Numbers 30:2-32:42 & 33:1-36:13
Synopsis - Parshat Mattot:
The special rules concerning women's vows are given. Whereas a man may not break a vow or an oath which he makes to God, a woman's vow may be annulled by her father or husband on the day it is made. Vows made by widowed or divorced women, however, are binding.
God commands Moses to take revenge upon the Midianite people. One thousand men are picked from each tribe to battle the Midianites under the leadership of Pinchas. All the male Midianites are slain in the campaign, including the five kings of the region and the prophet Balaam. Their women and children are taken captive, the towns and encampments are burned, and all the booty is brought to Moses and Eleazar at Moab near Jericho.
Moses is angry with the leaders of the battle for sparing the women who were responsible for drawing the Israelites into sin at Shittim (see Parshat Balak). He orders them slain together with every male child. Eleazar instructs the troops concerning cleansing themselves and concerning distribution of the booty collected. After cleansing, the booty is divided equally among the troops and the rest of the Israelites, with a share being withheld as an offering to God.
The tribes of Reuben and Gad speak to Moses. They desire to settle east of the Jordan River in the lands of Jazar and Gilead, as these lands are suitable for the cattle. Moses permits them to establish their homes there, provided that all the men then join the rest of the Israelites in the battles to be waged west of the Jordan. So the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh establish fortified cities on the east side of the Jordan River.
Synopsis - Parshat Mas'ay:
The route taken by the Israelites from Egypt to the steppes of Moab and the major events that occurred along the way are recounted. At Moab, God tells Moses to instruct the Israelites about settling the land across the Jordan. They are to dispossess all its inhabitants, destroy their gods, and apportion the land among the tribes by lot.
The boundaries of the land are: Edom to the south, the Mediterranean Sea to the west, along a line drawn from Mount Hor to Hazar-enan in the north, and from Hazar-enan to Sepham, and then inward to the Jordan River and the Dead Sea on the east.
The Israelites are to assign, out of their holdings, towns and pasture lands to the Levites. There are to be a total of 48 towns, six of which to be cities of refuge to which a person who has killed another unintentionally may flee. It is the responsibility of the next of kin, literally the "blood-avenger," to put a deliberate murderer to death.
Laws are given citing the circumstances and manner in which murder (both intentional and unintentional) is to be judged and punished.
The descendants of Manasseh appeal to Moses and the Elders concerning the case of the daughters of Zelophehad (see Parshat Pinchas). They allege that if the daughters marry persons from another tribe, their land holdings will be added to those of the tribe into which they marry, thus diminishing the size of the lands of Manasseh. Moses, therefore, rules that the daughters of Zelophehad must marry within their father's tribe. This is based on the general statement that no tribe's inheritance may pass to another tribe.
The Book of Numbers concludes with the statement: "These are the commandments and regulations that the Lord enjoined upon the Israelites, through Moses, on the steppes of Moab, at the Jordan near Jericho" (Numbers 36:13).
Synopses courtesy of Teaching Torah, by Sorel Goldberg Loeb and Barbara Binder Kadden
For your Shabbat table:
- A vow is similar to a promise. It could be considered a special promise to God. What does a promise mean to you? Have you ever made a promise?
- Has anyone ever broken a promise they made to you? How did it make you feel?
- By the time we get to these two portions, the Israelites have been wandering in the desert for nearly 40 years. What do you think would be hardest about spendin that much time in the desert?
These two portions end the book of Numbers/BaMidbar.
Did you know that that when we conclude reading a book of the Torah, we say "chazak, chazak v'nitchazaik" - be strong, be strong and we shall be strengthened. According to Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin in his book To Pray as a Jew, this is a cry of encouragement for us to continue reading the the next book of the Torah and to return again next year to the one we have just completed. Using the word "chazak" three times symbolizes the past, present and future.
And now, your g-dcast cartoons for these two parshiyot - first, Parshat Matot:
Next up: Parshat Mas'ay
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