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Parshat Matos
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Seeking the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

ונכבשה הארץ לפני ה' ואחר תשובו... והיתה הארץ הזאת לכם לפני ה 

"...Therefore, have compassion upon us Master of all, and instill Your faith in our hearts always, and satisfy us with Your goodness... and hear our prayers always, and allow us to come to the Land of Israel the Land You have chosen from all other lands" (Likutei Tfilot 7).

In this week's parsha we learn about the request of the tribes of Reuven and Gad to stay on the eastern bank of the Jordon, a matter that is met, at the ouset, with fierce antagonism on the part of Moshe Rabeinu. Only after these tribes agree to cross the Jordon to fight with their brothers and conquer the western side of the Jordon does Moshe agree that these tribes settle on the eastern bank.

When learning this passage, one of the obvious questions to be asked is: what exactly is the sanctity of the Eastern side of the Jordan in comparison with the Western side, the Land of Israel Proper?

On the prohibition on Moshe to enter the Land of Israel Proper, while residing on the Eastern Bank, our Sages comment that this prohibition can be compared to the prohibition of a king on his son to not enter his palace. Although the king ultimately lets his son enter the courtyard of the palace and even the corridor, when the king reaches the entrance to his room he tells his son, 'my son, from here onwards you are forbidden.' In this way the Eastern Bank is compared to the 'corridor' of HaShem's Palace, while the Land of Israel Proper is likened to the internal abode of HaShem.

In a halachic sense, we also see an intricacy/(perhaps) controversy in regard to the Eastern Bank. On the one hand, the Hazon Ish learns that, except for numbers of specified laws, the Eastern Bank is considered the Land of Israel. He learns this principle from the law, in addition to other proof-texts,  that once the tribes on the Eastern Bank went into exile the Biblical condition for Shmita and Yovel that 'all its (the Land of Israel's) inhabitants live upon it' was no longer met. On the other hand, it is agreed in halachic conclusion that the Eastern Bank is liable for Bikurim and other laws of the Land only on a Rabbinic level, and not on a Biblical level as the Land of Israel Proper. Rambam even states in his commentary on the Mishna that 'it (the Eastern Bank) is not considered the Land of Israel,' although it is liable Rabbinically for many of its laws. Interestingly, based on this week's parsha, we find that the Eastern Bank itself may be also divided into two parts.

According to the Yerushalmi, the explanation given in the Mishna Bikurim for the Biblical exemption of the Eastern Bank from Bikurim, that the Eastern Bank is not rendered the Land of milk and honey' mentioned in context of Bikurim, is only one opinion. According to a different Tanaic teaching, the reason the Eastern Bank is excluded from Biblical obligation for Bikurim is because one must announce on the bikurim that the first fruits come from the Land 'You (HaShem) have given me'. The Yerushalmi continues to ascertain that the initiation of settling the Eastern Bank did not come from HaShem, but rather from the tribes of Reuven and Gad. Therefore, the Yerushalmi concludes, the Eastern Bank given to half of the tribe of Menashe (i.e. Northern Eastern Bank, around where the 'Golan Heights' are today) by HaShem's initiation, unlike Reuven and Gad, may be considered liable for Bikurim, according to the latter Tanaic teaching in contrast with the opinion posed in the Mishna, exempting the entire Eastern Bank from Biblical Bikurim.

From this concept we can learn how important is putting HaShem as the 'initiator' of what we do, as first studying the Torah and then deciding what to do (and not the other way around...) When we connect to the 'City of the Patriarchs', we connect to the very roots and 'initiation' of our People as the People of God through our holy Patriarchs and Matriarchs, thereby clarifying our minds to what is really important before HaShem.

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #79:

"On the way to the tomb of the Arizal we were wished by someone that we not hear any rockets fired by Arabs on Israel... and so it was - we only saw rockets, but heard none at all..." (R.H.B.K) (It goes without saying, that the present situation of multitudes of rockets fired on Israel with so many Jews saved, is nothing but miraculous...)

Sources: Sifri on Num. 27, 12, Hazon Ish Zraim Likutim siman 10, Rambam Perush HaMishnayot Bikurim 3, 11