It was a scary moment. Moshe thought that the episode of the meraglim (spies) was replaying itself once again. The tribes of Reuven and Gad asked to settle in the trans-Jordanian lands. Moshe thought that this was an attempt to avoid having to enter the Land of Israel and, as such, he reacted sternly. The tribal leaders clarified that they were united, together with Am Yisroel and would even lead the battle to conquer our ancestral homeland. Moshe accepted their request with the stipulation that they lead the army.
And I commanded you at that time saying, “The Lord, your God, has given you this land to possess it; pass over, armed, before your brothers, the children of Israel, all who are warriors. (Devorim 3:18)”
The Lubavitcher Rebbe zt’l explains the powerful lessons which can be gleaned from this exchange. The Rebbe writes, “Kol Yehudi chayav laa’sok b’kibush ha’aretz, alav lichbosh es chelko ba’olam v’laasos mimenu Eretz Yisroel. Every Jew is obligated to conquer the land. He is obligated to conquer his portion in this world and make it into his Eretz Yisroel.” In life if you want something, you must be ready to fight for it. As the Ramchal writes in his introduction to Mesillas Yesharim, life is a constant milchama (war) and you must be ready to engage constantly. Nothing will ever be handed to you. And those things which are handed to you won’t have as much meaning or impact. The more meaningful the goal, dream, or aspiration, the harder the battle will be. There is no “life-hack” for success. If you want something in life, you must stand ready to fight and fight hard each and every day.
But there is more – you don’t have to fight alone. Although Gad and Reuven had to lead, meaning they had to go “lifney,” in front of everyone else – they were still together with “acheichem,” their brothers. At times, when fighting our life battles, we may feel alone and isolated; it is in those very moments that we must remember that we are part of something bigger. We are part of a people, we are part of a nation, we are Am Yisroel. The knowledge that I am part of the collective beating heart of this magnificent nation gives me the additional strength to keep moving forward.
Lastly, the Rebbe teaches us that our sacred duty is to take our conquered portion in the world and turn it into Eretz Yisroel. Life doesn’t always provide you with promised land circumstances and realities. But don’t spend life lamenting the unfairness or inequity of your circumstances. Our holy task is to take the portion we have and make it into something beautiful and holy.
The tribes of Reuven and Gad fulfilled their promise. They fought valiantly until the land was conquered. They made their portion into Eretz Yisroel. May we be zocheh to follow in their footsteps and do the same.
