These are the journeys of the Children of Israel who left the land of Egypt in their legions, under the charge of Moshe and Aaron. Moshe recorded their goings out for their journeys according to the word of HASHEM, and these were their journeys for their goings out. (Bamidbar 33:1-2)
It would seem that there are two types of journeys being spoken about here. One is “their goings out for their journeys” and the other is “their journeys for their goings out”. The first one is “under the charge of Moshe and Aaron and according to the word of HASHEM. What then is the second one referring to?
There are two particular trees that are spoken about in the Garden of Eden, one is the Tree of Life and the other was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. What is the difference between these two trees and the practical application to us? The Tree of Life is in reference to the Torah. It maps out for us a way of living, how to happily navigate through this life and reach the bliss of Olam Haba. The Talmud refers to this approach as “the long way which is the short way”. There is a requirement of labor and study and dutiful obedience but in the long run, it is a fruitful path. When assembling anything, it always helps to have instructions. The more complex the item the bigger the user’s manual. A bicycle is a page or two and a car is already a thicker book. How about the Book of Life?! How full and rich and sophisticated must that be!?
Shlomo HaMelech writes in Mishlei (3:5-6), “Trust in HASHEM with all your heart and do not rely upon your understanding. Know Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight.” What are his instructions for life listed here? Don’t rely on your own assessments but rather to trust in HASHEM wholeheartedly. Do the right thing at each moment. and then you will have created, with HASHEM, a beautiful picture. Life is like a paint by number painting. “Plan A” produces results that are well beyond our wildest and limited imaginations. This is the objective way to engage the subjectivity of life.
The second tree is the School of Hard Knocks. It is driven by experimentation and chock full of trials and errors. It’s a whole other way of learning. The tuition for this school is temptingly low. In fact, it is zero. It costs nothing up front, however, in the end it is very expensive. This is the subjective way to arrive at objectivity and it may cost us years and decades of life, valuable relationships, health, and more, to discover what could have been learned much earlier. This is “the short way which is the long way”.
Sometimes a kid will be sent to my office. He will enter very upset. I will ask him to wait and then, when he is more at ease, I will ask him what happened. I am usually met with a barrage of claims about how everyone is to blame and it’s not his fault at all. I then calm him down by telling him, “You are not in trouble!” His facial expression immediately relaxes and normalizes. I will explain, “I honestly don’t know what happened. Not only are you not in trouble, but today could be a great day, if we learned from what just happened. This may be the reason you came to school today or this year. However, if you fail to learn something, then you are in trouble but not with me. You are in trouble with your-self. This problem will likely repeat itself again and again throughout your life until you figure out what you need to learn. It is probably better for you to learn it here and now and with me helping you rather than after a lifetime of denial. Now let’s figure this out together. Slowly, now, what happened?”
It is said that the most successful person is not the one who makes the fewest mistakes but rather the one who learns the most from his mistakes. I once took my whole family on a boat trip. I was the captain of that excursion, and I required “a crash course”. (not a very inspiring term) I learned that a boat steers unlike a car. The rudder is moved in the back and the boat moves in the opposite direction. A car steers from in front and goes where the wheels point. Sometimes we look into the future and often we are piloted by the past.