One Nation, Many Tribes: The Torah’s Call to Shared Responsibility

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 profound lessons about communal responsibility. They reassure Moses: “We ourselves will cross over, armed before the Lord, into the land of Canaan until we have brought the Children of Israel to their place… We will not return to our homes until every one of the Children of Israel has received his inheritance.” (Numbers 32:17–18, 32). Notice what they do not say. They do not ask for special exemption. They do not argue that because their families will already have homes, they should be allowed to remain behind. Quite the opposite, they volunteer to place themselves at the forefront of the national mission. Although their own inheritance has already been secured, they refuse to enjoy its blessings until every other tribe has secured its own.

Moses accepts their proposal, but only on one condition: “If you do this, if you arm yourselves before the Lord for battle, and every armed man among you crosses the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven out His enemies from before Him… then afterward you may return.” (Numbers 32:20–22). Then Moses adds one of the Torah’s most sobering warnings: “But if you do not do so… know that your sin will find you.” (Numbers 32:23). The message could not be clearer. Reuven and Gad are permitted to receive a different inheritance, but not a different level of responsibility. They must stand shoulder to shoulder with their brothers in defense of the nation in order to receive an inheritance.

These events are not merely ancient history. The commitment of Reuven and Gad to fight shoulder to shoulder with their brothers remains profoundly relevant in 2026. As Israel continues to fight a prolonged, multi-front war against Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran, this lesson speaks to us with renewed urgency. Families have been separated, careers and businesses disrupted, and hundreds of thousands of reservists have been called up again and again to defend their country. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir recently told the Knesset, “The military needs more soldiers immediately,” warning that the current manpower shortage presents a serious challenge to Israel’s long-term security. Estimates suggest that at least 12,000 additional soldiers are urgently needed. Meanwhile, roughly 80,000 Haredi men between the ages of 18 and 24 are eligible for military service but have not enlisted. When Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion agreed in 1948 to exempt approximately 400 yeshiva students from military service in order to preserve the sacred Torah scholarship that had been devastated by the Holocaust, he could never have imagined that the exemption would one day encompass tens of thousands.

Reasonable people can respectfully debate what forms of service are most appropriate. Is it realistic to expect men who have devoted their lives to full-time Torah study, and who have likely never been to a gym, to suddenly become combat soldiers? I understand those who question that assumption. Yet the IDF’s needs extend far beyond combat. Opportunities also exist in many forms of national civilian service. A nation under existential threat requires many different talents, and those talents require action, not only prayer and study. That is precisely the lesson of Parashat Matot-Masei. The Torah recognizes that different tribes fulfill different roles, but it does not recognize the idea that one tribe is exempt from responsibility for the welfare of the nation. Likewise today, every Jew should seek to share in the burdens borne by the rest of the nation. Whether through military service, national civilian service, emergency medicine, supporting soldiers and their families, caring for the wounded, diplomacy, advocacy, philanthropy, or other meaningful forms of national contribution, no community should view itself as entirely separate from the obligations borne by the rest of the Jewish people. Those of us who live abroad should at the very least redouble their efforts at advocacy on behalf of Israel and multiply our financial support.

Many Haredim serve honorably in the IDF or in various forms of national service, and many others express their opposition through peaceful protest. At the same time, some extremist anti-draft factions have crossed a dangerous line, engaging in riots, vandalism, attacks on police officers, and even demonstrations outside the private homes of judges. Regardless of one’s political views, violence against fellow Jews only deepens the fractures within our own people at precisely the moment we most need one another. This Shabbat is especially significant because it falls during the “Three Weeks,” the period between the Seventeenth of Tammuz and Tisha B’Av, when we mourn the tragedies that culminated in the destruction of both Temples. Our Sages famously teach that the Second Temple was destroyed because of sinat chinam, baseless hatred among Jews. While historians point to Rome as the military force that destroyed Jerusalem, the rabbis remind us that our greatest vulnerability began from within.

Perhaps the first step toward rebuilding what was lost is to recover the sense of shared responsibility that Reuven and Gad modeled so beautifully. Unity does not require uniformity: the twelve tribes were never identical and each possessed different strengths, different territories, and different missions. Yet when the future of the nation was at stake, they understood that no tribe could stand apart. October 7th reminded us of this painful truth. Israel’s greatest danger does not arise only from the enemies surrounding her, but also from the divisions that weaken her from within. When our society becomes fragmented and consumed by internal conflict, we become distracted. Conversely, when we stand together, our enemies quickly discover that the Jewish people are far stronger than the sum of our individual tribes.

May Parashat Matot-Masei remind every Jew regardless of denomination, ideology, or community that God demands us to unite in battle when our nation is at risk. And there has never been a greater need than now. May we merit to see all segments of Israeli society, including those who have until now remained outside military or national service, embrace the opportunity to contribute of their own accord, motivated by a deep love of Am Yisrael and the State of Israel so we can stand together as one people, united in purpose and responsibility.

Shabbat Shalom.