This week’s parsha, called מטות, meaning tribes, is a difficult one. Found in Numbers 30:2-32:42, it comes at a time when the Torah isn’t necessarily engrossing, meaning we could easily pass it over and feel we hadn’t missed much. However, the beauty of Torah is that we don’t skip parshiot (Torah portions), just because we don’t find them the most enthralling. Rather, we find something in that portion that speaks to us and go from there. In fact, this idea, that there is always a takeaway, no matter how large or small, is helpful for us in life. When we are faced with a situation, even if we feel it will not end well or there is no purpose, we must attempt to find the good in that scenario.
Our parsha does still have meaningful takeaways. Before we discuss, however, let us get an overview, so at least we know what is being addressed. The parsha starts off talking about vows and obligations. First, we are told that when a man makes a vow or takes an obligation upon himself, he must uphold it. [The word vow, in Hebrew, נדר, neder, is the same word in the name for the service that begins the evening of Yom Kippur, כל נדרי, Kol Nidre. This specific reading is discussing our nullification of vows for the coming year, our forgiveness of lost vows in the past year. We do this, because as Jews, we recognize how important our vows are, and therefore treat them as holy entities. The foundation for these vows comes from this week’s parsha.] The other vows discussed are the ones a woman makes, either in her father’s or husband’s home. As women were either property of their husband or father, this covers almost all circumstances. Once a woman makes a vow, whether in her father’s or husband’s house, she must uphold it. However, her husband or father has the final say. If the man doesn’t say anything about the vow, the woman keeps it; if the man disallows the vow, than the vow is nullified and she is free from sin before God.
Then, the people are commanded by God (via Moses) to fight the Midianites. Moses tells them to take 1000 soldiers from each tribe, and go attack. We don’t hear of the battle, just that every male from among the Midianites is killed. The fighters bring back spoils, the women, and children. Those women who have “known” a Midianite man are to be put to death, as are all of the male children. Everyone and everything else goes to the people, split up so that those who fought get a greater percentage of the spoils.
The last part of the parsha discusses how 2.5 of the 12 tribes don’t want to enter the land of Egypt. They ask Moses if they can stay in Transjordan, and he is appalled. These people have wandered with the Israelites for 40 years and now don’t want part of the land of Israel? Even more so, they aren’t willing to fight for the land that God has promised them. When Moses addresses them with this issue, they clarify and suggest that they just want to take advantage of the good land that they have already seen. These people, of the tribes of Gad and Reuben, and half of Manasseh, have no intention of dismissing the rest of their people. Rather, they want to set up a community and let their cattle stay in Transjordan, at which point they will send soldiers into Israel and help the rest of the Israelites fight off the opposing peoples there in the land. That settled, Moses concedes.
First of all, Moses’s immediate distrust of these 2.5 tribes is jarring. Yes, Moses has spent the past 40 years leading these people through the desert and working tirelessly to get them where they need to go (Israel), but he should also have grown to trust them as well. Yet, as much as these tribes may want to make decisions for themselves, they must have an awareness of the people around them. If that is the case, they would and should be conscientious of those around them and their expectations moving forward.
Due to this, we must look at Moses’ actions more closely. But first, we must understand that Moses is under a lot of pressure. He has been charged with leading the Israelites into the land of Israel, while simultaneously knowing he himself will not gain entrance. Not only that, he must continue to teach his predecessor, Joshua, and guide him for assumption of the role of leader. Why does he mistrust these tribes and their desire to stay in Transjordan? Why is it such a big deal that they might not enter to fight in Israel? Is there something about the twelve tribes presenting a united front?
Moses’ first comment to the Gadites and the Reubenites, in Numbers 32:7 is to ask “why will you turn the minds of the Israelites from crossing into the land that the Eternal has given you?” He doesn’t trust the two groups of people to just stay in Transjordan themselves. Rather, Moses believes that they will take other people or whole tribes with them, meaning he must be very cautious. Because of this, Moses reminds them that this is exactly the same behavior that their fathers exhibited when sent to survey the land in Numbers 13 and 14. They turned their backs on the land and then subsequently turned the minds of the rest of the Israelites.
In addition, Moses sees the motives of the Reubenites and the Gadites as what they truly are: purely economic in nature, says Isaac Arama, writing in the 15th century. He continues on that Moses therefore does not apologize for what might be seen as over-reacting because he didn’t. Fearful for the future of the Jewish people, Moses must consider everyone in his decisions, not just these particular tribes. He is aware that these tribes have a share in the land and must not forsake it. The love of the land and the material possessions associated with it took hold of the Reubenites and the Gadites, making them forget their obligation to the people.
However, they do not forget this obligation. Once reminded that they will “bring calamity upon all the people” if they turn away from God again (Num 32:15), they stepped forward and took responsibility for their actions, making an oath to help the rest of the people going to settle the land of Israel. Of course, the Torah would not be Torah without a few more curveballs. When the people, in the next verse, recognize what Moses is saying, they say they will build pens for their sheep and towns for their children. Midrash (Numbers Rabbah 22:9) suggests that by putting their cattle before their children, they will not find blessing from their wealth. Therefore, we see that these tribes will still suffer from settling in Transjordan, because they put such emphasis on their material goods!
In the end, this oath swearing and Moses’ repetition of the oath (Moses repeats the oath back to the two tribes, changing it slightly to invoke the name of God and adding a conditional statement (see Numbers 32:22-23)), demonstrate to the reader the idea of conditional contracts. Halacha felt this was very important and made sure to include aspects of it in the Shulchan Aruch, posited by Rabbi Meir. This sets up four conditions that must be upheld in order to make the contract valid. These conditions are: 1) it must be stated twice as both a positive and negative, 2) the positive must come first, 3) the condition, the “if,” must come before the consequence, the “what” and 4) the condition must be fulfillable. This being used as the foundational circumstance that brought about conditional statements, we see just how important this situation was. Although it needed to be handled tenderly, it was eventually resolved and brought to light, with both parties satisfied with the conclusion.
In many ways, this is just another example of how Moses serves as leader to the people, channeling God and attempting to do the best he can with the time and circumstances he has. He demonstrates that he must treat everyone and every situation objectively, while also looking at the greater picture of where he is and what needs to happen for the success of the Jewish people. We see that Moses knows how important the land of Israel is and ensures that some selfish behavior does not cause the entire people to lose this birthright. Moses serves as a valiant leader, as a conduit for God, and handles this situation with fairness and equanimity.
May our Shabbat too be filled with a sense of fairness, where we understand the greater circumstances around us, while we simultaneously take time to deal with each individual situation we face. May we be strong and persuasive leaders like Moses, knowing what is right and what is important.
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