Rabbi's Message

This week’s double parasha, Matot-Masei, finds the Israelites approaching the border of the Promised Land, and recounts the string of stops they made in the desert during their 40-year wandering. Rather than simply reading the text as a dry list of names without deeper meaning, many commentators insist that there are deep lessons to be derived from the place names. One such commentator was Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner (19^th century, Poland), also known as the Ishbitzer Rebbe, who found particular interest in one set of names describing the Israelites’ journeying from a place called “Haradah” and coming to rest in “Makhelot” (Numbers 33:25).

The word “haradah” means fear and trembling. The word “makhelot” meanwhile, is directly translated as choirs, groups of people that come together to sing in harmony. So the Ishbitzer Rebbe asks us to consider: What does it mean for a nation to move from a place of fear to a place of togetherness and harmony? The verse is an important reminder, says the Rebbe, that fear is not a bad thing, that the presence of fear serves as a warning, and it is actually important to stop there for a time, to take stock of what we are or are not prepared to do before proceeding. The trick is, however, not to get stuck in a place of fear, and that is why the text tells us that the next stop is “Makhelot,” a place of togetherness and harmony.

Fear is normal, but one of the ways we move beyond fear is by finding a community that will support our voice and our contributions, and also help us recover if and when we fail. During these uncertain and even fearful times for Israel and for the Jewish people, may we harness our fear to bring us together, to raise our voices in unity against antisemitism and hatred, and also in support of our brothers and sisters in Israel and our beloved homeland. In doing so, may we, like our ancestors, move together in courage and in strength, from a place of haradah to a place of makhelot.

Shabbat Shalom.