Yesterday I was pleased to participate in the engagement party of my cousin Chani Wolff of Hannover, Germany to Levi Lapidus of Beitar, Israel, here in New York. Aside from the excellent food, L’chaims and good cheer, several participants shared their good wishes to the bride and groom and inspiration we can glean from this week’s Torah reading.
This week we conclude the fourth book of the Torah called Bamidbar by reading the final two parshas of “Matos and Masei”. Although there are 54 parshas of the Torah and fewer weeks in the year, the annual reading schedule is interrupted by holidays during which we pause the regular pace and read portions uniquely connected to those holidays. Therefore, in order to complete the Torah on time every year, there are some weeks that we couple the parshas together.
The name of a parsha is highly significant as it expresses the theme of the entire parsha, and we can certainly learn deep ideas and life lessons from these names. When the parshas are paired, the two names often express contrasting ideas that ultimately complement each other.
The word “Matos” in the context of this week’s Torah reading means “tribes” as in the Twelve Tribes of Israel, but the word on its own can also mean a rigid, firm wooden staff. “Masei” means journeys, as Moshe recounts the 42 journeys the Jews traveled through the desert from Egypt to the Promised Land.
On the surface, the themes of these two names contradict each other, as the rigidity of a wooden staff is the opposite of the flexibility of travel. A wooden staff is unyielding and unchanging, while travel represents the potential for further growth and discovery.
“But in the context of marriage, the creation of a new home, these two seemingly contradictory themes are both integral and complement each other,” explained the groom’s father. “Any edifice must have firm and strong foundations. The stronger and more unyielding the foundation is, the more you can build.” He went on to bless the soon-to-be couple that their illustrious ancestors and the wonderful education they both received should serve as strong foundations for them to build a beautiful family and to be an inspiration to so many.
One of the distinguished guests there, Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky shared that the Rebbe once wrote a letter of blessing to a young couple explaining this idea and concluded “You have foundations strong enough to build a skyscraper.”
Jewish daily living demands these two traits of “Matos” and “Masei.” A commitment to persistent behaviors and rituals governed by rigid rules and regulations which then serve as the necessary foundations to further explore the infinite possibilities to bring the light and beauty of Judaism to spaces unimagined before.