פרשת מסעי תשי"ד - סיכום המסעות

These are the stages of the children of Israel, by which they went forth out of the land of Egypt by their hosts under the hand of Moses and Aaron.

אלה מסעי THESE ARE THE JOURNEYS (STAGES) [OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL] — Why are these stations recorded here? In order to make known the loving acts of the Omnipresent: that although He had decreed against them to make them move about and wander in the wilderness, you should not think that they wandered and moved about without cessation from one station to another station all the forty years, and that they had no rest, for you see that there are here only forty-two stages. Deduct from them fourteen, all of which were their stopping places in the first year after they left Egypt, before the decree was made, viz., from the time when they journeyed from Rameses until when they came to Rithmah whence the spies were sent out — as it is said. (Numbers 12:16): “And afterwards the people journeyed from Hazeroth, [and encamped in the wilderness of Paran], whereupon the Lord said unto Moses, (Numbers 13:2) "Send thee men [who may search out the land]”; and here (v. 18) it states, “and they journeyed from Hazeroth and they encamped in Rithmah”, so you learn that it (Rithmah) is in the wilderness of Paran. — Further deduct from them the eight stages which were after Aaron’s death viz., those from Mount Hor to the plains of Moab in the fourtieth year (v. 38). It follows that during the whole of the thirty eight years they made only twenty journeys. This is excerpted from the work of R. Moses the Preacher. — R. Tanchuma gave another explanation of it (of the question why these stages are here recorded). A parable! It may be compared to the case of a king whose son was ill and whom he took to a distant place to cure him. When they returned home the father began to enumerate all the stages, saying to him, “Here we slept, here we caught cold, here you had the head-ache, etc.” (Midrash Tanchuma 4:10:3.

אלה מסעי, the Torah reviews all the journeys in order to list all the locations were they camped.

These are the journeys. Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim explained the benefit of knowing about the journeys in the Wilderness: There is a great need to mention the journeys, for the miracles and signs that happened in those places were true only for those who witnessed them, but in the future those miracles would only be things heard about, and it is possible for someone who only hears about things to deny them. The Torah speaks of awesome and wondrous miracles: Yisroel was in the Wilderness forty years and found manna every day. They journeyed in places far from civilization, places where there was no natural way for them to live, for it was “not a place of seed, figs, grapes, or pomegranates” (20:5). The Torah relates (Devorim 29:5): “Bread have you not eaten, neither fresh nor aged wine have you drunk.” All these things were open miracles that were seen to the eye. Since the Creator knew that these miracles would be affected by the same process [of forgetfulness and denial] that affects all historical events. He was concerned that the people who heard about them would not believe them. They would think that the places where Yisroel stayed were close to civilization and people could exist normally in them, like the desert places where the Arabs live today. Or perhaps they were places where they could plow and harvest, or there were herbs and plants for human consumption, and there were wells for water. Therefore, Hashem distanced such thoughts from people’s hearts. He strengthened the belief in these miracles by mentioning the journeys, so that the following generations would see the places and realize the great miracles that sustained Yisroel in those places forty years. These are the words of Rambam.

אלה מסעי, G’d wanted all the journeys to be recorded in order to compliment the Jewish people who had followed him blindly through the desert where nothing grew, so that as a reward for their faith they would deserve to enter and inherit the land of Israel.