Taking the Long Way Home
At the beginning of this week’s
Torah portion, Beshallah, the
Israelites begin their journey out of Egypt – but right at the beginning,
something strange happens: When Pharaoh
let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines,
although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when
they see war and return to Egypt” (Exodus 13:17). Several questions
immediately jump out: Don’t the Israelites want to get out of there as fast as
possible? Why do they agree to follow God the long way around? And how could
God imagine that, so soon after their liberation, the Israelites would want to go
back to Egypt?
Rabbi Moses Maimonides (Spain,
Egypt, and Israel, 1135-1204), the great medieval Philosopher, answers these
questions directly in his Guide for the
Perplexed:
God refrained from prescribing what the people by their natural disposition would be incapable of obeying… it would be just as if a person trained to work as a slave with mortar and bricks, or similar things, should interrupt his work, clean his hands, and at once fight with real giants. It was the result of God's wisdom that the Israelites were led about in the wilderness till they acquired courage. For it is a well-known fact that travelling in the wilderness, and privation of bodily enjoyments, such as bathing, produce courage, whilst the reverse is the source of faint-heartedness: besides, another generation rose during the wanderings that had not been accustomed to degradation and slavery [Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed 3:32, tr. M. Friedlander].
In other words, the physical liberation is merely the beginning of the Israelites’ intellectual and spiritual liberation. Only after an adjustment period could a new generation, raised in freedom and conditioned by the challenges of life in the wilderness, take possession of the Promised Land.
Of course, Maimonides’ lesson remains true for us today. We spend a great deal of time thinking about ways we hope to change, grow, or develop, and rightfully so – but do we also grant ourselves a “wilderness period” in which to relinquish old habits and learn new skills? Or do we unfairly judge ourselves for not immediately turning over a new leaf? “God refrained from prescribing what the people by their natural disposition would be incapable of obeying,” not just because it was the most prudent course of action at that time but also as a lesson to the rest of us: when we set goals, whether for others or for ourselves, we must be careful to shape the conditions in such a way that we have a reasonable chance of success. It might be the long way home, but it is the only sure path to the Promised Land.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Abe Friedman
