Devarim: Do Not Cross

A this Chumash starts, Moshe takes the last few weeks of his life to reprimand and encourage the nation. Throughout his recall of history he leaves us with messages of faith, resilience and rebuke, all beautifully intertwined in his eternal words. He speaks of the great wars they conducted against Sichon and Og, and details the exact borders and the lines that should not be crossed over. As he says in Deut 2:37: Only to the land of Amon you did not near, [meaning] alongside the river of Yabok, the cities of the mountain and all [places] which we were commanded by Hashem our God [not to approach]:

The line Hashem drew for the Yidden, on the northern side of their current location was the territory of Amon. Their most southern part was a river named Yabok. The river of Yabok isn’t mentioned for the first time in the Torah at this moment, it is actually first brought to us in Parshat Vayishlach as Yaakov prepares to meet his brother Eisav after twenty plus years. Gen 32:23,25: And [Yaakov] got up during that night and took his two wives, his two maidens, and his eleven children and crossed the crossing of Yabok: And Yaakov was left alone and a man strangled with him until the dawn of the morning:

There seems to be a link between the two as if saying, “Don’t cross over this river for you may encounter forces that you may struggle to overcome. Yaakov Avinu had the physical strength, mental capacity and spiritual power to overcome Eisav’s devil, and for that he was granted the name Israel, it is best if we keep the win and keep ourselves from a challenging sequel. There are lines that we must set in our lives, lines that we don’t cross over again. Some may think that the only way to prove power is to show our enemies that we are strong and unafraid to be in their faces, and as much truth as there is in such a strategy, we must be certain not to have the slightest of bad days. The moment we let our guard down we can be sucked into those enemy territories and more times than not they’ll choose violence without warning. It’ll be when we are certain to come out with victory that we will go in once more to finish the job, but for now we must keep ourselves focused in logical battles and away from those who seek our death and destruction. 

During November of 2012 I studied in Israel. The surrounding bloodthirsty killers launched an attack on Israel which ensued in operation Amud Anan, Pillar of Cloud. I myself went through my own personal war in Yeshiva at the time, where the person in charge found me guilty to his standards and expelled me for a week or so. My crime, in case you must know, was planning a trip to Eilat. During my time out I spent most of my time in Yerushalayim, and as any bored 17 year old I decided it would be a great idea to walk along the tracks of the light-rail, from the Tanachi zoo at one end to the Air Force at the other.

Unbeknownst to me, after traveling through Yafo and reaching the old City, the tracks take a turn and pass through a vicious neighborhood called Shuafat. Being that it was during a hateful period, the youth and adult Arabs were searching for blood, and it so happened to be that a young Jewish boy with a black hat and long jacket strolled into their neighborhood. I noticed something was off right away, but I calmed myself down, telling myself, “This is Yerushalayim, nothing bad can happen here.” But to my surprise, I suddenly heard a loud ringing sound in my right ear. I turned to see what caused this sound and I saw a cinderblock double the size of my head had just hit a light pole centimeters away from my head. It was then that I noticed the mob forming behind me and I realized that going back was no longer an option either. I tried crossing over to the other side of the road which wasn’t much better, and as they started sprinting toward me, I went into overdrive and ran faster than I ever did to the closest train stop. I saw the train approaching, but it was still too far away before I was surrounded. 

I saw an Arab woman in a van call me to enter her car, but my instincts wouldn’t allow me to trust her, no matter how sympathetic her eyes looked. I had dialed the police on my phone and could barely speak as the many faces of the devil and his minions stared me down. The train approached, and as the doors opened I roared a sound I didn’t know I had in me and pushed through their encirclement. They followed me onto the train car, so I ran off the car I was on and straight into the next one with just enough time for them to pull back.

I was spared that day for a reason beyond my understanding but I know that my life was certainly protected for me to do something great with it. It has been over thirteen years since and just like any other story, if we do not set reminders we forget. We have Yahrtzeits and birthdays, Tisha B’avs and Yom Tovs, were it not for those planted days in our calendars we would just move along from year to year without a memory. It has been a while since the last time I’ve thought of this story and that day I was nearly killed by vicious animals, and although their faces are as clear to me today as that day, I haven’t spoken much of this miracle or truly drawn a lesson from it.

With this week’s Parshah and the connection of the Yabok river my memory has been jolted. We go through certain stories of which we are lucky to come out of them alive, just as we fall into spiritual snares that entrap us in their quicksand. We don’t know what merit we had or have to make it out of these places alive, but the thing that is clear is that we must do all we can to refrain from ever giving the devil another chance to take us.

Moshe makes it clear to us that it is Hashem Who has redeemed us from Egypt, split the sea before us, and led us through the wilderness. He continues, in 1:32: “And in this thing [of coming into Israel] you do not to believe [in Him]:” We must remain steadfast in our belief in Him, knowing that He delivers us from all of our enemies and guides us through our lives. The lessons we learn from the smallest seeming coincidences to the magnificent and undeniable miracles, He wants us to find our purpose and to walk proudly, hand in hand with Him.

The lesson of Yabok is repeated in our lives over and over again. This pattern finds every person, each in their personal struggles. “Will I repeat the disastrous choices of the past or will I be more cautious? Will I value the gift of life and the opportunity to live another day, or will I just live robotically as I did until now?” I know that by setting up reminders and drawing lines in the sand which shall not be passed again for any reason whatsoever I’ll be able to stay in the holy city without fear of total destruction. Yes, the battle may follow me around, but I will not set myself up to have to deal with them. I’ve learned my lesson, these monsters shoot to kill.

David Lemmer is a Jewish Hypnotherapist, reach him at LemmerHypnotherapy.com