This week we read the second to last double parsha (weekly Torah portion) of the year. It is called Matot-Mas’ay. Matot, the name of the first parsha means staffs or tribes. Mas’ay means travels as that parsha begins with the words, “These are the travels…” Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though; let’s start with the first parsha, and not the second.
The first parsha begins with Moshe (Moses) speaking to the heads of the tribes, to the children of Yisrael. This time he is telling them that if a man makes an oath, he must fulfill it. If a girl living in her father’s house makes an oath, her father can nullify it. Likewise the husband of a married woman can nullify his wife’s oath.
After this business of oaths, haShem (god) tells Moshe to exact vengeance against the Midianites (remember them from the last couple of parshas?) and then Moshe will be gathered to his people. Moshe then tells each tribe to provide 1000 men for the army that will attack the Midianites. We read of their victory over the Midianites and the spoils of war that the army brings back.
We see an example of a few laws in action: the men, because they have touched dead bodies, cannot come into camp for 7 days and have been sprinkled with the ashes of the red heifer. We also learn how they purified the metallic vessels they brought back with them and how the booty was divided between god, the army, and the rest of the nation. After the booty is divided up, we read how the officers of the army gave gold as a thanksgiving offering to god because not a single man was lost.
At this point, the tribes of Reuvan and Gad looked around and decided that they liked the land the people were camped on. They mentioned this to Moshe who said they could keep this land as their inheritance provided the men helped the rest of the nation conquer the promised land, which they agreed to. Moshe says they, along with a portion of the tribe of Menashah, can have this land. This first parsha ends with a description of the cities each of these tribes built.
Our second parsha begins in a completely unrelated way: it begins by reviewing all the places the tribes travelled to from the time they left Egypt until their present encampment on the plains of Moab near the Yardayn (Jordan) river of Yraycho (Jericho). Along the way, we learn that Aharon died on the first day of the fifth month (which happens to be this coming Monday). I mention this only because of all the people that die in the bible, only the day of Aharon’s death is told to us. The bible doesn’t tell us the day when Abraham or Sarah or Moshe or Miriam or anyone else died – only Aharon.
Once we are caught up on how we got to where we are, we are told what to do when we go into the land: how to conquer it and how to divide it up amongst ourselves. The Torah then describes the borders of the land god promised to give to the children of Yisrael. We had been told that the land will be divided by lots. Now haShem tells Moshe who is going to be drawing the lots for each tribe.
HaShem then tells Moshe to tell the children of Yisrael that they must give the tribe of Levi 48 cities with land around each city. Six of these cities are to be cities of shelter for a killer to flee to and be safe from the blood avenger. The Torah then goes into some detail defining the differences between a murderer and a person who kills unintentionally. A murderer, the Torah tells us, will be put to death. An unintentional killer can live in a city of shelter without fear of the blood avenger. If he leaves the city of shelter and the blood avenger finds him, the blood avenger must kill him and has no liability or punishment. The only way an unintentional killer can leave a city of shelter safely is after the cohen gadol (high priest) dies. When that happens, all unintentional killers are safe from blood avengers.
Right on the heals of all this talk about murderers and killers is a warning not to spill blood on the land for the land will only be atoned for such an act by the spilling of the spiller’s blood. We are then warned not to make the land tamae (mixed) because god resides in the land, because god is haShem who resides within the children of Yisrael.
The Torah now gives us another change of direction. The tribe of Menashah comes forward concerned that the five sisters we mentioned in the previous week’s parsha (they get to inherit their father’s land for they have no brother) will get married and take with them their inherited land – land that belongs to the tribe of Menashah. This land will now belong to the tribe the women marry into. Moshe, after checking with haShem, agree with the tribe and ruled that the sisters, and any future daughters in the same situation must marry within their tribe in order to keep their land within their tribe. The sisters: Machlah, Teertzah, Chaglah, Meelkah, and Noah do exactly that: they marry their first cousins. And this is how the parsha, and the book of B’meedbar/Numbers ends.
What is this double parsha trying to tell us? I believe that it is trying to tell each one of us something different, and it can do that because it is the words of haShem and since haShem is infinite, her words must be infinite too. Therefore, what I see this year in the parsha and what you see in the parsha this year are all valid and true. Not only that, but what I saw last year and the year before is different from what I see this year, and the same can be said for you if you read it. Furthermore, when we read it again next year, I am sure that each one of us will see something new. I say this from experience.
After reading the parshas for several years, I am no longer amazed that each week I see something in the parsha I have never seen before. Our current parsha is no exception.
The first new thing I noticed had to do with oaths. In the past, when I have read this section, it always seemed sexist. It always seemed to be saying that if a man makes an oath, it is binding. If a woman makes an oath, however, a man, either her father or her husband can annul her oath. This year, I see it differently. It doesn’t say that a man can nullify her oath, because the woman can still do what she swore to do. Rather, it is saying that a man, her father if she has not married, or her husband if she is, can take on the liability of the oath.
Let me try to explain. When a person swears to do something, implicit in the oath is the idea that there will be a negative consequence if the oath is not fulfilled. For example, before a person testifies in an American court, the person swears to tell the truth. If they break their oath, they will either have to pay a fine or spend time in jail. Of course, if the person tells the truth, nothing bad happens to them.
Now, let us apply the laws of an oath that are in our parsha to this example. If the one testifying is a man, we see no difference. If the one testifying is a woman and she fulfills the oath by telling the truth, again we see no difference. But let’s say she lies. Who goes to jail or pays the fine? That will depend on if her father or husband heard her make the oath and said something or not. If he stays silent, she will have to pay or do time. If he says the oath is not binding on her, and she lies, then he will be the one to pay (via money or jail time). The oath still stands – who is liable if the oath is broken changes.
Some hard-core feminists out there might still say it is sexist because she should always be held responsible for her actions, and I cannot argue with that. If anyone has a response to this argument, I am open to hearing it. Feel free to comment at the end of this blog. I guess I look at it this way: Up to now, I always had a problem with this because it looked like a man could take away a woman’s right to make an oath. Now, I see it as a mechanism for the woman’s benefactor to provide for her if for some reason she cannot fulfill her oath.
I wonder how many other places in the Torah we see something as sexist, when the truth is if we read it a little differently, we would see that we are not fully understanding what the Torah is trying to tell us, and if we did, we would see it isn’t as sexist as we thought.
For those who are clamoring to understand where I came to this understanding, all one has to do is read verse 30:16 of Bmeedbar/Numbers. It reads, “And if he (her father or her husband) will infringe/violate them (the oaths) after his hearing, and he shall lift up her iniquity.” To me, this is saying that if he hears her oaths, he can violate them by taking on the iniquity that should befall her if she violates the oath.
Changing directions just a little bit, I was thinking about the oath that the tribes of Reuvan and Gad made. They swore that their legions would fight with the rest of the nation and not return until the lands west of the Yardayn river were conquered. Now, I have a little bit of hindsight; I have read the book of Joshua. In that book (it begins after the death of Moshe, right where Devarim/Deuteronomy ends), we learn that it took seven years to conquer the land. So, for seven years, the solders of the tribes of Reuvan and Gad fought on the other side of the river from their wives, children, and animals. I think of it as a miracle that their families and livestock, left unguarded for seven years, were not attacked. And I am amazed at the faith those solders had in haShem – the trust that haShem would take care of their unprotected families for the seven years that they were not home. Do you know anybody today who has that kind of faith and trust in god? In anything?
Now both of those ideas come from the first parsha. Lets see what I saw in the second parsha. One of the things I saw is in verse 33:54. The translation I have in front of me reads, “You shall bequeath the land as an inheritance by lot according to your families: for the numerous, increase his inheritance and for the fewer, decrease his inheritance. Wherever the lots fall shall be his; you shall inherit according to your paternal tribes.”
I don’t have any real problem with this translation, except it kind of skips over a word. That word is spelled with the letters aleph and lamed and it can mean, “To.” It also can mean, “Power,” and when used with that meaning can be a name of god. If one chooses to read this word as a name for god, the verse changes to, “You shall bequeath the land as an inheritance by lot according to your families: for the numerous, increase his inheritance and for the fewer, decrease his inheritance. God/power takes out for him there, the lot will be his; you shall inherit according to your paternal tribes.”
The first reading makes it a gamble where each tribe and family will be. If a family or tribe is unhappy with the land they received, they can blame it on the one who chose the lots for them. The second reading shows that there is no gamble; god is in charge of deciding where each tribe and family will live. No reason to be upset with anyone. I suspect this verse is here to teach us that this was not only true in determining where each tribe’s inheritance was, but also to teach us that god/power is still drawing lots for us today. In other words, if something bad, or good, happens to us, we might think it was chance. The truth this verse is trying to tell us is that it isn’t really chance, it is god/power taking out and giving the seemingly random good or bad to us. Now it is up to us to decide what to do with this gift from god.
I have one or two more thoughts, but I think I will save them for another time. The hour is late and I have already provided enough for one blog.
As we move closer to the 9th of the month of Av (the day when both temples were destroyed, along with other terrible calamities that befell the children of Yisrael. It falls on July 16 this year), I bless everybody with the faith of the solders of Reuvan and Gad, and to find beauty and happiness in the lot that god/power has chosen for you.
One last thing, if anyone can explain the title to this, they get major kudos. Leave your comments below. 🙂
If you care to read what I wrote about this parsha last year, click here.
About the Author
Shmuel Shalom Cohen spent 10 years studying Torah in Jerusalem. Six years ago, he started Conscious Torah to help Jews connect to their tradition in ways they didn’t think possible. Shmuel also started, and is the executive directory of Jewish Events Willamette-valley, a non-profit whose mission is to build Jewish community, pride, and learning. In his free time, Shmuel likes walks in nature, playing music, writing poetry, and time with good friends.