From:          "Yeshivat Har Etzion's Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash"
To:            yhe-intparsha@vbm-torah.org
Subject:       INTPARSHA -42: Parashat Matot-Masei

                     Yeshivat Har Etzion
           Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash
                             
              Introduction to Parashat HaShavua
                             
                       Parashat Chukat
                            
                             
 Parashat Matot-Masei - the Grazing Lands East of the Jordan
                             
                   By Rabbi Michael Hattin


Introduction

     Sefer BeMidbar concludes with the reading of the double
parashiyot  of  Matot  and Masei.  Although  these  sections
address a variety of topics, many of the matters pertain  to
the Land of Canaan and to the preparations of the people for
their imminent entry.  Thus, the Torah devotes discussion to
the  battle against Midian, to the Biblical borders, to  the
Levitical cities and to the Cities of Refuge, all  of  which
are  presented  against the backdrop  of  Moshe's  impending
death  and  the  coming to an end of the wanderings  in  the
wilderness.

     Let  us  recall that a short while ago, at the   end  of
Parashat  Chukat, we read of the astonishing defeat  of  the
two mighty Amorite kings, Sichon and Og.  After denying Bnei
Yisrael  rights of passage through his land, the belligerent
Sichon  had  aggressively massed his troops  and  confronted
them  east  of  the  Jordan River  at  Yahatz,  only   to  be
ignominiously beaten.  Continuing northwards, the people  of
Israel  were then confronted by the powerful Og, an imposing
warlord of legendary physical proportions.  Again, they were
victorious,   and  thus  found  themselves   in    unexpected
possession of a large swath of territory east of the  Jordan
River, stretching from the present-day Golan Heights in  the
north  until Wadi Arnon located east of the Dead Sea in  the
south.   This  week,  we shall focus our attention  on  that
region, and, in particular, on the fateful decision  of  the
tribes  of Reuven, Gad and 'half' of Menashe to remain  east
of the Jordan and to settle it.


The  Request  of  the  'Two and One Half'  Tribes,  and   the
Reading of Abarbanel

     "The  descendants  of  Reuven and  Gad   had  great  and
     numerous  flocks, and they saw that the land of  Yaazer
     and   the   land  of  Gilad   was  grazing  land.    The
     descendants of Gad and Reuven approached Moshe,  Elazar
     the  Cohen  and  the  leaders of the congregation,  and
     said:  'Atarot, Dibon, Yaazer, Nimra, Cheshbon, El'ale,
     Sevam, Nevo and Be'on are located in the land that  God
     struck  down before Bnei Yisrael.  It is grazing   land,
     and we have livestock'.
    
     They  said  further: 'If we have found  favor   in  your
     eyes,  give  us  -  your servants - this   land  as  our
     inheritance,  and  do not cause us to  cross   over  the
     Jordan River (to Canaan)' (BeMidbar 32:1-5).

     Impressed  by  the  expansive and  fertile   territories
located  just  east of the Jordan River, the so-called  'Two
and  One Half' tribes express their desire to remain  behind
and  to  settle  those areas as their  own.   It   should  be
immediately   noted  that  their  aspirations   are    openly
predicated  on  the fact that they have much  livestock  and
herds.

     Curiously, the Hebrew text inserts a pause in the midst
of  their petition, for after their mention of livestock and
herds (verse 4), there follows a paragraph break before  the
narrative resumes with their formal request to remain behind
(verse  5).   Rabbi Yitzhak Abarbanel (15th century,  Spain)
understands this textual cue as an indication of  hesitation
on  their part, as if they were reluctant to openly  express
their desire to not accompany the other tribes into the Land
of Canaan:
    
     "Behold,  they initially stated their demand allusively
     and indirectly, for indeed they were ashamed to declare
     it  explicitly.  By making mention of their vast   herds
     and drawing attention to the suitability of the eastern
     lands for grazing, they had implied their intent.Moshe,
     having  understood their insinuation,  remained   silent
     and unmoved, and thus they were forced to restate their
     request openly and unambiguously."

     Thus, for Abarbanel, the desire of the Two and One Half
tribes  to  remain behind was understood  even  by  them  as
inappropriate.   This is presumably because  their  decision
could undermine the confidence of the nation as they prepare
to  embark on wars of conquest westward, and could  as  well
breed  divisiveness  among the tribes.   As  we  shall   see,
however,  the  Midrashim  on the  matter  detect  even   more
ominous undercurrents in their words.


Moshe's Response and the Compromise

     Moshe's immediate response to their request is at  once
forceful and straightforward.
    
     "Moshe  answered  the descendants  of   Gad  and  Reuven
     saying: shall your brothers go to war while you  remain
     here?   Why  are  you  discouraging Bnei   Yisrael  from
     crossing  over into the land that God has  given   them?
     This  is  the same thing that your fathers did   when  I
     sent  them  from Kadesh Barnea to see the  land.    They
     went  as far as the valley of Eshkol and saw the  land,
     but  discouraged Bnei Yisrael so that  they  could   not
     enter  the land that God gave them.Now behold you  have
     risen  up  in  the place of your fathers,  a   brood  of
     transgressors, to bring even more of God's  wrath  upon
     Israel.  If you turn away from Him, He will leave us in
     the  wilderness and you will have destroyed this  whole
     people" (BeMidbar 32:6-15).
    
     Moshe  vividly recalls the conduct of the  Spies   whose
negative report dissuaded the people from entering the land,
and   thus  brought  disaster  upon  that  generation.     He
perceives a similar threat in the request of the Two and One
Half tribes, whose intentions, though not as sinister, could
very well bring about a similar consequence.

     No  doubt  prepared  for his reaction,  the   tribes  of
Reuven  and  Gad  soothe Moshe's misgivings by  offering  to
settle  their  flocks and families eastwards,  and  then  to
provide a significant advance force to accompany the rest of
the  people of Israel over the Jordan River.  They  solemnly
pledge not to return to their homes until the rest of Israel
is  securely settled in their new land.  Moshe accepts their
compromise and instructs Elazar the Priest, Yehoshua bin Nun
and  the  tribal leaders to ensure their compliance  by  not
releasing  the  eastern  lands to them  until  the  wars   of
conquest have been completed.  Thus, the crisis is averted.


The Challenge of Wealth

     What  is the reason that the Torah records this episode
at  such  great  length?  How are we to make  sense  of   the
request of Reuven and Gad, and why does Moshe perceive it as
such  a  threat to the continuity of the people  of  Israel?
Were   there  any  long-term  consequences  to  the   fateful
decision  of these tribes to remain behind, and if  so,  how
were they a direct function of their initial motives?

     The  Midrashic literature tends to view the conduct  of
the  Two and One Half tribes in a singularly negative light.
Concerning the "great and numerous flocks" that precipitated
their request, the Midrash comments:
    
     "Three  'gifts' exist in the world, and the one who   is
     in possession of even one of them merits to possess the
     most  precious things of all.  These are wisdom, might,
     and  wealth.  When is this true?  When these things are
     gifts  of  Heaven and acquired through the strength   of
     the Torah.  But the might and wealth of flesh and blood
     is not worth anything.Furthermore, when these gifts are
     not  acquired from the Holy One Blessed be He, they are
     not   of   a  lasting  nature.Thus,   we  find  by   the
     descendents  of Gad and the descendents of Reuven  that
     they  possessed  wealth and great flocks,  and   because
     they  prized their flocks, they chose to dwell  outside
     of  the  Land  of Israel.  Therefore, they were  exiled
     ahead  of all of the other tribes, as the verse  states
     'He  (the  King  of  Assyria)  exiled   the  Reuvenites,
     Gadites   and  the  half  tribe  of   Menashe'   (Divrei
     HaYamim/Chronicles  1:5:26).  What  was  the   cause  of
     their   downfall?    The  fact   that   they   separated
     themselves  from  their brethren on  account   of  their
     wealth.   And so the verse states: 'the descendents   of
     Reuven  and  the  descendents  of  Gad   had  great  and
     numerous flocks.' (BeMidbar Rabba 22:7).


A Means or an End

     At  first  glance,  the  language  of   the  Midrash  is
curious.  Within its frame of reference, when is wealth  not
a  gift  from  Heaven and the result of Divine  beneficence?
Does  anyone succeed in acquiring wealth in the world if  it
is  not  the  resuof  God's all-powerful will?  Rather,  the
Midrash seems to be suggesting, 'wealth and possessions that
are gifts of Heaven and acquired through the strength of the
Torah'  is a description of not simply the source  of  these
things,  but  of their essential value as well.   To  regard
one's  riches  as a 'gift of Heaven' means to  realize  that
they  have no intrinsic value but are only vehicles for  the
achievement  of  a  higher purpose.  When one's  possessions
acquire  an essential value of their own and become the  end
rather  than  simply a means, the result is not infrequently
estrangement from God and, more significantly, the spiritual
despondency that tends to accompany that estrangement.
    
     The  Midrash proffers that the wealth of these  tribes,
the  abundant  flocks of cattle and sheep  that  constituted
their  assets,  was not simply the motivation  behind  their
request,  but actually the ultimate cause of their premature
downfall.  The desire to remain on the eastern banks of  the
Jordan  was  not  only a prudent decision of economics,  but
also  a definitive statement of their misplaced values.   To
cross  the river and to enter the land with the other tribes
meant  to  embrace a national destiny that placed  spiritual
goals  ahead  of  material ones, and the Two  and  One  Half
tribes  were unable to make that commitment.  The preference
to  remain  behind  was  therefore a conscious  decision  to
structure  their  lives according to  a  value  system  that
championed  material achievement ahead  of  all  else.   The
opportunity  to  experience the intimacy of God's  presence,
the  prospect  of  a  unique spiritual dimension  to  living
afforded by fulfillment of the Torah within the confines  of
the  'Promised Land,' were insufficient to tear those tribes
away from their concern for their flocks.

     Proceeding  one step further, the Midrash (also  quoted
by  Rashi) maintains that such misplaced values may in  fact
be the cause of rather extreme consequences:
    
     ".the descendents of Reuven and Gad treated things that
     are  most  important as secondary,  and  the   secondary
     things   as   most   important.    They   valued   their
     possessions even more than the lives of their children,
     for  did  they  not exclaim to Moshe  'we   shall  erect
     sheepfolds for our flocks and cities for our  children'
     (32:16),  thus  showing more concern for  their   sheep?
     Moshe,  in contrast, responded 'build cities  for   your
     young  ones  and erect fences for your sheep'   (32:24),
     thus  placing  the children ahead of the   possessions!"
     (BeMidbar Rabba 22:9).

     It  is  of  course  very significant that   in  Biblical
Hebrew,  the word for flocks, appearing in this  context  as
well,  is 'miKNeH.' This term is derived from the root  KNH,
which  signifies  acquisition.   Thus,  'mikneh'  means   the
flocks  that  constitute one's possessions, for  in  ancient
times  flocks  were  an overt indication of  one's  material
success.   To  possess flocks meant to be wealthy.   In  the
modern  age,  where  much  of humanity  lives  in  an   urban
setting,  this  measure  is  no  longer  relevant,  but   the
challenge  of wealth that faced the Two and One Half  Tribes
has not changed one iota.


The Assyrian Exile

     Finally,   the   Midrash  ascribes    grave   historical
consequences to the decision of the Two and One half  tribes
to   settle   eastwards.   In  reality,  the   Jordan   River
constituted  a  natural boundary between  these  tribes  and
their  brethren who dwelt in the Land of Israel proper,  and
this  tended to accentuate their isolation from the national
agenda   even   in   times  of  peace  (see    for   instance
Yehoshua/Joshua  Chapter 22).  At times  of  conflict,  this
disconnection was even more pronounced.

     When the Assyrian Empire began to push westwards in the
8th  century  BCE, many smaller kingdoms in the region  were
overrun  and  exiled.   The  so-called  'Ten  Tribes'    that
constituted  the  Northern  Kingdom  of  Israel  were    also
displaced by a series of hostile incursions by the  Assyrian
Kings,  campaigns that culminated in the fall of the capital
of  Shomron in 722 BCE.  Among the first tribes to be exiled
to  Assyria were the Two and One Half tribes that  dwelt  on
the  East  Bank,  since their region was geographically  the
most exposed to the Assyrian menace.

     Utilizing an approach to be found in Biblical  as  well
as  in  Rabbinic  thought,  the  Midrash  searches  for   the
underlying   spiritual  causes  of  the  historical    events
associated with the exile, and detects faint echoes  in  the
events  of  our Parasha.  When a people loses sight  of  its
national  mission  and its spiritual identity,  and  instead
embraces  material  attainment as the only  meaningful  goal
worth  pursuing,  then the inevitable  result  must  be  the
dissolution  of  that  national  structure.   It   cannot  be
otherwise, for the life of a nation, like the lives  of  the
individuals of whom it is composed, requires powerful  ideas
to  sustain and nourish it.  Only by maintaining a steadfast
grasp on our heritage and remaining always cognizant of  our
spiritual  objectives  will it be  possible  to  attain  our
national destiny, whether east of the Jordan or west of it.

Shabbat Shalom

YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH
ALON SHEVUT, GUSH ETZION 90433

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