Separate but not Aloof - Matot Masei 5784

The Jews were about to go into the land of Israel. After 40 long years of wandering in the desert, Moshe was preparing for the end of his life, handing the reins over to his successor Yehoshua. Along comes another hitch. The tribes of Gad and Reuven did not want to go into the land. 

The east bank of the Jordan, which the Jews had captured on their way into Israel, was very appealing to these two tribes. They were shepherds, and the lush pasture land was perfect for their abundant sheep. So they approached Moshe and asked him to give them this land instead of having them cross the river into the Promised Land. 

Moshe was upset. 39 years ago, he said, we had a similar situation. We were ready to go into the Land in a few days, and then the story of the spies ruined everything. They (ten out of 12 actually) told the people that they would not be able to capture the land, and the people got frightened and lost their faith in Hashem. This delayed the entry into Israel until now. 

Now, says Moshe to Gad and Reuven, you are doing the same thing. By refusing to enter the land and staying here, he says, you will get the people to lose faith and destroy their chances of going into Israel. “You have arisen in place of your parents,” he says, “to add to Hashem’s anger to the people.”  When Gad and Reuven promise to lead the Jewish armies into the land and help them settle there, Moshe relents and gives them the land they requested. 

The comparison of Gad and Reuven to the spies is interesting. The spies gave a bad, frightening report about the land, while those two tribes just asked for the ability to occupy the perfect land for their profession. 

Chassidus, as always, looks much deeper into the story with a beautiful mystical explanation. The spies’ real problem with going into Israel was that they wanted to remain in a spiritual environment as they had in the desert: food from heaven, water from a rock, clouds protecting them from the physical environment as well as negative spiritual influences, and the ability to study Torah and connect with Hashem without any of the distractions of the needs of the material world. This was a grave mistake, because our mission on earth is to transform the physical world and bring together the physical and spiritual, and that can only be done through involvement in material pursuits. While it’s more personally spiritually satisfying to stay away from the world, it is necessary for us to accept the challenge in order to fulfill our unique mission on earth. 

The profession of shepherding is one that lends itself to a spiritual life. Our forefathers Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov chose it for that reason. And that was Gad and Reuven’s purpose in choosing to be shepherds. When they came to Moshe and asked to be allowed to stay on the other side of the Jordan and tend their sheep instead of going into the land, he assumed that they were shirking their responsibilities, just as the spies had done 39 years before. 

But the two tribes explained that they had a very different approach to the land and their responsibilities than the spies. In order to fulfill our mission, they said, we need to work in the world, but we also need Torah scholars and spiritual guides. The Jewish people have always held our Torah scholars in great esteem, recognizing their role in inspiring us and teaching us how to navigate the pressures of the world while remaining faithful to the Torah. 

Torah scholars, in order to fulfill their vital role, need to be exempt from the day to day challenges of business and commerce, from going to war and worrying about the material needs of society. This partnership between the majority who are involved in worldly pursuits and the minority who teach and inspire them is what has kept Judaism alive and vibrant through the ages. 

When Gad and Reuven offered to put their lives in danger by going to war at the front of the Jewish armies, and then spending another seven years to help them settle, they demonstrated that they were not trying to remain aloof from the land or the rest of the people. They were just asking to be allowed to devote themselves to their chosen role as spiritual guides and teachers to the others. 

Moshe accepted their argument, and on the condition that they fulfill their promise, he gave them the easy side of the Jordan as their inheritance, effectively expanding the borders of Israel far to the east of the original map.