Journeys As Lifelong Battles

בפסוק אלה מסעי כו' אשר יצאו מארץ מצרים כו'

On the verse, "These are the journeys [of Bnei Yisrael], who went out from the land of Mitzrayim" (Bamidbar 33:1).

The Sfas Emes opens with the verse that begins Parshas Masei, which lists the journeys of Bnei Yisrael and ties them to their departure from Mitzrayim.

תלה הכ' המסעות ביצ"מ להודיע כמו שיציאת מצרים הי' גאולה לדורות כמ"ש למען תזכור כו' כל ימי חייך

Scripture links the journeys to the exodus from Mitzrayim to teach us that, just as Yetzias Mitzrayim was a redemption for all generations, as it is written, "so that you shall remember [the day of your going out from the land of Mitzrayim] all the days of your life" (Devarim 16:3),

He asks why the Torah connects the journeys specifically to Yetzias Mitzrayim, and points to the lesson that the exodus was a redemption meant to be remembered and relived in every generation.

כן כל המסעות הללו היו הכנה לכל הדורות שתקנו מקומות המסוכנים כמ"ש מדבר הגדול והנורא

so too all of these journeys were a preparation for all the generations, for they rectified the perilous places, as it is written, "the great and awesome wilderness" (Devarim 8:15).

Just as the exodus reaches across all generations, so too each journey in the wilderness accomplished a spiritual rectification of dangerous places, paving the way for all later generations.

וכל מסע הי' מלחמה בפני עצמה לכן כ' אח"כ ויחנו

And every journey was a battle unto itself, and therefore it is written afterward, "and they encamped" (i.e., after each journey came its resting and its conquest).

Each individual journey was itself a battle, which is why the Torah records an encampment after each one, marking a victory and a place of rest won through struggle.

והי' הכל לצורך דורות השפלים ועברו כמה מיני מלחמות

And all of it was for the sake of the lowly generations, and they passed through several kinds of battles.

All of this avodah was undertaken for the benefit of the weaker, later generations, and Bnei Yisrael endured many different kinds of battles along the way.

וכ' מוצאיהם למסעיהם כו' כי לעולם יש מלחמות לאיש ישראל וצריכין לצפות לצאת מכל מסע לבוא אח"כ למסע ולמלחמה אחרת וכן לעולם מוצאיהם למסעיהם ומסעיהם למוצאיהם:

And it is written, "their goings-out according to their journeys" (Bamidbar 33:2), for there are forever battles for the man of Yisrael, and one must look forward to going out from every journey in order to come afterward to yet another journey and another battle; and so it is forever, "their goings-out according to their journeys, and their journeys according to their goings-out."

From the phrase "their goings-out according to their journeys," the Sfas Emes derives that the life of every Jew is a continuous chain of battles, where leaving one challenge only brings him to the next, in an endless cycle of going out and journeying onward.

Summary: The Sfas Emes asks why the Torah ties the list of journeys in Parshas Masei to Yetzias Mitzrayim, and answers that just as the exodus was a redemption meant to reach every generation, so too each of the journeys in the wilderness was a preparation and rectification for all the generations that would follow. Each journey was a battle in its own right, which is why the Torah records an encampment after each one, signaling the rest and conquest that came only through struggle. All of this was endured for the sake of the lowly later generations, who would draw strength from what Bnei Yisrael accomplished in the midbar. The double expression "their goings-out according to their journeys, and their journeys according to their goings-out" teaches that the life of every Jew is an unending sequence of battles, in which leaving one challenge only leads him onward into the next.