Sponsored by Robert Kalfus in Honor of Rabbi Avraham Weiss of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale
B’nai Yisrael kept two symbols of the redemption with them for the 40 years in the wilderness. These symbols ultimately teach us about the importance of the Land of Israel.
1. Yosef’s Bones
Moshe took the bones of Yosef with him, for Yosef had bound B’nai Yisrael by oath saying “God will surely remember you, and then you must carry up my bones out of here with you.”
Only in the days of Yehoshua were Yosef’s bones buried at their final resting place. As we see in Yehoshua 24:32:
Yosef’s bones, which B’nai Yisrael had brought up from Egypt, they buried in Shechem, in the portion of the field that Yaakov acquired from the children of Chamor, the father of Shechem, for 100 kesitas; and it became a heritage of the children of Yosef.
We learn from the story of Yosef’s bones that Yosef held on to the hope that B’nai Yisrael would one day be redeemed and returned to the Land of Israel.
Even though Moshe could not enter the Land of Israel, Moshe had the merit to bring Yosef’s bones to Israel’s border.
2. The Manna
The manna was the miraculous food that B’nai Yisrael ate exclusively in the desert. The manna stopped falling when B’nai Yisrael entered the Land of Israel.
In Shmot 16:33-35 we read:
Moshe said to Aharon, “Take a jar and put an omer full of manna in it, and place it before God to be preserved for your generations.” As God commanded Moshe, Aharon placed it before the Testimony of preservation. B’nai Yisrael ate the manna for 40 years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the edge of C’naan.
B’nai Yisrael arrived at Gilgal, near Yericho, on the eve of Pesach (Yehoshua 5:10-12):
B’nai Yisrael encamped at Gilgal and performed the Pesach offering on the 14th day of the month in the evening, in the plains of Yericho. They ate the aged grain of the land on the day after the Pesach offering, matzot and roasted grain, on this very day. The manna was depleted the following day, when they ate from the grain of the land. There was no longer any manna for B’nai Yisrael. They ate from the grain of the Land of C’naan that year.
The manna stopped falling when Moshe passed away, yet the supply lasted until B’nai Yisrael were in the Land of Israel and able to harvest grain for themselves.
Rashi explains that if the manna had still been available, the people would have preferred it over regular food as it was a direct gift from God. Once the manna was gone forever, they ate the produce of the land.
These two symbols of redemption- Yosef’s bones and the manna, escorted B’nai Yisrael for 40 years until they finally arrived at their permanent home in the Land of Israel.
This week, we unlocked a third symbol of redemption when Israel’s soldiers found and brought back the body of the last hostage, St.-Sgt.-Maj. Ran Gvili z”l.
A representative of the IDF said that only a miracle could have ensured that the soldiers would find Ran’s body in Gaza and safely bring it back to Israel.
The fact that the Jewish community did not give up on our hostages for 843 days and that we were ultimately able to bring them all back home shows that we are experiencing the first flowerings of the ultimate redemption.
May we continue to hear good news!
