Masei, The Journey To Humility
This week we are privy to the travelogue of the Israelites in the desert.
What are the highlights of the trip? We find that it speaks about the great
pride the
Yad ramah, the Jews had as they went out of Egypt while the Egyptians
were busy burying their dead. Then they traveled, they narrowly escaped the
attack at the red sea, they had shortages of water, but once they found an oasis
with dates and wells. The last detail that is mentioned is that Aharon died in
the fortieth year. It says he died on
rosh hodesh av. The rabbis say that it was
on the 15th of Av that year that the last Jews of the 40 years of the
desert perished. So Aharon was one of the last to die from that generation.
Actually, all the
masaot and all the travels could be seen as a corrective to
their original attitude with which they left:
breish glei, with pride. Usually
we read that as a positive attitude. After all, they defeated the Egyptians. Why
shouldn't they have pride, as Rashi says:
bigvurah gvoha umfursemet, "with great
and famed heroism." But I would like to make a radical suggestion; that it was
that very pride which caused the Jews to wander in the desert for 40 years. This
is why we had to suffer with a lack of water and food. They had no right to have
pride. They had worshiped idols in Egypt. God had saved the Jews without the
Israelites ever having to lift a finger. Victory belongs to G-d alone.
Had the Jews gone on at that point and tried to conquer Israel, they would
have entered the land with hubris of having defeated Egypt. But after 40 years
of death, and after the death of beloved Aharon, which caused great mourning,
and after the death of Moshe, after the Jews had to burry their own dead, the
Jews ready to conquer with humility and with an understanding that victory
belongs to God.
It is interesting to note that only after the entire Jewish people wept and
mourned for the death of Aharon, then and only then do the Jews win their first
battle against the Canaanites. The Jews thought they could enter Israel with
pride, head held high, with pride in their accomplishments. Instead, they
entered Israel, humbled by 40 years of precarious living, 40 years of funerals
of their own. They entered Israel mourning the death of Aharon and later Moshe.
What happened in 40 years? One thing. They were humbled. And with that
corrective, they could enter Israel. Let us learn this lesson that it is through
humility that greatness is achieved.
Source: Rabbi Joel Finkelstein
Anshei Sphard Beth El Emeth Congregation
Memphis, TN
http://asbee.net/Masei%20Humility.htm 
