Why Did So Many Israelites Have to Die in the Desert? - Jeremy Gimpel: The Land of Israel Fellowship

and a lot of people are dying on their way to israel a lot and like what does that mean that on the way to israel so many people of israel died and so to answer that question i want to read the text now on the level of remez that's the representative level the symbolic level that means that we're reading the stories in the torah as maps representing our lives and the guide of how to express our souls in the world how to live in a relationship with our creator how to live a life toward our destiny these stories are just symbols on a map guiding us where we need to go and that's why it's not right to read the torah just on a shot level on a textual level on a literal level and then to see god is like a vengeful god against the jews who sinned against the spies the torah here is recording a pattern of being how to manifest yourself properly in the world how to act in harmony with yourself to fulfill the purpose for with which you were created and so the torah is showing us how human beings are in the world and how we are called to live so if you think about it israel started off in the desert started off in egypt and as everyone knows that's the natural state of men and women we are all enslaved that's the default that's the map maybe we're slaves to our fears to our insecurities to our lusts our bodies to our laziness to our pride each person in their own journey but all of us start off in egypt our life's journey ahead of us is meant to take us all the way out of slavery to our promised land a journey to become the person we were created to be that's the map in life in this world outside of the garden if you think about it it's like a desert that's the analogy here that's what it's representing think about that life is not easy life is not comfortable from the get-go it's harsh it's filled with tragedy and then humans come along and make it even worse with their evil in their own heart and somehow though the desert is the perfect place for revelation somehow the desert is the perfect environment the best place for the human spirit to flourish it's where our spirits thrive it's precisely the hardships and the challenges that set the stage for triumph in victory courage and heroism true compassion selfless giving it's the place that we can walk most humbly with god and to carry his name in our lives and to strengthen and inspire the people around us the torah is teaching us that our ability to overcome the challenges and transcend the malevolence in this world is more powerful than the broken reality as we see it now and it's the spirit of man that's going to redeem reality that's what zechariah says it's not through might not through power but through my spirit says hashem through my spirit and that's our spirit will thrive somehow in the desert of reality and so you're in egypt and you want to get to israel you see the truth and what happens most of you wants to deny it as like oh my goodness what you want to give up spy start voicing these opinions you want to turn around but you you know what are you going to do you want to enter in to the next level of life um it's not going to be easy you know like parts of you are going to have to die away things that you held dear thoughts that you knew were true things that you were so connected to your own identity you thought were parts of who you were i mean i have one friend that is massively overweight i mean it was hard for him to walk for long periods of time without hurting his back and hurting his knees he was struggling with different types of diets for decades and then one year somehow he cracked the code and he said i just always saw myself as a fat guy that's what he told me he said i had to let that guy die so a new me could be born and that's just true about all of us a whole nation of israel is representative of one human soul and the first thing you need to know is that within men and women there are a lot of voices a lot of spirits a lot of forces many forces are operating within us it's like our past our culture our traumas our instincts our souls our minds our emotions there's so many voices in the story of the spies on the way to israel it's just our own story toward our own ideal it's like on the way to becoming all that we can be on the way to israel we encounter a truth and the spicy the reality is not easy the path ahead is arduous and challenging it's like uh uh i don't want this 10 out of 12 spies like nope sorry i'm not doing it but then there's like two voices that are still in us the joshua and caleb inside us that are beyond our fears and beyond our past and beyond our laziness that are beyond our body voice is telling us that we can handle it and we can do it and it's like calling us toward that adventure it's like you want to move into the promised land of your life you're gonna have to stare at those opposing voices and just stare them down voices that's like without strength and courage to face those opposing votes those opposing voices you don't stand a chance that's why moses final blessing to joshua is strength and courage that's what we need in order to just confront the truth of the reality of becoming who we need to be and when we leave egypt and we venture into our destiny it's not like the journey is easy it's like on the contrary it's like from the get-go as soon as we break free we start on the journey it's like ah we don't have any water we're going to eat food you might totally collapse and fail and worshipping golden gods of golden caps and wrong values and you might have set the wrong goal you don't know you're just trying your way out there you bump into walls along the way and you fail and you fall and then you rise up again and every time you fail and you fall and you rise up again parts of you are going to be fixed parts of you are going to die that's what all of that death is about in the desert huge swaths of us are slowly going to be peeled away from us the parts of us that are weak the parts of us that we identify with but they're hurting us they're blocking our development they're stunting our growth they're disrupting our family they're hurting our loved ones i mean those need to be sacrificed those need to be burnt away those parts of you a lot of you allah just needs to die in order for us to be reborn so that we enter into the land of israel think about that the generation that enters into the land is an entirely new generation the older generation had to go think about 40 years of work 40 years of discipline and persistence and ups and downs and failures and mistakes and fallings and getting back up by the time you're at the top of the mountain peering into the promised land you're not the same person when you first left egypt you're a totally new generation you're a new person and from where you started until where you are now and until who you could be that day-to-day moment-to-moment choice to choose to be your best self the best version of yourself emerges when you continuously are persistent on that path constantly choosing the light constantly walking in the right way of the inner voice of joshua and caleb that's guiding you towards courage that's guiding you towards strength it's like i don't know all of the old habits like smoking or drinking lazy selfish fearful resentful that's long past a truer version of yourself emerges a truer version of you it's like your potential was actualized that's what purity is hi my name is jeremy gimpel a lot of people want to know exactly what the land of israel fellowship is and what members receive when they join so let me explain the land of israel fellowship is a global online community with hundreds of members from over 40 countries around the world they're live sessions and gatherings that create a direct personal connection to the land of israel and the lovers of israel from around the world there's no online gathering that i'm familiar with that is connected to the land of israel that unites and brings together such a diverse group of people backgrounds and nationalities it feels like prophecy it feels like something we need in these times a window in to a better future on the horizon there's a divine unity we experience every week in our fellowship broadcast we heard these amazing teachings from an authentic hebrew and israel perspective and our jaws drop not only because they ring so true and are such a blessing because they are so consistent with what we believe these sunday morning gatherings are nothing less than a house of prayer for all nations cindy lowe the united states of america the land of israel fellowship is an amazing resource for learning torah the bible and the prophets unfiltered and uncentered directly from the land of israel we've been studying torah for almost 20 years but we feel we are stepping into it more than ever in seeing new depth and dimensions to scripture we're encouraged more and more every week calen ardell usa members receive access to all the archives in the library of teachings on every portion of the torah the biblical feast hebrew prayer prophecy sessions on the ancient wisdom of the prophets of israel to help us navigate through these turbulent times these sessions are so rich i re-listen to each and truly each session is the best one yet tehela is a tremendous asset and the teachings ari shares are so rich i've read the bible so many times and i've known the things you are teaching the hebrew understanding is what christians have missed for centuries sister georgian from germany the land of israel fellowship is truly unique because it's built upon personal relationships with the teachers of the fellowship myself rabbi arya bramwitz in tehillah gimpel every member has direct access to the staff 24 6 via email or direct whatsapp to ask questions to comment to connect directly to all the teachers and over the last years we've connected to some of the most beautiful people on the planet so if you want to find out more and join the land of israel fellowship you can click on the link below and if you want to try it out for just a month you can email fellowship at the land of israel.com and we'll hook you up i hope to see you shalom from the mountains of judea