Perashat Matot-Masei 5776

Perashat Matot-Masei 5776

Perashat Matot opens with the laws of vows, from whence we learn the power and significance of one’s speech.  The Torah states concerning one who makes a vow, that, “he shall not break his word.” [Bamdibar 30:3]  Thus, a person who obligates himself by making an oral declaration, and does not keep his word, violates a prohibition from the Torah.  We might ask, what’s the big deal?  After all, it’s just a few words!   To compound matters, our sages [Baba Messia 48a] teach us that the court places a curse on the person who does not keep his word, consider him to be on par with one of the generation of the Flood, or a citizen of Sodom and ‘Amorah! 

In our society, people tend to treat speech in a very cavalier manner.  Thought is not always given to what comes out of one’s mouth; abusive speech and foul language is uttered in a most casual manner.  People rarely consider the impact of their words, and once uttered, words are very difficult to take back.  However, the Torah’s outlook on the power of speech is different.  This is true not only in the negative sense, but in the positive sense as well.  A person is capable of using his speech in order to imbue something with holiness; for example in the case of vows and pledges.  A person can also use their words to bless, and G-d forbid, the opposite as well.  So important is the power of speech, that it sets man apart from all the other creations, for it is the ability to speak that reflects our G-d-given intelligence and places us above the animal kingdom.  

Hakham Yosef Eliyahu Hayyim, the Ben Ish Hai, interprets the aforementioned verse based on two stories related in the Talmud.  There once was a young man who vowed to marry a young woman.  She asked him, “And who will guarantee this?”  He said, “The rat that is passing by and the pit nearby.”  He went his own way and she waited for him.  After some time, he forgot his promise and went and married another woman.  Some time later, they had a child.  A rat came and bit this child and he died.  A second son was born to this couple; he fell into a pit and died.  His wife asked him, “What could possibly be the reason that lead to the strange death of our two sons?”  The man recalled his promise, including his appointment of the two ‘guarantors’, and related the story to his wife.  They divorced and he found the first woman who had waited for him, and married her.  

Another story involved the famous sage R. Akiba. The rabbi was in charge of the charity fund.  One time the charity fund was empty and he wanted to borrow money from a noblewoman.  She asked, “And who will guarantee the loan?”  The rabbi answered, “G-d and the Sea.”  When it came time to repay the loan, R. Akiba fell ill and was, therefore, unable to repay the loan.   The noblewoman went to the banks of the sea and said, “Master of the Universe, You are fully aware that today the loan of R. Akiba is due, and he said to me that You and the Sea will guarantee the loan.”  Immediately G-d caused the king’s daughter to throw her purse of jewels into the sea, which ultimately washed up on the shore where the nobelwoman was standing.   The noblewoman sold the jewels which covered the loan and then some.  She kept the extra funds by her.  When R. Akiba recovered from his illness, he came to her to repay the loan.  She said to him, “The Guarantor already paid me; here are the extra funds that He gave me.”  

The Ben Ish Hai said, from the first tale, we learn how great is the power of speech.  It has the ability to affect our lives in ways we might not even imagine.  Therefore, it is incumbent upon all of us to guard our speech and use it properly, for it can be demonstrated that careless speech can produce unforseen consequences.  From the second tale, we can learn that someone who is careful with his words and does not break them, can merit to have fulfilled directly by G-d himself!   

The notion that, “one’s word is one’s bond,” may even be applied to the Almighty Himself.  One of the great Hasidic rabbis was known to have addressed his comments respectfully to G-d, quoting the aforementioned verse from our perasha.  He said, “You have commanded us, ‘and he shall not break his word.’ Yet, You have also promised to send the Messiah, rebuild the Bet HaMikdash and to redeem us.  Please, Master of the Universe, do not violate what you have written in Your Torah, ‘and he shall not break his word.’”

As we begin the month of Ab, in which we commemorate the two-time destruction of the Bet HaMikdash and the multiple calamities which have befallen our people over the millennia, we implore Boreh Olam with those exact words:  Please do not break your word; keep your promise and redeem us speedily in our days.