The Heat of July and August | Rabbi Haggai Lundin | Beit Midrash

Torah Portion and Tanach
Masei

קטגוריה משנית

It's hot outside. We all feel it in the scorching weather, in the electricity bill from the air conditioners, in the children running around the house; and in the hysteria of the "climate crisis" that is gradually taking its place as the new prophecy of destruction and the end of the world. The spiritual principle that is important to remember during such periods appears in the Torah portion of Masei, which we will read this coming Shabbat. The Torah portion describes 42 journeys that the people of Israel travelled in the scorching desert. "Journey" is a code word for change and abrupt transition; a reality that is inevitably accompanied by difficulty and discomfort.

The journeys of the Jews in July and August in the desert were very difficult. The children were not in organized frameworks, each time the camp was dismantled and reassembled, there was chaos, and there was no air conditioning. But they had a verse that guided them the entire way: "At the directive of the Lord, they would camp and at the directive of the Lord, they would travel" (Numbers 9, 23).

In life, there are many travels and stops along the way, but the outlook of the believer always looks at things in proportion. At any given moment, we prepare to the best of our ability to the current extreme situation and at the same time know all the time that we are traveling "according to God’s word", which is in modern translation means that equilibrium will return to reality - after a heat wave a cold front will come; after the vacation, the days of routine will return; and after the summer, with the help of God, autumn will come and with it, the holidays. With patience and with tranquility.