Sefer Bamidbar

Parshat Matot–Masei: On Inviting Others In

This week, we bring to a close the Book of Numbers with the double parshah of Matot-Masei. 1 

In Parshat Matot, which means “tribes,” the Jews are approaching the Land of Israel, and the leaders of the tribes of Reuven and Gad (and of half of the tribe of Manasseh) 2 say that they don’t want to cross over into the land. They want to stay on the east side of the Jordan because the land in Jazer and Gilead is better for the vast amounts of cattle they own. 

This enrages Moshe because it reminds him of the sin of the spies 39 years earlier, who responded with fear after scoping out the land, which in turn caused Israel to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Moses says: 

Are your brothers to go to war while you stay here? Why will you turn the minds of the Israelites from crossing into the land that the Lord has given them? … If you turn away from God, Who then abandons them once more in the wilderness, you will bring calamity upon all this people. 3

They then quickly come to a compromise: Moshe concedes that, if the tribes of Reuven, Gad, and Manasseh go in and help to fight to conquer the land, they can later go back to live east of the Jordan. 

The issue at play here is the conflict between the interests of the individual and the interests of the community, or, in this case, the interests of the individual tribe versus those of the entire nation. It would benefit these cattle owners financially to own the superior farmland, but the nation needed them as military support. Moshe’s task, then, was to reorient their focus from the self to the collective—with regard to supporting the nation in war, but also in smaller ways. 

In chapter 32, verse 16, the tribal leaders tell Moshe, “We will build here pens for our flocks and towns for our children,” with the order of these tasks (flocks before children) putting the financial ahead the familial. Moses, however, eight verses later, flips their priorities, telling them, “Build towns for your children and pens for your flocks.” Here, Moshe teaches them the mindset necessary for Israel to be a functioning society. 4 

We can also view this conflict as an important leadership moment. Moshe is shocked by the tribes’ desire to stay back. After all his people had been through, and after all Moshe had done to reunify his people and rekindle in them a desire to enter the land, it would have been reasonable for Moses to simply cut these tribes off. But instead, he decides to give them their preferred land. 

This is the example that God Godself sets, as it says in the Book of Hosea, “I drew them [in] with human cords, with leading strings of love.” 5 Yes, we can try to reach our goals through division and stubbornness, but drawing people over to the side of goodness via love and inclusion is ultimately the only winning strategy. 

To be sure, there is the concern that if the leadership makes one concession, the people will ask for many more. However, if they are being lovingly drawn into the larger mission of the community, their desires will hopefully begin to align more closely with the group’s. 

Another thing we can learn from this parshah is that while different people and factions have different missions and want different things, we could, in the spirit of Moses, allow people to play different roles while simultaneously helping them to see the bigger picture. We need not necessarily view such differences as a negative, although at first glance it may seem so, as not everyone is on board with working toward the communal vision of success. In other words, what seems like a negative can actually be converted into a positive.

The same goes for the relationship between Jews in Israel and Jews in the diaspora. While the specific endeavors of our lives may differ, we are all a part of the same people, and we all share an interest in the thriving of the Jewish project. 

This also applies to pluralism within the local communities in our own lives. The people around us will have a wide range of visions for how to best spend their time and effort. The priorities of a lawyer, a schoolteacher, a stay-at-home parent, a restaurant worker, and a clergyperson might all look very different. Even within the Jewish world, we encounter people with drastically different conceptions of how to best serve the Jewish people and Jewish community.  

But often, rather than dismissing those who think differently, we should, like Moshe, be finding ways to bring them into a shared plan for progress. And when we ourselves are brought into greater group, we must remember our responsibility to contribute toward the team’s endeavors.  

I remember that as a young progressive modern orthodox Jew I felt that I didn’t belong. When I was accepted into rabbinical school, it was affirming when I was accepted with an embrace for both my commitment to traditional Judaism along with my commitment to ensuring the Torah can come alive in being morally robust and responsive to the most pressing moments in society. I’ve also personally tried to contribute uniquely from within those commitments to tradition and progress. 

So too, in the inner life, we can make an effort to bring our uncooperative urges, such as sadness and despair, along for the ride, thus turning them into healthier and more beneficial feelings. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov taught by way of the following allegory: 

Sometimes, when people are happy and dance, they grab someone standing outside [the circle] who is depressed and gloomy. Against his will they bring him into the circle of dancers; against his will, they force him to be happy along with them.

It is the same with happiness. When a person is happy, gloom and suffering stand aside.

Yet greater…is to gather courage to actually pursue gloom, and to introduce it into the joy, such that the gloom itself turns into joy… It is like a person who comes [in]to a celebration. The abundant joy and happiness… transform all his worries, depression and gloom into joy. 6

As we continue our journey of Torah study and social action, may we strive to find ways to always bring along those who would otherwise be left out. 

Sources

  1.  The Torah contains 54 parashot, which are read on Shabbat over the course of the Jewish calendrical year, culminating on the holiday of Simchat Torah. As there are more parashot than Shabbatot, parashot are occasionally doubled in order to complete the annual cycle on time.
  2.  The tribe of Menashe (Manasseh) was divided in mind in this regard: half of the tribe wished to remain in place, whereas the other half wished to enter Eretz Yisrael. Each faction eventually had their wish granted, as did the tribes of Reuven and Gad, when the land was subdivided by tribes.
  3.  Numbers 32:6-7, 32:15
  4.  Rashi on Numbers 32:16:1
  5.  Hosea 11:4
  6.  Likutei Moharan, Part II 23:2-4