Mattot-Massei

Mattot-Massei – David Cohen

David is Chairman of Israel Connect, the young professionals wing of the British
Zionist Federation. He grew up in Sydney, Australia and currently lives in London.

Returning recently from a trip to Israel, I felt that all too common pang of doing
something wrong as I waited for my plane at Ben Gurion airport. That feeling that you
shouldn't be leaving, that this is my true home and I always seem to sit glued to the
window from take-off, until the coastline fades away into the distance.

I have struggled with the reasons for which I have not yet made Aliyah; life is hard
in Israel, there is the risk of terrorism; a new language must be learned etc etc... and in
this week's Parsha, the two and a half tribes (Reuven, Gad, and half of Menashe) of
the twelve national tribes decided that they did not want a share in the land of Israel.
They felt that they needed to settle in the land on the east bank of the Jordan. Moses
replied to the Gadites and the Reubenites, "Are your brothers to go to war while you
stay here?" He believed they did not wish to fight alongside the other tribes to conquer
the land, that their action not to go to Israel was one of cowardice.

But the tribes reply to Moses, that this was never their intent. They clarified to Moshe
that they would join in the war to conquer Israel, together with the entire nation. And
only after the conquest, and every tribe shall have his land and settle in Israel, would
they then return back to the east bank of Jordan. Moshe agreed to their request, and as
long as they would fulfill their vow to help in the conquest they would be able to live
outside of Israel [16-19].

The motive behind their choice wasn't holy in origin. The Torah states that the two
and a half tribes "had abundant livestock - very great. They saw the land of
Jazer and the land of Gilead and Jordan and behold! It was a place for livestock."[Numbers 32:1] And yet Moses saw that in putting their lives at risk for their fellow
Jews to live in the land of Israel, they earned the right to choose to live outside it for
the benefit of their children.

It is clear that Israel was and always will be the center of the Jewish people, but
nowadays, so many of us are living outside this homeland! Is this wrong? As the
Torah portion shows, as long as we put our energies into supporting the Land of Israel,
and for the benefit of our people, it is not necessary that every Jew live inside Israel.
There are many positive reasons to make Aliyah, to join the modern national building
project of the Jewish people in our ancient homeland. But it is also important to see
what assistance we can give from afar, whether it is through raising money for Israeli
charities or marching in Israel Day parades, fighting anti-Israel campaigns in the
media and on campus or merely declaring proudly to one's friends and family "Ani
Tzioni" (I am a Zionist) and choosing to love Israel.

However, we must never forget that although we may feel forced to live outside of
Israel because of various and perhaps justified reasons, we will always be a part of the
entire Jewish nation