Flockland

Tamuz 25,5767
July 11, 2007
Fenced in Flocks
The Torah tells us that the Tribes of Reuben and Gad approached Moshe to request the following consideration. The people of Israel had just defeated two warrior nations , the Amorites and the Bashan Amorites . Their territories were ideal for grazing sheep and these two Tribes were blessed with huge flocks . It would only be natural that they should request that these lands be given to them as their inheritance instead of the more agricultural West side of the Jordan.
Instead of understanding their position, Moshe attacks them as being
As rebellious as the spies who destroyed our motivation to enter the Promised Land . They responded that they had no intention of removing themselves from their brothers’ battles. They were prepared to fight at the vanguard of all the battles. In fact they will not return to their homes until every tribe had conquered its’ territory and divided it, a process that took 14 years to complete!
In other words, the 2 Tribes of Reuben and Gad were willing to forgo being with their families for 14 years while the battles for the Holy Land were being waged. This seems to be a great sacrifice for them.
Surely Moshe as a leader of men and the greatest Prophet should have seen their sincerity . So why did he attack them as he did ?
Reuben was Yaakov’s firstborn and theoretically entitled to the choicest part of the Land. Gad too had a claim as his fighters were the best in hand to hand combat and therefore could argue that the main spoils of war should be his .Moshe sensed that at the core this was the true motivation of these Tribes. They really felt that they had earned these Lands and the others would have to make do with what was left . Even if these Lands weren’t choice parcels, the very fact that these 2 Tribes were already in their homes was a blow to the others who still had nothing to show for 40 years of tears and sorrow.
Yes, the Reubenites believed there was nothing wrong with their request. However, they could have allowed G-D to decide which Land would be theirs. The very fact that they asked when others didn’t indicates a lack of Faith as well as an insensitivity to the reaction of others!
This was Moshe’s intuitive insight into their request . Notwithstanding anything they did afterwards, the die was cast and the Reubenites and Gad remained aloof from the goings on in the rest of the Land. They were also the first to be exiled. Those who wanted the Land because it was Promised to us remained the longest.
Amongst the tribes Yehuda desired the Holy Land most together with Benjamin, the only of the brothers to be born in Israel . They remained the longest and it was their Kingdom that returned after the first Exile.