Together, Apart

An exploration of the historical request of Reuven, Gad and Menashe as described in Parashas Matos

It is the season of aliyah to Israel. Many families have dreamed of aliyah for years and are now experiencing their dreams. Many others are comfortable where they are and aliyah would not be beneficial for them given their current circumstances. Are they wrong?

Perek 32 of Sefer Bamidbar describes the request of Reuven and Gad to settle in the territory of Sichon and Og, which was outside of Eretz Yisrael.

I would like to explore the relationship between Reuven and Gad as well as possible reasons why they may want to live apart from the rest of the Jewish people. I also would like to explore whether there is anything wrong with being comfortable where you are and not making aliyah, given the opportunity. 

The Torah describes that the children of Reuven and Gad were cattle herders and had a large amount of cattle. They requested to Moshe that they have the lands of Gilead and Yeazer which they had just conquered from Sichan and Og as it was perfect pasture for the cattle. 

Moshe got very nervous from this as he thought this would spark another rebellion from the people and they would not want to go into Eretz Yisrael. Additionally, he felt that they had no right to live in relative peace, while the rest of the nation is out conquering Israel. 

Reuven and Gad responded that they will build up the land for themselves, but they will also go into battle with the rest of Am Yisrael and promised that they would not go back home until every shevet was in their nachalah. 

Moshe said, if you do this, then this land shall be your land. 

Moshe proceeded to instruct Eliezer Hakohen and Yehoshua Bin Nun that if Reuven and Gad keep the deal they will get the land they want. If they do not keep the deal, they will be forced to take land in Canaan along with the rest of Am Yisrael. 

The Torah then takes a strange twist and we learn that Moshe gave the lands of Sichon and Og to Reuven, Gad and half of shevet Menashe. 

Let us take a step back and explore the connection between Reuven and Gad. 

In her book Tribal Lands, Tamar Lasson Weissman writes:

Reuben and Gad were linked together in a shared destiny at the outset of the Israelite conquest. Both had significant wealth; both approached Moses together to inquire about a shared naĥalah; their territories were inexorably intertwined. Yet their partnership was dominated by one, while the other gradually diminished. This perhaps reflects the circumstances of the birth of these two firstborns of Leah. Reuben was Leah’s first child of the flesh and Gad was the first child of Leah’s maidservant, his existence due solely to Leah’s wiles. Though not borne by her, he was indeed born because of her.

Reuben was born when Leah’s position was at its most precarious: “When God saw that Leah was hated, He opened her womb . . . ”¹

She had taken the place of Rachel in the wedding chamber, Where Rachel was beautiful and mysterious, loved by Jacob at first sight, Leah was the awkward older sister of weak eyes and uncertain aspect. Reuben’s birth was the first step, she felt, in building a solid relationship with her husband (“See? A son! Now my husband will love me!”). Yet this was still a very hesitant step. She needed to add child after child to her arsenal to cement a relationship with Jacob.

Leah’s initial state when she embarked on motherhood was apprehensive and troubled. Her firstborn, Reuben, bore the mark, his personality molded by his heavy sense of responsibility toward her, by his absolute loyalty. He, like Leah, was apprehensive. He was uncertain about Jacob, yet desperate for his approval. When he acted against his father, it was through heated impetuousness, rather than cool determination, and he spent the rest of his life attempting to atone.

The case was very different with Gad. Gad was born after Leah had already won a certain acceptance, after a transformation in which Rachel was now “jealous” of her. Gad, for Leah, marked a new stage, a bold initiative that was far from the earlier, anxious new mother. By tricking Jacob into sleeping with Zilpah (or, alternatively, by giving her maidservant as another wife to her consenting husband), she was aggressively and confidently pursuing a new goal: primacy. Gad was a reflection of that mindset, in both his ruthlessness and his courage on the battlefield. His assurance as a leader (“Gad – troop units will fall in line after you!”) was born as Leah’s triumph.

Gad was perhaps best represented, in all his ambiguous glory, through the figure of his most famous son, the firebrand prophet Elijah: “Eliyahu ha-navi, Eliyahu ha-Tishbi, Eliyahu ha-Giladi . . . ” The prophet Elijah, from Tishbi, which was in Gilead – located in the naĥalah of Gad. Perhaps when she named Gad, Leah dreamed of his most outstanding descendant: “One has arrived [ba] who in the future will sever [gadad] the foundations of evildoers. Who is this Elijah? . . . R. Nehorai said that Elijah was from the tribe of Gad”²

Jacob also recognized this potential: Salvation will only come from Gad . . . from he who arrives at the “heel of time” [be-ekev], the end time – as it says, “Behold I am sending you Elijah the Prophet”, who was from the tribe of Gad, for he will herald in the end [ve-hu yugad ekev]³.

Interestingly, the Seforno⁴ suggests that Gad chose the lands of Sichon and Og as he knew this would be the burial place of Moshe Rabbeinu. 

The Midrash⁵ teaches us that in fact Reuven was in on this secret as well. Moshe died in the nachala of Reuven and was carried by the Shechinah to the nachala of Gad where he was buried. 

Lasson-Weissman explains:

This detail helps explain the risky maneuver undertaken by Reuben and Gad in boldly requesting the Transjordan. These two first borns of Leah, who were rejected in favor of other tribes (Levi, Judah, Ephraim) for the bestowal of special gifts, felt justified in renouncing protocol so as to claim the territories of Sihon: Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Nebo, among others. The first territorial conquest, resulting in land acquisition and settling of cities, the first active claim of land beyond a defensive war – this territory should have gone to the first of the tribes as its “birthright.” First to the first, and so Reuben and Gad preempted the divine lottery and their portions to the west of the Jordan so as to retain finally some faint association with the lost promises of the bekhorah.

We see that Reuven and Gad were close, but how did half of Menashe get involved? They didn't even ask for it, nor were they part of the agreement to go to war on behalf of the rest of the nation.

There are various explanations: 

The Ramban⁶ explains that when Moshe gave the land to Gad and Reuven, he saw that the land was larger than they required, and therefore he asked for people who were prepared to take their nachala with them. There were two families from Menashe, Machir and Yair, who wanted that land — perhaps they were also owners of cattle — and therefore he gave them their portion in that land.

The Netziv⁷ writes that Moshe was concerned that Reuven and Gad would become assimilated and disconnected from the Torah as a result of their separation from the rest of Am Yisrael, therefore he had Menashe join them. Amongst the ranks of Menashe were teachers of Torah who would be able to ensure that the Torah would not be forgotten amongst Reuven and Gad. 

The Chizkuni⁸ quotes the Midrash⁹ that says that since Menashe caused the shevatim to rip their clothes over the goblet that was found in Binyamin’s sack, because he had planted it there, his nacĥalah was torn in two: half in the Land of Israel proper, and half on the eastern side of the Jordan.

On this Lasson-Weissman  comments: 

This seems to be a punitive measure. Manasseh caused grief among the shevatim, therefore his descendants were deprived of one cohesive naĥalah. Upon further reflection, though, the midrash might be indicating something else entirely! Firstly, Manasseh’s naĥalah was indeed cohesive; it was actually the largest naĥalah, though it straddled both sides of the Jordan. Also of note is that Manasseh was essentially granted a double portion, as befit a firstborn – especially one whose position of primacy was not entirely rejected, as noted above.

Consider a different reading of the midrash, one that saw the brothers’ horrified reaction to finding the stashed goblet as a positive sign of progress. By tearing their garments – so reminiscent of the torn garments of Joseph and Jacob in the wake of Joseph’s sale to the Ishmaelites! – the shevatim finally demonstrated their care and concern for a son of Rachel. They feared for Benjamin, they stepped up to protect him . . . and only afterward could they once again be unified as a complete entity, the Benei Yisrael.

Manasseh, Joseph’s emissary in this whole affair, forced the brothers into a demonstration of areyvut. It would seem entirely appropriate, then, that the ranks of the tribe that bore his name were divided along both sides of the Jordan, as a group with the unique capacity to promote interaction and relationship among all of the tribes. An ongoing fear of secession was greatly allayed by placing half of Manasseh, purveyor of areyvut, in Ever Ha-Yarden (the east bank of the Jordan)

Moshe put Menashe across the borders because he was able to see the big picture of things, you can call it strategic planning. Even when we are scattered as a nation, with some of us in Eretz Yisrael and others in Chutz L’Aretz, we are all where we are meant to be. We do not need to make aliyah, but we need to be responsible for each other. We need to use this responsibility to help protect the land of Israel and to keep the spirit of Torah alive and strong, thus ensuring the continuity of our people.

1. Bereishis 29;31

2. Bereishis Rabbah 71-9

3. Bereishis Rabbah 99-11

4. Seforno, Devarim 33-21

5. Sifrei, Devarim 355, Sotah 13b

6. Bamidbar 32;33

7. Ha’amek Devar on Devarim 3:16

8. Devarim 3

9. Lekacĥ Tov, 140