Torah Commentary - Matot-Masei
*Commentary courtesy of Menahem Me-Zahav
1st Sidrah-Mattot
The first Sidrah is named for one word in its 1st Passuk: “And Moses spoke to the heads of the Israelite Mattot – Tribes”. The subject that is communicated by Moses to the heads of tribes, deals with vows.
“A man who makes a vow to The Lord, or takes an oath to impose an obligation on himself, shall not break his pledge” (Numbers 30:3).
People are generally discouraged, from assuming unusual obligations upon themselves. When they were faced with the new realities of life, and more than a thousand years later, the Talmud established a procedure, that was named “Hattarat Nedarim” - “Absolution from vows”). It became the “Beth Deen” (The Jewish Religious Court), that was sanctioned, with carrying out the above Absolution, within its jurisdiction namely, among the members of the Community.
The fact that the Jewish Courts were empowered from now on, to absolve people’s vows, received a meaningful support from a great leading Rabbinical Authority – Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman (The Ramban, who is known to us also, as Nachmanides of the 13th Century CE).
Nachmanides asks the following question: ”Moses, in the past 40 years, has established some kind of a practice. He usually conveys God’s laws, directly to the Israeli people. However, when it comes to the present law, that deals with the Observance of Vows, Moses addresses it, to the Heads of Tribes. They are then the ones, who will convey it to their people”. Why the change in practice?
Nachmanides explains, that The Heads of Tribes, do represent the power of the law. According to Nachmanides, and most of the Rabbinical authorities, the Jewish Courts assumed, the sole authority, of deciding, when an Absolution of a vow, is appropriate.
Interestingly, our Yom Kippur opening prayer “Kol-Nidrei” - “All Our Vows” - is a remnant to the Talmud’s established procedure, that the Court is the one authority that is sanctioned to carry out the absolution of our vows.
The Chazan and the two people, holding each a Torah Scroll, and standing on either side of the Chazan, do resemble an Ancient Jewish Court. In addition to the Kol Nidrei prayer, where we acknowledge that we are all standing in front of A Court in order to resolve our vows, there are many times during the High holidays that we mention in our liturgy the fact, that we are all standing in front of God in judgment.
Other subjects in our Sidrah:
(a) War against Midian. It is retribution, for luring the Israelites, to worship their pagan god Ba’al-Peor.
12,000 Israelite soldiers - 1,000 from each tribe, go to war and defeat the Midianites. The spoils of war are divided equally between those who actively served and those who ‘watched the home front’. Both will apportion a certain amount, to the Sanctuary.
(b) The 2 & ½ tribes of Reuben, Gad & ½ of Manasseh, approach Moses, asking to receive their share of land on the east side of the Jordan River, as the land there, is cattle country and they happen to have lots of cattle (Numbers 32:4). Moses is stunned. If he agrees, it may have a disastrous effect on the Israeli unity. “Are your brothers to go to war while you stay here? Why would you turn their minds from crossing into the Promised Land” (Numbers 32:6).
Ultimately, they agree to serve as “Chalutzim” – “Front Line Soldiers” helping with the settlement of the Land west of the Jordan. Only then, will they settle east of the Jordan River. “And the tribes of Gad and Reuben said: …we shall cross (the Jordan River westwards) as “Chalutzim” (front line soldiers *) before God into the land of Canaan, and we shall keep our land holding across Jordan” (Numbers 32:31-32). Moses agrees and he tells Joshua that “You (Joshua) shall then give them the Land of Gilead (Presently, part of the Kingdom of Jordan) for settlement” (Numbers 32:29).
What distinguishes this episode is, that Moses makes the decision, on his own. God is not getting involved
in the process, giving us the impression, that He (God) is completely satisfied with Moses’ handling of this tough, and seemingly also, the last big issue of leadership, in his life.
Some commentators point to the fact that Manasseh is hardly mentioned during the above discussions with Moses. The reason being, that Manasseh’s ½ tribal settlement on the eastern and ½ on the western side of the Jordan River, form a “perfect” contiguous piece of land, separated only by the Jordan River. It makes their territory seem to be a real part, of the Promised Land. This, does not apply to Gad & Reuben’s settlements, as they were fully established, east of the Jordan River, beyond the original border of the Land of Israel.
(*) The above-mentioned word “Chalutzim”, was chosen by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, The Father of Modern Hebrew, to describe the first “Olim”, in the early 20th Century, who settled the desolate land, that was later to become the State of Israel.
2nd Sidrah-Massei
The 2nd Sidrah is named after one word “Eile Massei – These are the voyages - of the Israelites” (Numbers 33:1). We are given at the outset, a detailed listing of all the stations that the Israelites camped at, in the past 40 years. It starts with leaving Egypt. “And the Israelites left Rameses (Egypt) and they camped at Succoth” (Numbers 33:5). It continues in chronological order for a whole chapter ending when they reach their current location near Jericho. “And they set camp at the ‘Plains of Moab’ on the banks of The Jordan River, at Jericho” (Numbers 33:48).
It is customary to chant the above list, of places where the Israelites camped, during the 40 years in the desert, using a special joyous Trop.
Per Midrash: “What distinguishes this seemingly casual and somewhat mundane chapter that lists, nothing more than the Israelites’ camping locations? There is a King who takes his beloved and ailing son to a distant place to be cured. On their return home, the King lovingly recounts, one by one, each place where they have stopped on their joint venture, that led to the son’s recovery. The Israelites guided by God to the Promised Land, are likened therefore to the ailing son, who recuperates and renews his relations with the King - his Father”.
Other subjects in our Sidrah are as follows:
(a) The reaffirmation of God’s oath, to deliver the Promised Land to his people. All idols in the land must be eliminated. The land must be divided properly among all the Israelites. “And you shall settle the land, and dwell there. For I (God) have given you the land to own it. And you shall settle the land by a draw, to the tribe with more people, you shall allocate more land, and to the one with fewer people you shall give less”. (Numbers 33:53-54).
(b) List of the boundaries of the Promised Land. God (directly) appoints 12 leaders, one per tribe, to oversee the just distribution of the Land. We do know today, that only for a relatively, short period of time (of around 75 years), during the reign of Kings David and Solomon, have these boundaries been, fully preserved.
(c) The Levites will receive 48 cities to live in. The cities will be spread throughout the land. It will facilitate the proper support of the Levites, by their Israelite brethren. It will also simplify the Levites’ role as teachers / educators, and mediators to their neighboring Israelites (when needed). Six of the Levites’ cities will be designated as “Arei Miklat” – “Cities of Refuge”, serving as temporary shelters, to unintentional accidental killers.
Note: The 6 Arei Miklat – Cities of Refuge - mentioned above, were chosen in such a way that they “Covered” the Land almost
equally. Each side of the Jordan River was assigned 3 cities. Each city on the west side of the Jordan River had a ‘sister’
city on the east side. This created 3 ‘pairs’ of cities. One pair of 2 cities was in the north, a second pair in the center and
a third in the south.
The followings are the names of the 6 Arei Miklat – Cities of Refuge. West of the Jordan River East of the Jordan River
Kedesh Golan
Shechem Ramot
Hebron Betzer
(d) The Quest of the 5 daughters of Zelophehad, aimed at receiving their father’s inheritance (and that was mentioned in last week’s Torah reading), is fulfilled. The land that each one of them personally inherits, will remain within their tribe (Manasseh). It becomes the law of the land.
At the conclusion today, of the 4th book of the Torah - The Book of Numbers - Be’Midbar, we find the Israelites camped on the eastern bank of the Jordan River, getting ready to cross the river, at a point not far from the city of Jericho. They are fully ready, to start with the settlement of their Promised Land. It is now time for Moses to deliver his farewell message to his Israeli brethren. The next (And last) book of the Torah, Deuteronomy – Devarim, is dedicated to this purpose.
It is customary to stand up while we chant the following Hebrew words at the end of the fourth book of the Torah – The book of Numbers - Be’Midbar.
“CHAZAK CHAZAK VE-NITCHAZEK”
( “Be Strong, Be Strong and Let Us Strengthen each other”)
Haftarah: Jeremiah 2:4-28, 3:4 & 4:1-2, Page 973
Today’s Haftara is the 2nd of 3 Haftararot, assigned to 3 consecutive Shabbat readings. Admonition, is the main theme in all 3 Haftarot. The 3rd Haftarah, on next Shabbat (7/22) which is named Shabbat Chazon, (Since the Haftarah starts with “Chazon Yeshayahu”) will precede the Fast of Tisha Be’Av (7/27).
The Prophet Jeremiah was born circa 650 BCE to a Family of Kohanim in the Village of Anatoth, in the tribal section of Benjamin (part of the Judean Kingdom). He began his prophecy circa 625 BCE. Jeremiah witnessed the fall of the mighty Assyrian empire to the Babylonians (605 BCE), the death of the righteous Judean King Josiah (609 BCE), the Judean rebellion (to which he vehemently objected) against Babylonia and finally, the fall of the Kingdom and the destruction of the Temple (586 BCE). He was then taken by Jewish refugees to Egypt, where he died a short time later.
In today’s Haftarah Jeremiah criticizes his fellow Israelites’ ungratefulness. God “Took them out of Egypt …led them through the wilderness… and brought them to the Land of the Carmel (Israel) to eat its fruit and enjoy its bounty” (Jeremiah 2:6-7). And now, instead of complete belief in God, there is widespread faithlessness, ingratitude and a total abandonment of the Jewish religion. Instead of worshipping God, the people “tell the wood you are my father, and to the stone you gave birth to me” (Jeremiah 2:27).
Jeremiah urges the Israelites to return to God’s teachings and renew their covenant with Him. A forgiving God will then also save them. “If you return O Israel, declares The Lord. And you swear with justice, and righteousness, Nations of the world shall bless themselves by you” (Jeremiah 4:1-2).
Places in Israel that are mentioned in today’s two Sidrah’s
The Torah describes quite few places that the Israelites went through, and places that were used to mark the future borders of the Promised (Soon to be) Land of Israel at that time. As a result, we can find quite few names, that were given to present cities, Kibbutzim, Natural Border Markers and more, in Israel. All of these names are mentioned somewhere, in today’s two Sidrah’s.
Here are just a few:
Midbar Sinai (The Sinai Desert - Peninsula), The Negev, The Jordan River, Yam Ha’Melach (The Dead Sea), Yam Kinneret (The Sea of Galilee), Ha’Yam Ha’Gadol (The Great Sea - The Mediterranean), Reffidim, Yotvatah, Evronah, Atzmona, Ma’aleh Akrabim, Kadesh Barne’ah, Attarot, and more.
Q. Didn’t we just combine 2 Sidrah’s (Chukat and Balak) just 2 weeks ago?
Why do we combine again 2 Sidrah’s (Matot and Massey) today?
When do we combine two Sidrah’s and why?
A. There are 7 pairs of Sidrah’s (among the 54 “Single” Sidrah’s of the entire Torah), that sometimes get combined.
And they are, as follows:
In the Book of Genesis: 0
In the Book of Exodus: 1st Va’Yakhel and Pekudei
In the Book of Leviticus: 2nd Tazria and Metzora
3rd Acharei Mot and Kedoshim
4th Be’Har and Be’Chukotai
In the Book of Numbers: 5th Chukat and Balak It was observed 2 weeks ago, outside Israel only. This combining, is never needed in Israel (*).
6th Mattot and Massei It is observed today both, inside and outside of Israel.
In the Book of Deuteronomy: 7th Nitzavim and Va’Yelech It will be observed on Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah both, inside and outside of Israel.
.
The reason that we sometimes combine, some of the above pairs
The 12 months of our Regular Jewish Year leave us with approximately 48-49 Shabbats. The current year (2023) is a Regular year.
The 13 Months of our Leap Year give us approximately 52-53 Shabbats.
Some of these Shabbats fall on a Holiday or a Chol Ha’Moed. They get then assigned a special Torah Reading accordingly.
As mentioned above - we have 54 “Single” Sidrah’s in the Torah. Each one needs a “Free” Shabbat that will ‘qualify’ to be assigned one “Single” Sidrah.
(Actually, we must deal only with 53 “Single” Sidrah’s. The 54th Sidrah in the Torah – “Vezoht Habracha” - is always been read on Simchat Torah).
So, there are not enough “Free” Shabbats during any year to accommodate all 54 (or 53) “Single” Sidrah’s of the Torah.
The forced solution – combine one pair or more of the above listed (7) pairs of Sidrah’s.
In a “Regular” year, the gap between “Free” Shabbats to the total “Single” Sidrah’s can amount to 6 (or - 7). Consequently, most of the above possible combining events of 2 Sidrah’s may be used (As it does happen in 2023. 6 combining events, have already been used and the 7th will happen in some 8 weeks or so).
In a “Leap” year, there are much fewer combining events. There are usually only 1 or 2 (or in extreme cases - 0) combining events.
(*) The combining of the 2 Sidrah’s (Chukat and Balak) two weeks ago, was needed to “catch up” with Israel. The need for a “catch up” was caused, by our 2nd
day of Shavuot that fell on Shabbat (5/27). This Shabbat was a “Regular” Shabbat in Israel. A Scheduled “Single” Sidrah was then read in Israel. It caused
us to fall one Sidrah behind.
