Finding Hashem Within Distress
במדרש גדולי עולם ברחו ואני לא נתתי אתכם לברוח לכן אמר הקב"ה למשה כתוב המסעות כו'
In the Midrash: the great ones of the world fled, but I did not allow you to flee; therefore the Holy One, Blessed is He, told Moshe Rabbeinu to write down the journeys, and so on.
The Midrash teaches that whereas others escaped danger by fleeing, Hashem deliberately kept Bnei Yisrael within the danger, which is why He had Moshe Rabbeinu record the journeys.
כי הדרך לברוח מן הסכנה
For it is the natural way to flee from danger.
Ordinarily a person's instinct is to run away from anything threatening.
והקב"ה הביא את בנ"י באותן הדרכים המסוכנים כמ"ש ימצאהו בארץ מדבר
Yet the Holy One, Blessed is He, brought Bnei Yisrael along those very dangerous paths, as it is written, "He found him in a desert land" (Devarim 32:10).
Hashem instead led Bnei Yisrael straight through the most perilous places of the wilderness.
ויצ"מ וכל המסעות הי' הכל דרך ולימוד לבנ"י לדורות להיות נושעים בתוך המצר עצמו שלא לברוח רק למצוא דרך תוך המיצר עצמו
The exodus from Mitzrayim and all the journeys were entirely a path and a teaching for Bnei Yisrael for all generations, that they should be saved within the very narrowness itself, not to flee but rather to find a path within the constriction itself.
The whole point of the exodus and the journeys was to train Bnei Yisrael for all time to find salvation inside the difficulty itself rather than escaping it.
וע"ז איתא המדריכנו על במות אויבינו
Regarding this it is brought, "Who makes me tread upon the high places of my enemies" (cf. Tehillim 18:34).
The verse about treading on the high places of one's enemies expresses this idea of being lifted up precisely through the danger.
ולכן כתיב ולא אמרו איה ה' המעלה אותנו מארץ מצרים המוליך אותנו במדבר כו' שכשבא עת צרה צריכין לזכור ביצי"מ ובאלה המסעות להיות נושע תוך המיצר
Therefore it is written, "They did not say, 'Where is Hashem who brought us up from the land of Mitzrayim, who led us through the wilderness?'" (cf. Yirmiyahu 2:6), for when a time of distress comes, one must remember the exodus from Mitzrayim and these journeys, in order to be saved within the constriction.
When trouble strikes, a person should recall the exodus and these journeys, knowing salvation can be found within the constriction itself — which is why the navi rebukes those who forgot Hashem's leading them through the wilderness.
ולכן נקבע פרשה זו בין המצרים דאיתא הקב"ה עונה בעת רצון ועונה בעת צרה
And therefore this parsha is fixed during the period of Bein HaMetzarim, for it is brought that the Holy One, Blessed is He, answers in a time of favor and answers in a time of distress.
This parsha is read during Bein HaMetzarim because Hashem responds both in good times and in times of distress.
וכתיב מן המיצר קראתי יה
And it is written, "From the narrow place I called out to Hashem" (Tehillim 118:5).
The pasuk shows that one can call out to Hashem from the very narrow place of his suffering.
קריאה הוא דביקות
This calling out is dveikus.
That calling out is itself an act of clinging to Hashem.
שגם מתוך המיצר נמצא דרך דביקות אל הבורא כמ"ש במד' ואתחנן ביצור לשון אחד מעשרה לשונות של תפלה דכתיב בצר לי אקרא ה' דכ' אנכי ארד עמך מצרימה והוא הבטחה לדורות שבכל מיצר של בנ"י נמצא אתם התורה כמ"ש עמו אנכי בצרה לכן ויכתוב משה כו' מוצאיהם למסעיהם הרי שנעשה תורה מכל אלה הדרכים המסוכנים
For even from within the narrowness one finds a path of dveikus to the Creator, as is brought in the Midrash on Va'eschanan, that the word "in distress" (b'tzar) is one of ten expressions of tefillah, as it is written, "In my distress I called upon Hashem" (Tehillim 18:7); and as it is written, "I Myself will descend with you to Mitzrayim" (Bereishis 46:4), which is an assurance for all generations that in every constriction of Bnei Yisrael the Torah is found with them, as it is written, "I am with him in distress" (Tehillim 91:15) — therefore "Moshe wrote down their goings forth according to their journeys" (cf. Bamidbar 33:2), showing that Torah is made out of all these dangerous paths.
Even from within distress one can find a path of dveikus to Hashem; the word for distress is itself a term of tefillah, and Hashem's promise to descend with Yaakov into Mitzrayim guarantees that the Torah is present with Bnei Yisrael in every constriction, so that recording the journeys turns even the dangerous paths into Torah.
ואיתא במד' גם הוא חכם ויבא רע הול"ל ויבא טוב רק ללמדך שגם הרעה שהוא מביא לעולם בחכמה מביא
And it is brought in the Midrash: He too is wise and brings evil — it should have said "and brings good," but rather it comes to teach you that even the evil that He brings into the world He brings with wisdom.
The Midrash notes that the pasuk says God "brings evil" rather than "brings good" to teach that even hardship is brought into the world with wisdom.
פי' למילף מיני' חכמתא
The meaning is: in order to learn wisdom from it.
That is, the purpose is for us to derive wisdom from the hardship.
כמ"ש המפ' בפסוק לך ה' החסד כו' תשלם לאיש כמעשהו
As the commentators explain on the verse "And to You, Hashem, is kindness, for You repay each man according to his deeds" (Tehillim 62:13).
The commentators link this to the verse pairing kindness with paying each person according to his deeds.
פי' שהקב"ה משלם מדה במדה כמעשהו כדי ללמוד מן העונש איך לתקן החטא
The meaning is that the Holy One, Blessed is He, pays measure for measure according to one's deeds, so that one may learn from the punishment how to repair the sin.
Hashem repays measure for measure precisely so that a person can learn from the punishment how to fix the underlying sin.
זה החסד
This is the kindness.
This very arrangement is itself an act of kindness.
נמצא הכל תורה ובנ"י צריכין לבוא לדביקות הבורא בכל העתים כמ"ש עת לבכות ועת לשחוק לפעמים באין אל השורש ע"י שמחה ולפעמים על ידי בכיה
It emerges that everything is Torah, and Bnei Yisrael must come to dveikus with the Creator at all times, as it is written, "a time to weep and a time to laugh" (Koheles 3:4) — sometimes they come to the root through joy, and sometimes through weeping.
Since everything becomes Torah, Bnei Yisrael must cleave to Hashem in every situation, reaching the root sometimes through joy and sometimes through weeping.
עונה בעת רצון בחי' תפלה למשה
"He answers in a time of favor" is the aspect of "a tefillah of Moshe" (Tehillim 90:1).
Hashem's answering in a time of favor corresponds to the tefillah of Moshe Rabbeinu.
גי' רצון ע"ה
The numerical value of "ratzon" (favor) equals that of "Moshe" plus one.
The Sfas Emes notes the gematria link between "ratzon" and "Moshe" to reinforce this connection.
ועונה בעת צרה בחי' תפלה לעני:
"And He answers in a time of distress" is the aspect of "a tefillah of the poor man" (cf. Tehillim 102:1).
Hashem's answering in a time of distress corresponds to the tefillah of the poor man, the one who cries out from his constriction.
Summary: The Sfas Emes explains that Hashem deliberately led Bnei Yisrael through the most dangerous paths of the wilderness, and had Moshe Rabbeinu record all the journeys, to teach them for all generations not to flee from distress but to find salvation and dveikus within the constriction itself. This is why the parsha of the journeys falls during Bein HaMetzarim, for Hashem answers both in times of favor and in times of distress, as in "From the narrow place I called out to Hashem." Even the hardship Hashem brings is brought with wisdom and as a kindness, since measure-for-measure repayment lets a person learn from the punishment how to repair his sin. Thus everything becomes Torah, and Bnei Yisrael are called to cleave to the Creator at all times — reaching the root sometimes through joy and sometimes through weeping. Hashem's response in a time of favor mirrors the tefillah of Moshe Rabbeinu, while His response in distress mirrors the tefillah of the poor man.