Bamidbar - In the Desert.....

"Vayidaber Hashem el Moshe Bamidbar Sinai...../And Hashem spoke to Moshe in the Sinai desert...(Bamidbar 1:1).

Its the 40th day of the Omer, just a bit over a week away from Shavuos, Kabalas Ha'Torah, when we as the Jewish people received the Torah from Hashem. At this point in our lives we have matured enough to know that the Torah is the central point in our lives, our instruction book, our history book, the book of our future, and everything else in between.

We read the parasha of Bamidbar every year before Shavuos and the reason can be given when we understand why the Torah had to be given in the desert. We know that there are no coincidences, and no happenstances. If the Torah was given in the desert, then there must be a lesson for us to learn. Reb Nosson teaches us in the name of Reb Nachman z"ya, that this comes to teach us that both on a national and on a personal level, if we dont accept the Torah upon ourselves then we become "hefker/owner less". Owner less at first sounds appealing, we could do what we want, when we want, how we want, with who we want, etc... In short ,the good life. But many of us can hopefully contest that, and say that hefker/ owner less really isn't that great. No point, no purpose, no real goals, no fulfilment. In short, not such a great life. What's more hefker/ owner less than the desert.
One of Reb Nachman's greatest teachings is "Ayeh?/ Where is the place of Hashems honor?" We find Hashem in the place when we feel the most lost, the most hefker. The desert again. Ok, so what do we do? Do we give up all of our worldly posessions and take a 40 year trek in the desert? Accept the Torah again? That would be nice, but thats not the lesson. We were put into this world to live, with everything that we have. To raise the sparks! The lesson is to make ourselves like a desert, hefker / owner less to all and everything but Hashem. The we can really accept the Torah on ourselves and really start living "the good life"!!!

Have a great Shabbos!!! And remember "There is no despair in this world at all!!!!!"