07 Jul MATOT: THE SYSTEM ISN’T ENOUGH

Parashat Matot tells of
the tribes of Reuven and
Gad, who came to Moshe
and asked his permission
to permanently settle
in Ever Ha’Yarden, the
area east of the Jordan River. Beneh
Yisrael had captured this area from the
kingdoms of Sihon and Og who had attacked
them, and now Reuven Gad asked if they
could permanently live there, instead of
crossing over into the Land of Israel with the
rest of the nation.
Moshe initially was angry at them for
expressing this wish to remain outside the
land rather than fight with the other tribes to
capture the Land of Israel. The people of
Reuven and Gad clarified that they would
build homes for their families and pens for
their cattle, and they would then cross the
river together with the rest of the nation and
join in waging battle in Eretz Yisrael. Only
after the war was won would they return to
their families and cattle on the other side of
the river.
The Midrash points out that in explaining all
this to Moshe, the people of Reuven and Gad
made a serious mistake. They said: “We will
build pens for our cattle here, and cities for
our children” (32:16) – mentioning their

animals before their children. The Midrash
comments that Reuven and Gad gave
precedence to their money – their flocks of
sheep – over their children. Moshe therefore
corrected them by saying, “Go build cities for
your children and pens for your sheep”
(32:24). He instructed them to reverse their
priorities – to give precedence to their children
over their herds.
We must wonder, is it really possible that
Reuven and Gad thought their sheep were
more important than their children? Were
their priorities really that distorted?
One commentator explained that Reuven and
Gad did not regard their sheep as more
important than their children, but they
wrongly assumed that they needed to invest
more work tending to the sheep than tending
to the children. As mentioned, Beneh
Yisrael captured this territory from Sihon and
Og. They took over a territory that already
had built cities. The entire infrastructure was
in place. There wasn’t much work to do in
terms of housing. And so the people of
Reuven and Gad mentioned the cattle first –
not because the cattle was more important,
but because this is where most of the work
needed to be done. They figured that there
was already an infrastructure in place for the
families – so they needed to focus on their
sheep.
But they were wrong. Even if an infrastructure
already exists, even if the system is set up,
tending to children requires hard work and a
great deal of attention.
The Gemara in Masechet Baba Metzia praises
the work done by Rabbi Hiyya for the sake of
Jewish education. Rabbi Hiyya planted flax
and then used the flax to make nets with
which to trap deer. He slaughtered the deer,
fed its meat to the poor, and used its skins to
make parchment upon which he wrote the
Torah. He then brought these scrolls to
various communities so children could be
taught Torah.
It is noteworthy that the Gemara praises
Rabbi Hiyya not just for teaching Torah – but
for planting the flaxseeds which enabled him
to hunt the deer whose skins were then used
for parchment. When it comes to education,
there are no shortcuts. We need to work hard
at every stage. We can’t just leave it to the
system. We need to plant the seeds and put in
the work and effort to educate our children
and teach them how to live as Torah Jews.
Unfortunately, some parents make the same
mistake as Reuven and Gad – figuring that
since the system is already in place, we have
yeshivot and institutions that teach the

children, they should be focusing on the
“sheep,” on earning money. They think that
paying tuition, with all the hard work and
sacrifice this entails, is enough. But this is
wrong. The system is not enough. We need to
put in the work, spending time with our
children and teaching them, already from a
young age, about Torah commitment. The
yeshivot cannot do it on their own. We parents
have to do our part, taking an active role in
our children’s religious growth.
The pasuk says in Tehillim (127:4), “Youth
are like arrows in the hand of a mighty
soldier.” Educating youngsters is compared to
a skilled archer shooting arrows. An archer
doesn’t shoot randomly; he picks his target
and focuses on it intently. Education, too,
requires focus and attention. We can’t leave it
to the system. We need to get actively
involved and put in the time and effort to
teach and guide our children along the path of
Torah life.