At the very end of the book of Exodus, we read that a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night led the Israelites “in all their encampments.” The word for “encampments” is Masa, which refers to travel as well. Rashi, the great medieval commentator, says that an encampment is also a journey. In that profound observation, we learn something about Jewish history and about life.
Jewish history demonstrates that every stop along the way before the land of Israel is temporary. Since the destruction of the Temple and the exile thousands of years ago, Jews have prayed for rain according to the season in Israel, not in the lands of their residence. We would ourselves toward Jerusalem in prayer and dream of the return to Zion. Rashi, in France in the 11th century, understood that the Jewish encampment was one step along the journey, whose culmination would be a return to the land.
The second message is that we stop in order to renew our efforts, not to cease from striving. This past week at the #NeverisNow conference, we saw people gather in one place to talk about the work of the ADL in combatting hate and building bridges. But the conference was not an end in itself. It was an encampment, a stop on the journey. From the meetings and discussions, people gathered hizzuk, encouragement and strength, in order to renew the efforts to combat hate in our world. We all left stronger, more resolute, and more able to face the challenges ahead.
In Pekuday, we see that the Israelites need to pause in their journey across the wilderness to gather their strength. But they know they are heading somewhere; that each rest is also a renewal for the path ahead. Along with the ancient Israelites, we too travel in the wilderness. For us as well, our tradition and our vision serve as a fire by night that allow us to see the way forward. So together, as pilgrims of the soul have always done, we journey toward a better world in which antisemitism and other forms of hate will be a memory, and in Israel and around the world humanity will live in peace.
