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Being people of our word
Torah Study
RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN
Matot-Maasey/Numbers 30:2 - 36:13
The law of vows and oaths is included in the first half of our double Torah portion this week:
"This is what the Lord has commanded: If a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath imposing an obligation on himself, he shall not break his pledge; he must carry out all that has crossed his lips" (Numbers 30:2-3).
At the conclusion of the segment on vows, the portion continues with the saga of the Midianite struggle with the Israelites. Everything that follows in the portion after that deals with aspects of war, including the final section, in which Gad and Reuven, their eyes fixed on the rich grazing land, petition Moses to remain on this side of the Jordan where they can easily feed their abundant cattle. Their request cannot be honored until they agree to join with the rest of their compatriots in the war of conquest.
A reading between the lines of the Bible reveals a profound contrast between the word and the sword, the power of the voice and the power of the fist - a contrast that clearly explains the placement of the "oaths and vows" section in this portion.
Back a few chapters, we had human speech standing in direct confrontation with a physical act of striking. The Israelites had complained about the lack of water, leading God to instruct Moses to speak to the rock, after which it would yield a supply of water. Moses, however, had exhausted his tolerance for the nation's constant whining. Instead of addressing the rock with words, he hit the rock with strength, not only once, but twice. Water did emerge, enough for the entire nation. Nonetheless, God deemed Moses' act of physically striking the rock so sinful that he punished the great prophet by preventing him from ever entering the promised land, from ever realizing his life's goal.
Immediately after Moses' sin, the Torah records how Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, declaring: "This says your brother Israel, 'You know all the hardships that have befallen us, that our ancestors went down to Egypt ... and that the Egyptians deal harshly with us and our ancestors. We cried to the Lord, and he heard our pleas, and he sent a messenger who freed us from Egypt" (Numbers 20:14-15).
The prophet concludes with a plea that the Israelites be permitted to pass through Edom's land, promising not to touch anything nor drink any water.
Edom's answer cuts to the quick. "You shall not pass through us, else we will go out against you with the sword" (Numbers 20:18).
Immediately following the section on oaths and vows in our portion this week, we read of an army of 12,000 gathered by Moses to fight the Midianites.
"They took the field against Midian ... and slew every male. Along with other victims, they slew the kinds of Midian. ... They also put Balaam son of Beor to the sword" (Numbers 31:7-8).
Explains Rashi in his commentary: "Balaam came against Israel by exchanging his expertise for the expertise of the Israelites. After all, the victory of the Israelites is only from their mouths, by means of their prayers and beseechings. But he (Balaam) came and used their expertise to curse them with his mouth. So now they (the Israelites) exchanged their expertise with the expertise of the nations by coming against (Balaam) with a sword."
Rashi is soberly acknowledging that until "words" alone are recognized by all of humanity as the true element of persuasion and teaching, we have no choice but to face sword with sword.
However, while behaving in such a manner may be necessary, it is never our ideal. The Almighty wanted Moses to speak to the rock, and the words of Torah have proved mightier than the hordes of soldiers and are more eternal than the tallest of pyramids.
Hence, the introduction to our battle with Midian and the postscript of our victory over Balaam are the laws of oaths and promises, laws that demonstrate the enormous power of words. These laws prove that words are much more than a movement of wind, but rather actually create in their wake new realities. We, the people of the word, must learn to use our gift and to fulfill our mission with courage and with wisdom.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is spiritual leader of the Jewish community in Efrat, Israel.
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