Just the other day, I was in heavy traffic during rush hour. Yet, I found myself perfectly at ease despite not moving much for close to 15 minutes. Actually, I was almost hoping the traffic would last longer.
What was it? Did I recite the serenity prayer that morning?
Not at all.
I was listening to a fantastic Torah lecture and didn’t want it to end.
In the Parsha this week, we recap the journeys taken by the Jewish People while in the desert. When we think of that time in the desert, we often imagine spending years traipsing aimlessly around the desert in desperate need of a GPS. In actuality, that wasn’t the case. They never were lost. They actually made only 42 journeys during the entire period, the majority taking place at the beginning or end of the 40 years.
Most importantly, however, the trips were not random. Each was meaningful. At each location, they learned new Torah and Mitzvot. Every stop, even those that led to mistakes, was part of the process of their growing into a free people. It was about the journey, not only the destination.
What message does this tell us?
In our lives too, we can instill meaning into our journeys, even those as routine as our daily commute to work or summertime drive to the beach. When we’re with family, we can use that time to connect with our loved ones, talking about issues that we so often don't have time to discuss. And for the many times we’re alone in the car, there is so much quality material to listen to while driving.
Our website has thousands of classes and lectures on every imaginable topic in Torah and Judaism. They can be listened to from the website or downloaded to your Mp3 player, Ipod, or phone for free.
Want to download a class with the practical laws of gossip? Click here. Hear a moving lecture that will start your day with inspiration? Click here. Learn a meditation for the Kaddish: That’s here. Understand the historical background to the Ten Lost Tribes? Get that here.
(And we’ve recently introduced a new feature on our website, TORAHCAFE, where you can watch video lectures from Rabbis, Rebbetzins and Professors on hundreds of topics right from our homepage. The audio of these are also available for download.)
I’ll be the first to say it takes effort. Not only to download the classes, but once in the car, to actually decide to learn something new and listen to a class. But once I get started, I’m always very happy I made the choice to utilize this time in a meaningful way, not to mention the affect the inspiration has on the rest of the day…