Transcript
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[Music]
Hello children. This week we'll talk
about the Torah portion of Matma. This
is the last portion in the book of
Bomidbar and it sums up the entire long
journey of the Jewish people in the
desert preparing them to enter the land
of Israel. The portion begins with Moshe
speaking to the leaders of the tribes
and teaching them important laws about
vows.
Do you remember what a vow is? It's a
promise that a person makes to God. For
example, if I do well on my test, I will
give 100 shekels to charity. The most
important rule is that anyone who makes
a promise must keep it. It is forbidden
to break a vow, but there are special
rules for vows made by women. If a
daughter makes a vow, her father can
enol the vow on the day he hears about
it. If he stays silent, the vow stands.
A husband can enol his wife's vows on
the day he hears about them. The vows of
a widow or a divorced woman are fully
valid. No one can enol them. Why do we
have these rules?
Because the Torah teaches us about the
power we as human beings have with our
words. After the laws of vows, God
commands Moshe to do something
important. To take revenge on the
Midionites. Why take revenge on the
Midianites? Do you remember what
happened in the story of Balac? The
Midionites plotted an evil scheme. They
sent their women to lead the Jews astray
and worship idols. Because of this, a
terrible plague broke out, killing
24,000 people from the Jewish nation.
Moshe chose a thousand warriors from
each tribe. A total of 12,000 soldiers.
And Pinhusk, the priest, led them into
battle. What an amazing victory it was.
The Jewish soldiers succeeded. They
killed all five kings of Midion and Bum
the wicked who wanted to curse the
Jewish people was killed by the sword.
They took captives and a great amount of
spoils and not a single soldier was
killed. It was simply an incredible
miracle. When they returned, Moshe was
angry. Why? Because they left the
Midianite women alive. The very women
who had caused the great sin. Then Moshe
commanded them to eliminate everyone who
had tried to cause the Jews to sin.
Afterwards, the soldiers were required
to undergo a special purification from
any contact with the dead and to divide
the spoils fairly, half to the warriors
and half to the rest of the people. The
tribes of Ruven and Gud said, "We want
to stay here." The two tribes, Ruven and
Gud, came to Moshe with a special
request. They saw that in the area east
of the Jordan where they were, there was
excellent land for grazing cattle and
sheep, and these tribes had very large
herds. They said to Moshe, "We want to
receive our portion here east of the
Jordan River. Don't make us cross the
Jordan."
Moshe was very angry. He said to them,
"Your brothers will go to war, and
you'll just sit here." But the tribes
explained to Moshe, "No, we're not
trying to run away from the war.
Let us build cities here for our
children and enclosures for our
livestock, and we will go ahead of the
entire nation into battle. We'll fight
until every tribe receives a share and
only then will we return here. Moshe
agreed but on condition that they would
go out to fight first and when they won
they would return to their place. The
tribes promised and Moshe divided the
land among them. The tribe of Ruven
received land south of the Arnon River.
The tribe of Gud got the area around
Yazar and Gilead and half of the tribe
of Menache received the region of Bashon
and northern Gilead. This was the first
arrangement for the division of the land
of Israel. In the portion of Messay, the
Torah lists the 42 places where the
Jewish people camped. What a long
journey. Here are some of the famous
stations. First, Ramsay's the starting
point in Egypt.
Second, Yams, where the sea was
miraculously split.
Third, Moroth, where the water was
bitter and Moshe made it sweet. After
summarizing the journey, God describes
to Moshe the exact borders of the land
of Israel. The southern border from the
river of Egypt to the Dead Sea. The
eastern border from the Jordan River to
the Dead Sea. The northern border from
Mount to the entrance of Hamat and
the western border, the great sea, the
Mediterranean Sea. God said, "This land
will be divided among you by lottery."
How will the division be carried out?
Larger tribes will receive larger
portions. Smaller tribes will receive
smaller portions.
But the location will be determined by
lottery. It will be completely fair. God
also decided who would be the people to
divide the land. Elazar the priest,
Yahashua the new leader, and a leader
from each tribe. A total of 10 leaders.
Now a special arrangement comes into
play. The tribe of Ley does not receive
a territory like the other tribes, but
they still need a place to live. So what
do they do? Each tribe gave the Levites
four cities from its portion.
Altogether, 48 cities throughout the
land of Israel belong to the Levites.
And the reason because the Levites and
the priests are the teachers and
spiritual guides of the Jewish people.
And they need to be spread throughout
the land to teach everyone Torah and the
service of God. Among these 48 cities
are six special cities of refuge. What
are cities of refuge? These are places
where someone who accidentally killed a
person without intention can flee to.
For example, if someone is chopping wood
in the forest and his ax flies off and
hits someone else, he can flee to a city
of refuge. There he will be protected
from the family member of the person who
was killed who wants to take revenge.
The Torah commands that the person who
caused the death must stay in the city
of refuge until the high priest dies.
Only then can he return home safely. Why
the death of the high priest? Because
the high priest atones for all of Israel
and when he dies, it's like the end of
an era and the beginning of something
new. The book of Bahamar ends, but the
great journey of the Jewish people is
just beginning. How are the final
preparations for entering the land
carried out? What does Mosha say to the
nation? We'll tell you all about that in
the next episode.
