Rabbi Chaim Yosef Dovid Azulai (the great Sephardic Sage of the 18th century, known by the acronym of his name) points out that the initials of the opening words of the parsha: “Eileh Massei b’nei Yisroel-These are the journeys of the children of Israel” is an acronym for the four subsequent exiles of: Eileh – Edom (Rome), Massei – Madai (Media/Persia), B’nei – Bavel (Babylonia), and Yisroel – Yavan (Greece).
When one is physically stuck in a place, somewhere he should not be, and not moving forward, then – notwithstanding his great progress within that place, advancing within that space, that realm – he is still in Mitzrayim! * If you’re stuck in a rut, know that it is Mitzrayim, and it is necessary to leave Mitzrayim and journey onward, until you arrive at Yarden Yericho, an allusion to “morach va’da’in – he [Moshiach] smells and renders judgment.”
MULTIPLE JOURNEYS : If there is one word that describes all of existence it is “journeys,” the subject and title of this week’s parsha—Massei.
July 11, 2018