“And Moses wrote of their goings forth according to their journeys by the commandment of Hashem, And these are their journeys according to their goings forth” (Numbers 33:2).
Why does the end of the verse reverse the order of ‘goings forth’ and ‘journeys’?
According to the Maggid of Dubno, this is a matter of perspective. He explained this with the use of a parable. Someone with a lone son remarried after his first wife passed away. The new wife and her stepson did not get along. While on a business trip, the father met a wonderful family who had a daughter around the age of his son. He was very impressed with the family and the young woman, so they began discussing the possibility of marriage.
After returning home, the father arranged for a time when he and his son could visit this family and have a chance to meet his potential match. After traveling for a week, the son asked the carriage driver how many miles it had been from their starting point. A week later, his father asked the driver how many miles until they arrived at their destination. For the son, his major focus was on the chance to get away from his stepmother, so he framed the trip in terms of how far focus was on how close they are to the town of the prospective bride.
The Israelites didn’t yet understand the profound importance of the Land of Israel, so they viewed their travels primarily through the lens of how far they’ve gotten away from Egypt – their journeys according to their goings forth. But Moses understood the nature of their destination, a holy land flowing with milk and honey and tremendous blessing. For him, the focus was on their goings forth according to their journeys!
By Rabbi Michael Skobac
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