Reply To: Short & Sweet

Mattos: Learn From All

When Bnei Gad and Reuven asked Moshe if they could live on the other side of the Yarden, outside of Eretz Yisroel proper, Moshe wasn’t very happy. How can you abandon your brothers, he asked them? Bnei Gad and Reuven answered that they would stay with the rest of the nation until the entire Eretz Yisroel was conquered, and each Shevet settled their specific portion of it. We can easily understand why they were needed during the war, but what was the point of watching everyone else split up the land?

Perhaps we can suggest that Moshe was not only worried whether the Shevatim would not help each other during war and hardship. He wanted them to be together as one people in times of peace as well. Each Shevet is a piece of the greater whole, and each has a lesson to teach the others. Only when we spend time seeing how others go about living their lives can we learn from them what we might be able to do better.

לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום