English translation — מטות ב

A.

In the present parshah¹

it is told,

that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had much livestock,

and they said to Moses "The land which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock",

therefore "let this land be given to your servants as a possession; do not bring us across the Jordan."

Moses answered them "Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here? And why will you discourage etc.",

and he added to this "Thus did your fathers etc." as follows.

How was it initially a thought among them,

that they should be given "this land" for which <b>all</b> Jews had fought,

and they — the children of Gad and the children of Reuben — would sit here while the rest of the Jews would fight in the land of Israel²?

— says the holy Or HaChaim³,

that this claim they protected by saying "the land which <b>the Lord</b> <b>smote</b> before the congregation of Israel": because the <b>Almighty</b> wages war for Jews,

so already not important is <b>their</b> valor in the conquest of the other side of the Jordan.

But Moshe answered them on this "Your brothers will go to war and you will sit here": Indeed it is true that the Almighty leads the war,

but to go to war one must nevertheless,

and consequently it has no place that your brothers should go to war and you should sit here.

And here Moshe added another argument "And why will you turn away the heart of the children of Israel from crossing to the land etc.": By your staying sitting here you will turn away the heart of the other Jews from going to the land of Israel,

because they will interpret that your staying on this side of the Jordan comes from the fact that you are afraid of the war

(and your saying "the land which <b>the L-rd</b> <b>smote</b>" is only to cover your fear),

it will cause a weakening also among the other Jews.

And continuing from this, Moses rebuked them, "Thus did your fathers, etc.,"

So also the spies dissuaded the Jews from going to the Land of Israel,

And he concluded, "And behold, you have risen up in place of your fathers, etc."

One must understand:

a)

Since their saying "which <b>G‑d</b> smote" was to ensure that not only will one be <b>able</b> to conquer the Land of Israel,

but that there will not even be any difficulties involved,

which is indeed the <b>opposite</b> of the claim of the spies "we <b>cannot</b> go up etc."⁴

— so how did Moshe compare them to the spies,

and said "you have risen up in place of your fathers, a brood of sinful men etc." — only because one can <b>interpret</b> that they remain on the east side of the Jordan because they are afraid⁵?

b)

The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came to Moses with a request: "If we have found favor in your eyes, etc., do not take us across the Jordan."

It is understandable,

that if Moses had told them that he did not want to fulfill their request — they were ready to go to Eretz Yisrael,

and then the claim "Why will you discourage etc." would have fallen away.

So why did Moses, not accepting the request, need to rebuke them with great length and detail "Thus did your fathers do etc.",

and what place does the rebuke have?

c)

After they said "And we will arm ourselves quickly etc.",

Moses our teacher immediately agreed to it without saying a

word.

It

turns out from this,

that their staying "here" was upheld according to the divine intention.

Now why is it found at all,

that for their staying in Transjordan they were driven into exile earlier than all Jews — "An inheritance hastily gained at the beginning, but its end will not be blessed"⁶?

2.

At first glance one could answer,

that the claim of Moses was

(not only about this not wanting to go to war,

but also)

about the very matter of choosing for oneself a

the land instead of Eretz Yisrael⁷,

and additionally to argue,

that the other land has an advantage over Eretz Yisrael — with this that it is "a land of livestock"⁸.

And this Moses also meant with "and why will you turn aside etc. thus did your fathers etc.",

that just as the spies spoke against

(themselves and in general)

the Jews from going to Eretz Yisrael,

by saying

(not only "we are not able to go up etc.",

but also)

"and this is its fruit"⁹

(which they said even <b>before</b> "but the people is strong etc.")

— in disparagement of Eretz Yisrael; so too you¹⁰

— the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben — through your saying that "this land"

is better than Eretz Yisrael,

you will prevent

(yourselves and)

the other Jews from going¹¹

"to the land which the Lord has given them"¹².

— because with this he alluded to "the cluster which the children of Israel cut from there"&lt;sup&gt;14&lt;/sup&gt;

about which the spies said "and this is its fruit"].

And according to this it is also understandable that even after the Bnei Gad and Bnei Reuven promised "We will be armed quickly before the children of Israel"&lt;sup&gt;15&lt;/sup&gt;

and Moshe agreed to this*&lt;sup&gt;15&lt;/sup&gt;,

their taking of the inheritance on the other side of the Jordan is considered an undesirable matter

(as above at the end of section 1)

— because the agreement of Moshe Rabbeinu to the condition "If you are armed before the Lord for war",

was only because then it would not harm the other Jews.

But nevertheless,

regarding the Bnei Gad and Bnei Reuven themselves,

that which "they settled outside the land of Israel" — is considered an undesirable matter&lt;sup&gt;16&lt;/sup&gt;.

It is still, however, not understood: Moshe was indeed concerned not only with the entire Jewish people,

but also with every individual Jew,

and certainly with two and a half tribes.

Now how did he agree to a matter that protects the other tribes and him, seemingly, did not harm?&lt;sup&gt;17&lt;/sup&gt;

That the tribes of Gad and Reuven themselves take no inheritance in the Land of Israel?

3.

It is stated in Chassidus&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;,

that the tribes of Gad and Reuven wanted to remain on the other side of the Jordan and occupy themselves with livestock,

because in the work of shepherds there are not so many distractions&lt;sup&gt;19&lt;/sup&gt;,

and

(also)

being men of livestock, they will be able to be constantly connected with the Almighty.

That this is also the reason²⁰

that the Patriarchs and the tribes

(except for Joseph)

chose to be "shepherds of sheep,"

in order not to be preoccupied with matters of this world,

and to be able to be constantly a chariot to G-dliness¹⁸.

That accordingly, the similarity of the matter of Bilaam and Balak to the opinion of the spies is understood — also in the inner aspects of the matters:

Also the spies wanted to remain in the desert — because²¹

they knew,

that coming into Eretz Yisrael the manna would cease and one would have to come to bread from the earth — a thing that is connected with a great number of labors like plowing and sowing etc.

Therefore they wanted to remain in the desert removed from the world,

where also their physical eating

(and drinking)

was bread from heaven

(and water from the well of Miriam etc.).

And although also by the Patriarchs and tribes there was such a conduct,

this was considered by the spies a sin,

because this sort of conduct had a place before the giving of the Torah.

But after the giving of the Torah — for the purpose of the giving of the Torah is to make from the <b>physical</b> <b>world</b> a vessel for G‑dliness²²,

one must do with physical matters to make from them a dwelling place for Him, blessed be He.

Based on this, the question becomes

(above end of sec. 2)

even stronger: How did Moshe actually agree that the children of Gad and the children of Reuven should remain in Transjordan and not enter the Land of Israel?

4.

It will be understood by prefacing,

that even after the Giving of the Torah, Jews are divided into two types: dwellers of the tent and businessmen²³

; Yissachar and Zevulun,

masters of Torah and masters of good deeds²⁴.

And seemingly,

since that,

as above,

the intention of the giving of the Torah is to make the <b>world</b> a vessel for G‑dliness,

then all Jews seemingly should have been in the category of businessmen?

So the explanation in this is,

that in order that the intention of "a dwelling place in the lower worlds" should be actualized,

but also,

that in the dwelling the Essence should be found &lt;b&gt;openly&lt;/b&gt;&lt;sup&gt;25&lt;/sup&gt;]

One must have not only the service of fulfilling the commandments in physical matters,

through which there is &lt;b&gt;drawing down&lt;/b&gt; of the Essence,

but also the study of Torah,

which effects,

that the drawing down of the Essence

(which through fulfilling the commandments)

should be &lt;b&gt;revealed&lt;/b&gt;.

And therefore there must be "masters of Torah",

that through their study of Torah they instill a "brightness" into the fulfillment of the commandments of the "masters of good deeds"²⁶,

that the drawing down of the essence through good deeds should be revealed.

But since the <b>drawing down</b> of the essence is accomplished

(primarily)

through the and masters)

of good deeds,

and

(the service of the masters)

of Torah is

(primarily)

to "illuminate" and reveal the matter that takes place through the fulfillment of the commandments²⁷,

therefore the order is established,

that masters of Torah are a minority,

and the majority of Jews occupy themselves with "and you shall gather your grain"²⁸.

5.

And this is one of the differences between the matter of the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben,

and the matter of the spies: the spies wanted that <b>all</b> Jews should remain outside the Land of Israel,

and consequently,

this was contrary to the intention; but the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben requested,

that

(only)

<b>they</b> should remain on the other side of the Jordan,

it is not contrary to the intention — because a minority of Jews must also be in <b>that</b> line.

But nevertheless, Moses said to them "Thus did your fathers, etc.",

because their matter of masters of Torah is to illuminate and instill a vitality into the service of masters of good deeds.

— and as already spoken many times&lt;sup&gt;29&lt;/sup&gt;

in the explanation of "the upper ones descended to the lower ones"&lt;sup&gt;30&lt;/sup&gt;,

that the dwellers of the tent

(upper ones)

must carry themselves down to the businessmen

(lower ones)

and influence them&lt;sup&gt;31&lt;/sup&gt;

is then consequently their request "do not let us cross the Jordan",

to be separated from the Land of Israel entirely — opposite of the intention,

But after, as through his rebuke Moshe Rabbeinu aroused in them the mesirus nefesh for

(the conquest of Eretz Yisrael,

whose purpose is)

the manner of avodah of Eretz Yisrael³²

— "And we will arm ourselves swiftly before Bnei Yisrael",

Moshe agreed that they should take their inheritance on the other side of the Yarden

— Because through the readiness for "nechaltz chushim" they demonstrated that their remaining on the other side of the Yarden is

(<b>not</b> from their desire to be isolated from the world,

but)

from this,

that in the intention of dirah betachtonim itself,

they chose for themselves the avodah of "marei Torah".

6.

After all the above, it was nevertheless,

in detail,

a tendency of the true inner intention³³.

And therefore it is called "an inheritance <b>hastened</b> at first etc.",

which indicates the aspect of Tohu — opposite of <b>the settlement</b> of Tikkun,

Because the main and inner intention is — in the drawing down of lights into vessels,

making a dwelling place for Him, blessed be He, <b>in the lower realms</b>.

(From the maamar beginning "Umikneh rav" 5720.

And the sicha of Shabbos Parshas Matos-Masei 5719)