Throughout life, we journey and move forward to work on spiritual growth whereas at other times, we camp out and plateau at our current comfort level with no further progress. Occasionally, we may have a journey backwards where we lose ground and regress.
This week’s Torah portion is called (Matot) Masei – Journeys. The name suggests that we would be reading about the travels of the Jews. In reality the portion speaks about the places where the Jews camped. Being that the Torah portion is named journeys, and not encampments, shows the importance of always traveling, moving and growing in one’s service of G-d.
A person must constantly be on the move, whether forwards or backwards, and not be satisfied or comfortable with the status quo. Staying put I leave for the angels (more on that another time)!
Rabbi Kushi Schusterman