This sheet on Numbers 32 was written by Ari Hoffman for 929 and can also be found here
There is something about today’s chapter that is thoroughly modern, and entirely resonant. The Jewish people had been promised the far side of the Jordan River, all the land between that river and the Mediterranean Sea. They had seen it before, only to be turned away in a welter of tears and recrimination. They’d crossed one sea, and when they forded the river and their sandals squished into the dirt on the other side their journey would be over. Everything to the East of the River would become the past, streaked with miracles but also shrouded in suffering; the slave power Egypt, the desert itself, the cities of Chaldees from which Abraham emerged, metropoles so old that their founding was coterminous with the making of the world.
Something funny happened on the way to crossing the river, though. The tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of Manasseh found their cows mooing with satisfaction, and the soil to be rich and fertile between their fingers. For a nation that had moved in lockstep through the desert after building Pharaoh’s public works in miserable solidarity, this is the first instance of true divergence, as the call of business and family and homesteading ensure that a River will run through the camp of Israel. It is an admission that in the course of things the edge of the Promised Land can be more attractive than its hilly and sacred center, and that we don’t always choose where our feet ache to rest.
The deal Moses strikes is one that seeks to midwife the journey from confederation of tribes to nation bound by compact and protected by universal conscription. It balances the right of every man to choose his home with the responsibility to protect all the homes that aren’t yours. Never can the seductions of vineyard and hearth distract from the fight to which we all must remain implacably committed, no matter where we pitch our tent.
Ari Hoffman is a columnist for the Forward, where he writes about politics and culture, and is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at N.Y.U.
929 is the number of chapters in the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, the formative text of the Jewish heritage. It is also the name of a cutting-edge project dedicated to creating a global Jewish conversation anchored in the Hebrew Bible. 929 English invites Jews everywhere to read and study Tanakh, one chapter a day, Sunday through Thursday together with a website with creative readings and pluralistic interpretations, including audio and video, by a wide range of writers, artists, rabbis, educators, scholars, students and more. As an outgrowth of the web-based platform, 929 English also offers classes, pop-up lectures, events and across North America. We invite you to learn along with us and be part of our dynamic community.
To join 929's listserv for new and dynamic content each week click here
