Parashat Maseh- The Elevator is Out of Order
The first section of Parashat Maseh lists the forty-two places where Beneh Yisrael encamped during their forty-year period of travel, from the Exodus until their entry into Eretz Yisrael. For what purpose did the Torah list the names of these places?
Rashi explains that this list serves to demonstrate God’s immense love and concern for Beneh Yisrael. During the forty years of travel, He had them encamp only forty-two times. This meant that they traveled at a comfortable pace, without having to stop and then disembark too often. By listing these forty-two sites, the Torah shows that although God punished the people by making them travel for forty years, He dealt with them compassionately by not ordering them to encamp too frequently.
The Rambam suggests a different reason, claiming that the Torah wished to show that Beneh Yisrael did not travel near any populated areas. Skeptics reading the story of Beneh Yisrael’s travels through the wilderness may deny the miraculous nature of their journey, claiming that their route took them near cities and developed land from which they purchased food and drink. The Torah dispelled such a notion by presenting a detailed report of their travel route, whereby they traveled in barren, uncultivated and unpopulated regions for forty years – something that can only be explained as a miracle.
We might suggest yet a third explanation. The forty years of travel marked a period of spiritual growth for Beneh Yisrael. The Rabbis teach that Beneh Yisrael left Egypt on a very low spiritual level, the effect of two centuries spent amidst the decadence and depravity of the ancient Egyptians. They were not prepared to enter the Land of Israel in this condition; they needed a process of growth that brought them to the level at which they could live with the kind of Kedusha (sanctity) that Eretz Yisrael demands.
By listing the forty-two places where Beneh Yisrael encamped, the Torah teaches that this growth process required forty-two stages. At each place, Beneh Yisrael learned a different lesson, and raised themselves to a new level toward their ultimate goal of being prepared to enter the land. Even though they were taught directly by Moshe Rabbenu himself, and they lived a completely supernatural existence, it took them forty years and forty-two stages to reach the necessary level of spirituality.
There are many people who sincerely desire to achieve spiritual greatness, but they expect this to happen overnight, or in a matter of a few weeks or months. They are not willing to commit themselves to the long, gradual, step-by-step process of religious growth; they want immediate results. I am occasionally approached by Ba’aleh Teshuba (people who were not raised with Torah observance but later accepted it) who had only recently become observant and now wish to study Kabbala (mysticism). This is a terrible mistake. Only the greatest Rabbis are prepared to study Kabbala – after they have spent most of a lifetime mastering the Talmud and the corpus of Halachic literature. One cannot become a great scholar or great Sadik overnight. This is a process that requires many, many years of hard work and effort. And even the smaller achievements in Torah observance, as many of us can attest, are realized only with much patience and perseverance.
Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski is a renowned Rabbi and therapist who specializes in the field of addictions, such as alcoholism. The process of recovery from alcoholism generally follows a system known as "the twelve-step program." Rather than simply stopping to drink altogether, the patient works one step at a time, and at each point focuses his mind on reaching only the next step. Once the otherwise daunting process is broken down into twelve manageable, realistic steps, the patient is more likely to progress and not become discouraged.
Rabbi Twerski reportedly has a sign in his office that reads, "The elevator to recovery is out of order. Please use the twelve steps." Patients are reminded that they cannot achieve their goal by using the "elevator," by taking a fast, direct route. They climb to recovery in small, incremental steps, not with one giant leap.
This same message can be applied to the process of spiritual growth, of overcoming negative habits and tendencies. We must not attempt to reach our goals with an "elevator," by just pressing a button. This process is a long, complex and difficult one, which requires patience and determination. If we take the stairs instead of the elevator, concentrating our efforts on rising one level at a time, on ensuring that we are better today than we were yesterday, and that we will be better tomorrow than we are today, we stand a much better chance of realizing our goals and achieving spiritual greatness.
