Shalom Friends;<\/p>\n
Our Doubleheader Parshat HaShevua, Matos-Masei is being sponsored by Yosef Moshe and Chana Rosenberg of Ramat Beit Shemesh dedicated in honor of Yosef Moshe’s Bar Mitzvah Parshiyot Matos-Masei and for the health and well-being of their children and family. To the Rosenberg family, many thanks for your sponsorship and your continued kindnesses.<\/p>\n
You can celebrate a Simcha \u2014 a birth, a Bar\/Bat Mitzvah, a Chassuna or other Simcha event in your life, or commemorate a Yahrtzeit of a loved one, or for whatever other reason by sponsoring a Parshat HaShevua.<\/p>\n
Please forward to your relatives and friends and encourage them to sponsor a Parshat HaShevua. And please be in contact with me with any questions, or for further details.<\/p>\n
Best Regards,<\/p>\n
Moshe Burt
\nolehchadash@yahoo.com
\nskype: mark.burt3
\n******************************************************<\/p>\n
There are three excerpts from Rabbi Shmuel Goldin’s Summary of Parshat Pinchas and Parshiyot Matos\/Masei, in his sefer “Unlocking The Torah Text,” Sefer Bamidbar (pages 253, 275-276) which speak impactfully regarding the contrast indicated by the title of this vort:<\/p>\n
Representatives of the tribes of Reuven and Gad approach Moshe with the request that they be allowed to remain on the East Bank of the Jordan River. Moshe responds indignantly, expressing deep-seeded fears that the refusal of these tribes to enter Canaan will prompt the entire nation to question their own entry into the land. Such an eventuality, he warns, might well lead to a national tragedy similar to the sin of the spies, a generation earlier.<\/p>\n
The representatives of Reuven and Gad counter with an offer to fight in the vanguard of the army of B\u2019nei Yisrael, returning to their homes and families only after the conquest of the land. Moshe agrees, and the territory on the East Bank of the Jordan is set aside for tribes of Reuven, Gad and one-half of the tribe [Shevet] Menashe.<\/p>\n
From Parshat Pinchas:<\/p>\n
The four daughters of Tzelaphchad approach Moshe protesting the fact that, because their father “died of his own sin in the wilderness” without leaving sons, their family would not receive its rightful land portion. When Moshe seeks Divine Council, Hashem informs him that the daughters of Tzelaphchad are justified in their claims. In the absence of sons, daughters will inherit their family’s land.<\/p>\n
In the Parshat Masei segment of the double Parsha:<\/p>\n
…Hashem, responding to the concerns of the elders of the tribe of Menashe (the tribe to which the daughters of Tzelaphchad belong; mandates that a woman who inherits land from her father must marry within her tribe. (Rabbi Goldin notes in a citing from Talmud Bavli Bava Batra 120a; that the Talmud explains that this limitation applied only to the generation that entered the land<\/p>\n
But it was not just concern that Shevatim Gad and Reuven might sit-out the fight for Eretz Yisrael which troubled Moshe. Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, in his sefer \u201cUnlocking The Torah Text,\u201d Sefer Bamidbar (pages 315, 317-318) discusses what could be viewed as Shevatim Gad\u2019s and Reuven\u2019s missed opportunity to settle in the land with their brethren, opting for settling their families on the East side of the Yarden. R\u2019 Goldin sees Shevatim Gad\u2019s and Reuven\u2019s desires as foretelling patterns in our times:<\/p>\n
Absent Hashem, the settling of Canaan was readily rejected by the tribes of Reuven and Gad. Absent Hashem, the State of Israel runs the tragic risk of becoming a state like any other, potentially rejected when memory fades and the going gets tough.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Regarding Moshe Rabbeinu\u2019s response to the pledge of Sh\u2019vatim Gad and Reuven to fight in the upcoming war; \u201cthen you shall be vindicated from Hashem and from Israel,\u201d The Artscroll Stone Chumash cites Yoma (38a) on Perek 32, posuk 22 (as rendered in this paragraph):<\/p>\n
It is not enough for one to know that one\u2019s actions are proper in Hashem\u2019s eyes. One must also act in such a way as to not engender suspicion on the part of human beings. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Rabbi Goldin goes further (ibid, pages 306, 309):<\/p>\n
\u2026In Moshe\u2019s response to the two tribes\u2026 [he] reviews the tribes\u2019 proposal to participate in the conquest of the land, \u2026insert[ing] the phrase \u201cbefore the Lord\u201d no fewer than five times in four short sentences. Why does Moshe find such reiteration necessary? Wouldn\u2019t one mention of Hashem\u2019s involvement suffice?<\/p>\n
The answer becomes clear upon viewing Moshe\u2019s words\u2026 Moshe repeatedly stresses Hashem\u2019s involvement in the conquest of the land because the representatives of the [two] tribes, in their original proposal to Moshe, do not mention Hashem even once.<\/p>\n
The tribes of Reuven and Gad define their responsibility at this juncture solely in interpersonal terms [and] in order to counter Moshe\u2019s objections to their remaining on the Jordan\u2019s East Bank [while] find[ing] a way to satisfy their obligation to the rest of the nation.<\/p>\n
Moshe, however, sees things differently\u2026 [that] the nation\u2019s entry into Canaan is not solely a nationalistic enterprise but is, even more fundamentally, a fulfillment of Hashem\u2019s will. The two tribes\u2019 primary obligation, therefore, lies not toward their brothers, but, rather, towards Hashem.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Rabbi Goldin continues (ibid, page 315):<\/p>\n
The absence of Hashem from [Shevatim] Reuven\u2019s and Gad\u2019s calculations concerning the conquest of Canaan\u2026 foreshadows challenging patterns in our own time.<\/p>\n
Increasingly disillusioned by the shortcomings they see around them and influenced by the development of post-Zionist ideology, many\u2026 young Israelis have\u2026 begun to question the need for constant struggle and deep sacrifice that is required from those living in today\u2019s homeland of the Jews.<\/p>\n
This narrative, for example, challenges Jews living in the diaspora at a time when the Promised Land, after thousands of years of wandering, is fully \u201cin our sight.\u201d Will [they], like the tribes of Reuven and Gad, remain on the periphery of experience in Judaism as the focus of history shifts back to the Land of Israel? Will [they] and [their] children forfeit the opportunity to live in the land of our ancestors, an opportunity for which our people have prayed for centuries?<\/p>\n
At it\u2019s deepest level, the failure of the tribes of Reuven and Gad on the very border of the Promised Land serves as a cautionary tale, reminding us of the tragic results when we lose sight of the opportunities before us, inherent in every aspect of our lives as Jews.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Regarding the daughters of Tzelaphchad, This author recalls a paradigm of the ideal; of B’nei Yisrael clinging to Eretz Yisrael as our inheritance and possessing it, the story of the daughters of Tzelaphchad. Torah relates the story of the daughters of Tzelaphchad (The Sapirstein Edition, “The Torah with Rashi Commentary, Sefer Bamidbar, Note 3 to Perek 27, posuk 1, page 340):<\/p>\n
…It teaches… that the daughters of Tzlafchad and all of their ancestors back to Yosef were righteous. This includes Tzelaphchad himself, even though “he died for his sin”… (Sefer Bamidbar, Perek 27, posuk 3) (see Be’er Mayim Chaim, Be’er BaSadeh)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Several years ago, at this time, that kiruv legend, Jeff Seidel related the story regarding Parsha Pinchas:<\/p>\n
Parshat Pinchas relates a story (Sefer Bamidbar 27:1-12) about the daughters of Tzlafchad, descendants of Yosef (Joseph). These daughters wanted and loved the Land of Israel so much that they wanted a piece of it. As Rav Moshe Feinstein asks, why do they have to have a claim in the land, just because they love it? Wouldn\u2019t entering or living in the land be fulfilling enough?<\/p>\n
R’ Moshe thus concludes that if a person truly loves something, they\u2019d want it to be theirs, and no one else\u2019s. This could explain why the daughters wanted to actually own a piece of the land, rather than simply living in it. This logic applies to marriages, as well as the Torah\u2019s preference that every Jew writes their own Torah (or a portion of it). In our terms, it\u2019s not enough to borrow and read Jewish books. We need to love the Torah we read SO much that we feel the need to own it! …We should not only seek, read and enjoy words of Torah, but we should OWN those books, and live those words!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
As this author understand\u2019s R\u2019Moshe, and as the title of this Parshat HaShevua implies; we are able to see the contrast between the nonchalance of the tribes of Reuven and Gad and the passionate love of the daughters of Tzelaphchad for the land, even before entering Eretz Yisrael = jealously possessing it as our own.<\/p>\n
If one could express possessing Eretz Yisrael as our own in human terms: if our land were a human being, one could embrace, hung, cling, possess and squeeze hard never letting go. We understand the Land as the physical, tangible manifestation of Hashem\u2019s being and will. So, based on Rav Moshe\u2019s axiom, a Jew possessing his Land, as if embracing it, seems the physical manifestation on earth of the spirituality of Torah, tefillah, chesed and cleaving to Hashem. And therefore, to one who passionately loves the Land, every inch of it is important \u2014 he is jealous for every inch of it and is willing to fight for all of it, not just that one piece of the Land where he and his live. <\/p>\n
There is a message here for Jews of the Diaspora, or as we say, Chutz L’Aretz. There seems NO LONGER<\/strong> to be a sense of narrow personal comfort and sense of \u201cthe normal life\u201d of the nations. Hey, there is NO “normal life” for the Jew in Chutz L’Aretz. Read the news from around the world. Read of the mobs, the looting, the burning, the violence, often with either the acquiesence and overt support of local municipalities, while many are chasing their debts, feeling the pinch of corona-related unemployment and suffering under seemingly contradictory corona politicized local regulations. <\/p>\n
It’s time for the spirit of the daughters of Tzelaphchad, that even the daughters want their piece of Eretz Yisrael. It’s Aliyah time. It’s time to commit to and possess what is ours, for the only normative life for Jews, even during the Chinese corona virus, is here in Eretz Yisrael.<\/p>\n
May we, the B\u2019nei Yisrael be zocha that our brethren \u2014 the refugee families from Gush Katif be permanently settled and be made totally whole \u2014 be totally restituted for all that was stolen from them and that the thrice expelled families of Amona be restored to their rebuilt homes, at government expense; both due to alt-leftist-agendized, supreme court legalized Yassamnik gunpoint. May our dear brother Jonathan Pollard be liberated and truly free, as Naama Issachar is now free and home \u2014 which can only occur when Jonathan is home in Israel and carrying for his ill wife Esther Yocheved bat Rayzl Bracha, and that the MIAs be liberated alive and returned to us in ways befitting Al Kiddush Hashem \u2014 as with the return in April, 2019, via Russia, of the remains of Zachariah Baumel,<\/a> as should the remains of the two chayalim from the Gaza War of five and a half years ago. May we have the courage and strength to stand up and physically prevent the possibility of Chas V\u2019Challila any future eviction of Jews from their homes and prevent Chas V\u2019Challila the handing of Jewish land over to anyone, let alone to enemies sworn to Israel\u2019s and Judaism\u2019s destruction and eradication. May we fulfill Hashem\u2019s blueprint of B\u2019nai Yisrael as a Unique people \u2014 an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with \u201cthe nations\u201d and may we be zocha to see the Moshiach, the Ge\u2019ula Shlaima, as Dov Shurin sings; \u201cKi Karov Yom Hashem Al\u2019Kol HaGoyim\u201d, the Ultimate Redemption, bimhayrah b\u2019yamainu \u2014 speedily, in our time\u201d, \u2014 Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!<\/p>\n