The old American adage “it is about the journey, not about the destination” is one of those phrases that always seems to fall flat. Tell that to someone on a 14-hour plane journey, or someone who is stuck in traffic. And yet, one of my favorite parts of Parashat Chukat is that in what feels like a punishment, Moses hearing from G-d that he will not be able to enter the promised land, we get confirmation that it is indeed about the journey.

Moses, who is grief stricken, finds himself surrounded by complaints and suspicion. So naturally, he gets angry. There is something so human about that fit of rage in which he hits the rock repeatedly. We have all been there, at our wits end, and we have a lapse in judgement, or we snap and act rashly. Was the punishment befitting of the action? I would argue yes, because if you lose sight of why you are on a journey and focus solely on the destination, you have lost the value of that journey entirely.

Moses was not leading the Israelites through the wilderness so he could see the promised land, he was doing it to facilitate the creation of a great nation. Parashat Chukat reminds us that anger, grief, joy, disappointment, love, resilience, sickness and death are all inextricable parts of our journeys, and that while sometimes we might not see the final fruits of our labor, the meaning in life is indeed derived from the journey we each take through it.

What journey are you on? When have you reached what felt like a destination, only for you to look back and realize that maybe it was the efforts that got you there that has given you the most?