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This
week's edition of The Set Table: A Young
Messianic Shabbat Table Guide contains:
QUESTIONS AND COMMENTARY ON PARASHAT MATTOT-MAS‘EI
CHAYYEI YESHUA - A Devotional Commentary
on the Besora Reading
SUMMARY OF QUESTIONS
QUESTIONS AND COMMENTARY ON PARASHAT MATTOT-MAS‘EI
1. Parashat Mattot makes mention of Bilaam's death (31:8) and his role in Israel's sin against God with the daughters of Midian (31:16). Why does the Torah wait to mention his role in seducing Israel to idolatry and the death of 24,000 Israelites, events which happened six chapters earlier (25:1-9)? What spiritual lesson can we learn from the Torah's delay in mentioning his role in these events?
Jonathan
Biblical interpreters have often pointed out that the scriptures sometimes records matters briefly in their original context only to expand upon them later (e.g. Nachmanides' comments to Genesis 31:7). In the case of this week's Torah portion and Parashat Balak from two weeks ago, the Scriptures first detail Israel's consorting with the daughters of Midian and their eventual turn to idolatry (Numbers 25:1-9). Then in Numbers 31:16, the Torah mentions Bilaam's role in seducing Israel to idolatry. "Yet they are the very ones who, at the bidding of Bilaam, induced the Israelites to trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, so that the LORD's community was struck by the plague." In the description of events in Numbers 25, the narrative portrays Israel as solely culpable for their idolatrous actions. In this week's parasha, we learn that Bilaam played a central role in seducing Israel to transgression. According to Rashi (to Numbers 31:16; cf. Sanhedrin 106a), Bilaam's role in the seduction of Israel to idolatry was through suggesting the plan to the Kings of Midian, among them the father of Kozbi (the princess slain by Pinchas), that they send the women of Midian to seduce the men of Israel.
But why does the Torah wait until now to tell us about Bilaam's role in Israel's sin? As Nehama Leibowitz asks, "why was not Bilaam's responsibility for the matter of Peor recorded in the context of that story?" (Studies in Numbers, 377). Leibowitz argues that the Torah waited to tell us about Balaam's role in this plan so that "the moral responsibility ultimately rested on the Israelites themselves." The Torah did not want to give the Israelites any excuse for turning to idolatry and defiling the holy space of the Mishkan. Spiritually, the Torah's description of the events in Parashat Balak and in Parashat Mattot challenges us to assume responsibility for our actions and to resist the urge to deny our culpability through blaming others, regardless of their role in our transgression.
2. Why is Parashat Mas‘ei always read during one of the three weeks preceding Tisha B'Av? What comfort and hope does it provide for us during these days of historical tragedy and mourning?
Jason
After
the Egyptian exile, Israel suffered four additional exiles. They include the
Edom-Rome (Edom), the Media-Persian (Media), the Babylonian (Bavel), and the Grecian-Syrian (Yavan)
exiles. On the hermeneutical level of sod
(or hidden meaning), these four exiles are alluded to by the first letter of
each of the four opening words of Parashat
Mas‘ei: elleh mas‘ei benei Yisrael-"These
are the journeys of the Children of Israel" (Numbers 33:1). Thus the four
future exiles that the people of Israel would have to endure are hinted at in
this week's parasha.
Furthermore,
Nachal Kedomim teaches that the two
opening words of this parasha also
allude to the individuals who would redeem Israel from each of these exiles. The redemption from Egypt came through Aaron and Moses. In the days of
Haman, the Jewish people were delivered through Esther and Mordechai and
ultimately we will be redeemed from our currant Edom-Rome exile through Messiah
and Eliyahu haNavi. It light of this it makes sense that this Torah portion is
always read during Ben HaMeztarim, the three weeks that precede
Tisha B'Av. For it reminds us that both our exile and redemption were all part
of God's plan from the very beginning. The fact that God controls the destiny
and fate of his people is so important that even in the Messianic Age will
still keep Tisha B'Av and the three other biblical fast days as a memorial to
God's faithfulness.
There
will however be one major difference. According to Rambam these days of fasting
and sadness will turned into days of feasting and rejoicing. As the prophet Zechariah writes, "This is what the LORD Almighty
says: ‘The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become
joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and
peace' (Zechariah 8:19)." Let us not forget that God knows the end
from the beginning and that even in the destruction of the Temple and the exile of our people,
the Lord had already sown the seed of our final redemption through Messiah
Yeshua. On a more personal level, we should be reminded of the words of Shaul
who taught in Romans 8:28 that
"God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and
are called according to his purpose for them."
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