INTRODUCTION:

The idea of journeys is important in Judaism. In two different Torah portions we read of our Biblical Ancestors embarking on journeys and documenting their journeys.

Do you always know where you’re going?

וַיֹֹּ֤ אמֶ ר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶ ל־אַ בְ רָָ֔ ם לְֶך־לְךָ֛ מֵ אַ רְ צְ ךָ֥ ּומִ מּֽ ֹולַדְ תְ ךָ֖ ּומִ בֵֵּ֣ית אָ בִ ִ֑ יך אֶ ל־הָאָ ָ֖רֶ ץ אֲשֶ ָ֥ ר אַ רְ אֶּֽ ךָ ׃

God said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. (Genesis 12:1 – Torah Portion Lech Lecha)

In this case, Abram was given difficult commands. He was instructed to leave comfort and familiarity and go to a place that was not yet revealed.

• How would he know where to stop?
• Who was this journey for?

Ovadiah ben Jacob Sforno was a 15th century Italian commentator. He said that Avram kept going until he got an appropriate sign from God.

ך אשר הארץ אל, to the specific area within the country which I will show you in a heavenly vision. This is why Avram kept moving further into the land without pitching his tent to settle down until he received the appropriate sign from God. This occurred when he reached Shechem, where we are told that God appeared to him (verse 7) (Sforno on Genesis 12:1)

• As you journey through life, do you ever feel as though you get signs on where, when, or how to settle?
• What kinds of signs might these be?

Or HaChaim was an 18th Century Torah commentary from Morocco that incorporated mysticism into the reading of the texts. In this case, it asserts that the journey was for Abram and his wellbeing.

An additional meaning of the instruction to Abraham to “go for yourself,” is not so much that he was to be alone but that he was to benefit spiritually by this migration…the fact that a change of one’s physical environment brings in its wake an improvement in one’s fortune is not to be ignored. This was why God commanded Abram specifically to leave his country. (Or HaChaim on Genesis 12:1)

• How important is it to change your physical environment?
• Have you had a moment when getting out and going somewhere changed course for you?

Once you embark on a journey, what is more important… the beginning, the end, or the journey itself?

ֵֵ֜ לֶה מַ סְ עֵֵּ֣י בְ נֵּֽי־יִשְ רָ אֵֵ֗ ל אֲשֶ ָ֥ר יָצְ אָ֛ ּו מֵ אֶ ָ֥רֶ ץ מִ צְ רַ ָ֖ יִם לְצִ בְ אֹתָ ִ֑ם בְ יַד־מֹשֶ ָ֖ה וְ אַ הֲרֹּֽ ן׃

These were the journeys of the Israelites who started out from the land of Egypt, troop by troop, in the charge of Moses and Aaron.

וַיִכְ תֹֹּ֨ ב מֹשֵֶ֜ ה אֶ ת־מֹוצָאֵ יהֶ ָ֛ם לְמַ סְ עֵיהֶ ָ֖ם עַל־פִ ֵּ֣ י יְהֹוָ ִ֑ה וְ אֵָ֥לֶה מַ סְ עֵיהֶ ָ֖ם לְמֹוצָאֵ יהֶּֽ ם׃

Moses recorded the starting points of their various journeys as directed by יהוה. Their journeys by starting points, were as follows… (Numbers 33:1-2 – Torah Portion Masei.

In this case, the order of the words was a question that the commentators wondered about. First, we hear of journeys, then we hear of starting points, and then the phrase is repeated in a different order. Here again, Sforno clarifies what is important about journeys.

ואלה מסעיהם למוצאיהם. ולפעמים קרה הפך זה. וכתב גם כן ענין המסע שהיה לצאת ממקום אל
מקום בלי הקדמת ידיעה שהיה זה קשה מאד ובכל זה לא נמנעו ובכן נכתב בכל אחד מהם ויסעו
ממקום פלוני ויחנו במקום פלוני כי המסע והחניה היה כל אחד מהם קשה:

The reason why we find sometimes the objective mentioned first and other times the place of departure, is due to the fact that sometimes the people were glad to get away from a certain place where unpleasantness had occurred, whereas other times they were merely glad to arrive at a new destination hoping for a pleasant stay in their new encampment. One of the most vexing aspects of all these journeys was that the new objective had never been announced beforehand, so that the people were always in the dark about what the next day would bring. (Sforno on 33:2)

Sometimes a journey is about adventure. Other times, it gets us away from something. Usually, we don’t know in advance which way it will go.

How do you cope when a journey is hard, or brings unexpected challenges?

“These are the journeys” – this is analogous to a king whose child was ill. He took them to a certain place to cure them. When they returned, his father began enumerating all of the journeys, and says: Here we slept, here we cooled ourselves, here you had a headache. So the Holy One blessed be God said to Moses: Enumerate all the places where they angered Me. That is why it is stated: “These are the journeys.” (Midrash, Numbers Rabbah 23:3)

There is power in recounting the journeys that don’t go your way.

• What do you do when a journey goes bad?
• What constitutes a difficult journey?
• What lessons can you take away from this text?

Other thoughts from Jewish tradition on journeys:

“At the same time, the Torah calls on us not to dismiss the present reality as a broken world which we must go through as an obstacle course—but to approach it as an experience to be lived deeply. Life is precious. The experiences of friendship, love, joy, celebration, growing up, overcoming setbacks, just plain living are the warp and woof of our lives. They should be pursued in depth and savored as daily pleasures. The journey through life—even with its present flaws and injustices—is what our lives are about.” (Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, Not the Vision, but the Journey Parashat Mattot-Mas’ei 5781 (sefaria.org))

The Hafetz Hayyim said: Jacob dreamed of a ladder standing on the ground and reaching to heaven. This means: We never stand still. We either ascend, or we descend. (Credited to a Chasidic teaching by Rabbi Chaim Stern, Day to Day. P. 74)

Two came to a crossroads. One chose an uneven road, and the other came to a straight even road. The first encountered many obstacles but at last reached the city. The other had a much smoother journey at first, but near the end of the journey found the path blocked and had to return. (Credited to a Chasidic teaching by Rabbi Chaim Stern, Day to Day. P. 75)