וְזָכַרְתָּ֣ אֶת־כָּל־הַדֶּ֗רֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֨ר הֹלִֽיכֲךָ֜ יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ זֶ֛ה אַרְבָּעִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר לְמַ֨עַן עַנֹּֽתְךָ֜ לְנַסֹּֽתְךָ֗ לָדַ֜עַת אֶת־אֲשֶׁ֧ר בִּֽלְבָבְךָ֛ הֲתִשְׁמֹ֥ר מצותו [מִצְוֺתָ֖יו] אִם־לֹֽא׃
Remember the long way that YHVH your God has made you travel in the wilderness these past forty years, that [God] might test you by hardships to learn what was in your hearts.
Blessing-
May your journey through your wilderness and any hardships you encounter and experience along the way tap into and bring forth the true and beautiful strength of your inner heart so that you can rise above those challenges and tests and show God your true inner beauty and substance.
D’Var-
Each one of us as we live our own personal lives travel on our own individual roads or paths through our own individual wildernesses. Though we may walk alongside loved ones we are still forging ahead on our own journeys through life.
Our individual journeys continually present challenges, obstacles and detours along the way. Our task is to constantly remain vigilant about how to appropriately navigate on our journey and way so as to remain as wholehearted as we can making sure we leave traces of goodness, positivity and love rather than traces of hate, negativity and destruction. Our life’s purpose, I truly believe, is to leave this world a better place because of our presence in it rather than the reverse.
If we should find we have taken a wrong turn, then we need to let our true and higher heart guide us in finding a way back to the right path. It may require making a u-turn but nevertheless we should never be afraid to change our course and direction if we are walking along the wrong road. The beauty of acknowledging that we are headed in the wrong direction is just another aspect of Teshuvah and making ourselves better vessels in this world to do and be good and be instruments of Godliness.
Blessing and d’var Torah by Mona Rosen
