1. Naso Es Rosh Bnei Gershon: Likkutei Torah

[The history of the Jewish people in their travel from Egypt to the holy land includes a period of 40 years of travel within the Sinai desert. What was the purpose of this travel? Although, the 40 year stay was a punishment for the sin of the spies, nonetheless, certainly there was a divine purpose in this stay, and it is this matter that the Alter Rebbe clarifies in this teaching.] The root and purpose behind the travel of the Jewish people in the desert together with the tabernacle and all of its vessels was in order to subdue and crush the powers of evil. The desert is a wilderness that is empty of holiness and hence gives nurture to the forces of evil. This can be seen in the fact that the desert does not have any growth of plants or grass at all and is a place of complete desolateness.

Growth comes from holiness: The reason for this lack of growth is because growth and production can only come from the side of holiness, as the verse states “and you enliven everyone.” Likewise, another verse states “G-d is righteous,” which means that G-d provides charity and kindness for the world and He is the one who provides them with all life and blessing. The entire side of holiness contains this aspect. Now, kindness comes from the aspect of greatness as it states in the verse “Erech Apayim Ugedol Chesed.”

Kindness comes from Bittul: In the entire side of holiness, kindness derives from Bittul, from nullification to G-d and considering oneself like nothing in his eyes. It is only when a person views himself with self-effacement that he can feel the need to give to others whom he considers more important and significant than he. This was expressed in the words of Avraham who said to G-d, “and I am dust and ash,” and it is for this reason that he would do kindness with all people. This is in contrast to the person who has a strong feeling of self and ego and does not contain nullification, and therefore does not give to others as he thinks that he needs everything for himself and cannot be a Mashpia.

The evil of the desert: According to the above, it is understood that any area that is devoid of G-dly revelation and blessing consequently will not be able to grow anything, hence explaining the emptiness of the desert. This however also explains the desert becoming a haven for all the forces of evil. A desert is a place that is populated with  snakes  and scorpions which are all the epitome of the three completely unclean Kelipos, which are a Yeish and separate existence and do not have the aspect of Bittul and therefore they do not provide any Hashpah, any benefit for humanity. This explains the purpose of the traveling of the  Jewish people through the desert, in order to subdue and subjugate the side of evil.

• The divine lesson – Importance of productivity: Many lessons can be learned from the above teaching. First and foremost we can learn from the above teaching the importance of productivity. The Alter Rebbe explained that growth and productivity derives from holiness, while emptiness and desolateness, such as that found in a desert, derives from the side of evil. This was the desert in which the Jewish people traveled for 40 years. Accordingly, being unproductive is an expression of the side of evil, in which one takes from society and does not give anything back. Holiness is all about giving while evil is all about taking. Holiness is all about construction while evil is all about destruction. Even if one does not have the head to study Torah or be involved in a spiritual service, he should at least be involved in matters that can benefit the world. Even if he is not able to focus on work, such as at the end of a long workday, he should find something productive to perform. In today’s day and age with the proliferation of the Internet and smart phones, it is quite common for people to waste their time on their devices. Whether it be in the obsessive reading of news, or playing video games, or watching movies and clips in popular apps such as YouTube and tick-tock, or obsessive surfing on social media, the common denominator is that one is wasting time and not doing anything productive for the world. Even if one is not doing anything negative, the mere fact that he is not doing anything productive is itself an element of evil. It is for this reason that the Rebbe directed people to use their time wisely on Nittel Nacht and do something productive in the time that they are prohibited from studying Torah. To quote from that talk[2], “The Rebbe Rayatz related that his father was accustomed to play chess on the night of Nittel. We can explain this as follows, that even in a time period in which the main focus is simply not to do evil, the time should be used to do something productive and of benefit. It is for this reason that they play chess which is a game of intellect and has ability to sharpen the mind which can later assist in one’s comprehension of Torah. From here we learn a lesson that even when one cannot study Torah one should never waste his time heaven forbid and should rather be involved in productive activity of matters relating to wisdom, or adding in charity and kindness, or dealing with the household.” It is not for no reason that boredom leads to sin and depression, as not doing something productive or accomplishing is itself from the side of evil, and being involved in one form of evil creates a bridge to perform other forms of evil, as a sin causes another sin. This is similar to what occurred in the desert, that the lack of growth and production due to the evil that was found there created the environment for snakes and scorpions to thrive. Thus, even if a person feels that he needs a mental and physical break, a productive activity should be chosen such as spending time with the kids, cleaning up the home, and so on and so forth.

[2] Hisvadyus 5750 Vol. 2 p. 50 [Sichas Vayeishev, Chanukah 5750]