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In the Torah there are no vowels – only letters. The letters Mem, Dalet, Bet and Reish can spell midbar, desert, but they can also spell medaber – speaker – and medubar – that which is spoken. To paraphrase Rabbi Sacks, who pointed out the connection between these words: “Sometimes it takes the silence of the midbar, the desert, [to] hear the Medaber, the Speaker, and the medubar, that which is spoken. To hear the voice of God you need a listening silence in the soul.”
In an age where there is an endless amount of distractions and noise, it seems almost impossible to find the silence to focus on and build a deep, personal relationship with Hashem. If we truly want to experience Hashem and his Torah, we need to block out times in our lives when we can put ourselves on airplane mode, block out the noise and distractions, and focus on listening to the Kol Demama Daka.
To take it one step further than Rabbi Sacks, perhaps the medaber that we can’t always hear is not always Hashem. Perhaps the medubar, that which is spoken, that we sometimes miss in the noise, is not always Hashem’s message. Sometimes our own voice gets lost in the noise. We can’t hear ourselves talk and think, and we never really get to know ourselves and our values. When we fail to create “midbar moments” in our schedules, we are never able to think about who we are, what we are doing and why we do what we do.
While creating midbar moments for our spiritual health is critical in order to develop a strong relationship with Hashem and His Torah, creating midbar moments for our own mental health is just as critical as well.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Jonny Gordon
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