Aileh masa'ei Bnei Yisrael..
These are the journeys of Bnei Yisrael..

The journeys of Am Yisrael in the desert come to teach every Jew about his personal lifestory; that it is a journey.  It starts out from the moment of birth, which is his own personal yetzi'as mitzrayim.

The entire life story of every person, with all its twists and turns, short stops, longer ones, smoother ones and rougher ones, has meaning.  It is a road with an over-all objective, that is to reach Artzos Hachayim, Eretz Yisrael.  However, there is also meaning and purpose to the road itself.  For every stop on this road, every turn, every single change of scenery has profound meaning, and is tailored to the needs of each person for his distinct task on this earth.

We all go through many different scenarios and terrain in our life journeys.  There are times of uncertainty and turbulence, of ups and of downs, of sudden change;  then there are times of tranquility and security.  The challenge is never to be complacent  and passive, and never to let the situation carry us away.  Life moves on, and we constantly must strive to take the signals, to learn and to grow from the location in which we find ourselves, and to move forward and ahead when the time comes, richer and wiser and stronger from the experience..

Vayichtov Moshe es motzo'aihem l'mas'eihem al pi Hashem v'aileh maseihem l'motzoaihem.
"And Moshe wrote their departure points to their journeys according to the word of Hashem, and these are their journeys to their departure points."

Notice; there are two different ways that the Torah describes the travelling:
1. "departure points to journeys" - which were "according to the word of Hashem."
2. "journeys to departure points" - no mention of "according to the word of Hashem."

The Kli Yakar explains that the former refers to progressive movement, the latter, to regressive movement.  Most of the time, Am Yisrael moved forward, according to the command of Hashem, their backs to mitzrayim and their faces to Eretz Yisrael.  However, the times when they faltered in sin, they travelled backward with their faces turned away,  furthering themselves from the desired objective, and rachmana li'tzlan, looking back to mitzrayim.  This was the direction primarily of the airev rav, the mixed multitudes, whose roots were in mitzrayim.  Am Yisrael, who roots originate in Eretz Yisrael, constantly look to and long for Eretz Yisrael.

So it is in life.

A Jew is called on to be as strong as a cedar and as soft as a reed.
Strong - not to get carried away by the scenery of the moment, but rather to take it all in, in its beauty, its enigmatic turbulence, its wonder, and to respond al pi Hashem, in the manner with which the Torah guides us.
Soft - this is the flexibility required of the Jew, to constantly be ready to change gears, to move on, to move ahead, and not to hang on to old and out-of-place behaviour patterns.
This requires gevurah, strength and courage; to step out into terrain that is unfamiliar and unknown. Man naturally seeks the stable and the known. Bitachon , trust in Hashem calls on us to pay very close attention to the subtle signals and to be prepared to reassess our situation as it measures with our value system and our goals, and to have the strength to make the required adjustments, and to progress forward.
 
 

The Sefarim Hakedoshim  teach that the sojourns in the desert were for the purpose of birur hanitzotzos, the sifting out and the elevating the "holy sparks".  Also, they discuss how one journey was linked to the next; each new journey drew from all the previous ones.

In life, we are challenged to seek out the nitzozos, the positive meaning, the G-dliness in  every situation.  Thus, when it comes time to move ahead, we do not move on empty-handed.  We take with us from every phase the positive, the constructive,  the meaningful.  Is this not what we are taught about Sara Imeinu, al"h?? Until her last day, she maintained all the beautiful qualities of the diverse and changing chapters in her life!  Avraham Avinu reached his old age bah bayamim, "all his days with him,"  Every day, every circumstance and encounter had a positive value, which he carried on with him in life.

Sometimes we can find ourselves in situations that differ from our desired perception of how they should be, and we wish that it would be different, more to our liking, and we wait impatiently and restlessly for change.  According to what we learn here, there is no such a thing as a vacuum situation in life, or limbo.  There is profound meaning and what to learn and what to take from any set-up in which we find ourselves.

To do otherwise is to respond to life's challenges chas veshalom with the face reverted, towards mitzrayim, in regression.
 

Koh amar Hashem zacharti lach chesed neurayich ahavas kelulosayich, lechtech acharay bamidbar b'eretz lo zeruah.
"..thus said Hashem, I remember your chesed when you were young, your love as a bride, when you followed Me in the wilderness, in a barren land."

May Hashem grant us bitachon; and all the necessary resources to make the wilderness in our lives blossom, to reach Eretz Yisrael..

Chazak chazak v'nischazek.