The End of The Beginning
I am not an alarmist. Despite the obvious and painful uptick in antisemitism that we are witnessing in the US, I don’t think that Jewish communities in America are currently in mortal peril.
Perhaps my assessment is wrong. I don’t know. I am not a Navi, nor will I pretend to be. We all know that if we truly felt we were in danger here, there is no question of where we would go. But imminent danger should not be the reason to make Aliyah, and the absence of mortal peril does not equate to a theological imperative to remain in Chutz La’aretz.
A few weeks ago, I loaded up the past decade-plus of my drashas and articles into Claude, and asked the AI to arrange them by theme.
The obvious splits came up. Weekly Parsha, Yamim Tovim, Chessed, Torah, Tefillah.
Then claude told me that amongst the deepest and longest running themes in everything that I have written is: Contending with Galus America, and the dream of Eretz Yisrael.
I like that assessment.
It’s a theme that I am proud of, and it cuts to the core of who I am, and who my family is. Truthfully, I think it represents the most basic story line of the Torah: The journey of a family trying to return home.
The story starts with Avraham Avinu, and it ends, painfully and tragically this Shabbos, parshas Masei. For our ancestors in the Midbar, their forty year detour is coming to an end this week. It is the final installment of the story of the generation that left Mitzraim. From Devarim until the end of the Torah is Moshe's last speech; addressed to the people who will continue that dream.
This final Parsha begins with אלא מסעי – these are the journeys, the detours that we took. The Torah then lists forty-two stops from slavery in Egypt to standing at the entrance to Eretz Yisrael.
Why do we need such a summary? Rashi explains that it's all to teach us that Hashem looked after us at every point in the long journey. As I look back on the past eleven years in Boca, I feel this Rashi deeply. Hashem has been holding our hands since long before we arrived, and has helped us to build BRS West into the incredible place it is today.
But while the Ramban accepts Rashi's explanation, he adds:
והנה מכתב המסעות מצות השם היא מן הטעמים הנזכרים או מזולתן ענין לא נתגלה לנו סודו
The writing of these journeys were a command from Hashem, perhaps for the reasons we mentioned, or perhaps their secret has never been revealed to us.
That is to say, that fundamentally, even in the retrospective, we don't know why Klal Yisrael needed these stops. I think we all feel this one as well. There have been parts of our individual, communal and national journey that Hashem is clearly leading, without our understanding.
Personalizing our journey and connecting it to the travels of Klal Yisrael is an Avodah that The Degel Machaneh Efraim, explains, in the name of the Baal Shem Tov. Each and every individual traverses their own wilderness, each one with their own stops along the way:
כי כל המסעות היו מ”ב והם אצל כל אדם מיום הולדו עד שובו אל עולמו ולהבין זה כי מיום הלידה והוצאתו מרחם אמו הוא בחי' יציאת מצרים כנודע ואח”כ נוסע ממסע למסע עד בואו לארץ החיים העליונה וכמ”ש ע”פ ה' יחנו וע”פ ה' יסעו
These travels of the Jewish people are the journeys of each and every Jew from the day they are born – their personal Yetzias Mitzrayim. And they continue, from journey to journey until they come to the Land of Eternal Life.
In our generation, however, the allegory of the Baal Shem Tov can be lived in actuality as well. As so many of our friends, family and community members have achieved. We can make the journey home to Eretz Yisrael.
The goal of course, as we’ve said many times, is that our Aliyah should have a Neshamah. It should not exist simply as an elevation of physical space, but an upgrade in connection to Hashem, His Torah and His People.
That’s the hope and dream of our family as we prepare to make Aliyah this summer.
It’s not just a dream for us. Aliza and I have big dreams of building a home for you as well. A community that will continue the journey we all started when we left Mitzrayim.
This week, we’re starting to make that dream a reality. We’re having a parlor meeting to introduce you to the project we’re working on. You’ll get a chance to meet the realtors, ask your questions, and find out how you can fulfill that great dream as well.
To our dear friends in Boca, and in Chutz La’Aretz in general, this is not the beginning of the end, it’s the end of the beginning.
To find out more or get involved with the next chapter, fill out the form at raelblumenthal.org/aliyah.