One of my favorite books is called Eleh Mas’ei by Dan
Schwartz.
Why do I love this book so much?
Eleh Mas’ei is a collection of maps and satellite
photos depicting the precise location of the places mentioned in the Torah.
When we read Parshat Masei without the help of a Biblical map book it is very
hard for us to understand where B’nai Yisrael traveled and camped when they
were in the desert as well as the exact Biblical borders of the
book of maps really makes the Torah come alive.
When we sit in shul and listen to the Torah reading we hear
a list of places, some that we may be familiar with, for example, Yam Hamelach
(the Dead Sea), The Yarden (
The Kineret and many other places that we may not be familiar with. Living in
recognize the names of some of the places mentioned such as Atzmon (a Yishuv)
and Maaleh Akrabim from encountering them in our daily lives.
When we follow Parshat Masei with the maps, we have the
opportunity to focus on the fact that the Sinai desert is not very big depite
the long list of places where B’nai Yisrael camped and that the only reason
that they spent 40 years circling the desert was because of the sin of the
spies when B’nai Yisrael declared that they didn’t want to enter the Land of
Israel and they therefore received the punishment that their generation would
die in the desert and that they would not enter the Land of Israel.
The maps also help us focus on the fact that the Biblical
Land of Israel is not very big and that the modern State of Israel is even
smaller.
What do I like even more than reading Parshat Masei with my
book of maps? I enjoy traveling the
in hand, watching history unfold before my eyes, seeing the Torah truly come
alive.
The next time that you are in
some of the places that you have never been to from this week’s Parsha. For
those of you who are already here, you are welcome to join me, the Midreshet
Devora students and some of
top scholars on out next TaNaCh Tiyul!
