffered from multiple personality disorder. Rather, his personality was so great and all-encompassing that it contained everything within it. He was simultaneously composed of the might of war and the highest and most refined level of ethics and morality. These two extremes complement one another. The more perfection one has attained, the more he includes

The more perfection one has attained, the more he includes apparent opposites within himself.

The tzaddikim teach that our job at the end of days is to reveal the great soul of Dovid Hamelech, as the pasuk (Hoshea 3:5) says, “And they sought Hashem their G-d and Dovid their king.” In all of his journeys, he seemed to be full of contradictions. The Gemara (Moed Katan 16b) says that “when [Dovid Hamelech] would sit and study Torah, he would be as refined as silk, apparent opposites within himself.

That is why Reb Leibele Eiger teaches that the 42 journeys of the Jewish people in the desert, which seem to contain so many opposites within them, are hinted at in the mitzvah of “And you shall speak of them when you sit in your home and when you go on your way…” We must be prepared to cling to the Torah and the certainty of our faith in the midst of the full range of disparate experiences during our travels through this world.

The parsha is named after our “journeys,” not our encampments. Why? Because the main thing is that in life, we do not stop. We must keep moving forward, looking for how G-d’s will expresses itself in all of the various permutations of life’s challenges.

May each of us and all of our brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisroel merit to reach a level on which we can contain all of the disparate aspects of life in this world within us. May we recognize that we must serve G-d in all of the different ways the Torah demands for the vast array of differing life circumstances we encounter in our journeys. And may Hashem take vengeance upon every terrorist snake who has harmed even a single hair on the head of any Jew. May Hashem soon send Moshiach to remove every evil regime from the earth to make way for the great-grandson of the greatest king, Dovid Hamelech, soon in our days.

Rav Moshe Weinberger, shlita, is the founding Morah d’Asrah of Congregation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, NY, and serves as leader of the new mechina Emek HaMelech.

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