Tammuz 23, 5776/July 29, 2016
So close, and yet... so far. "If it pleases you, let this land be given to your servants as a heritage; do not take us across the Jordan." (Numbers 32:5) These are the words spoken by "the descendants of Gad and the descendants of Reuven " (ibid 32:2) beforeMoshe and Elazar the Kohen Gadol. Standing literally on the east bank of the Jordan river, the last existing stumbling block between the nation of Israel and the land G-d promised them having now been vanquished, the rank and file of these two tribes plead before Moshe to permit them to remain outside of the land and to settle permanently in a place not sanctified by G-d 's covenant with Israel.
Unlike the case of the daughters of Tzelophchad who came before him pleading for their father's inheritance inside the land, and unlike the case in which men came beforeMoshe pleading for a second opportunity to fulfill G-d 's commandment to perform the Passover offering, Moshe does not turn to G-d and ask for an answer. No, one does not turn to G-d to ask for a pass not to fulfill His word. Instead Moshe, who forty years ago confessed to G-d his own inability to speak coherently and persuasively to the children of Israel, spared no words in expressing his utter disgust and disdain for the wishes expressed by Reuven and Gad: "Shall your brethren go to war while you stay here? Why do you discourage the children of Israel from crossing over to the land which HaShem has given them?" (ibid 32:6-7)
Moshe continued to compare the request of Reuven and Gad to the sin of the spies which condemned an entire generation to perish in the wilderness. Had Moshe turned to G-d , as he had done in past crises, saying "I can no longer bear the burden of this stubborn people," G-d might have exacted a grave punishment. But Moshe wisely chose to keep this crisis between the children of Israel and himself, and seeking only to expedite the inheritance of the land of Israel by the children of Israel, he readily agreed to the proposal put forth by Reuven and Gad, but not before adding this concluding rebuke: "If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves for battle before HaShem, and your armed force crosses the Jordan before HaShem until He has driven out His enemies before Him, and the Land will be conquered before HaShem, afterwards you may return, and you shall be freed [of your obligation] from HaShem and from Israel, and this land will become your heritage before HaShem. But, if you do not do so, behold, you will have sinned against HaShem, and be aware of your sin which will find you. So build yourselves cities for your children and enclosures for your sheep, and what has proceeded from your mouth you shall do." (ibid 32:20-24)
Moshe accepts the compromise but places a very high price should it not be fulfilled in its entirety. Yes, you can settle outside the land, but you had better be prepared to put your lives on the line so that your brethren can inherit that which G-d had promised. In time, the lands east of the Jordan settled by Reuven, Gad and the half tribe of Menashewould acquire their own level of sanctity by virtue of their presence, and today these lands are considered a part of the land of Israel. But nevertheless, the lands east of the Jordan are not the equivalent of the land west of the Jordan, and had Reuven and Gadreneged on their pledge to fight with their brothers, (which they did fulfill), these lands would have become void of any sanctity whatsoever.
This bit of history is often cited today as a rebuke to Jews living outside the land of Israel, having adopted a value system which places the commandment of living in the land on low priority, below the "sheepfolds for our livestock," (ibid 32:16) as expressed by Gad and Reuven. But we can draw the analogy much closer to home. G-d promised that He would return the exiled children of Israel to their land, and He did. It is our responsibility today to settle the land and to build for G-d a Holy Temple in the place he has chosen: Jerusalem. Those of us who are willing to waive this clause of our contract with G-d , (known as the Torah), and choose instead to call the Western (retaining) Wall (of the Temple Mount) their home, because it better fits their needs, are perfectly entitled to do so. But like Reuven and Gad they must take upon themselves the responsibility to stand alongside their brethren who do choose to fulfill Israel's pledge to G-d and turn the desolation that describes the Temple Mount today into the House of G-d and the source of world peace and blessing that G-d has promised.
If we compare the past two thousand year period to a marathon race with the starting point being the destruction of the Holy Temple and exile of Israel from its land and the end point being the return of Israel to its land and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple, then we are clearly approaching the finish line. Is the finish line really a towering wall meant to hold back the earth on the other side? Or is the finish line nothing more than a ribbon that will be torn asunder the moment we take our next stride?
The Temple Institute has always believed the latter, and that our imagined fears and hesitations only inflame and encourage those forces which are aligned against the establishment of G-d 's Holy Temple on earth. It is but a ribbon we need to sunder, not a wall we need hide behind. Toward this end, for nearly thirty years the Temple Institute has worked tirelessly to increase Holy Temple consciousness in the world. The Institute has created nearly all of the sacred vessels needed to resume the Divine service in the Holy Temple, including the garments of the High Priest and architectural plans for the building of the Temple. This Sunday, the Institute is launching a campaign to raise funds toward the establishment of the 'Nezer HaKodesh (Holy Crown) Institute for Kohanic Studies' - the world's first institute for training Levitical priests for service in the Holy Temple. We call upon all who pray for G-d 's peace and blessing to fill our world, to take up the pledge to go "before the children of Israel until we have brought them to their place" - one stride closer to the dream of the Holy Temple. Together we can break the ribbon and bring honor to HaShem and blessing to the world.
-The Temple Institute
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