Rabbi's Blog

Summertime is associated with vacations and traveling. As I look at my children leaving for camp, I think back to my childhood breaks. I came to the realization that children's vacations are quite different from adult vacations. A child's vacation is a mental break from studying and learning in a formal school setting. Physically speaking, they get a chance to play more ball, swim, exercise, and the like. Adults also have a physical and mental breaks but with a different outcome at the end of the vacation.

In today's day and age there are questions of protocol as to whether an employer should be allowed to contact the employee while on vacation. Should employees be forced to take their smart phones or traveling devices with them in order to be available via e-mail, text messages, and the like? For me, getting ready to leave for vacation is stressful due to all the preparations and planning required for coverage during my absence. On top of that I begin to transition from being away to coming back on the way to the airport or on the long drive home. Perhaps the days away are a physical rest, but they aren't necessarily a mental vacation.

often hear the comments (mainly from myself) after a grueling trip to Eretz Yisrael or helping out family that I need a vacation from my vacation. Physically speaking, I am tired, but most of us push hard and don't get enough sleep. Creating a complete mental break, allowing our minds to be cleared from the stress of work is not an easy thing to accomplish. Some suggestions for a real mental vacation would be a change of scenery, getting fresh air, walking, and learning different parts of Torah that we may not usually get a chance to learn. While vacations are important, we need to make that down time fruitful and beneficial. A trip or vacation must be planned carefully so that we maximize the down time, allowing both a physical and mental break, while endeavoring to build our spiritual beings. A vacation is never a break from spiritual growth; there is NO such thing as a spiritual vacation. In fact, a vacation should create spiritual growth.

As we conclude Sefer Bamidbar, we read the last two parshios - Mattos and Maasei. In Bamidbar 33:1 the Torah states: "Eileh Maasei B'Nei YisraelAsher Yatzu Mei'Eretz Mitzrayim L'Tzivosam B'Yad Moshe V'Aharon". "These are the sojournings of the Children of Israel who left the land of Egypt with their hosts in the hands of Moshe and Aharon". Many of the commentaries ask why iit is necessary to describe the travels of the Jewish people through the forty-year period of the desert. There are two important reasons these details are mentioned. The first is for the "benefit of the body". If one stops to think, the land of Egypt was a very good land. The Torah describes Egypt "K'Gan Hashem K'Eretz Mitzrayim" the land of Egypt was like Hashem's garden, and the Jews related how the fish was both plentiful and inexpensive. The land of Israel, on the other hand, was still a developing country and not seen as a great place for the Jews to be going to. If the Jewish people would have arrived immediately to Eretz Canaan from Egypt, they would not have been able to handle the contrast and transition. Therefore, Hashem in His mercy diverted us for forty years, giving us time to forget about Egypt and letting the generation who left Egypt die out and start anew with a new generation. The second reason was a spiritual reason that required traveling around. The Midrash states that the Jews needed to travel in the desert so that the Torah they received on Har Sinai would begin to set into their hearts and souls. Torah is something foreign to someone who has never been exposed to it. It is one of those fine tastes in life that requires tasting over and over again. Wandering in the desert provided time for the Jewish people to get used to the Torah by doing the Mitzvos and by learning Torah over and over again. The Baalei Mussar teach when a person does something many times it becomes 'Hergel' - he gets used to it and it becomes a part of himself. The Jewish people doing the Mitzvos and following the Torah for forty years made practicing Judaism very natural. Learning, teaching, and training oneself to be God- fearing became second nature. If they had entered immediately, they would have begun to tend to the land, the vineyards and the olive groves. Therefore, Hashem diverted them and trained them in the primary works of life prior to dealing with the physical side.

The end of the first passuk mentions 'by the hand of Moshe and Aharon' It is Moshe and Aharon, the leaders and teachers of the Jewish people, who set the tone and standards for the nation. It was they who taught the Jewish people about the Kedusha Eretz Yisrael, the holiness of the land in order to work it properly. It was Moshe and Aharon who taught the Jews how to become a Holy Nation amongst the other nations and to lead by example. The number forty rings out in other areas of the Torah such as forty Seah of the Mikva waters that purify us from impurity. It was the forty days that Moshe was on Har Sinai preparing the giving of the Torah to Am Yisrael. The Jewish people needed forty years to get ready and pack the necessary items for their new life in Eretz Yisrael.

The Jewish people were vacating space and time within their own mindset in transitioning from Mitzrayim to Eretz HaKedosha, Israel. Physically, mentally and spiritually they were prepared by Moshe and Aharon. We treasure the teachings of Moshe and Aharon, never leaving them behind when we go on vacation. The mental challenges required to be met prior to taking a vacation help us to live our lives as better, more dedicated Jews. The opportunity presented by a vacation which allows us to focus on spiritual growth will enrich and regenerate us when we return home.

Ah Gut Shabbos

Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky