2 וחצי השבטים - יהושוע פרק כ"ב – אחדות

sruli cimerring

After An Yisrael conquer Eretz Yisrael and Yehoshua divides the country between all of the shvatim, 2 ½ shvatim (Reuven, Gad, half Menashe) are allowed to go to Evaer Hayarden and inhibit there land. In this perek wee can see that 2 ½ shvatim build a mizbeach on there side of the Jordan – the rest of Am Yisrael think that it was an act of Avoda Zara, and want to go to war against them. In a final chance of peace – Am yisrael send Pinchas and 11 shlichim to talk to the 2 ½ shvatim. They find out that they did not meen to work Avoda Zara, the war is called of and the mizbeach is left as a monument between both sides of the Jordan.

Before we talk about the perek itself – we most first understand what it means that 2 ½ shvatim are living on the ast side of the Jordan.

Moshe wasn’t allowed to step in to Israel ( the promised land ) but on the other hand he did stand on the east side of the Jordan where the land of 2 ½ shvatim is. There for, we can see that the land on the east side of the Jordan is not as holly as Eretz Yisrael. Even though 2 ½ shvatim decided that they want to settle there. This issue raises alot of problems between Am yisrael, and we can see that they are the only shvatim that were sworn to help the rest of the shvatim to conquer the land – and only then were they allowed to go back to there own land. Bekitzur – the hole idea that not all of Am Yisrael settled in the promise land, is a sensitive issue.

There for, the reaction of the rest of Am Yisrael is understandable - First they ask not to live in the promise land and then they build a mizbeach without even consulting with the rest of Am Yisrael first…

Questions?

1.    Why did they make such a BIG mizbeach?     "מזבח גדול מראה"

2.    Why did they build it next to the Jordan river?

Answers:

1.    They built the mizbeach as an act to hashem, there for – it is understandable why they made such a big mizbeach – to praise hashem.

2.    They wanted to build the mizbeach as close as they can to Eretz Yisrael, and that is why they built it close to the Jordan River – not to instigate a fight against the rest of Am Yisrael!!!

The moral of the story is to understand that a lot conflicts are created out of an act of good. But because the other side didn’t understand that, they reacted in a non rational way – and there for the conflict is born out of no logical reason. We must learn how to be patient one to each other and when we get angry at a friend - make sure that we actually understand what he/she meant, unless we might just find are selves in the middle of a MILCHEMET ACHIM…