It states at the beginning of parashas Masei (33:2) 'ה פי על למסעיהם מוצאיהם את משה ויכתב, "Moshe recorded their starting points for their journeys according to the word of Hashem." In this parashah, the forty-two trips the Yidden took in the desert are recorded.
מוצאיהם can also be translated as "what happened to them" (see Yehoshua 2:23). Accordingly, we can explain the pasuk as follows: People think that what happened to them (מוצאיהם) is due to their travels (מסעיהם). If they go and earn a lot of money somewhere, they think that they earned it because they traveled to that destination. They mistakenly believe that they wouldn't have made this money if they had traveled somewhere else or stayed at home.
Similarly, if they go someplace and suffer shame and humiliation, they attribute their problems to going there. They think, "Why did I have to go there? I could have saved myself from so much trouble."
The Torah corrects them, 'ה פי על ...מוצאיהם, what happened to them was Hashem's decree. It wasn't because of their travels.
The words מוצאיהם and מסעיהם are later written in opposite orders in this pasuk. It states, ואלה ...'ה פי על למסעיהם מוצאיהם את משה ויכתב למוצאיהם מסעיהם. This alludes to the confusion people have regarding hishtadlus. They think, למסעיהם מוצאיהם, that what happened to them is due to the place they traveled to. However, the truth is, למוצאיהם מסעיהם, they traveled to those places because these matters had to happen to them.
One of the forty-two stopovers the Yidden made was in Marah (see 33:8), which means bitter. It was called Marah, bitter, because there was no drinkable water there (as discussed in Shemos 15:23). They thought they didn't have potable water because they came to Marah. But the truth is, they didn't have drinkable water because it was bashert for them not to. It wasn't the place that caused them the trouble; rather, it was planned from Above that they should be tested in this manner.
Their next travels brought them to Eilam. The Torah says in this week's parashah (33:9) שם ויחנו תמרים ושבעים מים עינת עשרה שתים ובאילם, "In Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there." Here, they had plenty of water. Hashem could have brought them initially to Eilam, but it was all planned from above, where they had to go, and which challenges and tests they had to go through. It's not the place that causes the events, instead, everything is dependent on Hashem's plan.
When Reb Eliyahu Meir Bloch zt'l was living in Telz, Lithuania, he would go to the stores on erev Shabbos to encourage the storeowners to close before Shabbos. Once, he smacked a non-religious Yid for keeping his store open on Shabbos. That person eventually was promoted and served in the government. Reb Bloch feared that now that he was a high-ranking official, he would take revenge on him, so Reb Eliyahu Meir and his family fled from Telz to Cleveland, Ohio, where he re-established the Telz Yeshiva. At the chanukas habayis, Reb Eliyahu Meir said, "I thought I was fleeing from the government official, but I discovered that Hashem sent me here to save my family from the Holocaust and so I can establish a yeshiva in America." He traveled to America for his reasons, but Hashem had His own plan.
Reb Bloch added the following Dvar Torah: The Navi says that Yonason (the son of Shaul HaMelech) arranged a code with Dovid HaMelech so Dovid would know if Shaul was planning to kill him. Yonoson said he would shoot an arrow and send his aide to fetch it. If Yonoson tells his aide that the arrow is והלאה ממך, "further away from you," that will be Dovid's sign that he should run away because Shaul wants to kill him. And if Yonason says, "Come towards me, the arrow isn't so far," this would be Dovid's sign that he can return home.
Let's focus on Yonason's words. He said (I Shmuel 20:22), והלאה ממך החצים הנה לעלם אמר כה ואם 'ה שלחך כי לך, "If I tell the lad, 'The arrows are further away,' go because Hashem is sending you." Yonason didn't say, "Go because my father wants to kill you." Instead, "Go because Hashem is sending you."
In a similar vein, Reb Eliyahu Bloch explained that Hashem wanted him to flee from Telz so he and his family would survive, and so he could open a Telz yeshiva in America. He thought he was fleeing from the government official, but that was just the tool Hashem used to get him to travel. Ultimately, he traveled because this was Hashem's will.
Shidduchim and Divine Providence
People think they make decisions, but they are all from Hashem. This also occurs with shidduchim. People think they choose a shidduch based on their preferences, what they heard, and how they perceived that information. Actually, the shidduch happened because it was Hashem's will. Hashem arranged what people should say and that you should understand precisely what was needed so the shidduch should happen.
Someone came to the Rebbe of Kotzk and told him, "I used to be wealthy, but I lost all my money, and my wife died. When I was wealthy, I used to buy a lottery ticket every week, and my maid would also buy one, and I would check the tickets to see if we won. I continued this habit even after I lost my money. One day, I checked the numbers of our tickets and saw that my maid had won the lottery. Now that she was wealthy, I wanted to marry her to share the wealth. But I realized that if she knew she had become wealthy, she wouldn't agree to marry me. She would want to marry someone wealthy like herself. So, I didn't tell her that she had won the lottery. I kept that a secret and hired a shadchan to ask her to marry me. She agreed, thinking that I, at least, had more money than her. Shortly after the wedding, I informed her that she had won the lottery and that we were rich. She replied, 'But what can I do? I sold the rights of that lottery ticket to my father.' "That is why I came here now," this man explained to the Rebbe of Kotzk. "I only married her because I thought she was wealthy. Now that she is poor, I want to divorce her." The Kotzker replied, "Haven't you grasped by now how Hashem leads the world? He made you poor, took your wife, made the maid win the lottery, all so you should marry her, and now you want to divorce her?!"
Preparation and Chance
It states (35:11) מקלט ערי לכם והקריתם, and Rashi writes, הזמנה לשון אלא הקריה אין, "The translation of הקריתם is to prepare." So the translation of the pasuk is "Prepare for yourself arei miklat."
The word והקריתם is found in this week's parashah (35:11). It is a unique word that can be translated in two opposite manners. It is often translated as "by chance" (קרה). But Rashi says that in this week's parashah, it means "prepared."
How can the same word mean "by chance" and "prepared"? Aren't they opposites? If something is by chance, it wasn't prepared; if it was prepared, it didn't occur by chance! The answer is that even things we think happen by chance are also prepared by Hashem. Nothing happens by chance.
Siman at the End of Parashas Masei
At the end of every parashah, the Chumash states the number of pasukim in the parashah and a siman to help us remember that number. At the end of parashas Masei, it states that there are 132 pasukim, and it states that the siman is חולה מחלה (which is gematriya 132). The siman is very rare and unusual. Shouldn't the siman be something happy? Why use a siman which means illness?
Reb Chaim Kanievsky zt’l answers that they don’t mean illness. מחלה is one of the names of Bnos Tzelfchod, mentioned at the end of parashas Masei, as it states (36:11) לנשים דדיהן לבני צלפחד בנות ונעה ומלכה וחלגה ותרצה מחלה ותהינה, which tells us that the daughters of Tzelafchad (including Machlah) married their cousins. Furthermore, חולה doesn't mean illness; here, it means dancing, as Chazal tell us that on the fifteenth of Av, the girls would go out dancing במחול, in a circle. So, חולה מחלה, means Machlah got married and there was dancing.
Let us learn from this that when we think something is bad, an illness, or any other tzarah, r'l, be aware that if you look deeper, you will understand that it could be a reason for happiness.
Happiness with One's Lot
When we know that everything is from Hashem, we can be happy with our lot, including our spiritual portion. There are people who are upset that they can't serve Hashem in (what they perceive to be) a better way. But if they knew that their situation was planned by Hashem, they would be happy with their portion, the avodas Hashem that they can do. We will explain this with a parable:
Someone came to the king and said, "I admire the great king immensely, and I want to serve you. Send me on any mission, and I will fulfill it." The king gave him an envelope and asked him to deliver it to the king of a foreign country. The loyal citizen is excited with the opportunity to do the king's bidding and is determined to deliver the letter as quickly and as proficiently as possible. He calculates that the quickest route is by sea, but when he arrives at the port, he sees that the ship has just pulled out of the harbor. He calls to the sailors to return, but they ignore him. The next ship to that country leaves in half a year. Having no choice, he sets out to the distant country on horseback. He feels devastated as he rides to the other country. He wanted to do the king’s bidding in the best manner, and now he must travel by land, which takes much longer. Throughout the trip he moans, “If only I came to the port a few minutes earlier. If only I'd been swifter, I would have been able to do the king’s will in the best way.” Now, let’s change the story a bit. The king gave the letter to his loyal citizen and said, “I don’t want you to travel by sea (although it’s the shortest route) because thieves are on board, and they may steal the letter from you. I want you to travel by land and to deliver this letter...” How would he feel during the long land journey? He would be happy with each part of the journey. Although it is far away, he knows he is carrying out the king’s will with every leg of the journey.
The moral of the story is to believe that everything that happens to a person is bashert, planned from Above. One thinks, “If not for these circumstances, I could have served Hashem better,” but Hashem wants you to serve Him amidst these hardships and struggles. The situation you are in is the one that Hashem planned and chose for you.
The Mishnas Chasidim writes, - מקרה אמר כי הוא טהור בלתי (I Shmuel 20:26) if someone says that something happened by chance, that person is impure because he lacks the fundamental awareness that Hashem plans and arranges everything. Tzaddikim said that מקרה, happenings, stands for 'מה רק, only from Hashem.
