There are three very unassuming Pesukim at the end of פרשת מטות that have a beautiful and mind-blowing story hidden beneath the surface.
וילכו בני מכיר בן מנשה גלעדה וילכדה ויורש את האמרי אשר בה: ויתן משה את הגלעד למכיר בן מנשה וישב בה: ויאיר בן מנשה הלך וילכד את חותיהם ויקרא אתהן חות יאיר:
The sons of Machir ben Menashe went to Gilead and they captured it, and they drove out the Amorites that were there: And Moshe gave Gilead to Machir ben Menashe and he settled there: And Yair the son of Menashe went and captured the surrounding villages and he named them “The villages of Yair”:
This Pasuk states that Yair was from שבט מנשה, however, in דברי הימים א’ ב’ כא’ it says that Machir’s daughter married חצרון from שבט יהודה and that Yair was the grandson from that marriage. We all know that which שבט one belongs to follows after the father, so why would the Torah tell us in this week’s פרשה that Yair is from שבט מנשה? It’s like this family’s place in the Jewish nation is murky and unclear, what could the meaning of this be?
Let’s start with the city that they captured and subsequently settled. Gilead. This isn’t the first time the city of גלעד is mentioned in the תורה. In fact, we hear about the origins of this city and it’s naming way back in פרשת ויצא. Yaakov has been in Lavan’s house for 21 long years and finally when Yosef is born he decides it’s time to leave Lavan’s house. He tells Leah and Rochel to pack up, it’s time to go. Rochel, in an attempt to help her father get on the right track steals his תרפים, simply translated as idols. Lavan runs after Yaakov and his family. When he catches up he is angry at Yaakov for running away and for stealing his תרפים. Yaakov doesn’t know that Rochel has taken them and he makes the following ominous proclamation: אם אשר תמצא את אלהיך לא יחיה. With whomever your gods are found shall not live. Lavan overturns the whole camp but doesn’t find the תרפים, Yaakov gets angry and yells at him that all I’ve done is work for you faithfully and all you’ve done in return is trick me. Lavan answers all that you have is really mine. Let us make a ברית together and let there be witness (עד) between us. I know that someone here stole my gods and I want Hashem the God of your father and grandfather to judge between us. They make a pile (גל) of stones and they eat on the pile. Lavan calls the place יגר סהדותא (Aramaic for witnessing pile) and Yaakov calls the place גלעד. רש”י tells us that Yaakov’s unintentional curse on whoever stole the תרפים came true and Rachel death is in some way an effect of this. This is the responsibility of the righteous, for the words they speak come true even when they are not intentional.
But this curse came true in more ways than one. It wasn’t just enough for Yaakov to lose Rochel his wife, he ended up losing her בכור as well. For Yaakov didn’t say that whomever has your gods shall die, he said that they shall not live. This was a threat to any living memory of Rachel. and Yosef in fact was missing from his life for 22 years. Rachel does not live in Yaakov’s life for so many long years.
If we look at the wording that the Torah uses when telling us Yaakov’s speech to Lavan we hear very eerie echoes to all the tragedies of Rachel’s side of the family that befall Yaakov later in his life. Let’s examine the wording:
- נגד אחינו הכר לך מה עמדי
“go ahead and check, in front of our brothers recognize what is yours”. Only a few years later Yaakov will hear words from 10 of his children that send shivers up the spine. זאת מצאנו הכר נא הכתנת בנך היא אם לא , “we found this bloody coat, recognize this (in front of a group of brothers), is it your coat that your son had on him or not?
- :זה עשרים שנה אנכי עמך רחליך ועזיך לא שכלו
“these 20 years that I’ve been with you, your sheep and goats never miscarried. רחליך means sheep but it can also mean, “your Rachel”. Now Rachel didn’t miscarry either, although if she had miscarried Binyamin maybe she wouldn’t have died early in childbirth. Her lack of miscarriage brought about her untimely death.
- טרפה לא הבאתי אליך
“I never brought a torn-up animal to you”. Yaakov would say very similar words again, when his sons bring Yosef’s coat full of goat blood to him and Yaakov says טרף טרף יוסף , the coat of my torn up son was brought before me.
The part that is most chilling, when Yosef is in the pit, a caravan of ישמעאלים come and buy him, but the תורה goes out of its way to tell us where they were coming from. וישאו עיניהם ויראו והנה אורחת ישמעאלים באה מגלעד. These merchants are coming from גלעד not only geographically, but in another way as well. It’s the pile of stones upon which Yaakov uttered those fateful words reminding us that the witness is still here. Yaakov will lose his connection with Rochel in a whole new dimension. He will lose the son that was his connection to Rochel in her death.
There is one more story that I want to show you. A story that we read with a warm fuzzy feeling because we have a bird’s eye view and know the ending. But if you read this story from the perspective of the characters involved, it is a terrifying story. I am referring to the story at the beginning of פרשת ויגש. Let’s try to climb into the brother’s head here. They came down to Egypt to get some food. They have been picked on and accused by the Prime Minister of the country. He imprisoned their brother Shimon and help him hostage until they bring their 11th brother down to Egypt. They complied with everything that this official asked of them and they have now been framed as thieves. Caught red handed they return to the palace. The cruel ruler says, you are all free to go, I will just keep the thief (Binyamin) as a slave. Now, in their heads this is it, they have never been in a worse situation. Rochel is about to obliterated from their father’s life. She herself died in childbirth, they themselves sold her oldest son 22 years ago, and now the last remaining reminder that Yaakov has in his life that Rachel ever existed is about to become a slave in the land that slaves never escape from. In a climactic moment, Yehuda gets up in front of this cruel man, stares him in the eye and says: I will do everything I can to make sure that doesn’t happen. You will not take my brother as a slave! I will work for you in his place, and he will go home to our father. And (as the Medrash expounds on Yehuda’s words) if you challenge me on this, I and my brothers will wage war and wipe out your country right now. It is Yehuda who stands up and – from their perspective – reverses the tragic story that גלעד has been telling till now. Rachels family will have a place in the Jewish nation through Binyamin at the very least. And with this Hashem reveals the truth to them and Yosef gets overwhelmed with emotion and tells his flesh and blood the truth. The family of Rachel is whole within the Jewish people once again, all because of Yehuda’s willingness to put himself on the line.
Let’s circle back to this week’s פרשה now. We have the family of Machir who goes to capture a city on the east bank of the Jordan, before they can enter the land. The city of גלעד. And the genealogy of this family is unclear. Do they come from Menashe the son of Yosef who was sold, or do they come from Yehuda, who said those infamous words, לכו ונמכרנו לישמעאלים. Let’s sell Yosef to the ישמעאלים, the ones coming from גלעד. The same Yehuda that stands up and says, I won’t stop before I save my brother that comes from Rachel. This family of מכיר was on a mission, a mission that only someone who identifies with both side of the family can accomplish. To capture back the city of גלעד. And they do this successfully. Look at the head of the family’s name. Machir. What a strange name. sounds exactly like מכירה or למכור, מכירת יוסף. This man’s name and purpose in life was to fix the sale, to storm the city where it all began, to capture it back and settle it.
The settlements of the cities were based on which שבט one came from. And Yair’s שבט association is unclear, so when he settles the city of גלעד, is it Yosef territory or Yehuda territory? The answer is, both, and that’s exactly the point, his mission wasn’t just to capture a city, it was to settle in such a way that Leah’s family and Rochel’s family meld into one unified entity.
עבר לירדן was given to ראובן, גד and חצי שבט מנשה. But when we read the Pesukim where Moshe gives them permission to settle on the other side of the river, it’s only שבט ראובן and גד, no mention of the part of שבט מנשה. There are many reason given why they were included. But I think a possible answer is that these families didn’t want to settle for their cattle to eat better, they wanted to capture and settle so they could heal an old wound and end a family feud.
I think it’s no coincidence that this story comes to a close during the 3 weeks. When שנאת חנם caused us to lose our connection to Hashem, the Torah tells us a story of brotherly love and of people coming together to heal wounds and give selflessly. We should all be זוכה to have the סייעתא דשמיא to be able to heal old wounds and resolve old conflicts.