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In this week’s parsha, we read the laws of kashrut, of how to make our food, especially meat, kosher, and also which animals we are permitted to eat. We learn that we ARE allowed to eat giraffes, but we are not allowed to eat STORK, just as two examples. At times, we get reasons for why or why not; in other cases, I think we know that we are dealing with a CHOK, or a rule that we follow BECAUSE it is a rule. A rule that we follow because God ordains it, and for no other reason. There’s a passage I want to pull out, something that seems pretty straightforward; and sometimes when something seems straightforward, we can gloss over it. So let’s focus on it for a moment. Here’s the passage:
When the Lord, your God, expands your boundary, as He has spoken to you, and you say, "I will eat meat," because your soul desires to eat meat, you may eat meat, according to every desire of your soul. ככִּֽי־יַרְחִיב֩ יְהֹוָ֨ה אֱלֹהֶ֥יךָ אֶת־גְּבֻֽלְךָ֘ כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֣ר דִּבֶּר־לָךְ֒ וְאָֽמַרְתָּ֙ אֹֽכְלָ֣ה בָשָׂ֔ר כִּֽי־תְאַוֶּ֥ה נַפְשְׁךָ֖ לֶֽאֱכֹ֣ל בָּשָׂ֑ר בְּכָל־אַוַּ֥ת נַפְשְׁךָ֖ תֹּאכַ֥ל בָּשָֽׂר: When the Lord your God “expands your boundaries.” According to Rashi, the interpreter who almost always prefers the simplest possible explanation, this passage means that the Israelites were allowed to eat meat once they entered the Promised Land. And he infers from that, that they were NOT allowed to eat meat in the desert unless it was part of a ritual sacrifice. After all, let’s not forget that they had manna that kept them alive and provided sustenance for 40 years. Rashi takes this passage to mean that, once in Eretz Israel, the people would DESIRE meat AND they were allowed to fulfill that desire. Rabbi Akiva disagrees. Akiva maintains that the Israelites were allowed to eat non-kosher meat in the desert, so as not to offend the other tribes they encountered in their travels. I don’t know where in the Torah he gets that idea, because I myself don’t know of any passage that suggests that. But we do know that our sages loved a good debate, even across the centuries. So, for Akiva, the passage is telling us that once we enter the Promised Land, there will be no more permission to eat anything other than kosher meat. To me, it’s the phrase “expand your boundaries” that’s really fascinating. Some scholars interpret the phrase to mean that the Israelites will secure property, and that new property will literally expand their boundaries. Others argue that the passage ‘expand your boundaries’ refers to the movement INTO the Holy Land. Rashi CONNECTS the idea of expanding your boundaries with the idea of eating meat—for Rashi, the only justification for eating meat is that you have wealth, you have abundance. That makes some sense, for I am guessing that meat wasn’t easy to come by, especially if the best selections were saved for ritual sacrifice. It’s also ironic, because I know that many animal rights activists argue that we do not NEED to eat meat to survive. The Torah seems to be recognizing that fact but still to give us permission to eat meat as long as it’s the right kind of animal slaughtered and cooked in the right kind of way. That’s a debate for another time. But “expand your boundaries” may also be a metaphor for the new life that the Israelites will now have to take on. No more manna. No more miracles. And, perhaps most importantly, no more Moshe. They MUST expand their boundaries. Basically, they must GROW UP. They are now responsible for themselves and for all the spiritual and mundane aspects of their new lives. —and what they eat is now no longer automatically provided to them but is rather part of the new set of instructions that God and their rebbe Moshe provide for them.
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God tested Bnei Yisrael in the desert. The tests went both ways.
The entire sojourn in the wilderness could be understood in this fashion. It is not only that they were being punished for the sin of the spies; it was also that by being under Hashem’s protection in every physical way they learned to trust Hashem. On the eve of their entry into the Promised Land, Moshe understood that the conditions under which this new generation was raised would change drastically, and unfortunately the people would fail the future tests. Moshe knew this and spoke about it in today’s Parsha and throughout the entire book of Devarim. The Torah gives us the list of the seven fruits with which Eretz Yisrael is blessed (8:8) “a land of wheat and barley… a land of olives that produce oil, and honey.” It is interesting to note that the Torah says that olive oil is one of the blessed fruits of Eretz Yisrael. Why not state that it is the olive? Why mention olive oil? The Talmud states that as a result of this verse, we would conclude that olives are not to be considered as beneficial to the human being as olive oil is. The Talmud even suggests that eating olives is detrimental to one’s memory, possibly when they are accompanied by a martini! When praising the land of Israel, the Torah used the most useful forms of the produce of the land. It is of note that for many years Israel was an exporter of olives. This was true in the Roman period 2,000 year ago. Rome was actually importing olives from Israel and they could be found sold in the marketplaces in Rome. This is bizarre considering that Italy is a major producer of olive oil in the modern period. But in ancient times this was obviously not so. As it turned out, this was not always a major blessing as it was economically. Because of the trade agreement the Romans had, ships were coming to Israel for economic trade as in olive oil and olives, and became knowledgeable of the geography and topography of the land of Israel, which proved helpful when the Romans invaded and conquered the land in the 1st century C.E. Let's examine the Torah Reading...
In the beginning of the Parsha, Moshe prays to Hashem to repeal God’s decree that Moshe not be able to enter the Promised Land. Moshe actually makes two requests at this time.
Nevertheless there is no guarantee that Hashem will grant us our request, just as he does not fully grant Moshe’s. The power of prayer is often spoken about in order to motivate us to enter into a true dialogue with the Almighty. Prayer is important and represents a major ingredient in our relationship with Hashem. Just the fact that Hashem would listen to our request is valuable and elevates us to enormous status. It is a true act of Divine chesed to even be granted an audience with the King. Moshe is considered by many as the first king of Israel. If he were granted his request to enter Israel, what would be his status? It is very difficult for a king, especially one of Moshe’s stature, to enter into another career in retirement. He never made the request to remain as the leader of the nation and consequently we cannot envision a Moshe in retirement. (We currently have several retired presidents of the United States. Several of them have acted as unofficial ambassadors for the country, as in the case of former President Bush and President Clinton. Another one published his real views and devalued his own prestige as in the case of President Carter. Very few presidents ever retired and went into an illustrious career in retirement. One name that comes to mind is John Quincy Adams who was not a popular president. After his defeat for reelection he went on to spend over 17 years as a member of the House of Representatives, representing his home district (Plymouth) in Massachusetts. He was an eloquent speaker on behalf of many causes, especially anti-slavery.) What would Moshe Rabbeinu retire to? As Yehoshua would become the next king of Israel, perhaps Moshe Rabbeinu would become the head of the Sanhedrin, or the Rosh Yeshiva par excellence. The Ten Commandments are repeated in this week’s reading. One of the distinctions between the previous reading and today’s is the verb used for the mitzvah of Shabbat. The difference between Zachor and Shamor, between Remembering Shabbat and Guarding Shabbat, is the distinction between the positive and negative commandments intertwined in Shabbat. Many people are quite particular in observing Shabbat properly and not transgressing any of the prohibitions of Shabbat, which are quite numerous. The greater challenge of Shabbat is not only observing the prohibitions, but how do we create the spiritual positive energy that Shabbat is supposed to engender? The positive commandments of Shabbat also need to be emphasized in the same fashion. Singing Zemirot and creating the special atmosphere of the Shabbat banquet certainly promotes this idea of the positive energy of Shabbat. We truly must go beyond that. During these summer months when the Shabbat afternoon is lengthy, how are we observing Shabbat during those hours? Do we feel energized spiritually in order to create the positive atmosphere of Shabbat? The magic of Shabbat is even greater in the off hours of the day. Try it and see what I mean. Haftorat VaEtchanan: This is the first of seven Haftorot of Consolation leading up to the Yomim Noraim. "Comfort ye, comfort ye My people saith your God" (Isaiah 40). The Midrash (Yalkut Shemoni) in this verse proclaims: "May it be a comfort for those above and for those below, for the living and for the dead, for this world and the world to come." This Midrash seems to be conveying an important message. Unless comforting or consolation is total, there is no real comfort at all. To comfort an individual or a people half-heartedly is no consolation. In fact, the Midrash elsewhere states that when Yeshayahu first mouthed the words "Nachamu, Nachamu," the Jews wanted to kill him. It is only when he completed his message with "says your God" that they were assuaged. The Jews at the time were so distraught and in such despair that nothing short of a direct message of comfort from Hashem would do. Anything less would ring empty of meaning and speak poorly of the messenger. When we as individuals are put to the challenge of having to offer comfort such as on the occasion of comforting mourners, we must be aware of the same hazards of offering incomplete Nechamah. In essence, saying "the right thing" at the right time is an art. May we all rise to the level of artists when called upon to soothe another human being. We understand that many colleges and universities give retiring faculty a chance to present their “last lecture” as part of their retirement year. Well, in today’s parsha, that’s what we’ve got—Moshe is giving his last lecture. He is 36 days away, not from retirement, but from death. He is so worried about the future of the Israelites—if miracles didn’t keep us faithful, how can we be expected to follow God’s commandments when the miracles are no longer a part of our daily lives?
So, Moses—who we remember told God that he was “slow of speech and slow of tongue”—has a lot to say. Virtually the entire Book of Deuteronomy is his farewell discourse to the people he has tried so hard to lead. The book actually has two common names, one derived from Hebrew and the other from Greek. The Hebrew: Sefer D'varim, refers to its first words: Eileh ha-d'varim, "These are the words [that Moses addressed to all Israel]." The Greek: The translation for Mishnah Torah, Deuteronomium means "second law" and refers to the fact that Moses is repeating the Exodus/Numbers narrative. But we know that that is not quite the case. Moses doesn’t simply restate the Exodus narrative—he takes some liberties with this second telling, perhaps for good reasons. For example
Nachmanides (Ramban) euphemistically remarked that Moses' rendition of this twice-told tale was designed l'hosif bahen bi'ur, "to add clarity and explanation," and to make sure that the entirety of the generation that would enter the Land heard it—just as the entirety of the Exodus generation experienced Sinai. We don’t know whether the Moses we see here is deliberately simplifying and changing some details, or whether this is truly how he remembers these events. We all know how fragile and tricky human memory can be. Sometimes we forget. And sometimes memories morph into something else. And sometimes we adjust our memories—without even realizing it—to fit what we need them to be. This may well be Moses' emotional need as he nears the end of his life. The Moses of this parsha is aged and tired and worried. In HIS last lecture, the fate of the Jewish people is at stake, and he knows it. In this week’s parsha, we, B’Nai Yisrael, continue to steadily approach the Promised Land. And we begin with a long set of instructions from Moshe about vows and their importance. We then move to a war of vengeance against the Midianites—and notice that the Parsha mentions our friend Balaam as the reason to show no mercy to one’s enemies. And there is yet another census—of the spoils of war, of what our chumash translates as “booty.”
There is so much going on in Mattot that we might miss an exchange between Moshe and two of his tribal leaders, Gan and Reuben. Believe it or not, after all that the Israelites have been through to get to Eretz Israel, Gad and Reuben come to Moshe to request that he allow them to remain outside the Promised Land and to be able to raise their cattle there. As they say, “it would be a favor to us if this land were given to your servants as a holding. Do not move us across the Jordan.” We have to imagine that Moshe got petitions of some sort or another all the time. Part of the job, no doubt. We just recently saw the five daughters who requested that they be allowed to inherit their father’s estate because they had no brothers. But, unlike in that case, Moshe does not consult God or consider Gad and Reuben’s petition. Instead, he just blows up at them. As he says, “Are your brothers to go to war while you stay here?” So in part Moshe sees Gad and Reuben as selfish; it seems to him that they are not willing to do their part in the upcoming war. But Gad and Reuben assure Moshe that they WILL do their part, and that they only want to be assured that they can stay “on the east side of the Jordan” once the war is successfully completed. They have no intention, in other words, of abandoning their brothers. But Moshe has another worry. He tells them: “Why will you turn the minds of the Israelites from crossing into the land that the Lord has given them?” In other words, Moshe is concerned that the actions of Gad and Reuben---remember that they are tribal LEADERS, role models for others—Moshe is worried that their actions will lead others to think that they don’t have to cross into Israel either. Some commentators (including NACHMANIDES) think that Moshe was too harsh on Gad and Reuben, and that allowing them to stay in trans-Jordan would have actually INCREASED the amount of land that the Israelites would end up controlling. I’ll leave it to you to decide what you think about this exchange. But I can’t help but think as I read these passages how demanding a job Moshe had, and here we see him increasingly impatient. He is tired. He is spent. He is frustrated. Perhaps he’s thinking “God won’t allow ME to be in the Promised Land, and yet YOU TWO INGRATES decide you want to VOLUNTARILY stay behind.” I don’t know. But it seems clear that the challenges of leadership are becoming a real strain for Moshe. |
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