✡️🕎DvarTorah/Song of Zion: Parashat Matot-Masei

Bruchim ha’ba’im! Welcome to the DvarTorah/A Song of Zion diary series, our weekly check-in and virtual pre-shabbat minyan for Jews on Daily Kos. This is an open thread, and we treat it as a safe space for Jewish folks here. Non-Jews are welcome but we ask that they listen more than speak. No squabbling, please: if you want to fight, kindly step outside.

    Originally I was thinking to do a music diary, but found I have a drash for Matot-Masei, from a friend some years ago, that I hadn’t posted yet. Many participants in our DK series are great at bringing music — and please do tonight as well, in the comments! — so I’ll do this instead. Here's the link for all our parasha diaries — click at the top of the left-most column where it says “Tag name” to put them in alphabetical order, and this parsha should be somewhere in the middle, for readers who’d like more for Matot-Masei and other Torah portions. Quoting from one by Navy Vet Terp:

Matot-Masei — Numbers 30: 2 to end of Numbers. Haftarah:  Jeremiah 2: 4 to 28, and skip ahead to end on a happy note at either Jeremiah 3: 4 or 4: 1 to 2.  

     Consider all the following a blockquote — I’ve just added a few links and stuff (be aware that the MechonMamre text I link to is not considered the most accurate, but it’s the only online Hebrew-English Tanakh I know of, and it’s fairly poetic, a close relative of the KJV translation:

     This Shabbat we read the last two Parshas of the Book of Bamidbar <big><big>פרשת במדבר</big></big> (Numbers), Matot & Masei. The reason we combine the two Parshas is to be always able to read Devarim, the first Parsha of the Book of Deuteronomy, on the Shabbat before Tisha B'Av (9th day in Av), or on Tisha B'Av itself when it falls on Shabbat, as this year it does.

     Matot begins with the laws of vows.

     The first reading—Numbers 30:2–17 — begins, "Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes; to the children of Israel, saying this is what God has commanded. When a person makes a vow to God or makes an oath to prohibit upon him something, he may not violate his word. According to whatever comes out from his mouth he must do."

     Here we see the emphasis the Torah places on fulfilling a vow. It is the same when one makes a commitment to charity, one must fulfill their commitment.

     However, we are only human and there may be a chance that person will not be able to fulfill a commitment made. For this reason, one should add the words, "Bli Neder," when making a commitment or promise that realworld or reallife conditions may well obstruct. "Bli Neder" means, "Without a vow."

      King Solomon emphasizes the power of speech as follows, "Life and death are in the hands of the tongue."

     The Torah specifies that Moses first spoke to the "heads of the tribes" and then to all of Israel. Why were the heads of the tribes emphasized here as a category in themselves and not included together with all the people of Israel? The Torah speaks here about fulfilling vows and promises. "Heads of the Tribes," represent those who are in positions of leadership.

     Many people who seek positions of leadership will tend to make all kinds of promises to the voters in order to get elected to that position. But unfortunately, when they are elected, as we see with many politicians, they forget their promises. This is why the Torah singles out the heads of the tribes, for this law applies especially to them.

     But all vows are not created equal. if one makes a vow to transgress a commandment, then one is prohibited to fulfill the vow. The reason is that a personal vow cannot override God's commandments: we vowed at the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, to keep and observe all the commandments.  

     Of particular interest in Solomon saying "Life and death are in the hands of the tongue", i.e., that preservation of life or the destruction of it may come as a result of --as said about the deep responsibility of leaders-- words that leaders say.

     Destruction comes from urging people to transgress commandments. So not only should leaders of all kinds particularly never bear false witness about themselves nor anyone else, their own promises or anyone's, but also should never issue propaganda to attract and excite adherents with violent emotion and impulses to contravene the commandments. Leaders should lead their people to be thoughtful and think critically and honestly and in accord with Torah.

     Because it's complex, not simplistic, even though emotion makes complexity hard to come to grips with. Leaders should never speak in ways that push or pull their listeners to abandon complexity in order to favor simple ideas instead. That's why it takes not merely education, but study ---trained skill to deal with complexity--- to be a rabbi or any other kind of serious leader.

     True leaders encourage people to develop leadership themselves, including the embrace of complexity, in order to seek to always speak and act for the greater good, never behaving like thoughtless armies or lawless mobs, but standing firm in their vows and commitments.

Shabbat Shalom

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