Dear Friends,
Sometimes the long, hard road is the important testing ground by which we learn our way through life. If the world is easy and absent of challenge, we may fail to develop ethical muscles, personal courage, and depth of perspective in order to help us to face the coming bends in the road.
Such is the message of Torah this week, as Moses reflected back on the 40 years in the wilderness, near the end of his life and his tenure as our leader. We read:
"Remember the long way that your God יהוה has made you travel in the wilderness these past forty years, in order to test you by hardships to learn what was in your hearts: whether you would keep the divine commandments or not." (Deuteronomy 8:2)
It is true.
How many times do we read of trust-fund children of the rich and famous who never have to work a day in their lives, and who resultantly never develop strength of character or personal empathy, and whose lives decay into despair, drugs, or worse?
There is a profound value to undergoing necessary life struggles when one is young and in one’s formative years in order to prepare one for the tasks which will lie ahead. Those life lessons are better learned when one is young and malleable than when one is more aged and more vulnerable.
Hence, God led the Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness before bringing them to the portals of the promised land. Surely, God could have led us on the direct, easy route and could have either fought all our battles or removed those impediments from our way. But, Torah recounts, such was not God’s decision nor intent. Rather, God purposely subjected us in the infancy of our peoplehood so that we would face hardship and discover our national identity. Those learnings are not gained sitting in a comfortable travel coach or a cushy classroom. They come with the hard knocks.
As I look back on my own life, I can readily identify the hiccups, speed bumps, failures, and pains which came along with my inner growth and my own evolution. I can recall the embarrassments and the regrets, as well as the triumphs over difficult encounters, which contributed to my own personal shaping. And, mostly, I am grateful for those hardships, as the remaining scars continue to guide my judgment and my will.
I trust the same is true for you!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Sometimes the long, hard road is the important testing ground by which we learn our way through life. If the world is easy and absent of challenge, we may fail to develop ethical muscles, personal courage, and depth of perspective in order to help us to face the coming bends in the road.
Such is the message of Torah this week, as Moses reflected back on the 40 years in the wilderness, near the end of his life and his tenure as our leader. We read:
"Remember the long way that your God יהוה has made you travel in the wilderness these past forty years, in order to test you by hardships to learn what was in your hearts: whether you would keep the divine commandments or not." (Deuteronomy 8:2)
It is true.
How many times do we read of trust-fund children of the rich and famous who never have to work a day in their lives, and who resultantly never develop strength of character or personal empathy, and whose lives decay into despair, drugs, or worse?
There is a profound value to undergoing necessary life struggles when one is young and in one’s formative years in order to prepare one for the tasks which will lie ahead. Those life lessons are better learned when one is young and malleable than when one is more aged and more vulnerable.
Hence, God led the Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness before bringing them to the portals of the promised land. Surely, God could have led us on the direct, easy route and could have either fought all our battles or removed those impediments from our way. But, Torah recounts, such was not God’s decision nor intent. Rather, God purposely subjected us in the infancy of our peoplehood so that we would face hardship and discover our national identity. Those learnings are not gained sitting in a comfortable travel coach or a cushy classroom. They come with the hard knocks.
As I look back on my own life, I can readily identify the hiccups, speed bumps, failures, and pains which came along with my inner growth and my own evolution. I can recall the embarrassments and the regrets, as well as the triumphs over difficult encounters, which contributed to my own personal shaping. And, mostly, I am grateful for those hardships, as the remaining scars continue to guide my judgment and my will.
I trust the same is true for you!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
