Numbers Cycle Three Mattoth Massey 30:2 to 36:13

Mattoth/Massey


Often when we read a parsha it seems the subjects are disconnected. And on one level, they are. But if we take a step away…if we vow to elevate ourselves to a higher place…we can see more. We can see more than the symptoms…then the war and murder and/or the pleasures that flow from the core creation. We can see the creation itself. We can move from our perspective to a divine vision, see not only the map but the translucent material that makes the map, the letters wrought from such material, the rivers and streams that flow from them, the earth held by them, all the planets and the boundaries.

A parsha, we begin to see, is deeply inter-connected by filaments within the intricate web of the universe, one held together by its own self restraint. We see, as Ramchal (the 18th century mystic) describes (in the translation by Rabbi Greenbaum) that the restraints of a holy space are made only as wide and strong as needed by the radiance of that holy space itself. But wait, you might be thinking. How can we see all this? We’re just sitting here trying to understand Mattot and Massey. This is a lot to expect. And we’re not even at Deuteronomy yet.

So, before we take on such expansive prospects, we begin with trying to see a piece of the parsha from a different angle. We want to see a piece of the restraint as described by Ramchal. This tiny piece is one human vow. It’s the fence that Rabbi Akiba describes in Mishnah Avot 3:13 when he says vows are a fence to self restraint.

But let’s look clearly at where we’ve been before we begin to understand the vow. In Pinchas we’ve just been devastated by a plague of darkness. Therefore, God needs to know who’s left and what each person has (or is getting). Next, the people most dishonored by the darkness (the women) must be returned to dignity. There needs to be a hands-on vocalized account of what went wrong, what went right, how Pinchas was compassionate and how ( in comparison) Moses was weak at the waters of dispute. Finally, there needs to be purification and offerings.

So, clearly, Pinchas contains the necessary post-devestation assessment. In Mattot and Massey on the other hand, there is a deeper delving into spiritual and physical gateways and boundaries to re-establish balance. In other words, in Mattot/Massey we have the use of vows and land- boundaries to bring each man/woman back to a place of dignity and to the necessary equilibrium so that he/she can once again merge with the concealed God.

What is a vow in the mundane world? In 30: 4 we read this: Ish ci yador nadir l’adonay od hishavah sh’vuah l’esor isar al nefesho lo yachal debaro. If a man makes a vow to vow to God or has sworn an oath to bind with a bind before his person he must not break his word. There are three repetitions here. The importance of the vow is emphasized by the space given to it, fifteen lines. Rashi points out that the introduction to this section…zeh hadabar asher tsu adonay…these are the words that God has commanded…is the same in Lev. 17:12 in the description of offerings in the outer courtyard. Rabbi Nathan says that one who vows is as if he has built a high place. Even more…he who fulfills a vow it’s as if he sacrificed on the high place. This brings us into the definition of an offering. In the Koren Siddur Rabbi Jonathon Sacks aligns offerings with prayer. And in Song of Songs we quite clearly see (with the help of Rabbi Akiba) that prayer is the gateway to the Holy of Holies. Song of Songs can even be seen as the one vow between the Shechinah and the God-head. A vow then is more than serious. It’s more than prayer. It’s the necessary boundary when the beauty of prayer is confined to a tight space. It propels us to God and to the God in each other. It propels God to us. It not only restores dignity. By being the container for that dignity, it floods God’s purified gold into our hearts.

Wow, you might be thinking. Time to race out and make a vow. Don’t run too fast though. On the subject of vows the sages of Talmud spend more time figuring out how they can be annulled rather than kept. Vows made without careful consideration is clearly a concern. Raba says that the verb yachal (used in Mattot) is also used in Exodus 32:11 in connection with Moses beseeching God about the golden calf. Moses (he says) stands in prayer before God until Moses annulls for God God’s vow to destroy Israel. In other words (according to Raba) while we can’t annul our own vows, they can be annulled by someone else… a chief of the tribe, a wise man, a priest, a prophet, a rabbi and even by God.

So, may we create the boundaries and the fences to create the vow. May we make a vow of ourselves to attain the vow of God. May we see the boundaries of one vow reaching out to the boundaries of Israel to the boundaries of the Holy Temple. May we understand that the more radiant the vow the more filled it is with the love and compassion of the source of creation. May we be the boundaries to be the love. And may we know which boundaries to choose.