The Deserts in Our Lives: Are They Physical or Spiritual?

In the Jewish rhythm of our weekly Torah readings, we recently began the fourth book of the Torah (The Five Books of Moses) called Numbers in English and BaMidbar in Hebrew. BaMidbar means “in the desert” and indeed this book speaks of the experiences of the Children of Israel during their forty years in the desert after having received the Law and witnessed the many amazing experiences, facilitated and directed by God. While one might think that there would be boundless gratitude and corresponding behavior, this is in fact not the case as the narrative is relayed to us. Quite the opposite, there is discord, rebellion and too many instances of serious missteps. This is not new – we have already read about the complaints regarding the Manna, the building of the golden calf and other such problematic events. So what is going on here? Is it the heat of the desert or is it something else – something much more generic to the human being?

I would suggest that there is a spiritual desert that parallels the physical desert and that its impact is much more far reaching and profound. We know the joke as to why it took forty years for the Jewish people to reach their destination – their leaders were men and they refused to ask for directions. Parenthetically as a woman who has NO sense of direction and with a husband who has a great one, but refuses to ask for directions…. I get this. If only they had had GPS or as we like to call her, Ms. Shirley Google (yes a female!). But actually, our sages teach us that they needed this time in the desert to throw off the mindset they had acquired as slaves in Egypt. The word for slave is EVED, but it is important to note that this word conveys the meaning of serving another and we are taught that the B’nai Yisrael while no longer servants to Egyptian masters, are in fact to serve God, The One who brought them out of Egypt to be God’s people. So what does this mean? We know it is not total and complete unfettered freedom, for there are far too many rules and regulations that dictate and define what that freedom means and how it is to be enacted.

What is the purpose of those rules and why would we want to be so disciplined and structured after having left such a situation? For an answer just look at your own teenage years or those of your children and you have your answer. We as human beings do have the potential to choose and to do so freely but as we see way too often those capacities are not always used for the best purposes. Consider (how can we not) the 24/7 newsfeed that is now a given in our lives, whether we like it or not. HERE IS THE TURTH! WE NEED RULES! WE NEED TO CHECK OUR HUBRIS! WE NEED TO BE ACCOUNTABLE! Being so may and hopefully does protect us from our own potential spiritual deserts. Perhaps this is the lesson of Sefer BaMidbar, the book of Desert Stories (or Numbers – yes, lets count those stories!).

Siblings forget how to behave and that G-d (and perhaps parents, hopefully) acknowledge that equal treatment of each loved child does not mean SAME treatment, but rather accommodating for the different needs and characteristics in an analogous way. Is G-d trying to teach us this when he calls Miriam, Aaron and Moses together at the Tent of Meeting (think of it as the Kitchen Talk – you know, the three of you get down here now! ) to explain that G-d’s relationship with each of them is different and they need to understand this.

Leaders have great responsibility with their words, clearly a MUCH NEEDED lesson for today. So when the scouts return and deliver their fearful reports about the land of Israel and incite the same fear and doubt amongst the masses, we are taught that leaders do matter and must take the additional responsibility of weighing and considering the impact of what they are to say. Here was their spiritual desert story. Korach and his rebellion is yet another example of this both from his point of view and perhaps in terms of the bigger picture regarding how he perceived leadership being handled. And then of course there is Moses striking the stone out of complete and total frustration. This is understandable to be sure, but what do the people learn from our leaders and what do our children learn from us when we are traversing the obstacles of our own spiritual deserts? What responsibility do we have to act in a way that will inspire the correct behaviors and responses and not incite the wrong ones? This, I believe, is the lesson of the forty years in the physical and spiritual deserts of BaMidbar, for all of us to consider carefully. May we all wade through those deserts in our lives with grace of soul, spirit of heart and adherence to THE ONE TO WHOM WE ARE ACCOUNTABLE.