Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 18 Sivan, 5783

I am very excited to dig into today’s portion.  It is all about the journey and path we are on.

The portion today talks about and begins with “the day the tabernacle was erected.”  So this is the “beginning” of the journey.

On this day, Hashem gave the Israelites (and Moses) the signs on when to move and when to camp.  When to step on the gas and when to put on the brakes.

As humans, I think we desire our journey to be consistent.  Predictable. Patterned. I think I personally spend a LOT of time trying to “figure out” the pattern of my life.

What today’s portion tells me is that I won’t be able to predict.  And if I try? I may get stuck on the pattern that I might miss the movement.  I may stay when Hashem wants me to go.

They key to our journey (in my opinion) is to move from “figuring it out” to “watching and listening.”  Being mindful. Being aware.  Is our “camp” covered in a cloud? Or is the cloud moving us?

Growth. Spiritual growth.  And I think discomfort, a lack of safety, these are things that cause us to “move” from our current positions.  This is not to say we need to “run away” when we feel safe.  Sometimes we need to “lean in” to the discomfort.  But we do need to move when we aren’t feeling safe.

If we ARE feeling safe, we need to ask why? Is that safety coming from Hashem? Or are we resting in our circumstances?

How difficult would it have been for the Israelites to “move” from the camp when they were getting comfortable and safe in their camp?  If they had camped out for a year, and then the cloud started moving – what would the human reaction be for those in the camp?

This is our life.  Where are we being asked to move? Where are we stuck?  What do we need to let go of in order to grow?  Where do we need to camp out because we’ve felt unsafe for so long? Where is our “sanctuary of safety?”

These are my thoughts – what about yours?

Here is my commentary from a year ago:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 16 Sivan, 5782

Good morning! Today we are going to dig into when Hashem asked the children of Israel to move, and when he asked them to stop moving.

I come to this today reflecting on growth. There are times in my life I see God leading me to move in a direction, on a journey. And then there are times He asks me to stop and set up camp. I know I make mistakes when I try to move when He wants me to stay, and when I stay when He wants me to move.

I’m hoping as we dig in, we can better recognize the signs – and be more in tune with where God wants us!

The portion opens the day the tabernacle was created. We learn the cloud covered it during the day, and then at night there was something that looked like fire until morning. This was always the case.

The cloud would then rise up from over the tent, and then the children of Israel would travel. Wherever the cloud settled, that is where the Israelites would encamp.

The Torah is interesting here. Numbers 9:18 says “Thus the children of Israel traveled by the word of God, and they encamped by the word of God.”

It’s an interesting juxtaposition of the cloud being the word of God. Moving forward this language is used a lot. Movement and stopping was always “by the word of God.”

The Torah talks about sometimes it was a day, two days, a month, or a year, the cloud was over the tabernacle, the children would encamp. Only when it rose did they travel. We are reminded again in Numbers 9:23, “They encamped by the word of God, and they traveled by the word of God.”

I’m chewing on this and how difficult this must have been. First, there wasn’t a pattern for the Israelites to figure out. They couldn’t predict ANYTHING. That would be really tough. They just had to trust and watch. And, they had to be living by the word of God. I would assume that at this point it would be studying this new Torah they had been given.

Maybe Hashem wanted them (and us) to spend more time dealing with certain passages than others? Maybe Hashem knew there were times we just needed to sit in our feelings; encamp in our sadness, anger, joy, etc and not move on or distract ourselves?

Either way. I see how letting the process happen is a good thing. We so often want to navigate things when we do. I want to go through my sadness and anger and grief quickly. I want to slow down my joy. But we need to trust we have our feelings the way we need to; and trust God to lift the cloud when it’s time to move on. There isn’t a formula for us to follow that will get rid of the feelings we have an aversion to. All we can do is be curious.

The portion then closes in talking about the trumpets. These were used for communication. They signaled when the people were to gather at the entrance, when leaders would gather, when the different camps should travel (east and south). The trumpets were used to communicate travel or encampment. Finally, when In a battle or war, the trumpets would be blown with a long blast so as to be remembered before God, and we will be saved from our enemies.

Finally, when we rejoice or have festivals, we are also to blow the trumpets!

What are your thoughts?