Mattot (Numbers 30:2-32:42) and Haftarah (Jeremiah 1:1-2:3): The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary
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Mattot (Numbers 30:2-32:42) and Haftarah (Jeremiah 1:1-2:3): The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary
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Overview
The complete set of weekly portions is available in Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin’s book The JPS B’nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary (JPS, 2017).
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780827616929 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | The Jewish Publication Society |
| Publication date: | 12/01/2018 |
| Series: | JPS Study Bible |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 24 |
| File size: | 1 MB |
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Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
The Torah
Mattot: Numbers 30:2–32:42
The Torah portion begins with a description of the power of the personal vow and how it must be fulfilled.
The parashah then moves into an account of the Israelites' war against the Midianites. As the Land of Israel is divided among the tribes, the tribes of Reuben and Gad announce that they would rather stay on the other side of the Jordan River rather than entering the land.
Summary
• People must fulfill what they have said that they will do. However, this pertains only to men. If a woman makes a vow, her father or husband has the power to negate it. (30:2–17)
• The Israelites enter into a bloody and merciless war against Midian. Among the victims of battle is Balaam, the soothsayer. The Israelites take captive the Midianite women and children, and they also take the spoil from the battle, for which an inventory is given. Moses gets angry because the Israelites have spared every female. It was the Midianite women, after all, who had induced the Israelite men into paganism and orgies. (31:1–54)
• The tribes of Reuben and Gad ask to be able to settle on the other side of the Jordan River and not enter the Land of Israel. In exchange for the granting of this request, they offer to serve as the shock troops — the advance guard — of the Israelites when they conquer the land. (32:1–42)
The Big Ideas
• Be careful what you say. This is a basic Jewish concept, and it is reflected in our religious lives and in our everyday ethics. The word for "word" is devar, which is also the word for "thing." A word is a thing, in and of itself. Words, pledges, and vows are so powerful that the most sacred moment of the Jewish year — Kol Nidre on the eve of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement — is devoted to annulling vows that we could not realistically fulfill.
• Not every part of the Torah is nice. This is a hard truth to accept, especially since we are accustomed to thinking of the Bible as "The Good Book." To be sure, the ancient Israelites did not always act as honorably as we might have wished. Things that would horrify us today, such as a violent war in which women, in particular, are victims, pass almost without comment in the Torah. One of God's greatest gifts to us is the ability to question these texts and to wrestle with their implications.
• Solidarity with the Jewish people is a crucial part of Jewish life. The tribes of Reuben and Gad were content to merely live their comfortable lives on the other side of the Jordan River, outside the Land of Israel. Moses had to remind them that the Jews must remain a single, unified people.
Divrei Torah
Put First Things First!
Everyone has had this experience. You are a member of a sports team, or in a school play, or in a choir, or involved in some kind of big group project. Everyone is really engaged in what they are supposed to be doing. But there is always that one kid (if you are lucky, only one) who is, well, a slacker. He or she just isn't giving their all. And, when that happens, the efforts of everyone else suffer. It just isn't fair.
That's sort of what happens in this Torah portion. The tribes of Reuben and Gad ask to be able to settle on the other side of the Jordan River and not enter the Land of Israel proper. When Moses hears this request, he gets very angry and loses his temper (which is standard operating procedure for Moses). "Are your brothers to go to war while you stay here? Why will you turn the minds of the Israelites from crossing into the land that the Lord has given them?" (32:6).
Moses reminds them of how the spies had brought back bad accounts of the Land of Israel. He accuses the people of Reuben and Gad of basically doing the same thing — demoralizing the rest of the Jewish people. Finally, these two tribes offer Moses a consolation prize — that they will act as the shock troops, an elite force, protecting the land from neighboring tribes.
Let's remember that one of the great themes of the book of Numbers is the amount of almost constant complaining that Moses has to endure. There always seems to be a rebellion going on. And now Moses has to deal with yet another, as he comes near the end of his life. It must have stung badly.
And why did it hurt Moses so much? Because it wasn't only that the tribes of Reuben and Gad preferred the land on the other side of the Jordan. It was because they had a lot of cattle, and the grazing land was better there! Here's a great little Hebrew lesson. The word that the Torah uses for "cattle" is mikneh — which is related to the word for "buying" and "shopping." In modern terms, the people of Reuben and Gad were simply materialistic.
Look at how those tribes describe what they want to do. "We will build here sheepfolds for our flocks and towns for our children" (32:16). It is distortion of priorities. They put their animals (i.e., their possessions) before their children. Erica Brown teaches: "These people were willing to let go of a sacred, commanded vision to bolster their own material existence while Moses's own sincere appeals to enter the land were rejected." Rashi teaches: "Notice which they mentioned first — they were more concerned about the flocks than about the children."
Several verses later, Moses tells them: "Build towns for your children and sheepfolds for your flocks" (32:24). Moses reminds them of what is really important. It is a message for all of us: first, people, and creating a future for our people; then, and only then, our "stuff."
War — What Is It Good For?
There's an old classic rock song that goes like this: "War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!" Well, not exactly. Sometimes, war is necessary — for example, when you have to defend your people and your land. But, even when that is true, war stinks. It is a tragic, terrible mess.
That might be what bothers you about chapter 31 — the account of the war against the Midianites. Why is it even necessary? According to the Torah the Midianite women had seduced Israelite men into orgies and into worshiping their god — part of a concerted effort to destroy the Israelites from within.
And then Moses gets angry because they spared the women! Kill them! Okay, well, you can spare the women who are virgins, but all the other women have to be killed. Oh, and take their stuff. And make a list of everything that you take, just so we get it straight. And, because you have touched corpses, you have to become purified.
What is going on here? To our modern sensibilities this is hard to comprehend and hard to stomach. Does God really command a war of vengeance? Is there such a thing as a holy war? Is it ever permissible to kill civilians?
Let's focus a little bit more closely on this section. God tells Moses to "avenge the Israelite people on the Midianites; then you shall be gathered to your kin" (31:2). How did that feel to Moses? And what's this "then you shall be gathered to your kin" business? Is God saying that this is Moses's final "project" — that once he has performed this act of brutality he can die?
Hold on a second here; this is Midian! The same Midian that Moses fled to, after he killed the taskmaster in Egypt. Midian was where he met his wife, Zipporah, who was, of course, a Midianite woman. Midian was the place where he met his father-in-law, Jethro, who was so kind to Moses and who taught him so much. Sure, the Midianite women did nasty stuff. But the Midianites were also descended from Abraham. They are a "cousin" people to the Israelites.
If this is troubling to you, then it was even more troubling to Moses. In fact, Moses does not go to war against the Midianites himself; he gets others to do it. As a midrash says: "Why did Moses send others to avenge the Midianites, when God told him to do it himself? Because he was highly regarded in the land of Midian, he thought: It is not right for me to cause distress to a people that has been good to me. As the proverb puts it: 'Do not cast a stone in the well from which you have to drink.'"
As contemporary Israeli leader Avraham Burg notes: "In commanding vengeance upon Midian, Moses is essentially destroying a part of himself, of his essence and identity." So is Moses trying to break free from his own Midianite past? Or is he unable to do so and thus has to find others to lead the effort?
It is strange that God chooses this moment to remind Moses that his time is running out: "then you shall be gathered to your kin" (31:2). In fact, there are a few more problems Moses will have to deal with before he dies, and a few more important speeches he will give to the Israelites.
But Moses is being reminded here that his kin are the Israelites, whom he has led for forty years, and who will frustrate him almost to his very final breath. Family is family, for better or for worse. Sometimes we have to do battle for it in ways that are distasteful and tough to do. Yes, we have to choose our battles, and should do so wisely. But there comes a time when we will have to say: this is difficult; this is messy; but this is worth fighting for.
Connections
• Can you give some examples when you have been careful with your use of words, and when you have not been?
• Do you think that it is bad or good to promise (pledge or vow) that we'll do certain things?
• Why did the tribes of Reuben and Gad settle on the other side of the Jordan River? Do you agree with their reasons?
• What are some examples of wars that have been "good"? Wars that have been "bad"? How do we make those kinds of judgments?
• Is it ever good to take revenge on someone?
CHAPTER 2The Haftarah
Mattot: Jeremiah 1:1–2:3
This is how the book of Jeremiah begins. The prophet experiences two omens: an almond tree and a boiling pot tipping away from the north. In particular, that boiling pot will have major significance. The Babylonians, who will destroy Judah, will be coming from the north, and that "boiling pot" will ultimately not only scald the Jewish people; it will burn them, almost beyond recognition.
Don't look for any deep connection between the Torah portion and the haftarah; there isn't any. In fact, between this week's parashah and the end of the Jewish year, there are few connections between the Torah portions and the haftarah. The Jewish calendar now marks one of its most interesting periods: the time before the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians, beginning after the Fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz, the breaching of Jerusalem's walls by the Babylonians; the destruction itself (Tisha b'Av), and then seven weeks of consolation for the destruction, leading up to Rosh Hashanah.
This is the first of three prophetic readings of admonition that precede Tisha b'Av. Each one is concerned with the direness of the sins that would lead to destruction. It is as if God is saying: "Don't say I didn't warn you."
A Sort of Love Letter
Have you ever thought of the relationship between God and the Jewish people as a kind of wedding?
When God and the Jewish people first met, it was during the time of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. From time to time, God would talk to individuals, like Abraham, Sarah, and Jacob. From time to time, they would offer sacrifices to God. No big deal. That was a flirtation.
But then came Sinai. God said to the Israelites: "I am your God." The Israelites said: "We are your people." That was the wedding.
Then came the honeymoon, in which God and Israel wandered together in the wilderness. It was like a young married couple who are trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives and their relationship. And yes, there are bumps in the road — arguing over small things, and even big things. It takes commitment to stick with any marriage.
As we have already seen (in the haftarah for Be-midbar), the marital metaphor isn't all that it's cracked up to be. But Jews still used it to describe the relationship between God and Israel. The sages thought that Song of Songs, the erotic love poetry of the Bible, was actually about the love between God and Israel. That's why the early sage Rabbi Akiva cautions: "Whoever sings the Song of Songs in banqueting houses and turns it into a drinking song loses his portion in the world to come." This is no ordinary "song"; it's about God and the Jewish people.
Watch what happens on Shavuot, the holiday that marks the giving of the Torah at Sinai. It's the wedding itself. Some synagogues actually erect a chuppah on Shavuot. Rabbi David Wolpe teaches: "The Torah is the ketubah [wedding contract] between God and the Jewish people. A ketubah enshrines sacred obligations. Sinai was the chuppah [the wedding canopy], and Shavuot is our anniversary."
And, in fact, when we read the Torah, we are encouraged to read it as if it were a love letter. Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell teaches: "Every year, we reopen the Torah scroll, and week after week, we attempt to discover, decipher and decode the words, as well as the desire behind the words that our ancestors have so lovingly handed down to us." We treat the Torah as we would treat a beloved — caressing her, and carrying her close to the heart.
So, yes, the relationship between God and the Jewish people is like a marriage. It has had good days, and bad days. As Ron Wolfson teaches: "As in all relationships, there is constant renegotiation of the terms of agreement, as well as the terms of endearment." But the most important part of a marriage is devotion.
God is glad that we stuck it out together. That's what God is saying in this haftarah: "You followed Me in the wilderness. Thanks for doing that."
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Mattot (Numbers 30:2–32:42) Haftarah (Jeremiah 1:1–2:3): The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin.
Excerpted by permission of UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA PRESS.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Introduction,
What Is Torah?,
And What Else? The Haftarah,
Your Mission — To Teach Torah to the Congregation,
How To Keep It from Being Boring (and You from Being Bored),
The Very Last Thing You Need to Know at This Point,
The Torah: Mattot: Numbers 30:2–32:42,
Summary,
The Big Ideas,
Divrei Torah,
Put First Things First!,
War — What Is It Good For?,
Connections,
The Haftarah: Mattot: Jeremiah 1:1–2:3,
A Sort of Love Letter,