Parashat Bamidbar

This Shabbat we begin the Book of Bamidbar, and through its course a long, long period unfolds before us - a people that set out on a journey of a few days and found itself wandering in circles for forty years. The wilderness in which the people of Israel dwelt before entering the Land was not a navigational error. It was an obligatory part, long and exhausting for that generation, yet very brief from a historical perspective - through which a band of slaves became the people of Israel, and through which the people passed from the depths of exile to the beginning of the redemption. The greater we are, the more we need processes of depth. Processes that are meaningful for us, for our surroundings, and for the whole world. And when we internalize this, we may be able to endure even grueling, wilderness-like processes, knowing that we are growing and advancing - even when it is hard.