42 Desert Places and The 42 Letters

The Torah usually doesn't waste words. If, so what is the significance of the Torah listing the names of the remote places that the People of Israel passed on their 40 year trek through the desert?

One might think that we survived in the desert by staying close to cities, where we could purchase food supplies and water. However, the locations show that the route took us right through the heart of the blazing desert. There was no Hilton, market, or even farmland for miles and miles.

There is only one way to survive in the desert with no food, water, or protection. That is, by a constant miracle! For forty years, HaShem provided us with ample food, water, clothing, and shade. He revealed that every second of life - and all the provisions at our disposal - are gifts from HaShem.

While HaShem often "hides Himself" through nature; the sprouting of vegetation from the earth is no less miraculous than the manna that came from Heaven! Once we learn the secret that HaShem loves the People of Israel like His beloved child, we know for certain that He will take care of us and our needs.

Happiness is clarity of HaShem's loving-kindness for each person. The more we focus on His love and appreciate His constant, incomparable kindness, the happier we will be. A child instinctively feels exuberant about his parents, because he knows how much they love him.

So too, when we are aware that HaShem is our Creator, we will be exuberant. Every second He surrounds us with love, care, and kindness; granting us health, life, understanding, air, tasty food, family and friends, a soul, the wisdom of the holy Torah, delicious desserts, sweet fruits, etc.

The only thing He asks of us is to reflect on His love until we experience genuine, deep-seated happiness and joy.

[Based on the Rambam and Ohr RaShaz]

"One of the main Names upon which prophets meditated to go into a state of prophecy consisted of 42 Letters (from the special tefillah of "Ana B'koach). [...] It was no coincidence that the Jewish people encamped 42 times throughout their journey in the desert, for they represented a 'ladder' of cleansing within the context of this 42-Letter Name of G-d. Each stop was meant as an opportunity to 'acquire' another letter of the Name, and personal and national perfection." [Leshem on the Parsha, Parshas MasseiRabbi Pinchas Winston)

If only we (the Jewish People) could internalize that Great Love that Hashem has for His People, for us, so we could share that love among ourselves, by being more tolerant of one another, and sharing the beauty and profoundity of our teachings with those of us that did not have the opportunity to learn them, and being forgiving of one another, knowing that NOTHING HAPPENS IN THIS WORLD WITHOUT THE KNOWLEDGE OF HASHEM.