Rigged Lottery - Pinchas 5784

3,295 years ago, Hashem told Moshe how to divide the Land of Israel amongst the tribes.  Each tribe was a different size and had a different lifestyle, and therefore each received an appropriately sized lot.  

Now usually in a situation like this, there would be a committee of experts to decide how the land should be apportioned. There was, in fact, such a committee, composed of one leader per tribe, and managed by Yehoshua and Aaron’s son Elazar (Bamidbar 34:16-29).  But this division was done in a very unusual way.

While the portions of the land were divided based on size and need, it was not the committee that had the final say on who got which portion.  The land was divided by a lottery.  Specifically, the names of the tribes were written on pieces of paper and placed in one box, and the portions were placed in another box, and one paper was drawn from each box.  Whichever portion came up for that tribe was theirs.  

Now this seems strange.  If each tribe needs a piece of land that fits its size and need, then how does a lottery fit into the equation?  What if a large, seafaring tribe got a small part in the center of the country?  The answer is that this was not a typical lottery.  It was run by hashem.

Let me explain, with a preface.  In addition to the committee’s division and the lottery, the Torah tells us that the Urim Vetumim was involved.  The High Priest’s Breastplate had 12 precious stones on which were engraved the names of the tribes, encompassing all the letters of the Alef Beit, and a parchment with a name of Hashem that Moshe had written inserted between the folds.  When the community had a question that needed Divine guidance, the High Priest would ask the question and the letters would light up and bulge out of the stones, giving him the answer.  I know it sounds fantastic, and indeed it was, but it worked up until the destruction of the first Holy Temple.

So here is how the apportioning of the land worked:  The 12 slips of paper containing the names of the tribes went into one box.  The other 12, containing the names of the portions of the land, divided with the needs of the tribes in mind, went into the other box.  When the first slips of paper were taken out of each box, the paper itself said this is the tribe and this is their portion, and the Breastplate lit up and also said the same thing.  Once again, I know it sounds fantastic, and it was, but it was miraculous.  

Why go through this whole thing?  Anyway each tribe got its appropriate portion as divided by the committee, why the whole game?  The answer is that our connection to the land of Israel is not just a natural one.  Yes, it is a physical land and yes, the land needs to be divided according to the needs of each tribe.  But our bond with the land is something that transcends the physical and the laws of nature.  We own the land because it was given to us by hashem in order to fulfill our sacred mission on earth, and nothing can break that bond, even thousands of years of exile.

Hashem demonstrated that to us, and the world, by making the division of the land miraculous.  The fusing of the physical and the spiritual, the natural and the miraculous, is what we and our land are all about.  When you read this in the Torah, it is obvious that the Jewish people are the rightful claimants of the land of Israel.

When Moshiach comes, all other ownership claims will fall by the wayside.  All the nations of the world will proclaim that the land is ours and help and support us in our mission.  Sounds fantastic?  Yes it is, but it is a truth that has been a pillar of our religion since the beginning of time.  May it happen now!