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From: heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 1997 1:50 AM To: Parasha-Page List Subject: Torah Weekly - Motos/Masei Date: Mon, 28 Jul 1997 21:06:13 -0200 Reply-to: ohr@virtual.co.il From: "Ohr Somayach" <ohr@virtual.co.il> To: " Highlights of the Torah weekly portion" <weekly@virtual.co.il> Subject: Torah Weekly - Motos/Masei X-To: weekly@virtual.co.il
* TORAH WEEKLY *
Highlights of the Weekly Torah Portion
with "Fatherly Advice" Tidbits from The Ethics of our Fathers
Parshas Matos/Masei
For the week ending 28 Tammuz 5757
1 & 2 August 1997
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Lessons For The Ages: Struggles and Achievements of Abraham The Patriarch
A Textual Study of Torah and Classical Commentaries
http://www.ohr.org.il/jee
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Overview
Matos
Moshe teaches the rules and restrictions governing oaths and vows --
especially the role of a husband or father in either upholding or annulling
a vow. The Bnei Yisrael go to war against Midian. They kill the five
Midianite kings, all of the males, and Bilaam. Moshe is upset that women
were taken as captives, because they were catalysts for the immoral
behavior of the Jewish People. He rebukes the officers. The spoils of war
are counted and apportioned. The commanding officers report to Moshe that
there was not one casualty among the Bnei Yisrael. They bring an offering,
which is taken from them by Moshe and Elazar and placed in the Ohel Mo'ed
(Tent of Meeting). The Tribes of Gad and Reuven, who own large quantities
of livestock, petition Moshe to remain where they are and not traverse the
Jordan river into Israel. They explain that the land where they are
presently located is quite suitable as grazing land for their livestock.
Moshe's initial response is that this request will discourage the rest of
the Bnei Yisrael, and is akin to the sin of the spies. They assure Moshe
that they will first help the Bnei Yisrael wage war and conquer Israel, and
only then will they go back to their homes on the eastern side of the
Jordan River. Moshe grants their request on condition that they uphold
their part of the deal.
Masei
The Torah names all forty-two encampments of the Bnei Yisrael on their
forty-year journey from the Exodus to the crossing of the Jordan river into
Eretz Yisrael. Hashem commands the Bnei Yisrael to drive out the Canaanim
from Eretz Yisrael and to demolish all vestiges of their idolatry. The
Bnei Yisrael are warned that if they fail to rid the land completely of the
Canaanim, those who remain will be "pins in their eyes and thorns in their
sides." The boundaries of the land of Israel are defined, and the tribes
are commanded to set aside forty-eight cities for the Leviim, who do not
receive a regular portion in the division of the land. Cities of refuge
are to be established: someone who murders unintentionally may flee there.
The daughters of Tzlofchad marry members of their tribe so that their
inheritance will stay in their own tribe. Thus ends the Book of
Bamidbar/Numbers, the fourth of the Books of The Torah.
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Insights
Gathering The Sparks
At the beginning of Parshas Masei the Torah lists the forty-two places
where the Jewish People encamped on their way to Eretz Yisrael. What is
the reason for these forty-two stops in the desert?
There is a mystical concept that the purpose of these encampments was for
the Children of Israel to release and gather the sparks of holiness which
are trapped in the desert's emptiness.
Each of these stopping places corresponds to a letter of Hashem's Name, and
so by gathering the sparks from each place, a little more of Hashem's Name
-- His recognition in the world -- is revealed.
Three thousand years later, the Jewish People are still journeying. A
hundred years here, two hundred there. On their journeys through Spain,
England, China and America, etc., the Jewish People `extract' and redeem
the sparks of holiness which are trapped throughout the world.
When this process is complete, the Mashiach, the anointed one, will gather
all the Jewish People to the land of Israel and all the songs of holiness
will be heard once again.
Then it will be that Hashem will be revealed as the One True G-d. His Name
will then be complete. "On that day, Hashem will be One, and His Name,
One".
Static and Dynamic
"Moshe spoke to the heads of the tribes of the Children of Israel..."
(30:2)
Matos and Masei are two parshios joined together, but their names are
opposites.
The word "mateh" (of which the plural is "matos") means a staff. A staff
is something inert, cut off from the tree from which it sprouted. It has
ceased to have the power of furthering itself, of bringing forth new life.
It will always remain what it is now. Static and unchanging.
Masei (from the verb `to journey') is the opposite. It is the essence of
dynamism, of development and growth. For the journey is the paradigm
of furtherance.
Really, this juxtaposition of Matos and Masei is symbolic of the Torah
itself. The Torah has the power to take the lifeless and change it into
life. To take Aaron's inert staff and cause it to flower and bloom. To
change it into a serpent.
A simple, inert staff becomes the instrument of the great signs and wonders
wrought in Egypt, for splitting the sea asunder. A simple, inert staff
becomes the symbol of the beginning of life itself for the Jewish People.
The ultimate reversal of the lifeless staff -- the mateh -- brings
furtherance and an eternal future -- the masei -- to the journeys of the
Children of Israel throughout history.
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Haftorah: Yirmiyahu 2:4-28 & 3:4
MUDDY WATERS
"For My people have perpetrated two evils: Me have they forsaken, the
source of living waters; to dig themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that
cannot hold water." (2:13)
In this, the second Haftorah of the "three (Haftorahs) of affliction," the
prophet speaks out, not only against Israel's disloyalty to Hashem who
saved them from slavery, but also against the disloyalty to the Torah which
had been exchanged for the empty vanities of foreign culture. Our Sages
teach us that Hashem lamented: "If they had forsaken only Me, but had kept
the Torah, its spiritual light would have influenced them to return to the
path of righteousness." However the Jewish People, seduced by the
superficial glitter of the foreign ideologies, abandon the Torah, their
only lifeline, and imbibe the brackish water of false ideas which
constantly change and contradict themselves. From this, only tragedy and
exile can ensue.
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Sources:
o The Song Remains The Same - The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh; The Malbim;
Rav Shmuel M'Ostropole; Rabbi Mordechai Perlman; Rabbi Dovid Gottleib
o Static and Dynamic - Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin
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Date: Mon, 28 Jul 1997 07:40:54 +0300
To: (IL/ROOT & BRANCH ASSOCIATION, LTD.), rb@rb.org.il
From: "Root & Branch Association, Ltd." <rb@rb.org.il>
Subject: R&B News Service - "SHABBAT SHALOM:
Parashat Matot-Maasey 2-3:13)
Weekly Torah Commentary by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
SHABBAT SHALOM: Parashat Matot-Maasey (Numbers 30:2-36:13)
by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
EFRAT, July 28, Root & Branch: Shortly before his death, I had the
privilege of taking a group of students to visit the first Prime
Minister of Israel, David ben Gurion, in his Negev retirement home in
Sde Boker. After providing the group with a fascinating description of
the life of the early pioneers, he asked to spend a few moments with
me alone.
"Our generation has had two surprises," he said. "We thought that the
Jewish religion was passe', that it could never be transplanted in the
new Israeli soil. I'll never be religious, but I'm constantly amazed
at the staying-power, and even growing influence, of the religion.
Secondly, we were certain that if we could only build the foundations
of the Jewish State, world Jewry would come flocking, leaving every
corner of their diaspora. But we were tragically wrong," he
concluded, wistfully and sadly.
But why have Jews not come? Fascinatingly enough, when we read of the
two and one-half tribes who elected to remain in Trans-Jordan more
than 4,050 years ago, we realize how diaspora or galut mentalities
have not changed from then to now.
Toward the end of our portion [Ch. 32], the tribes are making their
trek across the desert. Soon the day will arrive when they will begin
to battle in order to take possession of the Promised Land. The
purpose of the exodus from Egypt is to be realized, Jewish destiny is
almost to begin to be achieved.
And then, out of the blue, two tribes begin to have their doubts.
"Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great
multitude of cattle; and when they saw the land of Jazer... they saw
that place was a place for cattle." [Num. 32:2] We read how they
suggest to Moses that they stay behind. "If we have found favor in
your sight, let this land be given unto your servants for a
possession; bring us not over the Jordan." [32:5]
Moses' reaction is profound shock. "Shall your brothers go to war and
you shall sit here?" [32:6] How can a significant group of Israelites
desire to remain behind, elect not to share in the challenges, risks
of and opportunities of our own Jewish State? For the next nine
verses Moses explains the psychological consequences of what would
happen to the rest of the nation if this group were to remain on their
ranches and haciendas outside of mainland Israel, shutting their eyes
to the fate of their brothers.
And to make sure that the message penetrates, he recapitulates the
tragic events of the scouts bringing back an evil report refusing to
conquer the land, and how angry G-d became, promising to destroy the
nation: "Behold you have (now) established in your fathers' stead the
culture of the sinners." [32:14]
Hearing Moses' reaction, they immediately defend themselves,
explaining that yes, they do want to "...build sheepfolds here for our
cattle and cities for our little children." [32:16] But of course
that doesn't mean they won't join the nations's struggle: "...We will
not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have
inherited every person his inheritance." [32:18]
Theoretically, this should be the end of the sequence. Reuven and Gad
had a need, they presented it. It caused a negative reaction on the
part of Moses, and the two tribes addressed that problem directly,
almost heroically.
Yet the dialogue continues. In his response to their commitment to
bear arms and fight, we find Moses exhorting them "to be innocent
before G-d and Israel [32:22]" and reiterating the importance of
"every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord,
until He has driven out His enemies from before Him" [ibid:21].
But Moses' purpose is not merely to strengthen their resolve. He
shifts the focus of their priorities, at the same time highlighting
what it was that influenced them to want to stay behind initially.
They spoke of 'sheepfolds for our cattle and cities for our little
ones'; first stressing their cattle, their material possessions, and
only secondarily speaking of their children. Moses turns that around:
"Build your cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep."
[32:24]
As Rashi explains, "They paid more regard to their property than to
their sons and daughters, because they mentioned their cattle before
them (the children). Moses said to them, 'Not so! make the chief
thing - the chief thing and what is subordinate - subordinate. First
build cities for your little ones and afterwards folds for your
flocks.'" [Rashi Num. 32:16]
The response of the tribes to Moses indicates that they have absorbed
his message: "Your servants will do as my lord commands. Our little
ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the
cities of Gilead..." [32:26-27]
But it is indubitably clear what impels certain Jews to remain outside
of Israel: those for whom material well-being comes before Jewish
continuity are loathe to give up the green pastures of the other side
of the Jordan River. Remember that the patriarch Jacob garners the
strength to leave the fleshpots of his Father-in-law Laban and return
to his ancestral home in Israel only after the birth of his beloved
son Joseph - because his concern that Joseph not be assimilated into
Laban's foreign culture out-weighed his desire for material
acquisitions [Genesis 30:25].
The second reason which keeps Jews out of Israel is perhaps hinted at
by the third tribe - or half-tribe - which joins Gad and Reuben in
Trans-Jordan: "Moses gave to them, to the children of Gad and to the
children of Reuven, and to the half-tribe of Menashe the son of
Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of
Og king of Bashan..." [32:33]
Why has Menashe now come into the picture? Please take note of the
fact that when Moses includes Menashe, he makes sure to say, "Menashe
son of Joseph," resonating the origin of the names of Joseph's sons:
"And Joseph called the name of the first born Menashe 'for G-d had
made me forget (nashani) all my toil, and all my father's house."
[Gen.41:51]
Apparently Menashe is born to a father who identifies his early years
- Israel with toil and suffering. By the time he gets to name his
second son, he calls him Ephraim, "...for G-d has made me fruitful in
the land of my affliction." [Gen. 41:51-52], referring to Egypt as a
land of affliction!
When Menashe is born, Joseph wants to forget his father's house.
Egypt is the new land which has made it possible for him to forget his
earlier pain in the land of his fathers. And so Menashe, by virtue of
his name, lives under the shadow of a perpetual memory of his father's
having suffered in the land of Israel. Hence his descendants, or at
least a part of them, opt to remain behind in Trans-Jordan because
they do not wish to suffer the travails of hardship and even war which
they have come to identify with their ancestral homeland.
The desert generation was frightened of the responsibility and
challenge of leaving a G-d-protected desert cocoon for the hardships
of the new land. But even after it became clear to the nation that the
future destiny of Israel was dependent upon a Jewish State directing
its own destiny, offering a haven to a persecuted people and paving
the way to redemption, there were still a resistant two-and-one-half
tribes who were kept away from main-land Israel by materialistic
blandishments and superficial physical safety which they perceived to
represent Trans-Jordan or 'galut'.
Tragically they did not place enough importance upon Jewish continuity
and spiritual security; after all, Israel is the only Jewish Community
today which is not suffering from precipitous decline in numbers due
to low birth-rate and high inter-marriage rate but is rather
experiencing enormous growth - from 600,000 Jews in 1948 to 4.3
million Jews today, with the most vibrant cultural institutions and
yeshivot in the world. How little we really learn from the Bible,
wherein "the actions of our ancestors fore-shadow the experience of
their descendants."
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
Efrat, Israel
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