מַסְעֵי

Parsha Masei

Bamidbar (Numbers) 33:1-36:13

These are the departures of the children of Yisra’el, who went out of the land of Mitsrayim by their divisionsunder the hand of Mosheh and Aharon.– Bamidbar (Numbers) 33:1-36:13

The Torah relates the 42 locations where the pillar of fire led the children of Yashar’al (Yisrael) to camp from the Departure from Mitsrayim (Egypt) to the Promised Land:

1) Sukkot 2) Eitam 3) Migdol ;4) Marah ;5) Elim 6) The Red Sea; 7) the Sin Desert; 8) Dofkah; 9) Alush; 10)Rephidim11) The Sinai 12) Kivrot HaTaavah 13) Chatzeirot 14) Ritmah 15) Rimon Peretz; 16) Livnah; 17) Rissah; 18) Keheilatah; 19) Mount Shefer; 20) Charadah; 21) Mak’heilot; 22) Tachat; 23) Tarach; 24) Mitkah; 25) Chashmonah; 26) Moseirot; 27) Bnei Yaakan; 28) Chor Hagidgad; 29) Yotvatah; 30) Avronah; 31) Etzyon Gaver; 32Meribah; 33) Hor HaHar 34) Tzalmonah; 35) Punon; 36) Ovot; 37) Iyei Haavarim 38) Divon Gad; 39) Almon Divlataimah; 40) “the Abarim Mountains before Nebo”;

41) “And they journeyed from the Abarim Mountains, and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan River across from Jericho; 42)they camped by the Yarden (Jordan), from Beit HaYeshimot to Avel HaShittim in the plains of Moab.”

Bamidbar (Numbers) 33:50And YaHuWaH spoke to Mosheh in the desert plains of Mo’ab by the Yarden of Yericho, saying,51 “Speak to the children of Yisra’el, and say to them, ‘When you have passed over the YardÃn into the land of Kena’an,52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and shall destroy all their engraved stones, and shall destroy all their moulded images, and lay waste all their high places,53and you shall possess the land and dwell in it, for I have given you the land to possess.54 ‘And you shall divide the land by lot as an inheritance among your clans. To the larger you give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you give a smaller inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to anyone that is his. You inherit according to the tribes of your fathers.55 ‘And if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.56‘And it shall be that I do to you as I thought to do to them.’

”The Boundaries of the Land”

This is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Kena’an with its borders:

Your south border shall be the utmost coast of the Dead Sea eastward . . . to Maaleh Akrabbim . . . to Kadesh Barnea, and shall go on to Hazar Addar, and pass on to Atzmon; the border shall turn about from Atzmon to the wadi of Egypt, and its limits shall be at the Sea.

And as for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea for a border; this shall be your west border.

And this shall be your north border: from the Great Sea you shall mark out your frontier at Hor HaHar . . . to the entrance of Hamat . . . to Zedad . . . to Zifron, and its limits shall be at Hatzar Einan . . .

And you shall point out your east border from Hatzar Einan to Shefam . . . to Rivlah . . . and shall reach the east coast of the Sea of Kinneret . . . down to the Yarden, and its limits shall be at the Dead Sea.

This shall be your land with its borders round about.

It should be noted that YaHuWaH gave the land according to the existing borders although he promised Abraham much more land, specifically from the Euphrates to the Nile river.  This means that this promise is left unfulfilled and must be fulfilled in the future.

The tribe of Lewi is not allotted land by inheritance but rather they are given 48 cities in which to dwell amongst all the tribes. Each of these cities were laid out in a square that was walled. Beyond the wall YaHuWaH gave land to the Lewites for agriculture and for their animals.

Cities of Sanctuary

Six cities were set-aside for the person who accidentally kills his fellow. Anyone who causes death intentionally or not must flee to one of these cities. If he does not flee in time then an avenger of blood is sent out to take his life, only the avenger of blood cannot enter the cities for refuge. The avenger of blood is a close relative of the victim. If the avenger of blood catches the person who committed the act outside the city then the avenger is not guilty for taking his life. The person who killed his fellow must remain in the city of refuge until he stands before the judgment.

The killer is then brought before the court. If he is found guilty of intentional murder, he is executed. “The redeemer of the blood himself shall slay the murderer; where he meets him, he shall slay him.”

If he is found guilty, but without intent to kill, then the congregation is to save the person from the avenger of blood and he is to remain in the city of refuge until the death of the current Kohen HaGadol (High Priest).

Bamidbar (Numbers) 35:30‘Whoever kills someone has to be put to death as a murderer by the mouth of witnesses, but only one witness does not bear witness against someone to die.31‘And take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall certainly be put to death.32 ‘And take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge to return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest.33 ‘And do not profane the land where you are, for blood profanes the land, and the land is not pardoned for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.34 ‘And do not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell, for I, YaHuWaH, am dwelling in the midst of the children of Yisra’el.’ ”

If we remember our previous Torah Portion Pinchas we will recall the five daughters of Tzelafchad, whose father had died without sons. Remember they petitioned for a share in the Land. Now, the leaders of their tribe, Manasseh, contacted Mushah with a request. If these women marry someone from another tribe, this would mean that their sons will be of another tribe and inherit their land.

Bamidbar (numbers) 36: 6 “This is the word which YaHuWaH has commanded, for the daughters of Tselophhad, saying, ‘Let them marry who is good in their eyes, but let them marry only within the clan of their father’s tribe.’7 “And the inheritance of the children of Yisra’el is not to change hands from tribe to tribe, for every one of the children of Yisra’el is to cling to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.8“And every daughter possessing an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Yisra’Ãl is to be the wife of one of the clan of her father’s tribe, so that the children of Yisra’el possess each the inheritance of his fathers.9“Thus the inheritance is not to change hands from one tribe to another, but every tribe of the children of Yisra’Ãl is to cling to its own inheritance.”

When YaHuWaH gave his Torah he considered every element of social life, from worship to economy, to agriculture and business. Our relationships are all outlined, as they should be from family to friends. The Almighty One in his supreme wisdom even considers the widow, orphan and stranger of the land. We also see he takes into consideration the accidents that may happen in various social situations, even death. There is no constitution or legal governing document or system that is so detailed and complete as YaHuWaH’s Torah. The guidance found in the volume of the scrolls of Torah are the foundations of all that we consider civilization. Before Torah women could not own land, in any circumstance, slaves had no rights and all men and women bowed to idols. YaHuWaH’s profound self-revelation the Torah, changed the history of mankind forever by introducing the concepts of judicial authority and court with the elements of fairness and impartiality. Praise YaHuWaH for his ways are upright and perfect!