Matot-Masei

August 2, 2019
1 Av 5779

Parashat Matot-Masei
Numbers 30:2 - 36:13

A new Hebrew month begins today -- the month of Av.  We are coming to the end of the Book of Numbers, aka Bamidbar.  Today is the 2nd of August and, suddenly, signs abound for pre-school summer sales and Congress is about to take a recess.

Clearly, these are all signs that this is a time of transition.  It's time to get in a few more vacation days and time to plan. The pressure that the fall is just around the corner has begun to build.

In our story, our ancestors are just getting ready to cross into new territory.  For them, as with us, it is a time of transition, change, growth, and transformation, where anything is possible. For us, the middle of summer is a time for reflection.  A time to look both backward and forward, a time of anticipation.  How do we choose the best course of action? We can certainly argue that our ancestors behaved in ways we do not wish to replicate – particularly regarding women.  It is a section describing a brutal war. Over the millennia, our teachers have tried to justify it.  We who have witnessed brutality know that there is never an excuse for it.  It happens when we do not see the other as fully human.

This week’s double Torah portion is a difficult one.  It is another one of those moments in our story when the role of women is not elevated.  On the contrary, women, both those who are members of the community and those who are being warred upon, are not seen in the fullness of their being.  

We are told that a woman’s vows may be abrogated if she is living in a household run by men (her father or husband). Of course, that can only happen if the man in question hears the vow on the day it is made. The woman’s personal status -- whether she is a child, married, or divorced -- will determine the status and power of the vow and whether she may fulfill it.  Where is her agency?

We find ourselves living in a moment where the words of women are often not believed, even if sworn to, particularly when they concern the actions of men around them.  Do we abandon our truths and our vows because male authority says we must?  Just last week, we heard the daughters of Zelophehad come forward to ask for their due, as their father had no sons.

As happens so frequently in our tradition, we have multiple voices demanding that we listen.  But the decision is ours – it always is.  As we think about what lies ahead in the last days of summer, the choices are ours.  We decide which voices to listen to and which path to take.

A closing thought: yesterday, my mother would have been one hundred years old.  By the time I came to Tehillah, she was far from young, but she stood her ground and was a person of substance.  I simply cannot imagine her allowing anyone telling her what she should or should not do.

We make choices every day.  They belong to us and no one else.  We must be the ones to live with our choices and our vows.  May they be for a blessing.