Taking his seat in his chambers, the judge faced the opposing lawyers. “So,” he said, “I have been presented, by both of you, with a bribe.” Both lawyers squirmed uncomfortably. “You, attorney Leon, gave me $15,000. And you, attorney Campos, gave me $10,000.”
The judge reached into his pocket and pulled out a check. He handed it to Leon … “Now then, I’m returning $5,000, and we’re going to decide this case solely on its merits.”
It is an intriguing story described in this week Torah portion Matot-Massei how the Israelites were en route to the land of Canaan when they were attacked by the armies of Sichon and Og, whose domain lay on the eastern bank of the Jordan. Moses led the Israelites into battle, defeated the two kings, and conquered their land. The tribes of Gad and Reuben, who owned much sheep and cattle, asked that they are given these territories, which were prime pastureland, in lieu of their allotment in the land of Canaan, which lay to the west of the Jordan.
Moses was extremely upset by their request. Forty years earlier, he reminded them, the people of Israel had been poised to enter the land of Canaan. But following a negative report by the spies sent to scout the land—the children of Israel spurned the land promised to their ancestors as the eternal heritage of Israel. G-d decreed that they remain in the desert for forty years until that entire generation died out and a new generation, prepared to accept the gift and challenge of the Promised Land, arose. And now, said Moses to the Reubenites and the Gadites, you are repeating the sin of the Spies—a sin which condemned an entire generation and stopped Jewish history in its tracks for forty years. Like your parents before you, you are declining to take possession of the land deeded to you by divine decree.
How did the two tribes respond to this accusation? They promised that they would enter the land of Canaan together with the other tribes of Israel and aid them in its conquest; indeed, they would march at the head of the army and bear the brunt of the battle. Only after the land west of the Jordan had been conquered and settled by the other tribes would they return to the lands allotted them in the east.
Moses consented. He allowed them to settle in the Transjordan.
But why did Moses change his mind? How did their readiness to go and fight answer Moses' complaint to them? It doesn't seem to address the main point of Moses' criticism—that, like an earlier generation of Jews, they were spurning the divine mission to settle the land of Canaan.
Imagine! G-d, at last, is bringing us home, and some of the Jews say, “Thanks, but no thanks!” We want to settle elsewhere. This is a rebellion of the highest order.
True, they are not trying to strike fear into the hearts of the brothers, like the Spies did, as they are willing to go fight. But yet—they are casting away the national home G-d has given to His children? How can that be allowed?
Surprisingly, however, Moses accepted their proposal and gave them the territories which they requested. He even arranged, at his own initiative, that half of the tribe of Manasseh should join the tribes of Reuben and Gad in settling the lands east of the Jordan.
Why this dramatic shift in Moses' view on the Jewish settlement of the eastern territories? If the two tribes' petition initially struck him as reminiscent of the sin of the Spies, what convinced him to endorse their plan and even expand on it?
These two tribes of Gad and Reuven had a deeper mission, beyond having abundant pasture for their cattle. They had their eye on Moshiach—on the ultimate redemption of the world.
This is how the Rebbe explained it when Moshiach comes, says the Midrash, “The Land of Israel will extend to all the lands.” This means, that the Divine sanctity of the Holy Land will penetrate every terrain of our planet, in the words of the prophet: “The earth will be filled with Divine awareness like the water covers the sea.” “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see that the mouth of the Lord spoke.”
These tribes wanted to begin to usher in that era—by transforming the West of the Jordan also into the Land of Israel. Originally the plan was that the land west of the Jordan would be the "Holy Land," a land where even the most mundane pursuits are tinged with a spiritual glow, and the very soil is sacred. Outside of the Holy Land, the earth would remain mundane.
The tribes of Reuben and Gad were convinced that their mission in life was to begin and sanctify the entire world! Their plea, "Do not take us across the Jordan" did not express a reluctance to enter the Promised Land, but a yearning to extend the holiness of the Holy Land into yet a more remote location, to prepare for the day when the entire earth will be “Holy Land,” when every blade of grass, a flake of snow, drop of rain and water molecule would express the Divine energy at the core of existence.
What is more, G-d’s promise to Abraham that He would give His descendants the Holy Land included not only the West of the Jordan but also the East. Yet, that was not fulfilled when the Jews entered Israel. It will be fulfilled during the future redemption. These tribes wanted to begin this bright era right there and then.
Indeed, these cities on the Eastern Side of the Jordan, right near Israel, which Moses himself conquered and settled them, were the “bridge” between the holiness of Israel proper and the rest of the world.
Moses embraced their vision. He even sent half of the tribe of Menashe to join them.
Indeed, these tribes created the paradigm for our work during all the centuries in exile—in each place a Jew lives or visits, he or she is empowered to infuse the place with sanctity, goodness, morality, and holiness. In the famous expression of the Tzemach Tzedek to a Jew who wanted to travel to the Holy Land: make the Land of Israel right here—bring the holiness of Israel into this very location.
Some Jews have the privilege of relocating to Israel even now. But many Jews were put in a position where their mission is to infuse holiness in the terrain outside of Israel, to prepare the whole world for the ultimate and speedy redemption.
Just as it is true in space, it is true in languages. There is the Holy Tongue, the language of Torah, the language with which G-d created the universe, the language which captures the spiritual chemistry of everything represented by its name in Hebrew.
There are the languages of the nations of the world, which are secular and mundane.
Yet, the prophet Tzefaniah speaks of a time, when:
I will transform the peoples to a pure language that all of them call in the name of the Lord, to worship Him with unity.
All the languages, all cultures, societies, and tribes will discover the Divine core pulsating through them, and thus recognize the oneness of creation, and the oneness of all languages. Today, when we use secular languages—from English to Russian, to French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Mandarin, etc.—to study Torah, to pray, to communicate words of love, to construct a better and kinder world, we elevate that language back to its ultimate source.
Which is why we read each week every verse of the weekly Torah portion twice, and once the translation in Aramaic. Even we understand Hebrew, we still must read the translation. For that serves the purpose of elevating the languages of the world and sublimating them to holiness.
What is the “bridge” between the Holy Tongue and all of the other languages—it is the Aramaic language since the Torah itself contains some words of Aramaic, and it is the language used in the books of Daniel, Ezra, as well as the entire Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud and Zohar.
This is why the Aramaic translation of the Torah was composed by Onkelos. He was a nephew of Titus, who converted to Judaism. He himself became the link between Judaism and the rest of the world.
Who was Onkelos? The story is recorded in the Talmud: Onkelos was a member of the Roman royal family. According to the traditional Jewish sources, he was a prominent Roman nobleman, a nephew of the Roman emperor Titus. Onkelos came to his uncle and said: "For many years I have been poring over books and manuscripts, studying until I have become familiar with all the languages and sciences. But what have I gained from it all? It is time for me to go out into the world and start doing business. You know that I am not familiar with worldly things, whereas you the great Roman emperor are well-versed in worldly affairs. I have therefore come to ask your advice as to what kind of material I should buy and sell?"
Titus was greatly flattered that his wise nephew should ask his advice and he said: "My kingly riches are at your disposal. Take as much money as you need for business. I would advise you to seek material that is extremely cheap due to the fact that people do not realize its worth; material that few people are seeking: You will be able to buy it cheaply and after explaining its real value to people you will be able to make a nice profit!"
Onkelos the Prince soon left the royal palace. He traveled from Rome and began a search. He discovered Judaism. He arrived in Jerusalem. Once there, he took upon himself the religion of the persecuted Jews and converted. He became a disciple of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hirkanos and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya, the great Tanaim who were disciples of Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai. He gave himself over entirely to the study of the Torah. His perseverance and dedication were so great that his teachers became concerned about his health, but Onkelos continued learning day and night until he became well-versed in all the secrets of the Torah.
Onkelos took very much to heart the fact that many Jews during the Babylonian Exile had forgotten their holy language, and had started speaking Babylonian, Ashdodic, Aramaic, and different types of dialects.
When the Jews returned from the Babylonian Exile, Ezra the Scribe translated the Torah into Aramaic so that everybody should be able to understand it, but the translation was lost. Onkelos now decided to translate the Torah into Aramaic once more, according to the explanations handed down from generation to generation, through Ezra the Scribe and back to Moses. This translation that we have even today is "from Onkelos."
After a short time, Titus found out that his nephew had accepted the Jewish religion and had become one of the foremost Jewish scholars. The emperor was beside himself with rage, and he sent a company of soldiers to arrest Onkelos and to bring him in chains to Rome.
'When the Roman soldiers arrived, Onkelos greeted them in a friendly manner and he talked to them about religion and knowledge. His words impressed them so much that the soldiers threw themselves at his feet and begged him to convert them to the Jewish religion, as he had done himself.
'When Titus saw that his soldiers did not return, he sent another company of brave warriors with instructions to bring Onkelos in chains.
This time he gave orders not to have any discussions with Onkelos, but to arrest him on the spot and bring him to Rome, because Hadrian had heard what had happened to his first messengers.
Onkelos again warmly received the royal messengers. "I know that the Emperor forbade you to have any discussions with me. You must obey the royal command; I also obeyed him; I will, therefore, ask you one question: you know very well what goes on in the Roman, imperial Court. The common soldier carries the torch for the officer; the officer carries it for the captain; the captain for the general and the general for the emperor. Tell me, for whom does the emperor carry the torch?"
"The emperor is not obliged to serve anyone," they answered him. "He is the highest authority in the country!"
"Take a look," Onkelos answered them. "The G‑d of Israel, the Creator of heaven and earth, who delivered the Jews from Egypt, the G‑d over everything, in spite of His greatness, still deemed it fit to lighten the way for His servants, the Jews, with a pillar of fire for forty complete years!"
These words made a great impression on the soldiers, and they immediately gave up their mission and became faithful disciples of Onkelos.
Once more, Titus sent a company of troops with high officers at the head, with the express orders not to say one word to Onkelos and not to answer any questions, but to arrest him immediately.
The messengers arrived and started to carry out the emperor's orders without delay. They led him out of his. house. At the door, Onkelos stopped and joyfully kissed the Mezuzah.
The messengers gazed at him in wonder, and could not restrain themselves from asking him:
"What does that thing on the door symbolize, and why are you so happy at being taken to Rome, where your uncle will surely have your head chopped off?"
"I laugh at foolish people. A king sits in his palace and has guards around him to protect him from danger. But the Jewish King, the Lord of the world, allows his servants to sit quietly at home and He protects them from outside. That is the Mezuzah on our door!"
The royal messengers fell entirely under the influence of Onkelos's words and it did not take long before they also became his faithful disciples.
When Titus saw that he would not be able to bring his nephew by force, he decided that there must be some special reason for all this. He had a strong desire to see his nephew, so he swore that he would not harm him if he would come to visit him voluntarily.
Onkelos started out for Rome. When he presented himself to the Emperor, Titus asked him why he had left his home, and his religion and accepted the religion of a small nation that was persecuted and ill-treated by all the other nations of the world?
"I listened to your good advice," Onkelos answered him with a smile. "You advised me to buy a material for which there are few customers and will become expensive one day. I traveled throughout the world and I could not find anything that has fewer customers than the Jewish religion. I bought it and I found that I had made a bargain. The holy Jewish Prophets have promised that the poor persecuted Jewish nation will become a nation of princes; that the kings throughout the world will consider themselves honored to serve them; and the Torah, which is now down-trodden, will be recognized by all nations, and Jerusalem will be the lighthouse of the whole world.
This is why each week we read each verse twice—and the Targum Onkelos. Our mission in life is not only to learn Torah, but to bring Torah into the entire world, to infuse aspects of our life, and all peoples, and the entire planet, and all the languages, with morality and holiness.
I was so moved this week by a story I came across which happened a year ago.
The Saxon Friends of Israel brings volunteers from Germany to Israel to fix the houses of Holocaust survivors living there.
Last October, a Chabad rabbi met one of its volunteers on a flight and posted about it on Facebook: Rabbi Zalmen described his meeting with a 54-year-old house German builder named Roland, who had been traveling to the Jewish state twice a year for about five years to help Holocaust survivors.
“I cannot change or repair the whole world,” the rabbi recalled Roland telling him. “I cannot repair all my people did 75 years ago. All I can do is painting. It’s what I’m doing, bringing a little bit of good to the world.”
In a promotional video, one volunteer explains that both of his parents were avid Nazis and that he is the only one in his family who wants to “deal with the issue.”
To be a Jew is to cross the border (of course only in ways allowed by the Torah and Halacha)—to know that the entire world is Divine, and our job is to reveal it.
Just as Onkelos is the bridge between the Torah language and all other languages, Transjordan is the bridge between Israel and the rest of the world, preparing for the day when Israel will expand into all the countries. Amen!
Shabbat Shalom and a blessed new month of Menachem Av,
Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky
Tom Peacock wrote...