When we hear the call to move on, how will we choose to answer?

Beha’alotcha

Numbers 8:1-12:16

Zechariah 2:14-4:7

June has arrived, and once again 30-something student Johnny Lechner is not graduating. For those unfamiliar with him, Mr. Lechner has drawn some notoriety for being a 15th-year senior at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater. He has hundreds of credits to his name and could have completed his time on campus long ago, but loves campus life too much to give it up.

Over his 15-year college career he has amassed three majors and three minors, studied abroad in numerous countries, and even had a law named after him (a tax instituted by the state of Wisconsin for long-term students, who are now required to pay double the state tuition). When he began college the Internet was in its nascent stages, almost no students had cell phones, and many of the women now on campus with him were going into kindergarten.

Some people seem to have great difficulty moving on. Fortunately, the Jewish people had clearer indications in the desert of when it was time to go: “According to the word of HaShem would the children of Israel journey, and according to the word of HaShem would they encamp; all the days that the cloud would rest upon the Tabernacle would they encamp” (Num. 9:18).

The Midrash (Braita D’Milechet HaMishkan 13) notes three different catalysts listed in our Torah portion that would send the Jewish people into motion to pack up the camp and begin traveling. The first is the movement of the cloud of Divine glory, mentioned the in verse quoted above. Second is walking at Moshe’s behest, as mentioned several verses later (Num. 9:23). Finally, the Torah includes moving at the sounding of the trumpets that were used to call the camp to battle.

But why three different calls to motion? Wouldn’t one suffice? Perhaps just following the signals of HaShem’s cloud?

Perhaps the three triggers to advancement are indicative of three different reasons that people move from their present state or location. The trumpets are a call to war — change that arises from exigency and need. Staying put can expose a person to danger, and at times the trumpets of life call us to move.

The motion of the clouds, on the other hand, may represent following a dream. This is a passage that comes from a ripening of interests and aspirations. A gentle shift stemming from choice and not compulsion, going ahead into a future that is uncertain but full of distant promise.

Third comes the word of Moshe, a response to hearing the call of purpose. More directed and focused than a dream, it consists of seeing all the way down the path to a destination, and seizing the opportunity to follow it to the goal.

Yet interestingly, not all three modes are treated equally by the Torah. While the signals of the clouds and Moshe are both used to begin the travels and to call an end to the journey, the trumpets are solely reserved for starting the march. Yet the verses never indicate using their blasts to call the nation back to set up camp.

Therein might lie the secret: that when we pursue dreams or callings, we stand a chance of knowing when we have successfully achieved them (or at least part of them).

People who know where they are going can tell when they have arrived. However, the same cannot be said for the one who reacts to the trumpets. There the necessary motion is to deal with the danger, but it has no end point. Whether running away from the harm or even with fortitude toward the menace, one still lacks a final destination.

It has been said that one of the only constants in life is change. We all move, and are compelled to move, at times. Nevertheless, not all changes are to be seen as equal. Are we moving to follow our dreams? Can we hear the call to participate in something greater? And when forced to shift, can we learn to see past the momentary need and formulate a directional vision beyond the momentary necessity? If we succeed in doing so, the Promised Land awaits us.

Rabbi Judah Dardik is the spiritual leader at Orthodox Beth Jacob in Oakland. He can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).