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The summary of the entire Torah is as simple as this:
Love what HaShem loves; hate what HaShem hates.
All else is commentary.
בּמִדְבּר • B'midbar
(“In the Wilderness”)
The Fourth Book of Moses,
Commonly Called
Numbers
פָּרָשָׁה מַּטּוֹת
Parsha 42: Mattot • Continued
2. The Tribes East of the Jordan (32:1-42)
(RY: iii; LY: vi) 1 Now the descendants of Re’uven and the descendants of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock. They saw the land of Ya‘zer, and the land of Gil‘ad. Hinneh, the place was a place for livestock. 2 Then the descendants of Gad and the descendants of Re’uven came and spoke to Moshe, and to El‘azar the cohen, and to the chiefs of the community, saying, 3 “‘Atarot, Divon, Ya‘zer, Nimrah, Heshbon, El‘aleh, S’vam, N’vo, and Be‘on, 4 the land which ADONAI conquered before the community of Isra'el, is a land for livestock; and your servants have livestock.” 5 They said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Don’t bring us over the Yarden.”
6 Moshe said to the descendants of Gad, and to the descendants of Re’uven, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here? 7 Why do you discourage the heart of the people of Isra'el from going over into the land which ADONAI has given them? 8 Your fathers did so when I sent them from Kadesh-Barnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up to the Eshkol Valley, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Isra'el, that they should not go into the land which ADONAI had given them. 10 ADONAI’s anger burned in that day, and he swore, saying, 11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me, 12 except Kalev ben Y’funeh the Kenizzite, and Y’hoshua ben Nun, because they have followed ADONAI unreservedly.’ 13 ADONAI’s anger burned against Isra'el, and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation who had done evil in ADONAI’s sight was consumed.
14 “Hinneh, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, an increase of sinful men, to increase the fierce anger of ADONAI toward Isra'el. 15 For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all these people.”
16 They came near to him, and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones; 17 but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the people of Isra'el, until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return to our houses until the people of Isra'el have all received their inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Yarden and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Yarden eastward.”
(RY: iv, LY: vii) 20 Moshe said to them: “If you will do this thing, if you will arm yourselves to go in the presence of ADONAI to the war, 21 and every one of your armed men will pass over the Yarden in the presence of ADONAI until he has driven out his enemies from before him, 22 and the land is subdued in the presence of ADONAI; then afterward you shall return, and be clear of obligation to ADONAI and to Isra'el. Then this land shall be your possession in the presence of ADONAI.
23 “But if you will not do so, Hinneh, you have sinned against ADONAI; and be sure your sin will find you out. 24 Build cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep, then do what you said you would do.”
25 The descendants of Gad and the descendants of Re’uven spoke to Moshe, saying, “Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26 Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock shall be there in the cities of Gil‘ad; 27 but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, in the presence of ADONAI to battle, as my lord says.”
28 So Moshe commanded concerning them to El‘azar the cohen, and to Y’hoshua ben Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ households of the clans of the people of Isra'el. 29 Moshe said to them, “If the descendants of Gad and the descendants of Re’uven will pass with you over the Yarden, every man who is armed to battle in the presence of ADONAI, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gil‘ad for a possession; 30 but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Kena‘an.”
31 The descendants of Gad and the descendants of Re’uven answered, saying, “As ADONAI has said to your servants, so will we do. 32 We will pass over armed in the presence of ADONAI into the land of Kena‘an, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Yarden.”
33 Moshe gave to them, even to the descendants of Gad, and to the descendants of Re’uven, and to the half-clan of M’nasheh ben Yosef, the kingdom of Sichon king of the Emori, and the kingdom of 'Og king of Bashan; the land, according to its cities and borders, even the cities of the surrounding land. 34 The descendants of Gad built Divon, ‘Atarot, ‘Aro‘er, 35 ‘Atrot-Shofan, Ya‘zer, Yogbehah, 36 Beit-Nimrah, and Beit-Haran — fortified cities; and also enclosures for sheep.
37 The descendants of Re’uven built Heshbon, El‘aleh, Kiryatayim, 38 N’vo, and Ba‘al-M‘on (these names have been changed), and Sivmah. They renamed the cities they built.
(LY: Maftir) 39 The descendants of Machir ben M’nasheh went to Gil‘ad, took it, and dispossessed the Emori who were therein. 40 Moshe gave Gil‘ad to Machir ben M’nasheh, and he lived in it. 41 Ya’ir the son of M’nasheh went and took its villages, and called them Havot-Ya’ir [villages of Ya’ir]. 42 Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.
The Blessing After TorahClick this to hear the blessing canted by Cantor Kenneth B. Cohen of Temple Sholom, Greenwich, CT |
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Ba-rookh ah-tah Adonai,
eh-lo-hay-noo meh-lech hah-ohlahm, ah-sher nah-tahn la-noo toe-raht eh-met, v’cha-yaye oh-lahm nah-tah b’toe-chay-noo. Ba-rookh ah-tah Adonai, no-tain ha-to-rah. Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has given us a Torah of truth, and has planted eternal life in our midst. Blessed are You, O Lord, Giver of the Torah. |
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Now that you've read Parsha
Mattot, listen to
Rabbi Greg Hershberg
teach from the text
Haftarah
The Blessing of the Haftarah
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Ba-rookh, ah-tah Adonai, eh-lo-hay-noo, Ba-rookh ah-tah, Adonai, Blessed are you, O Lord our God, Blessed are You, O Lord, |
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Listen to Haftarah Mattot read from the
Complete Jewish Bible
Haftarah Mattot: Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 1:1–2:3
1: 1 These are the words of YirmeyahuJeremiah benthe son of HilkiyahuHilkiah, one of the cohenimpriests who were in ‘AnatotAnathoth [MAP] in the land of BinyaminBenjamin. 2 The word of ADONAI[GN] came to him in the days of YoshiyahuJosiah ben Amon, king of Y'hudahJudah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Y’hoyakimJehoiakim ben YoshiyahuJosiah, king of Y'hudah, to the end of the eleventh year of TzidkiyahuZedekiah ben YoshiyahuJosiah, king of Y'hudah, to the carrying away of YerushalayimJerusalem captive in the fifth month. 4 Now the word of ADONAI came to me, saying,
- 5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.
- Before you were born, I sanctified you.
- I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
6 Then I said, “Ah, Adonai ELOHIM![GN] Hinneh,[GN] I don’t know how to speak; for I am a child.”
- “Don’t say, ‘I am a child;’
- for you must go to whomever I send you,
- and you must say whatever I command you.
- 8 Don’t be afraid of them,
- for I am with you to rescue you,” said ADONAI.
9 Then ADONAI stretched out his hand and touched my mouth, and ADONAI said to me,
- “Hinneh, I have put My words in your mouth.
- 10 I have today set you over nations and kingdoms,
- to uproot and to tear down,
- to destroy and to overthrow,
- to build and to plant.”
11 Moreover The word of ADONAI came to me, saying, “Yirmeyahu, what do you see?”
I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”
12 Then ADONAI said to me, “You have seen well; for I watch over My word to perform it.”
13 The word of ADONAI came to me the second time, saying, “What do you see?”
I said, “I see a boiling cauldron; and it is tipping away from the north.”
14 Then ADONAI said to me, “Out of the north, evil will break out on all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For Hinneh, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” says ADONAI.
- “They will come, and they will each set his throne
- at the entrance of the gates of Yerushalayim,
- and against all its walls all around,
- and against all the cities of Y'hudah.
- 16. I will utter My judgments against them
- for all their wickedness in abandoning me,
- offering incense to other gods,
- and worshiping what their own hand have made.
- 17 “But you, dress for action, stand up and tell them
- everything I order you to say.
- When you confront them, don’t break down;
- or I will break you down in front of them.
- 18 For today, Hinneh,
- I have made you into a fortified city, an iron pillar,
- and bronze walls against the whole land —
- against the kings of Y'hudah, against its princes,
- against its cohenim, and against the people of the land.
- 19 They will fight against you,
- but they will not prevail against you;
- for I am with you,” says ADONAI, “to rescue you.”
32: 1 The word of ADONAI word came to me, 2 “Go and shout in the ears of Yerushalayim that this is what ‘ADONAI says:
- “I remember your devotion for Me
- when you were young;
- how, as a bride, you loved Me;
- how you followed Me in the wilderness,
- through a land that was not sown.
- 3 Isra'el is set aside for ADONAI,
- the first fruits of His harvest.
- All who devour him will be held guilty;
- evil will come upon them,”’ says ADONAI.”
Ketuvei HaShalichim (Apostolic Writings)
The Blessing of the Ketuvei HaShalichimClick this to hear the blessing canted by Jeremiah Greenberg of Messianic Liturgical Resources. Page numbers refer to his Messianic Shabbat Siddur. |
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Bah-rookh ah-tah Adonai, Eh-lo-hay-noo meh-lekh hah-ohlahm, ah-shehr nah-tahn la-noo mah-she-ahch Yeshua, v’ha-deebrote shell Ha-breet Ha-kha-da-shah, ba-rookh ah-ta Adonai, notain Hah-breet Hah-kha-da-shah. Blessed are You, O Lord our God, |
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Basar
(Gospel)
Mattityahu (Matthew) 5:33–37
33“Again you have heard that our fathers were told, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep your vows to ADONAI’ 34But I tell you that you must not swear falsely at all: not by heaven, because it is God’s throne; 35not by the earth, because it His footstool; not by Yerushalayim, because it is the city of the Great King. 36And don’t swear by your head, because you can’t make one single hair white or black. 37Just let your ‘Yes’ be a simple ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be a simple ‘No.’ Anything more than these is of evil.
The Blessing After the Ketuvei HaShalichimClick this to hear the blessing canted by Jeremiah Greenberg of Messianic Liturgical Resources. Page numbers refer to his Messianic Shabbat Siddur. |
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Ba-rookh ah-tah, Adonai Eh-lo-hay-noo, Blessed are You, O Lord our God, |
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The Blessing of the MessiahClick this to hear the blessing canted by Jeremiah Greenberg of Messianic Liturgical Resources. Page numbers refer to his Messianic Shabbat Siddur. |
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Ba-rookh ah-tah Adonai Eh-lo-hay-noo,
meh-lekh hah-oh-lahm, ah-sher na-tahn la-noo ha-deh-rech l'y'shoo-ah b'ma-she-ahch Yeshua. Ah-mein. Blessed are You, O Lord our God,
King of the Universe, |
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Chapter 33 • Parsha 43: Masa'ei
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ANXIOUSLY WATCHING FOR MASHIACH’S RETURN,
SPEEDILY AND IN OUR DAY. MARANA, TA!
