Masei תרל”ב

תרל”ב

ב”ה מטות מסעי

המסעות שנכתבו בתורה מוצאיהם כו’
The travels of Bnei Yisrael is written: “And Moshe recorded the goings out of their travels etc”
שיש מקומות שאין להם קיום רק ע”י שמתרחק האדם מהם ככל עניני עוה”ז שבטולם זה קיומם.
(The reason why the word מוצאיהם “goings out” is used), is because there are places where their only existence is through a person distancing himself from them. Just as all things of this world have existence through their nullification.
(For example, places of impurity exist in order for man to overcome their temptation. Or dirty places where one is forbidden to learn Torah in, their existence is through the abstaining of Torah learning in that place!)
ונק’ מסעות שהמסע משם הוא המעלה שעי”ז זכו להיות נזכר בתורה ויש להם מקום ועי”ז עצמו מתוקנים להיות נק’ מקום לעצמו כנ”ל.
(Nevertheless they are still) called travels, for it is they travelling from these places that is their greatness and the reason why they are mentioned in the Torah, and the reason for their having a place (their existence). This (leaving them) is the very reason why they become perfected and are called a ‘place’ in their own right. As explained.
וכן צריך כל אדם לזכור בכל דבר כי הוא לצורך השי”ת וכשעושה לשם שמים מקיים הדבר ונותן לו מקום הן דבר טוב או רע בהתרחקו ממנו כנ”ל.
So too a person needs to constantly remind himself that in everything he does it should be done for the sake of HaShem. For when a person does something for the sake of Heaven it gives the thing he is doing existence, whether it is a positive action, or whether it is distancing himself from a negative action.
ובמד’ כשחוטפין לעצמן כו’ ע”ש אצל בני גד וב”ר. שצריך לידע שהוא בכח התורה ועי”ז יש קיום אף לממון וכדומה כו’ כנ”ל.
The Midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah 22:7) in describing the problem with the Tribe of Gad and Reuven that wanted to live on the other side of the Jordan, says that they were “grabbing it for themselves”.
This too teaches us that a person needs to constantly be aware that he is subject to the power of the Torah, and through this subjugation one has existence, even for his money and physical items (exist only when they are subject to the Torah. However as soon as one draws it to himself, for his own selfish gains then it no longer has a right to exist).
וז”ש שלא לעשות הטפל עיקר כנ”ל שכשהוא טפל יש לו מקום כנ”ל:
This is the meaning of the Midrash (Tanchuma Matos 7). Bnei Gad and Reuven are criticised for making the secondary primary, and the primary secondary. (They said they will first build pens for their sheep and afterwards houses for their families). This means that when the secondary is indeed secondary then it has reason for existence (however if one makes it primary then it has no reason for existence).