#521: I Want It Yesterday!

וּבְהַאֲרִ֧יךְ הֶֽעָנָ֛ן עַל־הַמִּשְׁכָּ֖ן יָמִ֣ים רַבִּ֑ים וְשָׁמְר֧וּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל אֶת־מִשְׁמֶ֥רֶת יְהוָ֖ה וְלֹ֥א יִסָּֽעוּ׃

When the cloud lingered over the Tabernacle many days, the Israelites observed יהוה’s mandate and did not journey on.

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Our biblical ancestors followed a column of cloud during the day, and that column took on the appearance of fire at night. Whenever the cloud moved, they moved with it, and whenever it stopped, they did as well. Apart from the Holy One’s will, there does not appear to have been any rhyme or reason that drove the cloud’s movements.

Num. 9:20 says that when the cloud lingered over the Mishkan for many days, the Israelites would obey God and stop journeying.

This state of affairs must of required the Israelites to practice patience as a way of life. Here’s what Ramban (bio) says about that:

AND WHEN THE CLOUD LINGERED. This means that if the cloud tarried upon the Tabernacle many days, and the place [where they happened to be camped] was not good in their eyes, so that they very much desired and wanted to journey away from there, they were nonetheless not to transgress the will of God;

The characteristic of patience is dying in America. We are so impatient that, according to one survey, 96% of us…