This week’s reading is the longest in Torah – it is the combination of Matot and Masei. The two readings together, which happens almost every year, have 253 verses and it is the longest reading of the Torah. The longest portion is Naso, with 176 verses, followed by Pinchas, with 168 verses. But Matot and Masei, which are very frequently combined, have together 253 verses.
The portion of Matot begins with Moshe explaining the laws of vows and oaths, including how they can be annulled. It then details the Israelites’ war against Midian, outlining the laws regarding the spoils of war. Finally, it addresses the request of Reuben and Gad to settle outside of the Promised Land, a request that Moses initially rejects but ultimately grants under specific conditions.
The portion of Masei summarizes the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness, delineates the borders of the Promised Land, and outlines the laws regarding cities of refuge and inheritance for women. It also details the Israelites’ 42 stations in the wilderness, from Egypt to the plains of Moab.
Love and Limits: Photo by Lera Ginzburg on Unsplash
==
In the middle of Matot, there is a troubling command: God tells Moshe: “Avenge the Jewish people against the Midianites – and after that you will be gathered to your people.”
What the Midianites did to the Jewish people in the desert is described in the previous portions, at the end of parashat Balak and the beginning of parashat Pinchas. It was a sexual trap to get the Israelites to worship a deity called Ba’al Pe’or. A plague followed, as a punishment to the people. This plague was the greatest death in the 40 years in the desert, surpassing even the Golden Calf. This plague had 24,000 people dead, and is only stopped by the equally troubling actions of Pinchas.
The idea that our ethics and morals extend to our sexual behavior is present in the Ten Commandments, for instance, with “do not commit adultery” and on Yom Kippur afternoon reading. Kedushah, holiness, is defined by elevating the physical, and guarding it with limitations: the idea being that God created a physical world and us, physical beings, elevate that to the realm of a day-to-day spirituality.
We create holy days, like Shabbat, by refraining from certain actions, and not working. We create holy relationships, with our parents and partners, by honoring them – and some of that honor is expressed by not doing certain actions, like deception, cheating, cursing. Maimonides will add to the concept of holiness also the idea that we elevate food: both the laws regarding what animals we eat or not, and the death we cause to animals by making sure that they are killed in the quickest way – both of those ideas he inserts in the part of “laws of holiness” in Maimonides’ code. How we refrain our impulses regarding food is holiness too. To be a holy people, we elevate the mundane,and sexual behavior is part of that. Judaism is about finding ways of elevating our daily life towards holiness – we are called a holy people. The Midianites, the story in the Torah tells us, entrapped the Jews precisely through making them believe that there are no limits for sexual behavior.
The text continues, however, by telling Moshe that as soon as this war is done, he, Moshe, will die. The people of Israel at this point are poised to go into the promised land, and we know that all the leadership of the desert would not get into the land. Moshe is the last of the three siblings: Miriam and Aharon have died. And the text has said that as soon as this battle is waged, he will die. A normal person will understandably balk at such a command, and try to postpone it. But Moshe is giving us a lesson in leadership – he immediately gets the people ready for this war. He knows that he has to give up on his life so that the people can move forward in their story.
Great leaders are those who put the needs of those whom they lead before their own needs. Moshe is not just giving up leadership, and letting Joshua take over, but he is also giving his very existence so the people can go into the land. It is rare, nowadays, to find that type of leader, the leader that will put the collective well being above his or he personal desires, his or her personal interests, his or her political interests.
I have told this story a couple of times, so let me tell it to you too. As a freshly minted rabbi, I went to what can be describe as a job fair for rabbis. Conservative synagogues looking for new rabbis and fresh off the school rabbis meet, have interviews and from there, if the interviews are good, the rabbi goes to visit communities and see if they would be a good fit. I interviewed with several of communities, and got to visit four of them, one on each following weekend.
There was a community looking for an assistant rabbi. The pay was excellent, they had a nice house for the assistant rabbi, and the community seemed nice. So I was not the only new rabbi trying for that assistant position, and visiting it. And suddenly, before any of us received a yes or no, the congregation closed that position without giving an explanation. The explanation came on the papers next day: the senior rabbi had stolen 100,000 dollars from the congregation for his own personal use. And what was the use? To bring his mistress over from another state! I’ll let that sink in for a moent. The rabbi, of course, lost his license to be a rabbi, went to jail for a few years and then became an used car salesman. I do not have to tell you how traumatic that experience was for the community itself, how they had to pick up the pieces afterward, how long and difficult the healing process was.
Whenever leaders put their own personal interests above the needs of the community, in our people, tragedy ensues. This Shabbat we begin what is called the nine days, which is the period between Rosh Chodesh Av and Tishah beAv, the nineth day of the month of Av, when we remember the destruction of the Temple. That destruction happened for many reasons, say the rabbis. One of them is the infighting between the leaders – every single group during the second temple period had a position that can be described as “my way or the highway”. Every individual that was significant, even if they were not a leader, had their own desires front and center, not caring about the needs of the nation, the people, or even Jerusalem. Not caring about limits. This is called ‘sinat hinam’, translated as ‘senseless hatred’, the most famous of those stories is Kamtsa and Bar Kamtsa.
Senseless hatred is an odd concept, if you think about it. When you listen to people who hate, they all think that they are being very sensible. They all have logical reasons to hate and to put their own actions forward with complete disregard for the other, with complete disregard for the consequences to their families, communities and people. They all have logical reasons to want to have no barriers towards their objectives. It is my way or the highway. So I don’t think that senseless hatred is a good translation of ‘sinat hinam’. A better translation is ‘hatred freely given, without regard for consequences’.
Whenever we give in to hate, there are consequences. When we decide that we have a pass on hateful actions because the ends justify the means, that is sinat hinam. When we somehow rationalize our hate driven actions, after all we are only looking for our own interests, that is sinat hinam, hate given freely without thinking of the consequences. The names in the story, Kamtsa and Bar Kamtsa, can be translated as Locust and Locust Junior. Now think about the destruction locusts bring – and yet each locust is doing precisely only their own interest: to eat as much as possible in the shortest amount of time, they only focus on their selves. They destroy everything, there’s nothing left for the next generation. The hatred between Locust and Locust Jr destroyed the temple, say the rabbis – because it was just each looking for his own interests, and disregarding the collective.
Holiness, our portion reminds us, is to be searched throughout our lives, in every moment, in every action. This means regarding the other, listening to them, accepting limits, understanding and taking in consideration the needs of those we share our lives with, the needs of our friends and families, the needs of our communities, cities, people and nation. The needs of the collective, as Moshe exemplifies to us. Sinat hinam, consequence-free hatred, is the complete opposite of that.
So may we take to heart these lessons, may we see the needs of others and take them in consideration, and may we, after the Nineth of av, find the true consolation of Ahavah hinam, Love that is given freely. Shabbat shalom.