38 years to Cross a Nine Inch stream

Towards the end of Parshat Chukat, after the incident with the copper snake, we read about a number of stops that the Jewish people made during their travels through the wilderness. The setting is after the sin of the spies and the corresponding Divine decree of 40 years of wandering.

The children of Israel journeyed on and camped in Oboth.		יוַיִּסְעוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיַּחֲנוּ בְּאֹבֹת:
11They journeyed from Oboth and camped in Iyeh Ha’Avarim (the wasteland passes in the wilderness), which faced Moab, toward the rising sun.		יאוַיִּסְעוּ מֵאֹבֹת וַיַּחֲנוּ בְּעִיֵּי הָעֲבָרִים בַּמִּדְבָּר אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי מוֹאָב מִמִּזְרַח הַשָּׁמֶשׁ:
12From there they journeyed, and they encamped along the stream of Zered.		יבמִשָּׁם נָסָעוּ וַיַּחֲנוּ בְּנַחַל זָרֶד:
13From there they journeyed, and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which was in the desert, extending from the Amorite border, for Arnon was the Moabite border between Moab and the Amorites.		יגמִשָּׁם נָסָעוּ וַיַּחֲנוּ מֵעֵבֶר אַרְנוֹן אֲשֶׁר בַּמִּדְבָּר הַיֹּצֵא מִגְּבֻל הָאֱמֹרִי כִּי אַרְנוֹן גְּבוּל מוֹאָב בֵּין מוֹאָב וּבֵין הָאֱמֹרִי:

We know nothing about what transpired in these location; only that “they camped” and “from there they journeyed”. Yet if their names are mentioned there must be something worth knowing and learning about these stops. Here the Midrash Rabba offers an approach to fill in the details:

ד [כא, י] ויסעו בני ישראל ויחנו באובות שנעשו אויבים למקום ויחנו בעיי העברים שהיו מלאים עבירה ויחנו בנחל זרד שלא היה הנחל אלא מלא זרת ולא יכלו לעוברו ל"ח שנה שנא' (דברים ב) עתה קומו ועברו את נחל זרד וכתיב (שם /דברים ב'/) והימים אשר הלכנו מקדש ברנע עד אשר עברנו את נחל זרד שלשים ושמונה שנה עד תם כל הדור משם נסעו ויחנו מעבר ארנון שנתרצה להם הקב"ה.

The Midrash suggests that these place names hint to the uneasy relationship between Israel and Hashem during their time in the wilderness:

Oboth: related to word “Oyev,” enemy- Israel and Hashem were enemies at that location.

Iyeh Ha’Avarim: related to word “aveira”, sin- Israel was full of sins in that location

Part of the problem in each of these locations is that the nation did not attempt to learn or gain in some way from their experiences in each place. They remained bitter and downtrodden- primarily from the sin of the spies and its aftermath, which was exacerbated by the Korach Rebellion and other complaints against Hashem. Instead of seeing the positive, the people acted in each location with enmity and sin.

Most interesting to me is the Midrash’s treatment of a third location:

Nachal (stream of) Zared: related to the word zeret, which is a Biblical measurement, approximately 9 inches. According to the Midrash, “the brook was only a zeret wide, and yet the nation was unable to cross it for 38 years.”

Why didn’t Bnei Yisrael just jump across Nachal Zared? Even I can jump that far!

The people were stuck. And when you think you can’t do something- you are right and it can’t be done.

38 years later when the Jews finally are ready to cross Nachal Zered they probably felt very silly. They must have asked themselves, “what took us so long to cross this tiny stream?”

The answer is that the challenge remained the same all along. But over the course of 38 years the nation changed, along with their attitudes towards that challenge.

Each of us confronts challenges in our lives. Oftentimes those challenges seem insurmountable. And yet with time, we are able to overcome these challenges. Once we do so, we sometimes wonder what took us so long? The answer is that the challenge did not change. We changed, along with our perspective on the challenge.

Summer is a time for travels- family vacations, changes of schools, changes of jobs. Let us make sure to gain something positive or learn something from each of our travels. And when presented with challenges let us internalize the lesson from Nachal Zered: what seems insurmountable at first can become achievable with a change of perspective or a change in attitude.