{"id":48544,"date":"2018-07-09T17:41:35","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-150\/"},"modified":"2022-09-01T14:43:56","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T11:43:56","slug":"wall-150","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-150\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Torah-Numbers-33"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"150","date":"20260326","book":"Numbers","chapter":"33","chapter_main_number":"150","books_group":"Torah","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"48723","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Numbers 33 - Judy Hammond ","post_title":"Numbers 33 - Judy Hammond","slug":"numbers-33-judy-hammond","old_id":"48723","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"150","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Numbers 33","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"read by Judy Hammond","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/numbers-chapter-33-read-by-judy-hammond","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"33","chapter_main_number":"150","date":"20260326","wall_id":"150"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"107639","color":"#f6edf6","size":"2","name":"Aaron\u2019s Death: The Beginning Of The End ","post_title":"Aaron\u2019s Death: The Beginning Of The End","slug":"aarons-death-the-beginning-of-the-end","old_id":"107639","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"150","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"For Moses the journey began with the Egyptians - his adopted family - burying their first-borns, and ended with his older brother, also a first born, being buried\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

As the book of Numbers comes to a close, the Torah goes back and lists all the journeys that the Israelites made from the time they left Egypt. Why list this now? The simple answer is that the people are finally ready to enter the land after 40 years of wandering. This is a good time to review where they have been. One can look at it like a bar mitzvah montage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rashi provides two answers. The first is that the Torah is trying to show that the forty years were not really forty years of wandering. Doing some back of the envelope calculations, Rashi shows that during the 38 year period in between the giving of the Torah and Aaron\u2019s death, the Israelites only traveled to 20 places. This means that they spent at least a year in most places.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The second answer is akin to the parable of a person who travels a long way to find a cure for their child. Once they reach the final destination, the person recounts every part of the journey to recall the difficulty. So too here, the people are prepared to enter the land and they are reminded of the difficult journey that led them to this place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rambam explains that Moses wanted the people to understand that it was a miracle that God sustained them during the forty years. Yes it was a hard slog, and the people were at times punished, but overall it was a great miracle that the nation survived these years of wandering.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sforno does not focus on the miraculous part. He explains that this is not about the people needing to thank God, but for God to thank the people. Despite all of the trials and tribulations of the 40 years the people continued to have faith in and follow God.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Malbim offers a mystical interpretation. When the nation was in Egypt, they were at a low state of impurity. In order for the nation to reach the spiritual level they needed to enter the land, they had to wander for forty years. This list, therefore, is a gradual list of increasing spiritual growth. At each stage, the people grew closer and closer to God.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is also a sad bookend to the list of places for Moses as well. The list begins with the Egyptians burying their dead first-borns (verse 4) and ends with the death of Aaron (verse 38). For Moses these travels began with the Egyptians - his adopted family - burying their first-borns, and ended with his older brother, also a first born, being buried.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Aaron\u2019s Death: The Beginning Of The End","tile_main_caption":"For Moses the journey began with the Egyptians - his adopted family - burying their first-borns, and ended with his older brother, also a first born, being buried","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"33","chapter_main_number":"150","date":"20260326","wall_id":"150"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"442","name":"Journey","old_id":"842"},{"term_id":"620","name":"Aaron","old_id":"1020"}]},{"order":3,"id":"107641","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"The Death Of Aaron ","post_title":"The Death Of Aaron","slug":"the-death-of-aaron","old_id":"107641","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":62571,"post_title":"Yaakov Bieler","slug":"yaakov-bieler","old_id":"62571","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Bieler ","description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University in 1974. He has lectured and written extensively on Modern Orthodoxy, and blogs daily at https:\/\/yaakovbieler.wordpress.com ","short_description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":62572,"alt":"","title":"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","width":141,"height":180,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler-141x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":141,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium-width":141,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium_large-width":141,"medium_large-height":180,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","large-width":141,"large-height":180,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","1536x1536-width":141,"1536x1536-height":180,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","2048x2048-width":141,"2048x2048-height":180,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","post_full_size-width":141,"post_full_size-height":180,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","home_baner-width":141,"home_baner-height":180}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"150","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Another reason for mourning in the month of Av\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Of the thirty-six journeys recorded in Numbers 33, some are described in more detail than others. The most detail is devoted to the verses describing the death of Aaron at Mt. Hor:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Aaron the priest ascended Mount Hor at the command of God and died there, in the fortieth year after the Israelites had left the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor. And the Canaanite, king of Arad, who dwelt in the Negeb, in the land of Canaan, learned of the coming of the Israelites (verses 38-40).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Since the Tanach has already described these events in great detail in Num. 20:23-9; 21:1, the repetition of some of the details of this event here invites interpretation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ayelet HaShachar (<\/span>Rabbi Aharon Shteinman; Israel; 1912-2017<\/span><\/i>) notes that this is the only instance when the date of a death of an individual is explicitly mentioned (v. 38,) and while there must be a reason for this, he is unable to determine it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Consider a hypothesis suggested by Ayelet HaShachar. The date on which Aaron dies turns out to be the new moon of Av, the month during which the destruction of the Jerusalem Temples are commemorated (<\/span>9<\/span><\/i>th<\/span><\/i> of Av<\/span><\/i>.) The Talmud states about the Jewish governor, Gedaliah ben Ahikam:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Thus said the Lord of hosts: \u201cThe fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall become times of joy and gladness, and cheerful seasons, to the house of Judah\u201d (Zechariah 8:19).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rabbi Akiva would expound the verse as follows: \u201cThe fast of the fourth\u201d: this is the ninth of Tammuz, on which the city of Jerusalem was breached\u2026 \u201cThe fast of the fifth\u201d: this is the Ninth of Av, on which the Temple of our Lord was burnt\u2026 \u201cThe fast of the seventh\u201d: this is the third of Tishrei, on which Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, was killed\u2026 to teach you that the death of the righteous is equivalent to the burning of the Temple of our Lord\u2026 \u201cThe fast of the tenth\u201d: This is the tenth of Tevet, on which the king of Babylonia laid siege to Jerusalem\u201d (Rosh HaShana 18b).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps the repetition of the death of Aaron, even though it was due to God\u2019s decision rather than that of murderous human beings as in the situation of Gedaliah, constitutes a second source for the principle that the date of the death of a righteous individual is equivalent to the burning of the Temple. The Shulchan Aruch (Orech Chayim 551:1) states \u201cWhen one enters (<\/span>the month of<\/span><\/i> ) Av, we reduce in Joy\u2026\u201d, yet another example of the interface between ritual and social concerns in Judaism: holy cities and Temples are not considered more important than human beings, especially righteous ones such as Aaron ben Amram and Gedaliah ben Ahikam.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":47592,"alt":"","title":"Num18-Aaron_by_Giovanni_Maria_Morlaiter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num18-Aaron_by_Giovanni_Maria_Morlaiter.jpg","width":2736,"height":4634,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num18-Aaron_by_Giovanni_Maria_Morlaiter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num18-Aaron_by_Giovanni_Maria_Morlaiter-177x300.jpg","medium-width":177,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num18-Aaron_by_Giovanni_Maria_Morlaiter-605x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":605,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num18-Aaron_by_Giovanni_Maria_Morlaiter-605x1024.jpg","large-width":605,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num18-Aaron_by_Giovanni_Maria_Morlaiter.jpg","1536x1536-width":907,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num18-Aaron_by_Giovanni_Maria_Morlaiter.jpg","2048x2048-width":1209,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num18-Aaron_by_Giovanni_Maria_Morlaiter-709x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":709,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num18-Aaron_by_Giovanni_Maria_Morlaiter-248x420.jpg","home_baner-width":248,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The 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rebellion, harmony, intimacy","post_main_content_content":"

These are the journeys of the people of Israel\u2026 (33:1)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As we end the book of Numbers the Torah presents us with a list of Israel\u2019s journeys on their way in the desert. At first glance the list appears exhausting, representative of the forty years of hunger, danger, rebellion and punishment. Rashi, however, provides a different picture.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhy were these encampments recorded? \u00a0To indicate God's great compassion\u2026 Do not think that they were in constant motion from one encampment to the next for the entire forty-year period and had no respite whatsoever. \u00a0In fact, there are only forty-two encampments listed here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rashi goes on to point out that fourteen of the journeys took place in the first year and the final eight took place in the fortieth year. He concludes: \u201cThus, over the course of thirty-eight years, there were only a total of twenty encampments (42\u201314\u20138=20).\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Many read the book as one of endless catastrophe with the narratives of the people\u2019s greed, the spies, and Korach\u2019s rebellion, amongst others, marring the journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom in Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rashi\u2019s insight dramatically challenges this approach. True, tragic episodes occurred. But considering the book as taking place over the span of forty years, these episodes were in fact relatively rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As Jeremiah tells it, when God looks back on the desert experience, He says to Israel: \u201cI remember the kindness of your youth, your bridal love, how you followed Me in the desert, in a land unsown.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Numbers should thus be viewed as a period of harmony and intimacy. There is a wider lesson here too: the Jewish world can at times fill one with despair. If we take a few steps back however, consider the wider picture, then like the prophet Balaam, we might just say, \u2018How good are your tents O Israel\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image\u00a0By Emmanuelm - Own work, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=2954014<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":48886,"alt":"","title":"Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel.jpg","width":571,"height":800,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel-214x300.jpg","medium-width":214,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel.jpg","medium_large-width":571,"medium_large-height":800,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel.jpg","large-width":571,"large-height":800,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel.jpg","1536x1536-width":571,"1536x1536-height":800,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel.jpg","2048x2048-width":571,"2048x2048-height":800,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel.jpg","post_full_size-width":571,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel-300x420.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Desert Journeys: Two Views","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Greed, rebellion, harmony, intimacy","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":48886,"alt":"","title":"Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel.jpg","width":571,"height":800,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel-214x300.jpg","medium-width":214,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel.jpg","medium_large-width":571,"medium_large-height":800,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel.jpg","large-width":571,"large-height":800,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel.jpg","1536x1536-width":571,"1536x1536-height":800,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel.jpg","2048x2048-width":571,"2048x2048-height":800,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel.jpg","post_full_size-width":571,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Map_Land_of_Israel-300x420.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"33","chapter_main_number":"150","date":"20260326","wall_id":"150"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"442","name":"Journey","old_id":"842"},{"term_id":"788","name":"Desert","old_id":"1188"}]},{"order":5,"id":"48869","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Personal Journeys With Secret Destinations ","post_title":"Personal Journeys With Secret Destinations","slug":"personal-journeys-with-secret-destinations","old_id":"48869","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42746,"post_title":"Michal Kohane","slug":"michal-kohane","old_id":"42746","first_name":"Michal ","last_name":"Kohane ","description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42747,"alt":"","title":"michal kohane","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","width":214,"height":226,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium-width":214,"medium-height":226,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium_large-width":214,"medium_large-height":226,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","large-width":214,"large-height":226,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","1536x1536-width":214,"1536x1536-height":226,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","2048x2048-width":214,"2048x2048-height":226,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","post_full_size-width":214,"post_full_size-height":226,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","home_baner-width":214,"home_baner-height":226}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"150","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"We all leave narrow places and \u00a0journey forth","post_main_content_content":"

Martin Buber said, \u201call journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware\u201d. I first heard this while on a temporary job, which, in retrospect, maybe was all about me learning this saying\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The chapter which opens the last Torah portion of this book, is called \u201cjourneys of\u201d... Why is this word in the plural form? Wasn\u2019t it one journey, just going from Egypt to the Holy Land through the same desert? Actually, why did the Children of Israel have to schlep from one place to another, if they were given the same manna and same water everywhere anyway? Once the decree was made to stay in the desert for 40 years (38 and a half), why not just sit somewhere and wait for time to go by, play cards, watch TV, whatever, till the new generation is ready?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The early Chasidic master, the Ba\u2019al Shem Tov, said, \u201cAll these 42 journeys are with each one of us, from the day we are born till the day we pass to the other world\u2026 just like the Exodus from Egypt\u201d: In the beginning, we are part of the Eternal, but then we\u2019re placed in a narrow place (Egypt\u2019s Hebrew name is Mitzrayim which comes from \u201cnarrow\u201d, \u201ctrouble\u201d). Our whole existence becomes tight \u2013 all we can focused on is \u2018me myself and I\u2019. Then slowly, we emerge into the world. At first, we are well-cared for, fed and sheltered, but that\u2019s not enough. Our goal is to get to the \u201cPromised Land.\u201d In some way, this is one journey, but in others, each stop along the way is critical, because on it hinges the next stop.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is also the reason why \u201ccamping\u201d in each location was important as opposed to just passing through, reminding us of the need to be mindful of where we are and what\u2019s going on around us, in each stop. Rabbi Yitzchak Meir of Gur said, \u201cIn every generation there is a new understanding of the Exodus from Egypt; and not just in each generation, but in each person, there is a point of freedom \/ redemption which is an explanation to the Exodus from Egypt. That point a person must find out between him and himself\u201d.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":50329,"alt":"","title":"dt11-journey","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-journey.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-journey-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-journey-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-journey-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-journey-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-journey.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-journey.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-journey-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-journey-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Personal Journeys With Secret Destinations","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"We all leave narrow places and journey forth","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":50329,"alt":"","title":"dt11-journey","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-journey.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-journey-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-journey-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-journey-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-journey-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-journey.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-journey.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-journey-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-journey-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"33","chapter_main_number":"150","date":"20260326","wall_id":"150"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"431","name":"Personal\/memoir","old_id":"831"},{"term_id":"442","name":"Journey","old_id":"842"},{"term_id":"601","name":"Exodus","old_id":"1001"}]},{"order":6,"id":"48840","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Rootless ","post_title":"Rootless","slug":"rootless","old_id":"48840","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34011,"post_title":"Jeremy Benstein","slug":"dr-jeremy-benstein","old_id":"34011","first_name":"Jeremy","last_name":"Benstein","description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English. 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","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34232,"alt":"","title":"Jeremy Benstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"150","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"What happens to us and to the world when displacement becomes mobility?","post_main_content_content":"

These are the journeys of the children of Israel who went out of the land of Egypt... From Rameses to Succoth, and from Succoth to Etham... from Lisbon to Livorno... and from Marrakesh to Marseilles... from Grodno to Brooklyn... and from Brooklyn to Miami Beach....<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Jews leave slavery in Egypt - but before settling in the Promised Land, they experience a 40-year interlude of wandering in the wilderness, leaving an indelible mark on the Jewish psyche.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We have been wanderers ever since.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Bible would have us believe that the wandering was only an interlude.Directly after the lengthy list of way stations in the desert that begins this chapter, is the detailed description of the borders of the Land, the well-defined goal of the meandering Long March. But even a cursory look at Jewish history reveals that the reality has been the opposite: the majority of our years as a people has been spent sojourning in our many diasporas. The time spent living peaceably secure within the borders described in these chapters has been scanty indeed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Likewise, the tradition itself seems to have internalized a wanderer's consciousness: of the five books of the Torah, three and a half take place during that desert displacement. As far as the yearly readings go, no sooner do we arrive at the edge of the Land of Israel at the end of Deuteronomy, then the cycle sends us back to the Beginning, to Eden with its own Exile and resultant eternal wandering.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The historical consciousness of the wanderer, avoiding setting down roots and becoming attached to any of the myriad landscapes of sojourn, has characterized Jews. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

What has historically been the lot of the Jew, for theological reasons, is true of the modern Everyperson, for sociological ones. The average American moves 10 times during their life. The official name for this is not displacement or alienation - nothing so foreboding - but mobility.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Jewish situation is now fashionable.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But no connection means having no commitment. Pervasive alienation from the natural world characterizes modern society, which is creating urban nomads in pursuit of the career equivalents of good grazing land. And the state of the environment shows this: Whatever the implications of wandering (mobility) for the Jew (citizen), it can't be good for the physical world. Without a sense of place and a generations-long, rooted connection to a piece of land, real caring is partial at best.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is up to each of us to decide whether we have arrived, are at home and can set down roots, with all the commitment that that entails. Or is perhaps the current Diaspora analogous to those ancient desert journeys, random visits to random places? For the Israelites, those way stations were steps on a path \u00a0- there was a direction and a goal. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Can the same be said for contemporary Jewry? We seem to have the wings of spirituality, of intellect, of creativity. Do we have roots?<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":48851,"alt":"","title":"Num33-rootless","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-rootless.jpg","width":500,"height":500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-rootless-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-rootless-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-rootless.jpg","medium_large-width":500,"medium_large-height":500,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-rootless.jpg","large-width":500,"large-height":500,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-rootless.jpg","1536x1536-width":500,"1536x1536-height":500,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-rootless.jpg","2048x2048-width":500,"2048x2048-height":500,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-rootless.jpg","post_full_size-width":500,"post_full_size-height":500,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-rootless-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Rootless","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"What happens to us and to the world when displacement becomes mobility?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":48851,"alt":"","title":"Num33-rootless","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-rootless.jpg","width":500,"height":500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-rootless-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-rootless-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-rootless.jpg","medium_large-width":500,"medium_large-height":500,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-rootless.jpg","large-width":500,"large-height":500,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-rootless.jpg","1536x1536-width":500,"1536x1536-height":500,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-rootless.jpg","2048x2048-width":500,"2048x2048-height":500,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-rootless.jpg","post_full_size-width":500,"post_full_size-height":500,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-rootless-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"33","chapter_main_number":"150","date":"20260326","wall_id":"150"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"442","name":"Journey","old_id":"842"},{"term_id":"790","name":"Wandering","old_id":"1190"},{"term_id":"828","name":"Roots","old_id":"1228"}]},{"order":7,"id":"48856","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"42 Encounters ","post_title":"Mas'ei: 42 Encounters","slug":"42-encounters","old_id":"48856","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46171,"post_title":"Avner Moriah","slug":"avner-moriah","old_id":"46171","first_name":"Avner ","last_name":"Moriah ","description":"Avner Moriah is a prolific Israel artist who has addressed a wide range of Jewish and Israeli themes during the four decades of his artistic journey. 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The unique illuminated books contain hundreds of original drawings that offer a profound, provocative and humorous perspective. \r\nFor the entire weekly portion series, visit: https:\/\/avnermoriahprints.com\/collections\/parasha\r\nFor more of his work visit: https:\/\/avnermoriah.com\/\r\n","short_description":"Avner Moriah is a prolific Israel artist who is illuminating the entire Chumash.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":46173,"alt":"","title":"avner moriah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679.jpg","width":1387,"height":1425,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-292x300.jpg","medium-width":292,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-768x789.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":789,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-997x1024.jpg","large-width":997,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679.jpg","1536x1536-width":1387,"1536x1536-height":1425,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679.jpg","2048x2048-width":1387,"2048x2048-height":1425,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-1168x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1168,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-409x420.jpg","home_baner-width":409,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"150","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"To enshrine a memory of divine love amidst trials, travels, travails, and tribulations","post_main_content_content":"

Illustration for Chapter 33:<\/p>\r\n

The last reading in the Book of Numbers, summarizes the book by recording the Israelites\u2019 journeys in the wilderness. The chapter begins by noting: \u201cThese were the marches (<\/span>mase\u2019ei<\/span><\/i>) of the Israelites who started out from the land of Egypt troop by troop in the charge of Moses and Aaron\u201d (Num. 33:1). The forty-two names listed are the places where the Israelites encamped for longer or shorter periods during the many years that they wandered in the desert.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why is it so significant that Moses, now near the end of his long years of arduous leadership, felt compelled to detail the Israelites\u2019 journeys as they traveled from place to place, emphasizing that these marches were enjoined by God?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This painting visualizes the travels recorded in the text in a colorful template made up of eleven registers, inviting the viewer to follow the Israelites\u2019 journey, station by station, reading from the top right to the bottom left. Each register shows a light-colored strip, alluding to the desert where the Israelites traveled and encamped. Desert hills sit atop the sand and above the hills we see blue skies. Images of the Egyptian pyramids at the far right of the top register mark the Israelites\u2019 point of departure. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The names of the various places where they rested appear on the strips of desert sand: The Hebrew names inscribed in the picture are: Rameses, Succoth, Eitam (marked as the edge of the wilderness), Hiroth (where the blue sea is shown), Marah, Elim, Dophkah, Alush, Rephidim, the wilderness of Sinai, Kibroth, Hazeroth, Rithmah, Rimon-Perez, Libnah, Rissah, Kehelah, Mount Shepher, Haradah, Makheloth, Tahath, Terah, Mithkah, the <\/span>mountains of Abarim, the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, and finally to Beth-Jeshimoth, and Abel-Shittim. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Both the biblical text of <\/span>Mase\u2019ei<\/span><\/i> and the artist\u2019s visualization clearly accent the importance of the people\u2019s memory of its past and its history. There is no doubt that recalling the long years that they survived in the wilderness and its many tribulations enhanced the recognition of what they had endured along with the knowledge of the protection they had enjoyed at God\u2019s hands. Moses was convinced that the recollection of their years in the desert had to be kept alive so that the Israelites would always remember all that God did for them and would follow Him forever, as voiced so eloquently in the later verse that entered Jewish liturgy: \u201cThus said the LORD: I accounted your favor, the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride \u2013 how you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown\u201d (Jer. 2:2). The Israelites were never to forget that their journey was a manifestation of the Lord\u2019s direct involvement with His chosen people. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Artwork by: Avner Moriah, by courtesy of the artist<\/p>\r\n

Text by: Dr. Shulamit Laderman, who holds a\u00a0<\/span>PhD in Art History and has published extensively on Jewish and Christian influences on biblical interpretive illustration.<\/p>\r\n

For the entire weekly portion series, please visit: <\/span>https:\/\/avnermoriahprints.com\/collections\/parasha<\/span><\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":48726,"alt":"","title":"Num32-Matot","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num32-Matot.jpg","width":2500,"height":1616,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num32-Matot-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num32-Matot-300x194.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":194,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num32-Matot-768x496.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":496,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num32-Matot-1024x662.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":662,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num32-Matot.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":993,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num32-Matot.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1324,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num32-Matot-1200x776.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":776,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num32-Matot-650x420.jpg","home_baner-width":650,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Chapter Illustrated: Parashat Mas'ei","tile_main_caption":"42 Encounters","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"To enshrine a memory of divine love amidst trials, travels, travails, and tribulations","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":48857,"alt":"","title":"Num33-Masei","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Masei.jpg","width":2000,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Masei-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Masei-240x300.jpg","medium-width":240,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Masei-768x960.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":960,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Masei-819x1024.jpg","large-width":819,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Masei.jpg","1536x1536-width":1229,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Masei.jpg","2048x2048-width":1638,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Masei-960x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Masei-336x420.jpg","home_baner-width":336,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"33","chapter_main_number":"150","date":"20260326","wall_id":"150"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":8,"id":"48865","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Moses' Travel Log Of Forgettable Moments ","post_title":"Moses' Travel Log Of Forgettable Moments","slug":"moses-travel-log-of-forgettable-moments","old_id":"48865","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33859,"post_title":"Avidan Freedman","slug":"avidan-freedman","old_id":"33859","first_name":"Avidan","last_name":"Freedman","description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. He is an activist advocating for moral limits on Israeli arms exports, and on behalf of African refugees, and a proud husband and father of 5. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, and from the Israeli chief rabbinate.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. ","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33860,"alt":"Avidan Freedman","title":"Avidan Freedman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","width":856,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-768x919.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":919,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-856x1024.jpg","large-width":856,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","1536x1536-width":856,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","2048x2048-width":856,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"150","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"If you want to know where you are, you have to know where you've come from","post_main_content_content":"

Some moments are unforgettable, some you work hard to forget, and then there are those for which forgetting just comes naturally. It is these last ones that Moses feels compelled to record for posterity on the banks of the Jordan, in chapter 33.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The miraculous splitting of the sea is given three words. The giving of the Torah, the manna, the quail, the great military victories- none. Nor do we hear about the complaints, the sins, the ensuing plagues. The highs and the lows are easy to remember; they don't require mentioning now. We do hear of a whole list of places that have been unmentioned until now. The period between the second and 40th year in the desert, during which nothing of note happened, during which God's voice was not heard in the camp, finally gets some attention. But why? Wouldn't it be better to let those days sink easily into oblivion?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

No, teaches Moses. \"And Moses wrote the starting points of their journey (<\/span>motza'eihem lemase\u2019ihem<\/span><\/em>) by God's word, and these are their journeys to their starting point (<\/span>mase\u2019ihem lemotza'eihem<\/span><\/em>).\" <\/span><\/p>\r\n

If you want your journey to bring you to a whole new point of departure, you need to understand exactly where it began. If you want to know where you are, you have to know where you've come from. Every step of the journey until now has brought you to this point. The good, the bad, certainly, but especially the boring and the mundane. It is in these that can be found the small moments of <\/span>chesed<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>God's for us, and our own as well. \"Thus says the Lord: \u00a0I remember for your sake the loving-kindness of your youth, the love of your newlywed days, when you walked after me in the desert, in an unsown land\" (Jeremiah 2:2).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103756,"alt":"","title":"-624c59f79c29a--624c59f79c29cgen45-rear view mirror 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\u201cThese were the marches of the Israelites who started out from the land of Egypt, troop by troop, in the charge of Moses and Aaron. Moses recorded the starting points of their various marches as directed by the Lord. Their marches, by starting points, were as follows\u2026\u201d (Num 33:1-2).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We close the Book of Numbers with a long walk down memory lane, recalling the various stops taken on the trek. The journey of decades stretched across time and space, but the finish line was suddenly coming into view. Lest the reader think that the Israelites were constantly on the move, Rashi demonstrates that this count indicates that in the 38 years up to this point, \u201cthey made only twenty journeys.\u201d \u00a0Twenty is plenty. Each move surfaced their own restlessness and inability to settle. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Locations by mention of their names alone manifest associations in the subterranean level of consciousness: Hiroshima, Gettysburg, Treblinka, Jerusalem. Each name dropped in Numbers 33 may have triggered thoughts of closeness to God, dislocation or rebellion. Mapping the trip spatially allowed them to map it emotionally.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To this, Rashi adds another explanation, citing a parable stated by the sage Rabbi Tanhuma: \u201cIt may be compared to the case of a king whose son was ill and whom he took to a distant place to cure him. When they returned home the father began to enumerate all the stages, saying to him, \u201cHere we slept, here we caught cold, here you had the head-ache, etc.\u201d (Tanhuma 4:10:3). For this scholar, the journey represented an illness on the road to recovery, marked by waystations of healing. This reading also signals that the Israelites had finally reached a better place, physically and spiritually. 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Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"150","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But the journey itself is an also an end in itself","post_main_content_content":"

Is it a chicken and egg question? Or ends versus means?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Chapter 33, verse 2, we learn that Moses reflected on the journey of the Israelites and \u201cwrote their goings forth according to their journeys at the bidding of God\u201d. And then, the very same sentence concludes with \u201cand these were their journeys according to their going forth.\u201d Why say it twice, and why the reversal of order of \u201cgoing forth\u201d and \u201cjourneys\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch distinguishes between the two phrases this way: \u201cgoings forth\u201d refers to the purpose - the \u201cend\u201d of the Israelites\u2019 journey, both physical and spiritual, from slavery in Egypt until now. That purpose is reaching their destiny as the chosen people in the Land of Israel. But \u201cjourney\u201d refers to the physical steps along that path to destiny. And Rabbi Hirsch points out that at some point during each step of their journey the Israelites became dissatisfied with their current conditions and expressed (often through complaining) their yearning to move on to their next step.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The expression \u201cgoings forth according to their journeys\u201d is, according to Rabbi Hirsch, the Godly perspective, emphasizing the end before the means. While the second version of \u201cjourneys according to their going forth\u201d puts the emphasis on the means to the end, which is the perspective of the Israelites. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

It was Moses\u2019 job, as the leader, to continually remind the Israelites of their end-goal, while respecting that front and centre in his followers minds was the means, the journey, through which they could reach that goal. And the nuanced phrasing we read in this chapter reminds us that the means is as important as the end - an idea critical to good leadership and reflected in one of my favourite verses (and popular songs) from Pirkei Avot, the Ethics of the Fathers: \u201cIt is not your duty to complete the work. Not up to you to finish it. But neither are you free to desist from it.\u201d It\u2019s not all about the goal - the journey is just as important.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":77825,"alt":"","title":"jon1-journey road","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon1-journey-road.png","width":1280,"height":1190,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon1-journey-road-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon1-journey-road-300x279.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":279,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon1-journey-road-768x714.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":714,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon1-journey-road-1024x952.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":952,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon1-journey-road.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1190,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon1-journey-road.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1190,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon1-journey-road-1200x1116.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1116,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon1-journey-road-452x420.png","home_baner-width":452,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A God\u2019s Eye View Of The Journey","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"But the journey itself is an also an end in itself","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":49898,"alt":"","title":"dt7-path","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt7-path.png","width":1280,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt7-path-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt7-path-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt7-path-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt7-path-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt7-path.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt7-path.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt7-path-1200x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt7-path-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"33","chapter_main_number":"150","date":"20260326","wall_id":"150"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"442","name":"Journey","old_id":"842"}]},{"order":12,"id":"48861","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Superfluous Stops, Or Overlooked Opportunities? ","post_title":"Superfluous Stops, Or Overlooked Opportunities?","slug":"superfluous-stops-or-overlooked-opportunities","old_id":"48861","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37918,"post_title":"Shai Held","slug":"shai-held","old_id":"37918","first_name":" Shai ","last_name":"Held","description":"Rabbi Shai Held, theologian, scholar, and educator, is President, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at Hadar, where he also directs the Center for Jewish Leadership and Ideas. A 2011 recipient of the prestigious Covenant Award for excellence in Jewish education, Rabbi Held has been named multiple times to Newsweek\u2019s list of the 50 most influential rabbis in America. He holds a doctorate in religion from Harvard; Rabbi Held's first book, Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Call of Transcendence, was published by Indiana University Press in 2013; The Heart of Torah, a collection of essays on the Torah in two volumes, was published by JPS in 2017.","short_description":"Rabbi Shai Held is President, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at Hadar,","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37919,"alt":"","title":"shai held","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","width":150,"height":186,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":186,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":186,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":186,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":186,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":186,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":186}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"150","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Be present, and every seemingly meaningless meandering can reveal a deeper purpose","post_main_content_content":"

Reading Numbers 33 can be a tedious undertaking. The chapter recounts the various stations on Israel\u2019s journey through the wilderness\u2014all forty-two of them: \u201cThe Israelites set out from Rameses and encamped at Succoth. They set out from Succoth and encamped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness...\u201d (Numbers 33:5-7).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And so it goes, for almost fifty verses. The question, of course, is why\u2014why the painstaking, laborious enumeration of all of Israel\u2019s stopping places, even places where nothing of any significance seems to have taken place?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As R. Abraham Saba (1440\u20131508) writes, \u201cThe reporting of these marches seems extraneous... There is nothing in the Torah that seems to be as superfluous as [the recording of] these marches\u201d (Tzror Ha-Mor to Numbers 33:1). Yet traditional interpreters have been guided by the assumption, most forcefully articulated by Maimonides, that each and every story in the Torah serves a purpose. What, then, can we make of this less-than-scintillating account of Israel\u2019s journeys and resting-places?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The commentators offer a variety opinions, either relating the journeys to God\u2019s kindness, providence, generosity, and so forth. Let me offer a somewhat different (admittedly homiletical) interpretation: The text serves to remind us that even seemingly inconsequential stops on our journey can be powerful opportunities for serving God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We are often tempted to think that one of the many things we do is \u201c<\/span>real <\/span><\/i>life,\u201d while everything else represents a distraction or\u2014at best\u2014a means of facilitating the activities we really value: One of a thousand other things is what is significant; none of our other endeavors really matters\u2014and certainly not in any ultimate way.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In discussing the commandment to \u201cknow God\u201d in all our ways, R. Abraham Isaac Kook (1865-1935) puts forward a radical interpretation: \u201cone must seek the Blessed Holy One in the midst of the ways one acts.\u201d R. Kook insists that \u201cthe truth is that there is nothing in the world that is not for the honor of the Blessed Holy One, hence everything one does will be according to strives with all one\u2019s intelligence and with all one\u2019s abilities to carry out every action with the summit of perfect wholeness in all its dimensions\u2014then one will know the Blessed Holy One in every way [i.e. action].\u201d We serve God, in other words, by <\/span>being fully present wherever we are<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Numbers 33 lists forty-two places, some of them seemingly eminently forgettable, to teach a subtle but critical lesson: We can know God, and serve God, at every stop along our way.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0By Michel van Lochom<\/a> - The National Library of Israel Collections, Public Domain,\u00a0<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":48871,"alt":"","title":"Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map.jpg","width":1867,"height":1256,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map-300x202.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":202,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map-768x517.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":517,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map-1024x689.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":689,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1033,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map.jpg","2048x2048-width":1867,"2048x2048-height":1256,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map-1200x807.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":807,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map-624x420.jpg","home_baner-width":624,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Superfluous Stops, Or Overlooked Opportunities?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Be present, and every seemingly meaningless meandering can reveal a deeper purpose","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":48871,"alt":"","title":"Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map.jpg","width":1867,"height":1256,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map-300x202.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":202,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map-768x517.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":517,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map-1024x689.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":689,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1033,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map.jpg","2048x2048-width":1867,"2048x2048-height":1256,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map-1200x807.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":807,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num33-Wanderings_in_the_desert_map-624x420.jpg","home_baner-width":624,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"33","chapter_main_number":"150","date":"20260326","wall_id":"150"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"442","name":"Journey","old_id":"842"}]},{"order":13,"id":"48863","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The God Of Everywhere Can Be Found Anywhere ","post_title":"The God Of Everywhere Can Be Found Anywhere","slug":"the-god-of-everywhere-can-be-found-anywhere","old_id":"48863","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33923,"post_title":"Jonathan Sacks","slug":"rabbi-lord-jonathan-sacks","old_id":"33923","first_name":"Jonathan ","last_name":"Sacks","description":"An international religious leader, philosopher, and award-winning author of over 35 books, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the International President of 929.\r\nRabbi Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth years between 1991 and 2013, and was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 2005 and made a Life Peer. Rabbi Sacks passed away on 7th November 2020, aged 72. He was one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, who bridged the religious and secular world through his ground-breaking canon of work.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z\"k (1948-2020) was the former Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, and the International 929 president.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36222,"alt":"","title":"JSacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","width":437,"height":548,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-768x448.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":448,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-1024x597.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":597,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","1536x1536-width":437,"1536x1536-height":548,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","2048x2048-width":437,"2048x2048-height":548,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","post_full_size-width":437,"post_full_size-height":548,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-335x420.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"150","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"So why is the God beyond place to be found specifically in this place?","post_main_content_content":"

The long journey is nearing its close. The Jordan is almost within sight. Finally God tells Moses: \u201cTake possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess\u201d (33: 53). This, according to Nachmanides, is the source of the command to dwell in the land of Israel and inherit it.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>With this we come to one of the central tensions in Judaism and Jewish history: the religious significance of the land of Israel. Whatever the subplots and subsidiary themes of Tanakh, its overarching narrative is the promise of and journey to the land. Jewish history begins with Abraham and Sarah\u2019s journey to it. Exodus to Deuteronomy are taken up with the second journey in the days of Moses. Tanakh as a whole ends with Cyrus king of Persia granting permission to Jews, exiled in Babylon, to return to their land: the third great journey.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The paradox of Jewish history is that though a specific territory, the holy land, is at its heart, Jews have spent more time in exile than in Israel; more time longing for it than dwelling in it; more time travelling than arriving. Much of the Jewish story could be written in the language of today\u2019s chapter: \u201cThey journeyed from X and camped at Y\u201d.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Hence the tension. On the one hand, monotheism must understand God as non-territorial. The God of everywhere can be found anywhere. He is not confined to this people, that place \u2013 as pagans believed. He exercises His power even in Egypt. He sends a prophet, Jonah, to Nineveh in Assyria. He is with another prophet, Ezekiel, in Babylon. There is no place in the universe where He is not. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

On the other hand, it must be impossible to live fully as a Jew outside Israel, for if not, Jews would not have been commanded to go there initially, or to return subsequently. Why is the God beyond place to be found specifically in this place?...<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What was and is unique about Israel is that it is the sole place on earth (barring shortlived exceptions like the Himyarites in the 6th century and Khazars in the 8th, whose kings converted to Judaism) where Jews have had the chance to create an entire society on Jewish lines. It is possible to live a Jewish life in Manchester, Monsey, Madrid or Minsk. But it is always a truncated experience. Only in Israel do Jews conduct their lives in the language of the Bible, within time defined by the Jewish calendar and space saturated in Jewish history. Only there do they form a majority. Only there are they able to construct a political system, an economy and an environment on the template of Jewish values. There alone can Judaism be what it is meant to be: not just a code of conduct for individuals, but also and essentially the architectonics of a society.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From:<\/span>The Religious Significance of Israel (Covenant & Conversation, Matot 5769)<\/span><\/em><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":88575,"alt":"","title":"ps107-israeli independence 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God Of Everywhere Can Be Found Anywhere","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"So why is the God beyond place to be found specifically in this place?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":88575,"alt":"","title":"ps107-israeli independence 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Sacks","old_id":"754"},{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"430","name":"Land of Israel","old_id":"830"}]},{"order":14,"id":"48873","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"An Experience Beyond Words ","post_title":"An Experience Beyond Words","slug":"an-experience-beyond-words","old_id":"48873","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37333,"post_title":"Esther Jilovsky","slug":"esther-jilovsky","old_id":"37333","first_name":"Esther ","last_name":"Jilovsky","description":"Dr Esther Jilovsky is a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. A native of Melbourne, Australia, she comes to the rabbinate with a PhD from the University of London in 2011. A granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, she is the author of Remembering the Holocaust: Generations, Witnessing and Place and co-editor of In the Shadows of Memory: The Holocaust and the Third Generation. \r\n\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr Esther Jilovsky is a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":52868,"alt":"","title":"esther jilovsky.jpeg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1.jpg","width":3581,"height":5371,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1-683x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":683,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1-683x1024.jpg","large-width":683,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1365,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1-280x420.jpg","home_baner-width":280,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"150","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The spaces between the letters hint at the details of the journey","post_main_content_content":"

It is difficult to capture a moment. Time may be fleeting, but it can also seem interminable. When we look forward in time, a year seems a lifetime away. But when we look back in time, a year ago feels like yesterday. A fifteen-hour flight can feel never-ending, a one-week holiday can pass like a day. Photography captures a place at a particular time. As philosopher Roland Barthes explains, \u201cWhat the Photograph reproduces to infinity has occurred only once: the Photograph mechanically repeats what could never be repeated existentially.\u201d A photograph freezes a moment, imbuing even the most fleeting of moments with a form of permanence.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the Torah, we find snapshots made of words rather than pictures. Moments that happened so very long ago are there for us, preserved in black and white. Midrash tells us that the Torah was written \u2018with letters of black fire on a surface of white fire\u2019, showing that the spaces between the Hebrew letters form a crucial part of the text (Midrash Tanchuma Breishit 1:1). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps the unwritten tells us something beyond the written words.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Torah tells us: \u2018These were the marches of the Israelites who started out from the land of Egypt, troop by troop, in the charge of Moses and Aaron\u2019 (Numbers 33:1). And here, in the long list of forty-two places where the people of Israel stopped, rested or passed through, we find the Torah\u2019s picture of the journey from Egypt to freedom. From Rameses to Succoth to Etham. From Marah to Elim to the Sea of Reeds. From Tahath to Terah to Mithkah. We can only imagine what it was really like: the oppressive desert heat, the instability of moving all the time, the constant work of setting up and dismantling camp. The spaces between the letters hint at the details of the journey.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Here, the Torah paints us a picture of an experience beyond words. The white fire, the space between the letters, communicates something more than the black fire of the letters themselves. A record of a transformational journey, a shift from slavery to autonomy, the beginning of peoplehood. The Torah\u2019s snapshot tells us so much more than we can see.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":71620,"alt":"","title":"jer36-silver - letters","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer36-silver-letters.jpg","width":1000,"height":815,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer36-silver-letters-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer36-silver-letters-300x245.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":245,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer36-silver-letters-768x626.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":626,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer36-silver-letters.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":815,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer36-silver-letters.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":815,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer36-silver-letters.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":815,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer36-silver-letters.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":815,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer36-silver-letters-515x420.jpg","home_baner-width":515,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"An Experience Beyond Words","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The spaces between the letters hint at the details of the journey","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":71620,"alt":"","title":"jer36-silver - letters","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer36-silver-letters.jpg","width":1000,"height":815,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer36-silver-letters-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer36-silver-letters-300x245.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":245,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer36-silver-letters-768x626.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":626,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer36-silver-letters.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":815,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer36-silver-letters.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":815,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer36-silver-letters.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":815,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer36-silver-letters.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":815,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer36-silver-letters-515x420.jpg","home_baner-width":515,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"33","chapter_main_number":"150","date":"20260326","wall_id":"150"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"442","name":"Journey","old_id":"842"},{"term_id":"798","name":"language","old_id":"1198"}]},{"order":15,"id":"48881","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Exodus Itinerary \u2013 Then, Now and in the Future ","post_title":"Exodus Itinerary \u2013 Then, Now And In The Future","slug":"exodus-itinerary-then-now-and-in-the-future","old_id":"48881","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33877,"post_title":"Marc Bregman","slug":"marc-bregman","old_id":"33877","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Bregman","description":"Marc Bregman received his Ph.D. from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1991. He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"150","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The midrash expands on a sparse, skeletal narrative","post_main_content_content":"

Our chapter consists primarily of a detailed listing of the places where Israel encamped and the travels between them during the 40 years in the Desert between the Exodus from Egypt and the preparation for the Conquest of the Promised Land (Numbers 33:1-49). Other than some 42 place names, little narrative detail is included. One exception is the brief recollection of the actual Exodus from Egypt: \u201cAnd they journeyed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the morrow after the Passover, the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians\u201d (verse 3). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Apart from this mention of a triumphant event, and the very brief mention of the crossing of the Sea (verse 8), the few additional narrative details tend to be less happy recollections, such as the lack of water at Rephidim (verse 14) and the death of Aaron in Mount Hor (verses 38-39). The Midrash (Numbers Rabbah 23:3 and parallels cited in the name of Rabbi Tanhuma by Rashi to Numbers 33:1) elaborates on the curious features of this biblical itinerary with a parable of a king whose son was ill. He took him to a place for him to be cured. When they were returning, his father began to recount their travels. Here we slept. Here we cooled ourselves. Here your head bothered you. Similarly, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Recount to them all the places where they angered Me. This is what is suggested by: \u201cThese are the travels of the children of Israel, by which they went forth out of the land of Egypt\u2026\u201d (verse 1).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Midrash goes on to suggest why these specific place names merited to be recorded in the Torah. Because they accepted Israel\u2019s travels and encamping in them, the Holy One, blessed be He, will in the future give them their reward, as it is written, \u201cThe wilderness and the parched land shall be glad\u2026\u201d (Isaiah 35:1 and on) \u2026 You find that now there are no trees in the wilderness. But there will be in the future, as it says, \u201cI will plant cedars in the wilderness, acacias and myrtles and oleasters. I will set cypresses in the desert, box trees and elms as well (Isaiah 41:19). And now there is no path in the wilderness, for it is all sand. But in the future, there will be a path, as it says, \u201cI will make a road through the wilderness\u2026\u201d (Isaiah 43:19). And it says, \u201cAnd a highway shall appear there, which shall be called the Sacred Way. No one unclean shall pass along it, but it shall be for them. No traveler, not even fools, shall go astray\u201d (Isaiah 35:8).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Encampment of Israelites, Mount Sinai (1836 intaglio print after <\/span>J. M. W. Turner<\/span><\/a> from <\/span>Landscape illustrations of the Bible<\/span><\/i>) -\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=7237504 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I Don\u2019t Know<\/span><\/h2>\r\n

These are the journeys of the Children of Israel\u2026
\r\n<\/span>Numbers 33:1<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/b> I<\/b><\/h2>\r\n

I don\u2019t know<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>if the Cloud will remain<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>above our heads today,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>and I shall have time<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>to bake manna for our noonday meal,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>or<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>if it will move.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The Levites will pack the Tent,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>its poles and hangings, clasps and hooks<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>and we shall roll up our tents,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>march<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>and follow the Ark<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>that will follow the Cloud.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Westward? Eastward?<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>North? South? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

I don\u2019t know<\/span><\/p>\r\n

if we will continue to march today,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>or if the Cloud will stop,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>forcing us to encamp<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>without advancing in our trek.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>For how long shall we stay?<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>A day? A week?<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>A month? A year?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I don\u2019t know<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>if we will have food tomorrow:<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>we have none in store.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>We have to arise at dawn<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>to see if our day\u2019s manna,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>like milky dew,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>miraculously covers the fields.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I don\u2019t know.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> II<\/b><\/p>\r\n

I don\u2019t know<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>if a flying missile<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>will fall from a sapphire sky today<\/span><\/p>\r\n

and blow apart<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>my sister in Sderot.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I don\u2019t know<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>if my daughter will return<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>safely from her school trip today<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>or if my son will return<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>safely from his mission<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>in the Defense Forces.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I don\u2019t know<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>if I will return home today<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>or if I will be blown up<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>while sitting down to a glass of mint tea,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>served with a lemon slice<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>in a busy cafe.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I don\u2019t know.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

All I know<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>is life\u2019s uncertainty,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>transience,<\/span><\/p>\r\n

and that between God\u2019s palm and thumb<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>we live each day.<\/span>
\r\n
\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n

An earlier version of this poem appears in Ruth\u2019s book, <\/span>Cradled in God\u2019s Arms<\/span><\/em><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104576,"alt":"","title":"-627259a5aa9de--627259a5aa9dfex15-faith doubt uncertainty 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\" \u2026 these are their journeys, according to their points of origin.\" (Numbers 33:2)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It's hard to forget the first time you were born.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>You're thrust out of the womb,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Birth-pang by birth-pang;<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The candle is blown out,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The holy books are closed<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>And an angel slaps your face,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Admonishing you: 'Be righteous,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Not wicked.'<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It's hard to forget the first time you were born.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>You cross the border to a country<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>You had never visited before, the passport<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>You had prepared<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Suddenly lost.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>An entire bottle of atropine<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Is poured into your eyes<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Before you're yanked and pushed out<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Into the light of the noonday sun;<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>You enter a preheated oven<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>While you are still in deep-freeze.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Maybe it's easy to forget the following births,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Reincarnation after reincarnation;<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>After all, who can remember how many times<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>You were given a life and subsequently died \u2014<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>It's easier to count how often you've changed your socks.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>But it's hard to forget the first time you were born:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The exposure to air,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> The unfamiliar urge to breathe,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> And your despair as you cry<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For the Torah you had learned but can no longer recall,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>For the chariot you rode in which has now disappeared,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>For language abruptly snatched from you<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>And you full of questions<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Without words to ask them:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

'What happened to the gentle water in which you bathed?<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> What happened to the reassuring rhythm of your mother's heartbeats?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What happened to the blessed darkness?<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> Where is the temple you have been exiled from,<\/span><\/p>\r\n

a temple full of music with no need for orchestra or choir,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> full of splendor with no candles or altar fire,<\/span><\/p>\r\n

full of fragrance with no incense or spices,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> full of blessing, and you \u2014 the High Priest.'<\/span><\/p>\r\n

You weep,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Ready to sit seven days in mourning,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Refusing to be comforted,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Orphaned and cut off<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>From a world<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Composed of letters and combinations of letters<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>You put together, one by one,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>A world<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>In which you knew how to pronounce<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The unpronounceable Name of God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It's hard to forget the first time you were born \u2014<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>But regarding your most recent death,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>That's another story altogether.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86553,"alt":"","title":"ps88-fetus baby","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Reincarnation","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"It's hard to forget the first time you were born \u2014","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86553,"alt":"","title":"ps88-fetus baby","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"33","chapter_main_number":"150","date":"20260326","wall_id":"150"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"}]},{"order":19,"id":"48717","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Numbers 33 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Numbers 33","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-numbers-33","old_id":"48717","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40936,"post_title":"David Silber","slug":"david-silber-2","old_id":"40936","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Silber ","description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. He received ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He received the Covenant Award in 2000. He is the author of APassover Haggadah: Go Forth and Learn, published by JPS in 2011, and the newly released For Such a Time as This: Biblical Reflections in the Book of Esther, published by Koren Publishing in 2017 (Hebrew). ","short_description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":40937,"alt":"","title":"david-Silber-2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","width":151,"height":175,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","medium-width":151,"medium-height":175,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","medium_large-width":151,"medium_large-height":175,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","large-width":151,"large-height":175,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":151,"1536x1536-height":175,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":151,"2048x2048-height":175,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":151,"post_full_size-height":175,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","home_baner-width":151,"home_baner-height":175}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"150","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Audio","tile_main_caption":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Numbers 33","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/rabbi-david-silber-a-lesson-on-numbers-chapter-33","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"2","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"33","chapter_main_number":"150","date":"20260326","wall_id":"150"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":20,"id":"107609","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points To Ponder: Numbers 33 ","post_title":"Points To Ponder: Numbers 33","slug":"points-to-ponder-numbers-33","old_id":"107609","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":false,"related_cahpter":"150","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Round numbers<\/em>. 40 stations - for the 40 years of the desert journey.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Quite a landscape.<\/em> \u201cOn the edge of the wilderness\u201d (verse 6), and \u201ctwelve springs in Elim and seventy palm trees\u201d (verse 9).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Familiar names<\/em>. Yotvata (the kibbutz near Eilat known for its chocolate milk), Etzyon Gaver, Ovot (also places on the contemporary Israeli map). But also many places much less well-known.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. What\u2019s missing?<\/em> Mt. Sinai! How is that not mentioned?<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Daily Summary","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder: Numbers 33","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"33","chapter_main_number":"150","date":"20260326","wall_id":"150"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/48544"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}