Mattot-Masei – \

7/14/07 –

Shabbat shalom. I appreciate the fact that this minyan welcomes a variety of voices to give a drash and I thank you for allowing me to give one as well.

Please turn to page 957 in the Etz Hayim, Chapter 33, verse 51:

“⁵¹Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ⁵²you shall dispossess all the inhabitants of the land; you shall destroy all their molten images, and you shall demolish all their cult places. ⁵³And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have assigned the land to you to possess.”

Why are the B’nei Yisrael instructed to drive out the inhabitants? In Devarim it says,

“⁴And when the Lord your God has thrust them from your path, say not to yourselves, ”The Lord has enabled us to possess this land because of our virtues”; it is rather because of the wickedness of those nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before you. ⁵It is not because of your virtues and your rectitude that you will be able to possess their country; but it is because of their wickedness that the Lord your God is dispossessing those nations before you, and in order to fulfill the oath that the Lord made to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Tisha B’Av is less than 2 weeks away and we know that the B’nei Yisrael was also driven out of this land when they behaved immorally – on two different occasions. There must be something special about this land.

According to Rashi, we read the verses in our parsha as a promise -- if you dispossess the inhabitants of the land and destroy their idols, then you will be able to exist there.

The Ramban read this not as “you will be able” to exist there but that “you shall live there” – it’s a command. While more than half of the mitzvot require one to live in Israel, the Ramban identified the act of settling in Israel in itself one of the 613 mitzvoth. In Israel and nowhere else as he says;

“Should they think of going out and conquering Babylon or Assyria and the like in order to settle there, they will transgress God’s commandment.”

The Gemara also emphasizes he importance of living in Israel. Following are several quotes from Ketubot.

* “At all times a man should reside in Eretz Yisrael, even in a city mostly inhabited by heathens.”

* “Whoever dwells in Eretz Yisrael is considered to be one who has a god…whoever resides outside the Land of Israel is as if he worships idols.”

* “The people dwelling in Eretz Yisrael are forgiven of sin.”

* “Whoever is buried there is considered as if he were buried under the Altar” in the Temple as regards the atonement he receives.

* “Even a Canaanite maidservant who is living in Eretz Yisrael may rest assured that she will be a denizen of the world to come.”

* “Whoever walks four amos in Eretz Yisrael may rest assured that he will be a denizen of the world to come.”

As to who should go to Israel, the Mishnah in Kiddushin says that, in Ezra’s time,

“There were 10 genealogical classes who went up from Babylonia, Kohanim, Leviim, Yisraelim, disqualified kohanim, converts, freed slaves, mamzerim, nesinim, shetukim and asufim.”

These last categories include people who didn’t know if their parents were Jewish, people who descended from a group who converted to Judaism not for religious reasons but to save their skin, and others who were considered genealogically unfit. Even so, the Gemara goes on to say, “all lands are like dough compared to Eretz Yisrael,” meaning that other lands are a mixture of various groups whereas Israel is to be considered as if it were as homogeneous as fine sifted flour. To make sure this didn’t become an issue in later generations, the Gemara went on to say “anyone who declares others to be unfit is himself unfit” and “once a genealogically mixed family is mixed, it’s mixed.”

Seems simple and straightforward. But let’s look back again at the pesukim we originally quoted. This time, let’s look at the Hebrew. Verse 51 begins, “V’horashtem et call yoshvei ha’aretz” and verse 52 begins, “V’horashtem et ha’aretz”.

The same word is used in both sentences – V’horashtem –but in one, the word is translated “you shall dispossess” and the other as “you shall take possession”. The translation in the Etz Hayim follows Rashi. Others translate both “V’horashtem’s” as “dispossess” or “drive out”, but add words to make it make sense. So, “V’horashtem et ha’aretz” isn’t “you shall drive out the land,” but “you shall drive out the inhabitants of the land.” This inconsistency in translations is found in Christian Bibles too.

How can the same word mean two different things, in fact, opposite meanings?

I’ve been pondering this question for many weeks and I beg you to forgive my audacity at offering my own opinion. Perhaps both meanings can co-exist. When they dispossess the inhabitants of the land, they also inherit them. When Joshua crossed the Jordan and prepared to invade Jericho, just at the other side of the Jordan River from where they’re standing now, he sent in spies who, in their first action made a promise to save a woman and her family. Later on, he spares the people of Gibeon. Consider too that there are provisions in the Torah for strangers living in our midst – maybe God knew they were incapable of driving everyone out.

V’horashtem. Inheritance. Why is this here, in the last chapter of Bamidbar?

Earlier in our parsha, God names the 42 places we traveled together in the wilderness – when I read this, I can almost imagine the photo album and the video – it feels nostalgic. Starting in the next parsha, we will hear from the mouth of Moshe, not from God. I wonder if, in their eagerness to move on, to cross the Jordan, if the B’nei Yisrael even realizes that, after this, Hashem will no longer speak to them directly. They will no longer have his cloud direct them which way to go. The manna will stop falling and they’ll have to provide for themselves.

Like a parent to his child, Hashem has made many arrangements – but our fate is in our hands. He gives us warnings – which we can heed or not. He leaves us wealth – Torah, leaders, our own land – but he also leaves us poor – without the sound of his voice – like a father who will be missed in the utterance of every prayer of every day.

The temples were destroyed and many tried to cross the Jordan but were unable to make the journey. Most of those rabbis who idealized the value of living in Eretz Yisrael were not able to make it there themselves. Traveling there was dangerous and difficult. But they never let go of their dream to settle there. As the reality grew distant, they comforted themselves in the belief that, in the end of days, they would end up there.

They also understood life’s realities. The Rambam said, as a rule, a Jew shouldn’t leave the Land of Israel once they were already living there but there were exceptions – one could leave to study Torah, to get married, to escape idol worship or to do business.

Some were able to observe the mitzvah. The Ramban achieved prominence in Spain but, after defending his faith successfully in a debate with a converted Jew in front of King James of Aragon, he was compelled to leave. It was then, in 1267 at age 72 that he decided to live out his dream. He sailed to Israel and sought out the community in Jerusalem. There were just 2 Jewish men there who survived the Crusades and the Mongol invaders. Together they rebuilt the community and a shul that survived until 1948.

Many were not so fortunate. The Rambam moved to Israel but eventually was forced to settle in Egypt. Moshe, in our parsha, stands on the banks of the Jordan, a place that took him 40 years to reach and there he is, he can see the land and knows he will never enter.

My grandfather was born in Palestine. He was the eldest of 11 children. His uncle wrote a book of the generations who lived in Israel and, in Jerusalem, there’s a street named after his mother’s family. His first wife and children died in Israel in an accident and, when his family’s mill went bust, he came to the States to support his family back home. In his 70’s, he followed his dream to return, but he found that he was unable to reestablish his life there and came back to the States a broken man.

Much of my mother’s family perished in Poland during the Holocaust. She wanted to move there but circumstances didn’t permit. Eventually, my father and sister each made aliyah but my sister’s husband is now in Australia working at a job he can’t find in Israel.

Inheritance is a mixed blessing. At the moment we inherit, we may become disinherited – but we don’t have to suffer loss to appreciate that which we have been given. Did we earn everything we have? We are given so much by those who bring us to our own Jordan Rivers. We all start with something and it is our duty to recognize that much of what we have didn’t come from the work of our own hands. We also learn that objects are meaningless - like the idols that were left behind by the Canaanites – and it’s our deeds that count.

To find fulfillment, we must build something new that’s not set in stone – but build upon ideas, respect for each other, love and appreciation of our families and faith – these all outlast wealth and power – two pagan deities which are continually outdone by the wisdom of our prophets.

As for Israel, it is a wonderful inheritance – and like many inheritances it is both resented and cherished. The Canaanites lost it, as did the B’nei Yisrael – twice. Maybe we just need to learn to appreciate it. The Gemara made it easy to observe the mitzvah of settling there. Just four steps. May we all have the opportunity to leave at least four footprints there – meaningful steps, a real contribution - near those who’ve gone before us and those who will follow both in the world to come and in this world. And may God bless the land with peace.

Shabbat shalom.