Questions – Parshah Matot
Ba-Midbar 30:2-17
Why is this section addressed to the “Rashe Ha-Matot” and not all of the people?
Why is there one law regarding both oaths imposed by God and by humans? Should they be of equal value? What is the resolution if two oaths compete with each other?
If one makes an oath in one’s mind, but does not state it aloud does it still constitute an oath that one has taken on oneself?
Do the rules regarding male nullification of women’s vows cause a perverse incentive for women to conceal the oaths that they make?
Why does widowhood create the most emancipated and empowered state for biblical women? How effective is this emancipation?
Verse 30:14 states, “Every vow and every sworn obligation form of self-denial may be upheld by her husband or annulled by her husband.” This statement implies that the husband can choose to annul or affirm any oath of his wife. Is this just in regard to self-denial? What possible exceptions does this verse come to exclude?
Why is there no discussion of any justification that the father or husband might offer for annulment or affirmation of a specific vow of self-denial or any other vow?
Chapter 31
God told Moses that it was his time to die in the last parshah. Why here, later, is God giving Moses a new task to complete before he will die?
Why does Moses choose the size of the force that he does? Is it small? Too small? How much about this plan is based on Emunah and how much on sound military planning?
Balaam is listed with the Midianite kings as one of the leaders who were killed. Balak is not? What was the fate of Balak and why was he not included in this list if he was killed?
Why is Balaam even still around, and why are we now told that he provoked the Midianite women to bring the Israelites to sin? Weren’t we told that he went back to his home?
”At the bidding of Balaam.” This is not in the text is it? The events on the hills above the camp and those in the camp seem to happen almost simultaneously. How can this be explained as Balaam’s fault? Where is Balak in this?
Is Moses’ anger at the army reasonable? They went out with no instructions regarding this matter. They destroyed the towns which they were not instructed to do. Is Moses unreasonable in his assumption or just in his town.
The mass killings of the Moabite women and children is a bitter pill to our modern sensibilities, but it seems to describe the consequences of loss in war at that time. At the fall of Jerusalem, the Israelites fared not that much better. Is it fair or useful to judge the Israelites for acceding to the killing that Moses demands of the army? Is Moses expressing God’s will or his own. Is his firmness a reflection of a fatalism consequence on the knowledge that he has been judged and will not be able to enter the promised land?
The killing of the Moabites is not recorded or described in any way. It is, at best, implied by the mention of the need for those who have killed someone or had contact with a corpse to purify themselves outside the camp. The handling of the war booty is described at length. Why is the killing omitted? Descriptions of killings in Torah are not omitted as a rule or out of a sense of “decency.” Did these killings occur? If so, then why not some description of the event? If not, why not?
The metal objects from the combat (or killings) need to be purified. Why is fire the preferred method of purification and water of lustration only used if the object cannot be purified by fire (melting point too low?)? Why the Temple or of the warriors? Why are the shares divided as they are? Why would any of the booty be considered appropriate for the Sanctuary?
Why do the “commanders of the troop divisions, the officers of thousands, and the officers of hundred,” make the offering for the expiation of the troops and not the troops themselves?
