My drash (commentary) this week will only be on Parasha Matot. There are three main sections in Parasha Matot. The first section concerns the laws governing vows made by unmarried woman living at home and by wives. The second section concerns bnei Yisrael’s counter attack against the Midianites. The third section is about the tribes of Reuven, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh’s request to receive their inheritance on the east side of the Yarden (Jordan) River. It from this last section contained in Parasha Matot-Masei that I am going to base my commentary on.

Bamidbar {32:1} Now bnei (the children of) Reuven and bnei Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Yazer, and the land of Gilead, that behold, the place was a place for cattle; {32:2} bnei Gad and bnei Reuven came and spoke to Moshe (Moses), and to El'azar the cohen (priest), and to the princes of the congregation, saying, {32:3} Ataroth, and Dibon, and Yazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon, {32:4} the land which HaShem struck before the kahilah (congregation) of Yisrael, is a land for cattle; and your servants have cattle. {32:5} They said, If we have found favour in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; don't bring us over the Yarden. {32:6} Moshe said to bnei Gad, and to bnei Reuven, Shall your brothers go to the war, and shall you sit here? {32:7} Why discourage you the heart of bnei Yisrael from going over into the land which HaShem has given them? {32:8} Thus did your avot (fathers), when I sent them from Kadesh-Barnea to see the land. {32:9} For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of bnei Yisrael, that they should not go into the land which HaShem had given them. {32:10} HaShem’s anger was kindled in that day, and he swore, saying, {32:11} Surely none of the men who came up out of Mitzrayim (Egypt), from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Avraham (Abraham), to Yitzchak (Isaac), and to Yaakov (Jacob) ; because they have not wholly followed me: {32:12} save Calev ben (the son of) Yephunneh the Kenizzite, and Yehoshua (Joshua) ben Nun; because they have wholly followed HaShem. {32:13} HaShem’s anger was kindled against Yisrael, and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, who had done evil in the sight of HaShem, was consumed. {32:14} Behold, you are risen up in your avot' place, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of HaShem toward Yisrael. {32:15} For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all this people.

We can well understand why Moshe was upset with the tribes of Reuven and Gad. Up until this point the company of Yisrael worked as a team, they encamped around the Mishkan (Tabernacle) as a team, they broke camp as a team, the set up camp as a team and they fought as a team. So, just think how Moshe must have felt when two tribes wanted break away and leave the team. He was devastated! Not so much because they wanted to leave, but for fear of what the repercussions might be from HaShem. I can imagine that Moshe expected that a second offence to HaShem on the same issue as before would have cause bnei Yisrael to have to face at least the same punishment as before, if not worse. This was something I am sure he was certainly not ready for.

Moshe took the request by the matot (tribes) of Reuven and Gad like we would take two of our best hockey players deciding to leave our team and break out on their own just prior to the final game for the Stanley Cup, especially after all the games we would of had to win to get to the finals. Bnei Yisrael was at the border with Canaan, ready and poised to enter the Promise Land. They had suffered and fought hard to get there. This news could not have come at a worse time. Moshe was distressed at the prospect, both I am sure, because of the break-up of the community and the possible repercussions from HaShem.

However, the intention of the matot of Reuven and Gad were not to leave the team totally. They wanted only to take their inheritance on the east side of the Yarden instead of with the rest of bnei Yisrael on the west. They were still going to be part of the team and they were still going to participate in the invasion of Canaan with the rest of the tribes. What a relief this must have been for Moshe and what a lesson it is for us.

I believe what HaShem is showing us here is the importance of community and team work. Moshe knew that if these two tribes opted out of the community it would have affected the whole community. “{32:6}... Shall your brothers go to the war, and shall you sit here? {32:7} Why discourage you the heart of bnei Yisrael from going over into the land which HaShem has given them?” Congregation Melech Yisrael, or any congregation for that matter, although we are made up of individuals, is a community; therefore, we are to function as a community, as a team. Shaul (Paul) said it best in:

Korintim Alef (1 Corinthians) {12:25} that there should be no division in the body, but the members should have the same care for one another. {12:26} And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honoured, all the members rejoice with it. {12:27} Now you are Mashiachs's (Messiah’s) body, and individually members of it.

A good congregation functions as a single unit, a single body. The members stick together through thick or thin, through good times or bad. Nothing discourages congregational community more than when there is a split. When someone leaves irresponsibly or someone breaks the bond of community, not only is it bad for the body as a whole (as the context of our Parasha suggests), it hurts and it is unbiblical.

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