MATOT-MAS’EI. Pursue the Goal – Savor the Process!

Is Judaism mainly process-oriented or goal-oriented?

A talented debater could make out a case on either side. In the sphere of Torah learning, effort outranks achievement in the Divine reckoning. “If someone tells you I laboured in the study of Torah and there was no success, don’t believe him. If he says I didn’t labour and met with success, also don’t believe him!” (Megila 6b). L’fum tsa’ara agra, according to the toil is the reward (Avot 5:26).

Not so when it comes to many mitsvot. Countless hours in Tishri spent sawing, banging, joining, erecting, cutting and positioning are all very well; but if at the end of the day you don’t sit and eat in the succah you’ve painstakingly built, well, it has all been in vain. There is no b’racha on the weaving of the tsitsit-threads, the assembly of the parchments in the mezuza-cases or the baking of the matsa. Only when one achieves the goal of donning the tsitsit, securing the mezuza on the doorpost or consuming the matsa is the blessing there.

In tefila (prayer) both are vital factors. On the one hand our bakashot (requests) are made to G-D in the hope of a successful outcome. On the other hand, in addressing the question how Moses could have pleaded no fewer than 515 times to enter the Land of Israel, the Me’am Lo’ez gloriously answers that his main prayer even at this time was that his lips should be fluent and that his mouth shouldn’t stumble. Moses was in love with the process of prayer. Never mind that the elusive goal would not be realised.

In the second verse of the sidra, the Torah writes: “Moses wrote their goings-forth (motsa’aihem) according to their onward journeys (mas’aihem) by the word of G-D; and these were their onward journeys according to their goings-forth”. Remarkable! This is not a piece of poetic symmetry a la Psalms or Proverbs but plain narrative prose. What then is the difference between “goings forth according to their onward journeys” and “onward journeys according to their goings-forth”?

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch offers the following unique insight. The first phrase is seen from G-D’s perspective, the second from the people’s. For G-D the process of going-forth is for the sake of the goal of achieving the next stage of the journey towards the ultimate destination, the Land of Israel. But for the people it was the opposite. They were happy to journey not because they were looking towards the long-term goal ahead, but rather just to “go forth” – to enjoy the process of journeying once again.

It is noteworthy that the Torah proceeds to narrate a review of the forty-two-stage itinerary of travel from Egypt to the brink of the Promised Land from the perspective of the people. “They journeyed from … and encamped at …” Now it is no longer “journeying to” but “journeying from”. Process is king.

Significantly, the Torah is not judgmental on the people’s attitude. We know from elsewhere in the Torah that the nation was happiest during the eleven months they were at Sinai; when they recommenced their journey the unrest began, leading to the rebellions. Suddenly the people realised that the goal was within reach and they baulked; their enjoyment of the process was too great for them to be entirely happy at the prospect of the realization of the goal. Notably, after the pronouncement of the forty-year wandering in the desert was proclaimed, once they had recovered from the initial shock of failure, the people were accepting of their fate and, with the pressure off, enjoyed 37 tranquil and contented years “going forth” and “journeying from”. Then in the fortieth year, on the brink of the Promised Land they became panicky again and re-resumed their complaining.

To be in love with the process is all very well – but did our ancestors really not want to reach their goal? Happily in the last part of Sefer Bamidbar and in Sefer Devarim we are reassured on that score. When the people realise that Moses their leader is about to pass on, they suddenly come of age. They begin the conquest and then listen rapt to a thirty-six-day oration the main theme of which is “when you come into the Land”. Suddenly the goal has again become enticing.

Not for the first time we have cause to remark that ma’aseh avot siman le-banim, the deeds and attitudes of our ancestors are a road map for us their descendants. When it comes to process and outcome both are necessary. To affirm the “goings-out”, to enjoy the journey qua journey, to relish the cut and thrust of Talmudic debate for its own sake, to be intoxicated with the process of prayer: this is unarguably commendable. But at the same time let us never lose sight of the fact that Judaism is goal-oriented too. And as the world enters the latter stages of its cosmic journey, let us take heart that there is an ultimate golden goal, a glorious final destination at the end of the long and winding road.