Moses' Message: Focus on the Goal

"Volkswagen, pull over!" shouted the traffic officer through his vehicle's PA system. The car braked, or more accurately, veered slowly to the side of the road. An elderly woman was driving, laughing cheerfully, with three elderly ladies in the back, trembling in fear. "Don't you see this is a highway?! Why are you crawling at 20 km/h?" asked the officer.

"Can't you see?" the elderly woman wondered, "The sign clearly says: 20."

The officer was uncertain whether to laugh or cry. "Ma'am, that's the road number, but the legal speed here is 90 km/h. And why are you all shaking back there?" he inquired of the backseat passengers.

One of the older ladies stammered, "We just came from road 443..."

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Just before entering the promised land of Israel, the tribes of Gad and Reuben approached Moses with a request: "We wish to receive the Gilead region as our inheritance. The area is rich with lush pasture and we have much livestock, allowing us to supply food for them."

Moses hears their request and admonishes them, his arguments resonate with the tribes of Gad and Reuben, "Why should your brothers fight to conquer the land of Israel while you sit here peacefully in a land conquered by all of Israel?!" Moses doesn't stop there; with concise and sharp sentences, he rebukes the two tribes for not learning the lessons from the sins of their ancestors during their forty years in the desert.

What disturbed Moses about their desire to secure good and fertile pasture for their livestock, particularly when they declare in advance that they waive their portion in Israel, allowing the other tribes more spacious inheritances?

Rabbi Isaac Arama, in his remarkable book "Akeida," elaborates on Moses' rebuke to the tribes, highlighting the problematic point in their request: The tribes of Gad and Reuben ask to inherit the Gilead region and tell Moses, "Do not let us cross the Jordan." They have no reason to enter the holy land, as they claim to have all they need here...

Let us imagine, Rabbi Isaac Arama continues, a man who hires a building contractor to construct a multi-story house with special emphasis on beauty and external finish, excellent quality, and maximum comfort. Could it be reasonable for the contractor to buy new iron rods just so the scaffolding needed for reaching the upper floors is in perfect aesthetic condition?

Certainly not. Why? Because scaffolding is temporary. It’s not the ultimate goal but a means to create it. As such, there is no reason to invest more than the required safety minimum.

The Land of Israel, promised to our ancestors thousands of years ago, served as our home in the past and, with Hashem's help, will serve again in the near future with the coming of our righteous Messiah - a place where we can serve Hashem properly: a dwelling for the Divine Presence, without nations burdening us, and with mental expansion. Yet, the conquest of the Gilead by Israel before entering the land was only to ensure they could sit securely in the Land of Israel.

The tribes of Gad and Reuben focused on the means and forgot the goal. A Jew who spent forty years in the desert, ate bread from the heavens, learned Torah from Moses, saw countless miracles - must know: the Land of Israel is a place meant to aid in the worship of the Creator. It is not a place intended for rapid economic development, or a national territory to evoke a sense of belonging.

Nevertheless, the tribes of Gad and Reuben insisted on receiving the Gilead region. They pledged to Moses that they would lead the charge in the wars to conquer the land, and Moses agreed. Finally, the Midrash reveals to us that the tribes of Gad and Reuben were punished: they were exiled from their land before the other tribes that settled in the Land of Israel. 

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During the days between the dire straits, when we mourn the high spiritual level lost with the destruction of the Temple and our exile, let us focus a little on where to invest. This world, with its myriad of possibilities, is essentially only scaffolding meant for climbing upward - for the mitzvah of *tefillin* one needs animal hide; for *kiddush* and Havdalah, wine is used; and for an *etrog* for the four species, an *etrog* orchard is needed.