42 & 43: Matot-Masei
Parsha Matot-Masei (Numbers 30:2-36:13)
TLDR:
Recall we last left Moses awaiting his death on a mountain top, and the Torah turned to sacrifices and now oath-breaking. The suspense will keep you coming back to synagogue all the way through Yom Kippur.
If a male makes an oath, that oath sticks like bubble gum on the bottom of a bleacher seat. If a young or married woman makes an oath and their father or husband, respectively, don’t issue an objection, the oath stands. Not quite Teflon, but somewhere in between.
Back to Moses, but out of sequence, it’s time to take revenge on the Midianites (not the Moabites, who had hired Balaam). Twelve thousand men, led by Phinehas the priest, kill all the male Midianites and Balaam (why? unclear.)
When the soldiers return with the women, animals, and spoils of war, Moses questions why the women were spared given that they slept with the Israelite men, which caused the plague. Moses directs the soldiers to kill all the female noncombatants who have had sexual intercourse already, and then conduct a purification ritual.
Moses divides up the spoils, and leaves some for the priests. The officers of the troops also give gold to Moses and Eleazar, the high priest, out of thanks that none of their men had died in battle. Lots of precedent-setting happening here.
Reuben and Gad are cattle-rich and ask if they can settle the land east of the Jordan River. Moses initially thinks they’re trying to weasel out of conquering Canaan, and even God becomes enraged.
But after Reuben and Gad commit to providing troops to support their brothers-in-arms, Moses also gives land on the Eastern shore to them and the tribe of Manasseh.
The Torah records a long list of where the Israelites travel that follows the same “Dayenu” repetition from the Passover seder.
Moses explains that the land in Canaan should be divided by lottery, describes the boundaries and rights of the Levites, and lays out the plan for “cities of refuge.” These are cities where someone who has mistakenly killed someone else can go to for protective services.
Numbers (Bamibar) ends with a description of inheritance rights.
Question:
The argument between Reuben & Gad and Moses was avoidable. Moses had his own preconceived notion of what their intentions were (to get out of fighting for land in Canaan), whereas Reuben & Gad didn’t appreciate the historical context from the ten spies and slave generation. What can you learn from the story about how to make an ask and enter a negotiation?
Moses’ wife Zipporah is the daughter of a Midianite priest. Is there any connection between his wife’s identity and the slaughter of noncombatant Midianite women?
How do you reconcile the brutal Midianite killings with the comparatively progressive avoidance of blood feuds through the cities of refuge?