The Legitimacy of Living Outside of Israel
Student Summaries of Sichot of the Roshei Yeshiva
Yeshivat Har Etzion
ParashOt matot-masei
SICHA OF
HARAV AHARON LICHTENSTEIN SHLIT"A
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In memory of Nathaniel H. Leiderman, Naftali Hertzke ben Mayer Eliezer v'Gitel whose seventh yahrtzeit was on 11 Tammuz. Dedicated by Ira Leiderman and Mindy Smith and their children Eric and Cara.
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This
shiur is dedicated to the memory of Rabbi Aaron Wise z"l (whose yahrzeit is
Tammuz 21),
by the Wise and Etshalom families. Yehi Zikhro Barukh.
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The
Legitimacy of Living Outside the
Adapted by Shaul Barth
Translated by Kaeren Fish
In
this week's parasha, we read of the request by the
tribes of Gad and Reuven to settle on the eastern bank of the
At
first, we read that the two tribes see the eastern bank of the
Moshe's response is immediate and unequivocal. At first, he reproaches these tribes for even suggesting the idea: "Shall your brethren then go to war while you sit here?!" But then he goes on to rebuke them for the more general influence that they are going to have: "Why do you dishearten Bnei Yisrael from passing over to the land which God has given them?" In the first sentence, he speaks as a prophet and spiritual guide; in the second, he reacts as a political and military leader, who must consider not only the ethical nature of their request, but also its wider national ramifications.
But Moshe does not stop at these two admonitions. He goes on to challenge them in his capacity as Moshe Rabbeinu the person who has led and accompanied them through the wilderness for forty years, for whom the request by these two tribes comes as a slap in the face in view of all that he has tried to teach and inculcate: "So your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to view the land and behold, you have risen up in place of your fathers, a gang of sinful people, to stoke up God's anger again against Israel."
Following
this first part of the story, we reach the second part, where the tribes of Gad
and Reuven respond: "We shall build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and
cities for our children, but we ourselves shall go up armed before Bnei Yisrael until we have
brought them to their place
We shall inherit with them on the other side of
the
The
commentaries are divided as to whether this reaction is an elaboration of their
original request, where Moshe did not at first understand their intention, or whether
this represents an amendment to their original plan in light of Moshe's fierce
response. The verses themselves leave
both options open. Either way, when
Moshe hears their explanation, he accepts their request and declares, "If
you will do this thing
you shall be guiltless before God and
But we are left with an unanswered question: is the request by the tribes of Gad and Reuven now acceptable? Was Moshe's sole concern that these tribes would lend a hand in the conquest of the land? Is the very idea of leaving or relinquishing their part of the land not in itself problematic?
In
Maskehet Bikkurim (1:10),
R. Yossi states that bikkurim
(first fruits) are not brought from the eastern bank of the
Now we have a better understanding of Moshe's rebuke, and the problem becomes even more acute: how can these tribes even suggest settling in a land that is spiritually inferior? Does the economic factor "your servants have cattle" justify their preference for a land that, while fertile, is impure?
The
Talmud Yerushalmi offers another reason for the difference
between Eretz Yisrael and
other nearby areas: the former was given by God to
The
picture is rounded out by the narrative in Sefer
Yehoshua, describing how, following the
conquest of the land, the two-and-a-half tribes who settled on the eastern bank
build an altar. They declare that, in
the event that in future generations people may
suggest that the inhabitants of the eastern side of the
Once again, we must return to our question: is Moshe now satisfied with the request by the tribes of Gad and Reuven, following their explanation? Is his sole concern that they participate in the war of conquest? We must conclude that this is not the case. The turnaround in Moshe's attitude may be understood in light of the fact that at first, he believed that these tribes sought to sever themselves from the rest of the nation. This aspiration was worthy of the strongest opposition and rebuke. If this was what they were after, then they were indeed a "gang of sinful people."
But
after their explanation, Moshe lowers his level of opposition: their proposal
is still an unworthy one, but they are no longer sinners. Is their idea of making the eastern side of
the
[This sicha was delivered on leil Shabbat parashot Matot-Masei 5762 (2002).]