The Reuven-Gad syndrome: Mattot-Masei 5784

This week’s public Torah reading brings to an end the fourth book of the Torah, Bamidbar. No longer do we have the slave generation that left Egypt in haste and, when faced with problems and difficulties, constantly longed to return there. In their place we find a new generation, standing poised and ready to enter the Land of Israel and fulfill God’s covenant with Avraham. However, once again, narrow personal interests becloud the general picture and weaken the necessary national resolve. 

Now it is not the so-called fleshpots of Egypt that beckon. Rather, temptation comes from the rich pasture lands east of the Jordan River  that entice the cattle-raising tribes of Reuven and Gad to plead with Moshe that they remain there and not be compelled to cross the river and enter the promised Land of Israel. 

Moshe’s initial reaction to their request is one of shock and bitter disappointment. He reminds them that their parents’ generation was destroyed in the desert for disparaging the Land of Israel and for refusing to make any effort to possess its. He warns them that they have apparently learned little from the experiences of their forebears, embracing the prospect of making the same errors of judgment. Moshe is greatly frustrated by their attitude. Why can’t they see past their cattle, their personal gain, an imagined short-term benefit and the consequences of their refusal to acknowledge the grandeur of the Lord’s long-term vision for them and their land? It is this spiritual blindness, this unwillingness to appreciate the uniqueness of Israel, its people and its land that Moshe bemoans. 

Reuven and Gad get their way, but their gain is only temporary and it comes at a price. Separated from their brethren west of the Jordan, the breakaway tribes will struggle to defend themselves and will be the first tribes to be exiled. They produce no major leaders or heroes for the Jewish people and their dreams of prosperity and material success are only fleetingly realized. 

Criticized bitterly and for all time by the prophetess Devorah for standing aside in an hour of national Jewish peril, the tribes of Reuven and Gad become the prototype for Jewish indifference to the causes of Jewish survival and success. In the modern world they unfortunately have many heirs and disciples. Mordecai warned Esther not to stand apart and be passive in the face of Haman and his decrees. He warned her that, when the Jews would somehow escape from their troubles, she and her family would be doomed to extinction if she allowed her narrow self-interest to rule over her national duty for the preservation of Israel. 

Today too, narrow self-interests govern many Jews—even leaders who seemingly should know better—in their attitudes, policies and behavior regarding the existential problems that face the Jewish people and the Jewish state. The Talmud teaches us that Jerusalem always needs advocates for its cause. That certainly is the case today. Jewish apathy and alienation are our enemies. The current allure of political correctness in policy and mindset is not just misleading but dangerous. Standing at the cusp of great adventures and opportunities, we must take care to avoid suffering the Reuven-Gad syndrome. 

Shabbat shalom, Rabbi Berel Wein

 

The seductive sway of self-interest: Shelach Lecha 5784

This week’s parsha raises the age-old issue of human behavior: altruism versus personal interest. While we all pay lip service to the ideal of altruism when dealing with public affairs and the general good , we all remain human beings at heart and the Talmud long ago posited that “a human being is first and foremost closest and prejudiced in favor of one’s own self-interest.”

 The conflict between the general good of the many and the private benefit of the few—or even of a single individual—is the stuff of politics, government, power and influence. Throughout history this it has been a core element in human existence. Our sense of rectitude and our consciences are constantly buffeted by self-interest and personal factors. We are born as selfish grasping individuals, and the challenges in life that follow all revolve about our ability to recognize and modify this basic human instinct.

 One may say that all the commandments of the Torah come to enable us to counter this primal instinct. This is what the rabbis meant when they taught us that the “evil instinct”—our innate selfishness—is with us from our first breath on this earth. The struggle to include others—family, community, fellow Jews and human beings generally—within our worldview is the story of our lives.

 The Torah recognizes Avraham’s victory in this struggle and it is he, above all others, who is seen as our father and role model, the founder of God’s people.

 One of the explanations offered by the commentators to the negative behavior and damning report regarding the Land of Israel is that the spies, who were the leaders of their tribes, were aware that, when the Jews entered the Land of Israel, new leaders were to be chosen and that they were at risk of losing their titles and positions of power and influence. This awareness preyed upon their minds and prejudiced their view of the Land of Israel.  

They valued their personal interests in a manner that overwhelmed their view of the general good of the people they were supposed to serve. This has always been a problem for communal leadership, when hubris and self-service dominate the sight of the leadership so that one is unable to distinguish between public good and private interest.

 Even worse, many times the private interest of the leader is disguised as the public good. Dictators have always stated that “I am the state!” The great prophet Shmuel is characterized in the same category as Moshe and Aharon because of his selflessness in leading the Jewish people. The tragedy of the spies, and of the Jewish people of that generation generally, is this inability to rise over personal interests and view the general picture of Jewish destiny and accomplishment.

 Like many leaders blinded by their own agendas, the spies soon descended into falsehoods and slander to make their case. The tragedy in cases such as this is that the people often follow this flawed leadership, bringing calamity upon one and all. We should always be wary of the true motives of those who profess to lead us for the alleged public good.

  Shabbat shalom, Rabbi Berel Wein