By: Eddie Feves
Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) Associate Director
This week’s double portion, Parshat Matot-Masei, brings us to the end of the book of Numbers – and the final days of the Israelites’ 40 years spent wandering the desert. Here, on the banks of the Jordan River, the people are finally ready to enter the Promised Land and begin a new era. This is the moment our people have been waiting for, the payoff for generational anticipation.
Why then, at the very moment of arrival, does the Torah stop to recount the entire journey that has led to this point? And why are the 42 stops so meticulously accounted for, when the rest of the Torah is so often sparse on detail?
Perhaps the Torah is teaching us that the journey is every bit as important as the destination. We often think of journeys in terms of where they lead us, but the true significance of a journey is revealed in who we are when we arrive. The person who reaches the destination carries with them the lessons learned, the challenges overcome, and the experiences that shaped who they have become.
The Israelites did not enter the Promised Land as the same people who had left Egypt. They arrived carrying the lessons, struggles, and experiences that had shaped them along the way. This, too, has defined the story of our people. Across generations and across continents, we have carried our traditions and memories with us, building places of learning and prayer and creating a sense of belonging wherever we have found ourselves.
There’s a final bit of insight in the name of this double portion; Matot, meaning “tribes” and Masei, meaning “journeys” – emphasis on the plural. Perhaps this is the larger pattern of our story. From the very beginning, the Torah has framed our story through journeys. God’s first words to Abraham are Lech Lecha – “go forth.” The Torah isn’t just describing the long and winding road that leads to the Promised Land, but a series of experiences that shape the people who will enter it.
Ours is a story that is defined by its journeys. We spend enough time looking towards our destination, asking “Where are we going?” Maybe the better question is “What have I brought with me?”
Shabbat Shalom.
Please email Eddie Feves at efeves@jewishcolorado.org with questions or comments.