Thinking for Yourself
“Life is a journey, not a destination.”
You’ve probably heard this incredibly chewed-up phrase more than once throughout your life. Some of you, if asked, may associate it with the American philosopher, poet, lecturer and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882.)
This quote is a paraphrase and doesn’t appear directly in any of his works, however the gist certainly does.
Journeys appear in our double portion this week, Matot-Masei. In fact the word Masei, the name of the second portion, means ‘journeys.’
אֵ֜לֶּה מַסְעֵ֣י בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָצְא֛וּ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם לְצִבְאֹתָ֑ם בְּיַד־מֹשֶׁ֖ה וְאַהֲרֹֽן׃
“These were the marches (journeys) of the Israelites who started out from the land of Egypt, troop by troop, in the charge of Moses and Aaron.”
וַיִּכְתֹּ֨ב מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶת־מוֹצָאֵיהֶ֛ם לְמַסְעֵיהֶ֖ם עַל־פִּ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה וְאֵ֥לֶּה מַסְעֵיהֶ֖ם לְמוֹצָאֵיהֶֽם׃
“Moses recorded the starting points of their various marches (journeys) as directed by יהוה. Their marches (journeys), by starting points, were as follows:”
Here we understand that Moses keeps a journal of some sort, writing a reflection of the Israelites journeys, for the use of future generations. A curious word doubling on the second verse (“their starting point to their journeys and their journeys to their starting point”) sent our commentators exploring.
One which is very much in the vein of Emerson’s philosophy, that of the spiritual closeness to nature, comes from someone who is considered the founder of the Chasidut movement - Israel ben Eliezer, better known as Haba’al Shem Tov. (1700c. - 1760)
ובוודאי נכתבו המסעות בתורה להורות הדרך הישר לאיש הישראלי, לידע הדרך הישר אשר ילך בו כל ימי חייו, ליסע ממסע למסע, וידוע שכל המסעות הם בחינות קדושים וטהורים… ברית מנוחה קברות התאוה הוא בחינת החכמה, כי שם קברו את העם המתאוים, פירוש, מי שבא למדת חכמה אזי בטל ממנו כל התאוות, מרוב דבקותו בו יתברך שמו, ומזה נבין לכל המסעות שבודאי הם בחינות קדושות ומעלות רמות, וכן גם כן תבערה בודאי הוא בחינה קדושה… אם היו נוסעים ובאים למסעות הנ"ל ולא ישנו אותם במעשיהם, בודאי היה מאיר להם כל מסע ומסע באור הגנוז בתוכו, ודי בזה למבין:
“These journeys are recorded in the Torah in order to teach us the right path to follow in our lives, and that all of our journeys are holy and pure. …Kivros HaTa’avah ….for they buried there the people who lusted. Meaning to say, when a person attains the level of Chochmah, he loses all his [material] desires in his great attachment to G‑d. Now we can understand how all the journeys were holy or contained aspects of holiness and exalted levels. ….Yet, had they not distorted these places, each one would have revealed its hidden light."
The Ba’al Shem Tov speaks of different points in time in one’s life journey where our desires either flare (Taverah) or are curbed (Kivrot Ta’avah.) Wisdom, according to the Ba’al Shem Tov, is to know how use each of them in a meaningful way instead of despairing over the danger of desire that society teaches. Here Haba’al Shem Tov emphasizes the false perception by which humans spend their lives’ journey, following paths dictated to them by external forces rather than thinking for themselves and making the most of every step of the way.
This philosophy of a life's journey is incredibly similar to what lies at the core of Emerson's most famous essay from 1841 “Self Reliance." Emerson, who wrote this essay between two important benchmarks in US history, the War of Independence and the Civil War, was wondering like many of his generation about the identity of the young country, its social issues and the formation of its future. Emerson was attempting to disconnect American thinking from European thought and to untangle one’s mind from religious dogmas and other social doctrines.
“Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.”
Emerson suggested thinking for oneself both as a nation as well as an individual. Life will take you through various points on your journey but it is up to you to not go through those as numb automata, but as a living, thinking human.
Emerson wrote that one of the greatest threats for life’s journey is consistency; if you wish to follow one consistent path, your life will lack meaning. It is all about change, rerouting, reinvention and intuition.
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall.”
Interestingly the Ba’al Shem Tov thought so as well. In his commentary he writes: לידע הדרך הישר אשר ילך בו כל ימי חייו, ליסע ממסע למסע, which means “To know the right path that he will walk all the days of his life, to travel from journey to journey…”
According to the Ba’al Shem Tov there is no one journey but several. In order to embark on different journeys, in order to be able to change direction, one must constantly reach a stopping point, a base camp, out of which one can embark on a new journey. This is illustrated in the Torah by the mentioning of the Israelites journeying and then stopping time and time again (ויסעו ויחנו.) This also explains the cycle described in our portion: (“their starting point to their journeys and their journeys to their starting point”)
Finally, the Ba’al Shem Tov suggests that at every stop of the journey one must dwell in it and make the most of it in order to reveal the hidden light. “...Yet, had they not distorted these places, each one would have revealed its hidden light…”
In Emerson’s famous words:
“Man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoe to foresee the future. He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present, above time.”
