Matoth: Vows

Matoth: Vows

The title of the parsha  is tribes. Moshe speaks to the( male) heads of the tribes and he adjures them to not delay to  keep their vows.  Fulfillment delayed is always incomplete, imperfect. At the end of the parsha we have the Talmudic  paradigm of the  vow, the oath taken by Reuben  and Gad  to fight alongside the other tribes of Israel for the complete conquest of the land.  This is a vow whose fulfillment is delayed.  The conquest of the land is never completed. 

Our state of Israel, the third commonwealth, is battling with  a loosely governed set of tribes in Gaza,  Some are fundamentalists, others are nationalists;  their fighters are opposed to a Jewish State.  This Gaza place, ancient land of the Pelishtim,  has always been a place of ambiguous provenance from the days of Avimelach, to Samson, ,David, Ben Gurion. A troubled land of a troubled people who make trouble. 

How many vows are those soldiers making as they enter into battle that threatens their lives and their psyches? May their captains' report  be as that of the captains of the Midian campaign: not a single soldier lost.