Elul 3 5781

 Elul 3, 5781/August 11, 2021

Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld

In Hebrew, the Book of Numbers is called Bemidbar. Midbar means wilderness. The Plaut Torah commentary, like most English versions of Torah, translates Bemidbar as: “The wilderness of Sinai” (The Torah: A Modern Commentary: Revised Edition (p. 899). CCAR Press. Kindle Edition.)

But, “in the wilderness of Sinai” is an incorrect translation. A literal translation would be: “in a wilderness of Sinai.” Together, the Israelites wandered through Sinai. More importantly, each individual was in his/her/their own personal wilderness as they transitioned from being slaves to being free.

With each transition in our lives, we each find ourselves in a wilderness that changes as we, and our circumstances change. In the past 18+ months, we have gone into, and are almost out of (we hope) the COVID-19 pandemic. We wandered through the wilderness of quarantine and isolation. As the pandemic waned and waxed and waned, our wilderness seemed endless and then suddenly almost over. Now, with the waning of the pandemic, we think we are transitioning back to life before COVID. But, we know that with transition we cannot go back to what was. We are transitioning into a changed, new world with its own challenges. A new wilderness for us to traverse.

We are blessed with these Days of Awe, a time of transition. May these 40 days from 1 Elul through Yom Kippur enable us to transition, once again, from one wilderness to the next.