Shabbat Shalom!
This week, we begin the Book of Numbers—Parshat Bamidbar—and reflect on the deeper meaning of the wilderness and what it reveals about our relationship with God.
Why was the Torah given in the desert? What spiritual message lies in the stark, empty landscape between Egypt and the Promised Land? And how does it all connect to Jerusalem Day and the upcoming holiday of Shavuot?
The desert strips away all illusions of control. It’s there, in the most vulnerable place, that the Israelites—and we—come to understand our full dependence on God. The desert becomes the foundation for receiving the Torah, for building a nation, and for discovering divine purpose.
Join us as we explore how Jerusalem and the desert share a powerful message of trust, humility, and holiness.
Watch now and uncover the spiritual connections between Bamidbar, Jerusalem, and the giving of the Torah.
Shalom! Thanks for this lesson: hope all is well with you and your family.
Dan Cunyus
I have wondered about the significance of “the desert” in scripture. Moses taking the children of Israel through the desert; receiving the Law in the desert; John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness; Jesus going to the wilderness for 40 days. Are wilderness and desert the same thing?
Could your talk be summarized by: “When God is all you have, you find out God is all you need?”
You have stirred my thoughts.
Debi
Thank you for this very good and pragmatic teaching. Yes, the desert is where we have to draw close to G-d. Jeremiah makes the point that if we seek G-d, we need to do so with all of our heart; then we will find G-d.
The desert is a time when we become acquainted with ourselves, when having to face and deal with privations. Numbers highlights several periods of conflict between Israel and Moses, and the realities the Israelites were faced with in the desert. We are no different. The desert requires and demands that we depend entirely on G-d and G-d alone.