B”SD
Mattos and Masai
Sorry my week was crazy so I have rushed a blog entry
hope the quality is acceptable, if not please forgive me.
The Parasha starts with the importance and power of words
and being true to what leaves our mouths, it deals with the laws of Vows (to do or not to do something) and
Oaths (obligation on self). Rabbi Wassertzug once told me
that the power or ability to bless another and for that blessing to take
effect is derived partly from the person giving the blessing living according to truth, when a
person lives according to his word, he in a manner of speaking becomes a
vehicle of truth, and his words take on the power of being able to create reality
– it is the fuel to be able to impact on another. We see in many places in the Tanach where
righteous individuals pass on blessings to their children and others.
Human beings are unique in their ability to speak words,
this is a G-dly quality that should be used responsibly and a lesson of its import is the beginning of the
Parasha.
We then learn of an instruction to destroy the
Medianites and Bilam who advised Balak and used his words (advice) to bring sin on the
Israelite nation, he thus dies in the battle a further testimony to his failing
in not using the power of Speech the way Hashem intended, leading people off course.
We also see the power of the righteous as G-d tell Moses
to choose righteous people to man the army, you would think for a war, rather
choose the strongest and fittest, but when you have righteous soldiers what
happens – not a single soldiers death occurred within Israel in this Medianite battle!
The soldiers had to purify themselves after encountering the corpses of the battle. We then learn the
Mitzvah of toyvelling our Kaylim in Mikvah waters as we had to do with the Medianite booty before using it in camp.
Reuvain and Gad see the East side of the
Jordan,and the grand parsture lands and they think of their assets and how suitable these lands are for their livelihood – their cattle and sheep...; they ask Moshe if they can have
these lands as their portion. Moses does
not take this well, in my words he is thinking - after all we are one nation and our Land is
Israel, why split away just before the war and abandon our brothers and
sisters and our country we have journeyed so long to enter, a land promised to Abraham, do not make the same mistake as your father's who spied out the land did ! Their reply indicates they will not abandon the rest of the tribes but remain unified with the rest of the nation, they then say they will
build pens for their livestock and secure cities for our children. We see here Moses in his reply corrects their
incorrect speech -word order usage, they reflected their minds were on the Livestock first and
the children second, indicating ones wealth was more important than the future
generation of children each containing a holy soul. Moses responds they should build cities for
the children and then states Pens for their livestock.
Mr Fine sponsored the Brocha this past Shabbos and made a good point, that we should reflect
on this when our young children break a glass or vase, or our older children
bump our cars, we should react in kindness as assets are not more important
than the delicate spiritual soul of a young or older child. We also see the importance of unity as Gad
and Reuven agree to help their brothers and sisters go to war and man the front
lines to show they are at one with Israel. Moses allows them to inherit the
East side of the Jordan but only after further
ensuring unity by splitting the tribe of Menashe into two halves, a clever way on
ensuring the link between East and West of the Jordan is not lost. Also Menashe were known to be learned in the
Torah which would serve to ensure spiritual growth of the Reubenites and
Gadites.
The Torah goes into painstaking detail of all the
journeys travelled, Rabbi Tanchuma likens this to a loving Father (Hashem) who
was carrying and nursing his sick child (Israelite nation) to the Dr. (The land of Israel, the destination)
and on arrival he reminds the child of all the warm and difficult experiences
they enjoyed together in loving memory and full of emotion, at that
moment of happiness and fulfilment on arrival at the border of Israel. Reflection is a key lesson and appreciating
all the gifts and kindnesses bestowed on us along the journey we call life, and
take to heart all the lessons we have learnt along the way!
...................
We then learn about the cities of refuge needing to be set up prior to settling the land, and how Moshe does this Mitzvah right away knowing full well, that he will not be party to settling the land. We see from this the divine
understanding of raw emotion, that if a man kills another man in an accident,
the family may lose it and want to kill the perpetrator, so we need to in
advance ensure this killing is not carried out by creating a special place for
the accidental killer to run or be escorted to where he will be protected, the route needs to be clearly marked and
accessible. The killer may flee and must remain away
from his roots, his city of birth, and to suffer a similar fate of the bereaved family members who
no longer have their loved one. We see
the divine acknowledgement of the passion of being wronged and the need to
build fences and safeguards so these situations don’t happen, and to cool them when they do - a responsibility to society and to each other. The man is not allowed to leave this city of refuge,
unless the Kohen Gadol has died, we learn from one of the opinions in the Gemara
this is because the holy of holies of the generation through his influence and
prayers is able to prevent tragedies from happening, but due to flaws in his
leadership suffering resulted - an accidental death. It also
created an opportunity for unity and warmth as the Kohen Gadol's mother often sent
presents to the perpetrator in the city of refuge so that he should not pray
for the death of Kohen Gadol, so he would be freed to return to his city of birth, wow again we see the tremendous power of prayer, that
the mother should be concerned about the accidental killers prayers being
answered, just in case there is a possibility of a judgement on her holy son!
In summary as we experience the days of tragedy, the nine days of AV lessons to
take from the Parasha – the key to protection is connection and caring for each other as Gad
and Reuvein undertook. Put souls before
the material wants and desires – the importance of being one and avoiding
conflict! Accidents may happen when people are not careful or thoughtful, so take care. If an accident does however happen and as a result passion for revenge and emotion rule, be there for those in need, help cool the
situation. Geula requires unity that is why Moshe got cross when he thought Gad and Ruvain wanted out.
Finally the power
of words and prayers never underestimate them, with G-ds help we can
achieve unity and Shalom – it is so important that Moses asks Menashe to split in half to ensure
a perpetual link between the tribes on the West and East - to always be united.
*************************************
May all our prayers be answered for good and may we earn
divine protection through our righteousness and care with good deeds and a sense of responsibility towards one another,
G-d willing, for surely the ingathering of the exiles will then occur may it be so speedily.
Michael
No comments:
Post a Comment