Covered for the Journey
The fourth book of the five books of Moses, the book of Numbers, describes the people of Israel’s journey through the desert. The book begins with the Israelites camped in the Sinai desert, and at its conclusion we find the people camped at the bank of the Jordan River, opposite the city of Jericho, ready to cross into the promised land.
The book of Numbers begins with the Jewish people camped in an orderly fashion but very quickly things turn chaotic, as time and again the people reject the leadership of Moses, lose their faith in G-d, and fail to keep sight of their goal of reaching the promised land. Only at the end of the book, almost forty years after the chaos erupts, do the people triumph over the obstacles and reach their destination, the entrance to the promised land.
The first portion of the book, the portion of Bamidbar, describes in great detail the order in which the Jewish people camped and traveled in the desert. The temple was in the center surrounded by four camps, each containing three tribes. When it came time to travel the Levites would deconstruct the temple, cover the ark and the other vessels, and the people would proceed to travel in the same formation.
The Torah tells us that during its journey, the ark was to be covered with no less than three coverings:
When the camp is about to travel, Aaron and his sons shall come and take down the dividing screen; with it, they shall cover the Ark of the Testimony. They shall place upon it a covering of tachash skin and on top of that they shall spread a cloth of pure blue wool. Then they shall put its poles in place.[1]
If the book of Numbers is the book describing the Jewish journey through the wilderness, then it must also contain a message for the journey of each and every Jew. We too are on a journey called life, we too must overcome the challenges of the wilderness in order to reach our goal, fulfill our purpose, and arrive at our destination.
Just like our ancestors in the desert, our life can be divided into two periods: the first is when we are “camped”, and the second is when we are “journeying”. There are times when we are “camped”, we are tranquil and rested, free of inner turmoil and struggle. In those times, our figurative temple is constructed and our ark is revealed, we experience spiritual clarity, we feel connected to the Divine wisdom of the Torah. And then there are moments when we “journey”. We are moving through the wilderness of our lives, searching for clarity, understanding, and the embrace of the Divine. There are moments when life resembles, not the tranquility of the set up camp, but rather the turmoil of travel. There are moments when we feel surrounded by uncertainty, engulfed in spiritual darkness. Our ark is covered and our soul is silent. In those moments we ask ourselves, why? Why the darkness? Why the challenge? Why isn't the divine goodness obvious to us?
The book of Numbers gives us the answer.
When the Jews were camped, life was peaceful and spiritually fulfilling. The wisdom of the Torah represented by the ark was accessible. Yet the people were stationary. They did not grow. They were not forced to journey towards their goal.
The Torah teaches that in order for the people to journey, the ark must be covered. For a person to truly grow he must be challenged to reach his hidden potential, he must learn to forge ahead even when his ark is covered and when his inner inspiration is asleep.
Just as the ark was covered with three coverings in order to travel, so too G-d covers the soul with three coverings: the soul is wrapped in a human body, it is surrounded by an evil inclination, and it is placed in a culture foreign to its spiritual source.
When the soul is in heaven it is like an angel, surrounded by the light of G-d, its ark is revealed. However, this is not sufficient. G-d wants more. G-d wants the soul to grow; to be transformed from a “stationary” to a “traveling” soul.
Only when the soul prevails over the concealment of its inner evil inclination and the outside forces of darkness, does the soul “journey”. Only then does the soul break free of its limitation and touch the infinity of the Divine.[2]
[1] Numbers 4:5-6.
[2] Based on the teachings of the Rebbe, Lekutey Sichos Bamidbar vol. 8 sicha 2.