Journeys

 אֵ֜לֶּה מַסְעֵ֣י בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָצְא֛וּ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם לְצִבְאֹתָ֑ם.  Only the first step of the journey was leaving Egypt, not the other 41?  Every step of the way was leaving Egypt.  As one separates from Egypt, as one advances in their avodah of Hashem, each previous rung of the ladder was מצרים compared to where the individual has advanced to now.  Every time one leaves behind the מצרים, the boundaries that contained him/her on the previous level and one moves up to another level.  It is all part of the journey in leaving Egypt (see Likutay Sichos volume 2.) 

According to the kabbalists the journey through the midbar was not just through a place of physical hardship but it was necessary to break spiritual roadblocks.  The Megalah Amukot (אופן רמ) points out the first letters of the words אֵ֜לֶּה מַסְעֵ֣י בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל stand for אדום מדי בבל יון, the four main stages of the golut that Klal Yisroel will endure.  The journey from Egypt hints to the difficult spiritual journey that will have to be endured .  The Baal Shem Tov adds this is not just true on a national level but the travels of Klal Yisroel apply to every individual.

Most of the journeys are listed as ויסעו ויחנו.  There are a few places were more details are filled in.  One of them is the death of Aharon Hakohan.  Why is that event repeated here and why is the exact date of his death listed, which is not done for anyone else?  The Torah is telling us how to deal with the tragedies of the golut.  Earlier in the week was cited the Pri Ha'aretz that the mourning of the three weeks is for one's own personal spiritual destruction.  If that is the point why is the focus of 9 Av kinnot and not teshuva? When one is in a state a such acute pain it is not a time to tell them what to do to fix the situation.  Aharon is Mr. World Peace.  In a time of calamity it is not a time for harsh words of rebuk but to sit in sorrow and bemoan the pain.  That is what we do on 9 Av.  That is why the day Aharon died is recorded for it is in the month of Av.  That is why he died on הר ההר.  The Gemorah Pesachim (88a) relates Avrohom to הר.  The Alter Rebbe relates הר to the middah of אהבה embodied by Avrahom for one's love is able to rise above all else.  Aharon is super ahavah and dies on הר ההר.  (Likutay Torah Naso.)  Aharon tells us the avodah of the month and the ultimate tikkun will sprout forth from the אהבת אחים.  Hence his hilulah is on the first day of Av to allude to the yichud that will bring about the geulah.