"ומשה יקח את האהל ונטה לו מחוץ למחנה, והלא דברים ק"ו מה ארון ד' שלא הי' מרוחק אלא י"כ מיל אמרה תורה והי' כל מבקש ד' יצא אל אוה"מ, ת"ח שהולכים מעיר לעיר כו'".
כדי להעיר את הקדושה הצפונה בנפשות ישראל, אחרי שכסה עליהם אבק עון העגל, היתה התרופה ההרחקה של אהל מועד מן המחנה, כדי שתצא אל הפועל התשוקה הפנימית לאור ד' הצפונה בלבן של ישראל ע"י השתדלות ההליכה בצמאון. ומזה נראה מה רב הוא כח הגילוי של התשוקה לדברי תורה המתגלה בפועל ע"י הנדידה והגלות לשתות בצמא את דבריה. כי התשוקה נובעת מעומק לב המרגיש את נועם התורה, מה שהוא יותר נשגב מכל יקר שיוכל להתכנס בפה ולשון. כי תשוקת הנפש ואהבת הנשמה העורגת לדברי אלהים חיים אין להכניסה במושג של ביטוי שפתים. ע"כ אין ערוך לגודל מעלת עצם הטורח של ההליכה מעיר לעיר וממדינה למדינה ללמוד תורה, המורה על חמדת הנפש הפנימית לאהבת ד' ודבר קדשו. כי מצד עצם מצות התורה מתגלה בכל ענין ודיבור של עסק בתורה רק פרט אחד מיוחד בענינו, והאהבה נובעת מדחיפת הנשמה המשכלת על הוד כללה של תורה ואור חמדתה מצד אלהיותה וכללותה, שהיא אור עולם באוצר חיים.
Our Rabbis have taught: When our teachers entered the vineyard of Yavneh there were among them R. Yehudah and R. Yosi and R. Nechemiah and R. Eliezer the son of R. Yosi the Galilean. They all spoke in honor of hospitality and expounded texts [for that purpose]. R. Judah, the head of the speakers in every place, spoke in honour of the Torah and expounded the text, Now Moshe used to take the tent and pitch it without the camp. Have we not here, he said, an argument a fortiori [קל וחומר]? Seeing that the Ark of the Lord was never more than twelve mil distant and yet the Torah says, Everyone that sought the Lord went out to the tent of meeting, how much more [is this title applicable to] the disciples of the wise who go from city to city and from province to province to learn Torah!
Why in fact was the tent so far from the camp??
Why is it so important to travel from city to city in order to learn. Traveling is just the means of arriving somewhere, but apparently, if one could do without the traveling it is preferable?
Here we have a big lesson. Moshe pitched his tent far from the camp after the cheyt ha-egel. This was a time when it was necessary not only to serve Hashem with renewed vigor but to display their תשוקה, intense desire to serve Hashem and learn His Torah. The pasuk calls those who went to the tent מבקש השם - a seeker of Hashem.
When you travel a long distance for something it shows that you REALLY want it. If you have a casual friend getting married in a distant place you are not going to attend even though if the wedding was nearby you would have come. But if it is your own child's wedding then you will travel ANY distance because you really want to be there. The more of a desire you have, the more you are willing to travel.
So traveling may just be a means for reaching a particular destination but it is much-much more. It show a yearning and a pining for whatever the purpose of your trip is.
I know that if I give a shiur in location "x" some people will come while if I give it elsewhere they won't. Why? Same shiur??
The answer is that they WANT to hear the shiur, just not enough.
I have a friend from L.A. whom I know through Tolna who comes to Israel a few times a year. I recently asked him when he was here what the occasion was. He said "The Rebbe".
He doesn't have a long beard or a beard at all. He doesn't wear the biggest black kippah or a black kippah at all. Just a regular, run of the mill "balebos". [At home, my wife is the boss. I am the "baal ha-boss":-)].
But he has something that so many people lack - desire. A desire to be close to the tzadik. Just like the Jews of old traveled 12 mil to the tent of Moshe, so he spends a large sum of money and travels close to twenty hours each way [to the airport, plane, from the airport, waiting etc.] to be close to HIS Moshe Rabbeinu [and he is not the youngest either].
In a way - traveling to Torah is even greater than the learning itself!! When one learns, every word is but a DETAIL of the dvar Hashem. When one travels, one is showing a more general and all encompassing love for the Light of all the worlds, Toras Hashem. I am not traveling to learn this or that sugya, but to hear the WORD OF G-D! THAT, is huuuuuuuge:-).
So the gemara is lauding the accomplishments of those who trouble themselves to travel from city to city and province to province in order to learn Torah. If there is a good shiur somewhere - don't let the distance deter you. If you traveled two hours each way it was two well spent hours. You displayed a desire and that is what Hashem wants [כביכול].
Is that SOMETHING. This gemara [and every gemara for that matter is GESHMAK].
Nu, sweet friends!! We should all be zocheh to constantly show our תשוקה to hear dvar Hashem in a myriad of ways....
לזכות עדינה בת שבע בת נעכא גיטל ובשבח והודאה לבורא יתברך שמו על מתנתא מעלייתא דא!
