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This week we read a double portion; the first, Matot, begins with laws concerning vows and the second, Massai, with a list of the forty-two journeys the Jews made in the Desert after leaving Egypt.

Everything in the Torah comes to improve us and teach us.  So, there must be a deep lesson here. Perhaps we can understand the connection between vows, journeys and us by a story.

Shraga (pseudo-name) was a wealthy businessman and a bit of a Torah Scholar who scoffed at the Chassidim and every Baal Shem Tov (aka Besh’t) story he heard.
But something inside him, perhaps simple curiosity, told him to travel to Mezibuz, where the Baal Shem lived, and see for himself.
It was a two-day trip, he arrived, secured a private audience but just moments after entering the Besht’s room he regretted that he made the trip.

He was very disappointed. The Baal Shem Tov that everyone called a great, holy Tzaddik looked, looked spoke and acted like every other rabbi. He waited for a pause in the conversation, stood up, shook the Besht’s hand, thanked him for his time and explained that he had to catch a train.

The Baal Shem escorted him to the door, wished him a good trip back then blessed him with a good job and a suitable place to live and asked him if he could do him a favor. He handed him a sealed letter and requested that he please deliver it the next time he happened to visit Minsk.

“That is weird” Shraga thought to himself as the door was closing behind him, “Why did he bless me with a job and a house? What, does he think I’m homeless?” He looked the letter and saw it was addressed to: “Mr. Samuels the Mayor of the Jewish sector of Minsk”, slipped it into his jacket pocket and chuckled uneasily to himself, “And his postman? He thinks I’m a homeless postman? Weird!” as he walked quickly to the train station.

A few days later he arrived home, put the letter on some shelf and promptly forgot the entire matter.
years passed. The Baal Shem had passed away, Shraga was 20 years older but much poorer. It seems his luck had taken a change for the worse and he was no longer the self-confident millionaire he used to be.

Financial setback after setback had gradually brought him to near poverty. Now he was selling the furniture in his house to salvage something from his foreclosed mortgage. He was moving a cabinet when suddenly an addressed envelope fell to the ground. He picked it up, dusted it off and as he read the address, began weeping. It was the letter that the Besh’t had given him years ago to deliver. It pained him to remember how he had scoffed at both the letter and the blessings; now he really did need a job and a home.

“Don’t weep Shraga”, his wife comforted him, “The Chassidim say that it is never too late to do good. I think that you should travel to Minsk and deliver the letter; perhaps the mayor is still alive, maybe our luck will change.”
He took her advice, bought a train ticket with the last of his dwindling resources and a day later was entering the Jewish quarter of Minsk.

The streets of the Jewish quarter were decorated for a festivity. A hundred tables were set with fruit and cakes, a small band was tuning up and a huge banner was tied above the stage saying: “MAZAL TOV MAYOR SAMUELS!!”; a new mayor was being inaugurated! And he had the same name as on the Besht’s envelope.
Our hero asked to meet the new mayor and was directed to a young well-dressed man. “Mr. Samuels? Congratulations! I have a letter for your father, the previous mayor, from the Baal Shem Tov”

“My father?” asked Samuels as he took the letter, “From the holy Baal Shem Tov?! But this is addressed to the mayor. My father was not the previous mayor; the previous mayor was called Gross. And the mayor before him was called Goldman. I’m the first mayor here by the name of Samuels. Strange. This letter is addressed to me!”
He opened the letter and read: “Dear Mr. Samuels, Mazal Tov on your appointment as Mayor! The man standing before you is honest and intelligent. He was once very wealthy and successful, please make use of him and provide him with an income and a house, I guarantee that you will not be disappointed. Sincerely Yisroel Baal Shem.”
The Baal Shem Tov knew exactly what would happen twenty years before it happened.
That is the connection between oaths, journeys and us.

One of the explanations of how the Besh’t knew the future is that every Jew has to go through the 42 journeys in their lifetime and the Besh’t was able to see all these journeys before they happened.

The Maggid of Mezeritch (the successor of the Besh’t) did the same. He explained to each of his pupils, in cloaked terms, their pasts and futures according to these 42 journeys. And it is said that only Sheur Zalman” (the first Rebbe of Chabad and the author of the ‘Tanya’) understood everything.
It is no wonder, therefore, that his book ‘The Tanya’ completely explains the special purpose of the Jews is to make this world holy.
It all begins with an oath.

Every Jewish soul is made to swear before being born  to “Be a Tzadik” namely to be completely devoted only to G-d.
This oath awakens the inner (‘G-dly’) Jewish soul with the ability to defy the world and do, speak, think and even feel what the Creator wants.
And this is the secret of the 42 journeys.

The mystical books explain that the number 42 represents a spiritual power of elevation: constantly moving closer to truth, just like the oath we spoke of.
So the 42 journeys from ‘Mitzraim’ and culminating with ‘Yarden Yerecho’ have great, personal implications.
It can refer to the journey of life: from the moment we leave the confines of the womb (Egypt) till the day we die and finish the journey (promised land).

But it also means striving and elevating ourselves constantly, every moment, until the revelation of Moshiach: Yardain Yerecho.
‘Yarden’ because Moshiach “will rule (Yared) from sea to sea (Thilim 72:8) ‘Yereacho’ because Moshiach will Judge by his sense of smell (Re’ach).
So this week’s combined portions remind us that our participation in the goal of creation, bringing Moshiach, depends on the two topics of our Torah reading: OATHS and  42 journeys.

And not much is lacking! We are standing on the merits of thousands of years of Jewish service, hope and suffering. Now it could be that just one more good deed, word or even thought can bring…..

Moshiach NOW!!
Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim
Kfar Chabad, Israel

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