The Baal Shem Tov on Parshas Masei

It is well-know that every Jew traverses as the Jews in the desert, forty stops from birth – the personal Exodus from Egypt – to death – the personal arrival in Israel.

These journeys – some were joyful, others miserable – for we all go through the delightful and difficult stages of life.

All of the stops in our life, are hinted to in the forty two stops of the Jews.

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“And They Came To Marah and they couldn’t drink the water, as it was Marah / bitter.” Within the Torah there are two streams, there is the stream of truth, the path of Jacob (humility, compassion) and there is bitter – smug people whose study of the Torah (as we find through history, evil people actually use the Torah to abrogate it.)