The descendants of Reuven and Gad had an abundance of livestock'
‘Our Sages comment, that because Reuben and Gad were so attached to their wealth, till they were prepared to settle outside the land, they were the exiled from it, before the other tribes.'
The Torah relates (32:1-32):’The descendants of Reuben and of Gad had an abundance of livestock..They saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead.. the place was a place for livestock
‘The descendants of Gad and the descendants of Reuben came and said to Moshe, to Elazar the Kohen, and to the leaders of the assembly, saying:’..the land that Hashem smote before the assembly of Israel - it is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock..Let this land be given to your servants as a a heritage; do not take us across the Yarden.
‘Moshe said to’ them,:’Shall your brothers go out to battle while you settle here? Why do you dissuade the heart of Bnei Israel from crossing to the Land that Hashem has given them? This is what your fathers’, the meraglim, ‘did..The wrath of Hashem burned against Israel and he made them wander in the Wilderness for forty years, until the end of the entire generation..you have risen up in’ their place..if you turn away from after Him, He will again let it rest in the Wilderness.
‘They approached him and said:’Pens for the flock we shall build here for our livestock and cities for our small children.We shall arm ourselves..in the vanguard of Bnei Israel until we have brought them to their place..We shall not return to our homes until Bnei Israel will have’ all, ‘inheritance - we shall not inherit with them across the Yarden..for our inheritance has come to us on the east bank of the Yarden.
‘Moshe said to them:’If you do this..if you arm yourselves before Hashem, and ..cross the Yarden before Hashem, until He drives out His enemies before Him, and the Land shall be conquered before Hashem, and then you shall return - then you shall be vindicated from Hashem and from Israel - and this Land shall be a heritage to you before Hashem..Build for yourselves cities for your small children and pens for your flock.
‘They replied to Moshe, saying:’Your servants shall do as my lord commands. Our small children, our wives, our livestock.. shall be there in the cities of Gilead. And your servants shall cross over - every armed person - before Hashem, to do battle, as my lord speaks.’
Ramban notes:’In the opening passuk, mention of the descendants of Reuben precedes the mention of the descendants of Gad, understandably as the former was the first-born, and the son of the lady - however, throughout the rest of the parsha, the descendants of Gad are mentioned first, this because it was at their urging that this claim was made, and therefore they spoke first to Moshe.
‘Further, they were the braver, as we read in the brachot of Moshe to the tribes, in Parashat Vezot Habracha, and were therefore not fearful of the local inhabitants, to dwell by themselves in this land.’
Abarbanel offers a simple explanation as to the change in the order of the descendants of Reuben and of Gad, in our parsha: ‘ Since they spoke together to Moshe, Elazar and the elders, and were united in the matter, therefore on one occasion the Torah mentioned one - Bnei Reuben - first, and on other occasions, preceded Bnei Gad.’
As to the events the subject of our parsha, the Abarbanel comments:’It appears that the descendants of Reuben and of Gad had acquired a lot of livestock, apart from that which they received from the half which the community and the soldiers had, and apart from that which they took from the lands of Sichon and of Og.
Because of their livestock it occurred to them to ask for these lands, as their inheritance, because it was suitable for their plentiful livestock.
Hereby you have expounded, that which is written in our parsha, and this is why these two were aroused to their claim, be it because they yearned to be shepherds, this being stronger in them, than in the other tribes, as their are people who are more attached to their possessions and wealth, than to all other matters.
Perhaps because of his stronger yearning, Gad is mentioned first’, in speaking to Moshe, and - as we find in Moshe’s blessings - that he was more fearless than the others, and reliant on his strength, so as not to be fearful of bad neighbors.
‘The other tribes, on the other hand, did not want to separate from the community, who were assembled together in the holy land.
‘Our Sages comment, that because Reuben and Gad were so attached to their wealth, till they were prepared to settle outside the land, they were the exiled from it, before the other tribes. We can also advance another reason for these two tribes, that being, that, as Reuben was the first-born of Yaakov, yet this was taken from him, and given to Yosef - and kingship given to Yehuda - therefore it vexed him to sit with his brothers, as it was shameful to him to be ruled by his younger brothers- and he therefore chose to inherit on the other side of the Yarden, and not be constantly confronted by his shame.
‘Gad joined with him, as he was the son of Zilpah, the maid-servant of Reuben’s mother, and they were together under the one banner.
‘This is the reason for the actions of these two tribes, as they were two brothers who did not want to be separated.’
The Kli Yakar derives a basic lesson from this episode, on the follies of men.
Comments the sage:’The Torah does not ‘join’ the livestock of Reuben snd that of Gad, to saying:’Abundant livestock had the descendants of Reuben and of Gad’, but separates them, saying:’The descendants of Reuben AND the descendants of Gad had abundant livestock’, to teach us that each was separate in this regard - the descendants of Reuben had livestock large in numbers, whilst the descendants of Gad had livestock which was very large in numbers and in strength - for this reason, they were unafraid of enemies, or that wolves would attack their livestock, as they had faith in their strength.
‘We can learn from this some justification for their putting the pens of their livestock ahead of the shelters for their young children, in their approach to Moshe, as they said that near the border, they would first build the pens, and later, when they will have entered the land, build the shelters for their young children, as in this way we will gain that the young children will be safe, as if the enemies come, they will first come on the sheds of the livestock, and - in the interim - the young children will escape.
Nevertheless, Moshe rebuked them, saying: if so, you have no faith in Hashem’s salvation! Rather, this is what you should do:’first, build cities for your young children, near the border, and ‘pens for your livestock’ within the land, so that your brethren see that you you have faith in the salvation of Hashem, and this will fill the hearts of your brethren with courage, and all will trust in the salvation of Hashem - what you proposed doing, will fill the hearts of your brethren with fear
Returning to our observation, as to the change in the order of the brothers, in their approach to Moshe, comments the Kli Yakar:’Bnei Reuben should have preceded Bnei Gad, in the approach to Moshe - the parshanim comment, that Bnei Gad had more livestock than Bnei Reuben, as it says:’the children of Gad had abundant livestock - very great’, meaning: more than Bnei Reuben, and they therefore spoke to Moshe before Bnei Reuben, who was the first-born.
‘Therefore- say these parshanim - they spoke first, because their anguish was the greater than that of Bnei Reuben.
‘I say that, if that were the case, it was not because of their greater anguish that they jumped to speak first, but because of their haughtiness, this being the way of the rich - to give haughtiness to the person, the simple rich man jumping to the head of the queue, not giving honor to the first-born, or to any men of merit, thinking that their wealth elevates them.
’Rav Aaron Kotler adds:’The severe punishment of these two tribes - to be exiled before the rest of their brethren - is because of their attachment to their possessions, and this is because it derived from an impure source - a lack of emunah, as, though we do not regard this as a transgression, its roots are in sin: a lack of emunah and trust, which leads to many sins - to baseless hatred and other grievous sins.
‘This is why these two tribes were exiled first, also being called to account forgoing the holiness of the Land, to dwell on the other side of the Yarden.
‘Thus, even though their intention was good,- to assist their avodat Hsshem and Torah, by the place being suited to giving them livelihood -nevertheless they were exiled first, as they transposed that which was the main thing, with that which was secondary.’
Haktav veHakabalah comments:’Moshe, in his reply to the request of Bnei Reuben and Bnei Gad, mentioned several times, the words:’Before Hashem’.
‘Rav Eliezer Figo - in Bina l’Itim - expounds this very well, noting that the two tribes stated only that they would take their action ‘before Bnei Israel’, not returning to our houses until they have all inherited their share, rightly undertaking to share in the dangers of war together with their brethren - but, in all their words, they did not mention that they would do so out of awe of Hashem.
‘Therefore, Moshe said to them: ‘That which you have undertaken is well and good, but is not enough, as from this, it appears that you are acting out of what is right from a point of statesmanship and economic action, but, if you do so, it is necessary to add another condition - that the vanguard should not only be before your brethren - as if that was its purpose out of these considerations - but ‘before Hashem’, to do His Will, not merely because this is the way of society.
You will thereby be clean at the one time, both in the eyes of Hashem, and in the eyes of your brethren - then the land shall be yours as an inheritance before Hashem - as it accords with His Will - which it would not be if you do not do do.
‘Hashem added: If you should not do so - but merely go, as vanguard before your brethren, and not ‘before Hashem’- though you will not have transgressed in the eyes of any of your brethren, you will have sinned in the eyes of Hashem, due to the absence of the intended completeness.
‘This is something which is only known to you, therefore know this in your hearts - which is the only place that it can be truly known.
‘They therefore replied:’Your servants shall do as my lord commands.. your servants shall cross over..before Hashem to do battle, as my lord speaks’ - meaning: not as we said earlier:’Before our brethren, Bnei Israel’, but solely as you command - ‘before Hashem’.
This is the correct understanding of the parsha, and a great foundation in our avodat Hashem.’
Rav Yosef Salant wonders: ‘How could it be that this wise generation, could - seemingly - as our Sages say, place their possessions before the safety of their young children and families.
‘We can perhaps understand them, from the order of the victory in the battle against Sichon and Og, as their main task was to prepare enclosures for their livestock - and only after this, cities for their families, as the latter was relatively easy to do, compared to the former.
However, this overlooked a very important element - and Moshe showed them their error - which our Sages say arose from them placing their possessions before their families, in their minds - as their thoughts were that these lands were well suited to their livestock, and only when Moshe pointed out their misplaced order of priorities, did they acknowledge their error, and, as we read in the parsha, amended their priorities.
‘When we examine the battles against Sichon and against Og, we read that these two kings refused to let Bnei Israel travel through their lands
Here we ask: Why then did Moshe - if there were built cities and houses - admonish them: ‘(first) build houses for your young children’?‘As Rashi comments: Hashem said: why should I trouble my sons to fight against them city by city? Instead, He placed in the hearts of these two kings, that all their warriors leave the cities in which they were, and assemble in one place, where they battled, and fell before Bnei Israel.
Therefore, all their cities - which they left complete, but deserted - were there for the young children and the families of Bnei Reuben and Bnei Gad, and they did not need to build new cities
True, they needed to build pens for their livestock, which would be suitable for their abundant livestock.
‘They- according to their thoughts - said ‘pens for our livestock, and cities for our young children’, preceding the building of pens, to building cities - as they felt that their immediate major work was building the pens, as they had complete cities and houses, left by Sichon and Og.
True, some changes were required to the houses, as needed, but this was minor work, compared to that required to construct the pens from scratch
Here, Moshe Rabbeinu showed them the error of their thinking - that only minor work was required on the places for their children and families, that these were suitable for their use.
‘In this - he corrected them -they erred, because the houses that they took from Sichon and Og, were not suitable for them, as the houses of non-Jews are not as the houses of Jews - even if suitable without major change for other non-Jews - as our entire life is focussed on mitzvot of the Torah, and its adjurements, and the houses of the non-Jews, which were used for idolatry by the idolators who occupied them, cast a harmful influence, especially on the young children of our people, who are to occupy them under the protection of only the women, as the men are venturing to battle, in the vanguard.
The Torah, for this reason, adjured Bnei Israel (Re’eh 12:2-3):’You shall utterly destroy from all the places where the nations, that you shall possess, worshipped their gods..And you shall tear down their altars.. and destroy their name from that place.
‘In their place, you shall build other houses, to be houses of study and of worship, on which you shall call names of sanctity.
‘To eradicate this harmful influence, it is essential to totally destroy these dwellings and the neighborhoods, so that no trace of the false idols, remains - and to build in their place, new dwellings, for purposes of kedusha and the service of Hashem.
‘Only then, can the young children dwell in these new buildings, and the men go safely to war - this is the purport of what Moshe said to them, as to the order of work that confronted them - especially for their young children.
‘Bnei Reuben and Bnei Gad accepted the correction to their error, as we read in the continuation of the events related in our parsha.’
Concludes the Rav:’Our Sages here teach us the correct outlook, that in everything that we contemplate doing, even concerning possessions or physical matters, we need first to carefully consider all sides of the effect that this will have on our spirituality, as only then can we be sure that we are not erring.’
Rav David Hofstedter adds:’Clearly Bnei Reuben and Bnei Gad were more concerned with the well-being of their families, than that of their livestock - and had they been faced with a choice between their families and their livestock, they would have chosen to build cities for their young children.
However, here there was only a question of which takes precedence - and since the pens for the livestock were simple temporary structures, whose construction would not take much time - whereas to build cities would take much longer, and require a lot of thought - they decided to give precedence to building the pens, so that their livestock would immediately be safe, and they would then be free to build the cities
Moshe therefore rebuked them, for making the secondary their prime concern - true, in a practical sense, the building of the pens should have been first - however, from their thought processes, it appeared to Moshe that, in their minds, their livestock was more important than their young children and wives, as that which is most important to a person, he does not delay, even if this might cause a temporary loss.
‘This is the message that Moshe Rabbeinu imparted to them - that they should have felt that their families were more important to them, than anything else - they should therefore have built the coties that were for the needs of their families, and only after this, the pens for their livestock.’
Rav Chaim Friedlander expounds:’The fact that- as the beginning of the parsha states - they ‘saw that the land on the east side of the Yarden’ was good for their abundant livestock, and their resultant request that they not be required to cross into the Land, but inherit in this area, does not appear - from our parsha - to have been deemed a sin, as Moshe’s words were as to sharing in the burden of the conquest of the Land, with the rest of their brethren, but rather were called to account for the order they set themselves in their work - for choosing to do so, without having been commanded to do so, as though likely this land was indeed intended to be their lot - as evidenced by it being especially suitable for their livestock - their sin was their undue haste in choosing this area, and this affected their subsequent generations, who were exiled before the other tribes.’
A parting gem from Rav Hofstedter The Torah here teaches us a great foundation: To properly educate our children, a parent must - by his conduct - show his love for his family, so that his children see and feel that they are at all times at the centre of his mind, and heart.
Only this will ensure that they, in turn, will open their hearts, to heed his education - and accept it.
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