Parshas Matot-Masei: Don't Worry. Be Holy!

Before we look at our Torah portion this week, I'd like to share a few thoughts about the concerns many have over the rising vitriol against Israel and Jews coming from both the left and the right. Verbal and physical attacks on Jews ebb and flow throughout human history. Today's critics are influenced heavily by money, biased global reporting, arrogance, self righteous pride, and a total lack of understanding of the Jewish experience as a targeted people. To critics of the Jews who have not lived through a holocaust or been raised in a family whose DNA carries the memories of countless pogroms and extermination attempts, I quote an extremely influential Jew whose insights many around the world view as gospel. “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

We can't control what media people think and say and do, so it's best to not get distracted and angry and frightened by the news and those who report it. They are merely flawed human beings who have no power except that which we give them.

Much better to control what we think and say and do. As threats mount, we can strip power from false media gods and give power back where it belongs, to Almighty God who is always the most reliable source of truth and direction. We can embrace the idea that holiness invites Divine protection and miraculous solutions where worldly strategies fail. To facilitate this, we can renew and deepen our moral covenant with the Almighty. To start, we can reject the crime against Heaven that is child sacrifice. We can respect the gift of life and so safeguard many Jewish lives ourselves.

The benefit of acknowledging our own mistakes and taking responsibility for our own actions comes from the double Torah portion this week, Matot-Masei, Bamidbar (Numbers) 30:2-36:13. Matot opens with a lesson on laws regarding vows and oaths made to God that will help maintain personal and relational holiness while living in the Land of Israel. A high priority is given to vows abstaining from activity that the Torah permits in order to avoid the temptation of overindulgence. Promises made in God's name to behave beyond a common expectation are also taken very seriously by tribal leaders, who have just witnessed dramatic repercussions after merrymaking runs amok among the military as well as in parts of the civilian population. Vows remain binding unless annulled in specific circumstances and the penalty for reneging on them is serious. Vows involving obligations to other people cannot be annulled. 

Pinchas leads the army into battle against the Midianites to avenge their attack on God when they promoted depravity and idolatry among the Jews. Midianites loathe Torah based Jewish society. They reject peace and holiness and harmony among people and nations. They have a reputation for stirring up trouble in the neighborhood. As the Jewish army prepares to attack the Midianite enemy, the tribal leaders of Reuven and Gad request exemption from settling in the Holy Land, preferring the pasturelands east of the Jordan River. Moses grants them their request provided they participate in the war and promise to promote holiness in the villages and towns they will control.

The Torah portion, Masei, opens by listing the 42 stops during the 40 year trek through the desert. Each stop in the itinerary teaches a lesson that expands belief in Divine omnipresence, as well as faith in God's direction and the need to recognize and resist evil. The Baal Shem Tov, a revolutionary spiritual leader in Judaism, correlates each stop with human life events that develop and advance a God consciousness. Among his mystical ideas is that the baby in the womb learns the entire Torah, a phenomenon, though lost at birth, can be recovered later from the subconscious to guide a person back to moral living.

Masei also introduces the concept of the sanctuary city where suspected murderers, who are at risk from being killed by family members of the slain, stay while awaiting trial. Laws about land inheritance and marriage within tribes living in Israel close the portion and the book of Numbers.

Our Haftarah this week, Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) 2:4–28; 4:1–2, expands the theme of the Torah portion as the prophet reprimands every level of Jewish society for abandoning holiness and morality. He holds the leadership especially culpable for disloyalty to God and the suffering this will cause the Jewish people from their enemies and their fair weather friends. 

Later in Jeremiah 31:36, the prophet proclaims the everlasting mercy of God for his people. “This is what the LORD says: ‘Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,’ declares the LORD.”

We can learn much about how to respond to current events from our studies this week. A moral people's fear of Heaven dwarfs fear of the enemy and guarantees victory in battle. Mercy from Heaven remains consistent, unlike the vagaries of public opinion. In the midst of media spin, these spiritual truths live in our subconscious from where they can be retrieved for consolation, understanding and direction.

Don't worry. Be Holy!

Please share this post on your social media to amplify our message in this troubled world. Thank you.

Cecily Routman 

May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and good life upon us and upon all Israel. Amen.

Cecily Routman is the founder and president of the Jewish Pro-Life Foundation. She opposes abortion homicide in general and among Jews in particular and laments secular policy making in Israel that results in loss of Jewish life and delays the messianic redemption. She envisions a Torah based holy Land of Israel and a world that respects the life of every human being from conception.