It was 4am and the gunfire was intense as the thud of explosions shook our building. No it was not Beirut in the 1980's, it was my apartment building in Caracas in 1999.
The policeman who lived one floor below us was the target, but my bedroom window was directly on top of his, and we were in the line of fire.
We huddled on the floor and waited for it to end.... and then three nights later they came back for round two.
Like many of you, I have spent time in different cities and countries around the world as part of my studies, work in the Jewish Community or time with family. These have included plenty places in Central and South America, England, Israel, Canada and more.
Thank G-d in most of these places, I dealt with positive and good situations and amazing people and places, but occasionally, like the above situation, or when I was nearly kidnapped on the last night of my stay in Caracas, the challenges and adversity seemed like they were going to overwhelm us.
More importantly, as I think back on my own journey and to the contacts and friends, I now have and have kept up with from every one of these places, I realize just how much they have all played a part in shaping who I am today. There is no doubt that the many encounters, relationships and experiences whether good or bad, have all influenced my direction in life and indeed my worldview and approach to others.
Along the way, there were countless people who played a profound role in inspiring me, encouraging me, teaching me. Some of them are dear family members, parents, grandparents and others, some are teachers, Rabbis and friends and some are simply people I bumped into on the street or in a store.
Yet in addition to my family and my spiritual teachers, so many of them stand out in my mind for the impact they have had on me.
I think of the young family who flew me to Curacao every month when I lived in Venezuela to teach their children and do programs with the Jewish children on the island.
I think of a young Jewish man who I didn’t know, who came to my rescue when I was being frisked and grilled by paratroopers after landing one time in an airport in a third world country.
I think of my journey to a very dangerous Venezuelan jail to meet a lone South African Jew, who was terrified and desperate for help.
I think of eighty year old Irving who lived in Yonkers and has since passed, who was a survivor of Auschwitz, who would cry each time he saw my daughter Chana, who was then a young child, as it reminded him of his big sister who helped him stay alive on the train to Auschwitz.
I think of my teachers and educators, especially the ones who uplifted me and encouraged me with a good word and a belief in me, and yes, the times when I didn’t do so well.
I think of my seemingly random encounters in airports and on planes, which have led to multiple mutual close friendships and life long relationships.
I think of the moments I have had with people who live with deep emotional pain of abuse, hurt, and suffering, who somehow keep going forward and hold their heads high, and I think of those that just continue to suffer as their pain is too much.
And the list goes on….
Some of these encounters which may have provided life changing inspiration, food for thought or important teachings, may have been just a few minutes long and some lasted for months or even years.
My story may be different than yours, but in many ways it is probably not too dissimilar from your own story.
The locations and destinations may not be the same, and the people you encountered were probably different that the ones I encountered, but most likely you feel that who you are today, has been shaped to a great degree by all of these experiences and interactions.
It is this theme, that the famous Baal Shem Tov (the founder of the Chassidic Movement) used to explain the reason why the Torah decides to list the forty-two journeys that the Jews took on their path from Egypt to Israel.
The Torah at the beginning of the portion of Maasei, lists each place and location that they traveled to, whether it was to spend a few weeks or a few years. Many of the commentaries point out that in a certain way this list seems redundant, since after all, what purpose is there in simply going through this list of travel experiences?
The Baal Shem Tov explained, that metaphorically, the forty two journeys represent the experiences that we all go through in our own journey from our "Egypt" and “bondage” to our metaphorical "Land of Israel", of success, meaning and purpose. The path is not always simple, sometimes it is two steps forward and one step backwards and sometimes it is one step forward and two steps backwards. So much of life can be filled with roller coasters as we go up and down the waves of personal success and failures, close relationships and sometimes damaged relationships, happiness and sadness, pain and joy, inspiration and desperation and so much more.
Yet ultimately, every piece of the journey is playing a role in the destiny of our life and indeed shaping who we are and what we are able to bring and add to the world around us.
The success is not just in the destination and reaching the endgame, but indeed in the many stages of the journey itself. The changes, back flips, bouncing back, and improvements and upgrades that we have to make along the way are all an intrinsic part of our spiritual destiny and in a certain way are destinations in and of themselves.
So as we stop to reflect on our individual journeys, it is worth thinking about how every stop along the way has played a part in helping me be the person we are today. Our job now, is to continue to use these memories and experiences to inspire ourselves to do our job of doing the next Mitzvah and action that will move the world forward towards its innate purpose of goodness and morality for all mankind.
Keep journeying forward and as they say in Hebrew, Nesiah Tova.
Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos
Yisroel