Parshat Matot-Masei recounts Bnei Yisrael’s forty-year journey through the desert as they approach their ultimate destination – the Land of Israel. Many commentators ask why the Torah repeats the list of masaot (journeys) when they have already been described. Their answers offer wisdom and hope for the Jewish people’s own journey today.

The Midrash Tanhuma likens this to a parent who takes a sick child from place to place in search of healing. Afterwards, the parent recounts each stop along the journey, recalling the hardships endured and the healing that followed. So too, God reminds Bnei Yisrael of the challenges they overcame, so they may draw strength from the past and face the future with confidence. Rambam, in the Guide to the Perplexed, explains that recounting the places where Israel traveled preserves the memory of the miracles through which God sustained the Jewish people in the wilderness. By remembering these miracles, future generations will be inspired with faith and trust in God. Sforno understands the repetition as praise for Bnei Yisrael. The journeys are recorded, he writes, “in order to praise the Jewish people,” who faithfully followed God through a vast and dangerous desert.

We may have arrived at our promised land in 1948, but the Jewish people, in Israel and the diaspora, are still on a journey filled with achievements, loss, miracles, challenges and victories. The biblical repetition of the masaot provides a template for successfully navigating the current journey of the Jewish people: draw strength from the past, recognize the small miracles along the way, appreciate our resilience, and keep our eyes fixed on the ultimate destination – a secure, flourishing Israel and a redeemed future for the Jewish people. Chazak chazak ve’nitchazek. Shabbat shalom -Karen Miller Jackson