Parashat Beha’alotecha -Summer Vacation – A Time to Gather the Sparks
The Torah in Parashat Beha’alotecha describes the procedure of Beneh Yisrael’s travel and encampment as they journeyed through the wilderness on their way to the Land of Israel. The cloud that hovered over the Mishkan determined when it was time to travel and when it was time to encamp. On some occasions, Beneh Yisrael would encamp and then leave the next day, and in other instances they would remain in one location for several years. All this was determined by the Almighty, as the Torah writes, "Al Pi Hashem Yahanu Ve’al Pi Hashem Yisa’u" – "By the word of God they encamped, and by the word of God they traveled" (9:23).
At first glance, Beneh Yisrael’s schedule during the forty years of travel seems arbitrary. There was no set, fixed pattern of travel and encampment; everything was determined haphazardly. But this is not true at all. If God determined the time when they should encamp and the time when they should travel, there must have been profound significance to this schedule. When we take a deeper look into the concept underlying the system of "Al Pi Hashem Yahanu Ve’al Pi Hashem Yisa’u," we will unearth a crucial message – one which bears particular importance for us as we look ahead toward the summer months which will soon be upon us.
Our Rabbis teach us that Adam Harishon, the first person who ever lived, possessed an especially sacred soul. When he sinned, the Kedusha (holiness) within his soul was scattered throughout the earth. Ever since, there are Nisosot (sparks) of Kedusha all over the world. The job of every Jew is to retrieve those sparks and return them to their origin. We accomplish this through the Misvot we perform. For example, anytime we recite a Beracha over a piece of food or a cup of drink, we collect the sparks of Kedusha from that food or drink. When we study Torah or pray in a certain place, we retrieve the sparks from that particular location. The Rabbis teach us that it is for this reason that the Jewish people have endured so many long exiles, for more so than any other nation. We are charged with the mission of retrieving the scattered sparks, and this mission has necessitated the dispersion of the Jewish people throughout different areas of the earth.
More specifically, each individual’s soul is connected to particular sparks of Kedusha. In ways that we cannot understand, our souls have a specific connection to every person, place and thing that we encounter over the course of the day. It is not coincidental that a person happens to eat a certain portion of food at a certain place at a certain time. God orchestrated this situation because that individual’s soul is uniquely suited to retrieve the particular sparks of Kedusha latent within that food and within that place at that moment. For example, if a person flies from New York to Chicago for a business meeting, and at the meeting he is served a glass of water and he recites a Beracha, that Beracha was the purpose of his meeting. He might think that he flew to Chicago to close a deal, but in truth, God brought him to Chicago so he could retrieve the sparks of Kedusha in those molecules of water. No matter what situation a person finds himself in, it has been arranged by God to enable him to retrieve the sparks of Kedusha that only he can retrieve. Nothing is by chance. Wherever we are and whatever happens, we have the opportunity to fulfill our mission and bring the world a step closer to perfection by collecting the sparks of holiness that had been scattered throughout the earth.
This is how we should understand the otherwise haphazard, random schedule of Beneh Yisrael’s travel and encampment. The nation traveled through these remote, uninhabitable places in order to collect the sparks of holiness in these areas. Some places required just a brief stopover, while others required longer periods of encampment. "Al Pi Hashem Yahanu Ve’al Pi Hashem Yisa’u." God determined where the people should encamp, and for how long, because only He knew precisely where and how the scattered Nisosot would be retrieved.
It is perhaps not coincidental that Parashat Beha’alotecha is always read within several weeks of summer vacation, when many Jews scatter about to many different locations. Although we are the ones who make our travel plans, in truth, "Al Pi Hashem Yahanu Ve’al Pi Hashem Yisa’u" – it is God who determines where we go. He is the driving force behind our summer travels, bringing each of us to places, people and things from which we can retrieve the sparks that are uniquely linked to our souls. Summer vacation is not only about fun and relaxation – though this certainly has its place. It is a precious opportunity to perfect the world, to fulfill the unique mission assigned to each one of us.
One summer, my wife and I went on a cruise to Alaska, and during the trip we came upon remote, uncharted areas in the Pacific Ocean. At one point, we went fishing, and we caught some salmon. The person leading our tour said that he has a way of freezing, packaging and mailing the fish to our door in New York. Sure enough, the fish was mailed to our home – and we ate it as part of our Shabbat meal on Friday night.
This is a perfect example of how summer vacation affords us the unique opportunity to collect the dispersed sparks. Without question, there were "Nisosot Kedusha" in those waters in the North Pacific. Hashem gave us fish from that water to be placed on our Shabbat table and eaten for the honor of Shabbat; He enabled us to retrieve the sparks that were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.
Of course, this process only works if we do our share. God brings us to these places, but we have to do our job of using these locations for Misvot. To our community’s credit, many of our resorts are equipped with magnificent synagogues which are filled for prayer and Torah classes. We must continue along this route, and ensure to use our vacation time as precious opportunities to perfect ourselves and the world, and we will then be doing our part in bringing our final redemption just a little bit closer.
