Parashat B'shallah Exodus 13:17 - 17:16
The Talmud recounts a story told by Rabbi Joshua Ben Hananiah who,
while on a journey, met a young boy sitting at a crossroad. Rabbi
Joshua Ben Hananiah asked the boy which road led to the town. The boy
answered cryptically, "This [road] is short but long and that [road] is
long but short."
If offered such advice, most of us probably would choose the short but
long road. That is also what Rabbi Joshua Ben Hananiah did: he headed
down what he believed would be the shorter route. As he approached the
town, though, he discovered that it was so hedged in by gardens and
orchards that he could not get through and so had to return to the
crossroad. Meeting the lad again, Rabbi Joshua asked him, "My son, did
you not tell me this road was short?" The boy replied, "Did I not also
tell you: 'but long?'" Whereupon, Rabbi Joshua kissed the boy on his
head and said, "Happy are you O Israel; all of you are wise, both young
and old." Presumably, Rabbi Joshua then headed down the long but short
road and soon came upon the town he sought.
Sometimes the long road can get us where we need to go faster than the
short road. That is as true for traveling as for the small daily
interactions that build interpersonal relations and the large–scale
projects that foster communal growth and change. This is one of
the lessons we can draw from our Torah reading this morning, Parashat
B'shallah. The Torah tells us that, as the Jews left Egypt, "God
led the people roundabout, by way of the wilderness at the Sea of
Reeds" (Exodus 13:18).
Ostensibly, God wanted to spare the Israelites a confrontation with the
Egyptian garrisons that fortified the coastal road to Canaan. Some
commentators suggest that the Israelites, recently freed from slavery,
would be easily discouraged and would want to return to Egypt if they
had to fight their way past these fortifications. Others suggest that
Israel needed the extra time to develop the requisite skills and
qualities necessary for success in the Promised Land.
As Etz Hayim explains,; "Sometimes the harder way of doing something turns out to be the better way."
We know that is true. Sometimes, taking a little longer will get us
where we want to go faster, and in better shape, than if we tried to
take a shortcut. The long road sometimes is shortest.
Temple Israel is a community on a journey, and I know it sometimes
feels like a very long and circuitous journey. I have confidence
in the path we are taking, and the people who are walking with me.
I often hear people talk about past days when the synagogue was 400
families strong, when so-and-so came and cooked men’s club breakfasts,
or such and such brought in excitement and learning.
I fell in love with a beautiful community of 150 families, with a
Temple Israel where families care for one another in the most intimate
and giving ways, at times of death, illness, birth, and
celebration. This is a wondrous and beautiful community as we
stand right now.
The Israelites wandered through the desert until a new generation was
born that didn’t remember the life of slavery in the Egypt.
For Temple Israel, I believe our challenge is in cherishing our history
but finding our strengths in the now rather than looking back.
They say that in a successful marriage you have to fall in love with a
new person every ten years. Through our lives, we change a grow.
As spouse grow and change they can choose to fall in love with each
other again and again. Much in the same way the Steve reaffirms
his bar mitzvah obligations every time he comes to synagogue, and
publicly celebrates his commitment to Judaism and this community today
-- meaningful relationships are a long and winding road.
The time in the desert was time for Israel to develop a communal
relationship with God. Previously in the Torah we heard of
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah’s relationship
with God. Here in the desert, for the first time, all of Israel
develops a relationship with God. God introduces this concept to
Moses at the burning bush with the name yud, heh, vav, heh –I am what I
will be – our relationship is a journey far into the future. In
the desert Israel builds it’s first sanctuary of prayers, the
tabernacle, establishes it’s first synagogue board, the 70
elders, an a first communal constitution in the ten
commandments. More importantly, Israel begins to feel God’
presence in our everyday lives. God accompanies Israel as cloud
by day and as a pillar of fire by night. Day and night we
felt God’s presence as a comfort and a constant. This long road,
established for our a new relationship with God, with each other and
with generations to follow.
In our journey at Temple Israel, we are blessed with the inheritance of
our forefathers and mothers. They built, and planned, and carved
a path of communal caring and giving. As we grow into our new
selves, as we are now, we choose to fall in love all over again with
this community, to take the long road, and bring God into our lives as
a community of 150 families, committed to discovering this new identity.
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