This week we read the combined Parshiot Matot and Masei. As we continue our journey through the wilderness, now entering its fortieth year, Moses is suddenly faced with yet another challenge. Sihon and Og, whose kingdoms were located in areas corresponding roughly to modern-day Jordan, attack Bnei Yisrael as they pass through. The Israelites are victorious and conquer their lands. The tribes of Reuven and Gad (later joined by half of Menashe), noticing that the newly conquered territory is especially well suited for their vast flocks and herds, approach Moses with an unexpected request. Rather than receiving their inheritance within the Land of Israel west of the Jordan River, they ask to settle permanently on its eastern side (Numbers 32:1–5).

Picture yourself for a moment as Moses, leading a weary, traumatized nation of former slaves through the wilderness. What were the goals of this arduous forty-year journey? They were twofold: to prepare Bnei Yisrael for the receiving of the Torah and to bring them into the promised land. For two tribes to approach Moses and ask that their inheritance be outside the Land of Israel was almost unthinkable. At first glance, it must have felt like the ultimate betrayal. Moses’ response is immediate and forceful: “Shall your brothers go to war while you remain here? Why do you discourage the hearts of the Children of Israel from crossing into the land that the Lord has given them?” (Numbers 32:6–7). He immediately recognizes that this request is about far more than geography. Moses fears not only that these tribes might avoid participating in the difficult battles required to conquer the Land of Israel, but that their request could demoralize the rest of the nation. Just as the spies had discouraged the people nearly forty years earlier, Moses worries that this proposal could once again weaken the resolve of Bnei Yisrael at the very moment they stand poised to enter their homeland. Before they even cross the Jordan, their fragile national unity is already at risk.

Yet it is in the response of Reuven and Gad that we discover one of the Torah’s most........

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