Journeying through Jewish History

Jul 21, 2017 By Nancy Sinkoff | Commentary | Masei | Mattot

I first encountered this book in my supplementary Hebrew school at Temple Emanuel of Great Neck when I was a teenager. The documents, photographs, newspaper reports and Yiddish language characters entranced me then. . . . and still do. At that tender age, I thought I wanted to grow up to be a marine biologist. Instead, embedded in my young soul, those images of East European Jews, who had journeyed—like our forebears in this week’s parashah (Numbers 33:1-37)—from far away to a land they did not know, propelled me on a lifelong journey as a historian of the Jews of Eastern Europe.

Upgrading the Torah—and the World

Jul 21, 2017 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Commentary | Masei | Mattot

Is God’s law perfect? Most of us would assume that anything created by an omniscient and omnipotent being must have no flaws. But a story in today’s parashah suggests otherwise—in a manner that shows a surprising similarity to a key concept of Jewish mysticism.

The Journey or the Destination?

Aug 5, 2016 By Anna Serviansky | Commentary | Masei | Mattot

Life’s like a road that you travel on
When there’s one day here and the next day gone .  .  .

Life is a highway
I want to ride it all night long
If you’re going my way
I want to drive it all night long

A Summer of Discontent

Aug 5, 2016 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Masei | Mattot

The violent and disturbing events of this summer have given me new appreciation for the book of Numbers, and particularly for its conclusion. After chapter upon chapter of intrigue, rebellion, orgy, and mayhem, attention shifts in parashat Masei, the second part of this week’s double parashah, to a series of routine arrangements and details, elaborated at times in rhythmic repetition.

Jewish Time

Jul 13, 1996 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Masei | Mattot

The tantalizingly fragmented book of Numbers closes with a new generation of Israelites, born and bred in the wilderness, poised to cross the Jordan from the west at Jericho.

Taking Stock

Jul 17, 2004 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Masei | Mattot

In these concluding parshiyot of Sefer B’midbar (Numbers), the Israelites are full of anticipation. They camp near Jericho on the plains of Moab looking forward to their entry into the Promised Land. Yet, even at this future-oriented juncture, as it does so often, the Torah takes stock of the past: “These were the marches of the Israelites who started out from the land of Egypt, troop by troop, in the charge of Moses and Aaron” (Numbers 33:1). We are reminded explicitly of the Exodus from Egypt. We hear of every stop the Israelites made on their journey. Only then can God give Moses instructions about moving on to Israel (33:50).

History Does Not Repeat Itself

Jul 26, 2003 By Lewis Warshauer | Commentary | Masei | Mattot

History does not repeat itself. The experience of the past is valuable not so much for its similarity to the present as for its differences.

True Refuge

Jul 6, 2002 By Melissa Crespy | Commentary | Masei | Mattot

The word “miklat” is repeated 10 times in the 34 verses of Chapter 35 of the Book of Numbers. It is designed to be a place of safety, a place of escape, a place free from danger, a place that shelters you. But in this year’s reading of Parashat Mattot—Mas’ei, I couldn’t see these words — “miklat” (refuge), “arei miklat” (cities of refuge), “miklato” (his refuge) — without thinking of the ubiquitous signs in modern day Israeli towns and cities which use the same word — “miklat” — but which in the modern context means “shelter”, as in “bomb shelter” or “air raid shelter.”