Matot 5771

In this week's parsha perek 32 shevet Gad and Reuven request the land east of the Jordan from Moshe. Moshe's response was that their father's had also said they did not want to enter the land and that is what caused the last 38 or so years of the Jews traveling in the midbar. If these two tribes were to now say that after all of this time they do not want to go to eretz yisrael Hashem would get so angry He would make the Jews wander the midbar forever. I have some questions: 1) Why would the decision of these two shevatim cause all of the Jews to travel the midbar forever? 2) Why is this question compared to the statement of their father's? 3) Why is Gad and Reuven's willingness to help the rest of the shevatim fight enough to allow them to live east of the Jordan, because this does not help the problem of wanting to live in eretz yisrael.

The Ramban (32:2) reveals that there is actually more going on behind the scenes here. Shevet Gad was one of the strongest shevatim. This is the reason why they were the ones to come up with the idea to live there in the first place, unafraid of the surrounding nations. But if the other shevatim were to see Gad no go into the land they would think that the reason is because Gad believes that the war against Canaan was one they could not win. Then the other Jews would say that if Gad isn't strong enough surely they have no chance of winning.

Now if this would have happened than the Jews would be back in the same place they were in the time of the meraglim. As we said back in parshat Shlach, when the meraglim came back and said that had no chance of beating the nations in the land it caused all the Jews to loss their emunah that Hashem would win the war for them. So too here, if Gad would not go into eretz yisrael all of the Jews would lose hope in any possibility of winning the wars there. Now, if back in the time of meraglim that caused the Jews, who had left mitzriam, to wander through the midbar for 40 years, surely that same reaction would be worse in the generation that had already spent all of their lives in the midbar.

Now, when Gad and Reuven agreed to come with the rest of the nation and help fight the war this was enough for Moshe to allow them to take the land east of the Jordan, because none of the other tribes would think they are taking it because they find conquering eretz yisrael to be impossible and they would all go in with faith that Hashem would win the war for them.

This is all great, but how does Gad's willingness to help fight lead to the Jews having more emunah? It seems that now the Jews have faith in the abilities of shevet Gad to win a war, not Hashem's abilities!

Well, the Ramban explained that Reuven would never have come up with the idea to live alone east of the Jordan without Gad, because it was too dangerous to live alone. But Gad did not fear, because they were powerful. But if Gad was now agreeing to spend the next however many years helping the rest of the Jews conquer eretz yisrael, leaving their wives, children, and animals undefended, surely the Jews would see the faith of Gad in Hashem that if they went to help the rest of the nation that their children would be protected. This was enough for the Jews to keep their emunah and this is why it was enough for Moshe to allow them to have the land east of the Jordan.

Have a good shabbat!