Heads of the Tribes - leadership that represents the people
Parasha and its implementation - Parshat Matot and Shabbat Mevarchim* Av 5783
Rabbi Eliezer Haim Shenvald
There is a well-known phenomenon that needs explanation. If the government is meant to serve the people and work for their benefit, why is it that there is a built-in tension between it and the people?
Leadership is meant to lead the people and guide them to achieve their goals. There must be a constant and attentive dialogue with the public, taking into account their needs and inclinations. Only in this way will it gain trust and cooperation. Leadership cannot assume to know better than the people what is good for them. Cannot dictate its will and values over the people because of governmental authority, and to impose instructions on the people unilaterally.
History shows that many times, with the passage of time since being appointed to the position, the leadership that was supposed to deal with the needs of the nation, and have a dialogue with the public, turns to deal with its own needs and sinks into the pleasures of the government. If the leadership disconnects itself from the people, it denies the interests of the people, and imposes its own will on the people without being attentive to their needs and their necessities.
As a result, suspicion was developed throughout history regarding the governmental institution. When there is no trust, the leadership cannot mobilize the people for essential and demanding moves. As a result, the public interest of the people is harmed. In order to restore the people's trust in the government, it is necessary to integrate their authentic representatives into the governing system, to represent them in the making of governmental decisions. Representatives who are changed from time to time to ensure that they represent the current needs of the people.
In our Parasha there is a mention of the governmental structure in the desert which integrated the chiefs of staff into the leadership. To them Moshe Rabbeinu directs the divine commandment and the responsibility for הַתָּרַת נְדָרִים - Annulment of Vows:
וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־רָאשֵׁ֣י הַמַּטּ֔וֹת לִבְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר זֶ֣ה הַדָּבָ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֖ר צִוָּ֥ה ה'. אִישׁ֩ כִּֽי־יִדֹּ֨ר נֶ֜דֶר...
"Moshe spoke to the heads of the Israelite tribes, saying: This is what Hashem has commanded: When a man voweth a vow …" (Bamidbar 30:2-3). This is also how Moshe behaved in relation to the rest of the Mitzvot (Rashi ibid)
The 'heads of the tribes' were the 'chiefs of the tribes'. They were spiritually lofty people:
וּכְמוֹ רָאשֵׁי הַמַּטּוֹת וְשִׁבְעִים הַזְּקֵנִים אֲשֶׁר הָיוּ רְאוּיִים לִנְבוּאָה מַתְמֶדֶת...
"... and the chiefs of the tribes, the seventy Elders, who were all endowed with the spirit of prophecy…" (Kuzari 1:95). They led their tribes in both the spiritual and the organizational aspects.
The heads of the tribes mentioned in the Parasha were re-elected by their tribes:
הם נשיאי הדגלים שהעמידו אותם המטות על דגליהם אחר שמתו נחשון בן עמינדב וחבריו
"Now the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel are the princes of the standards, whom the tribes had appointed over their standards after Nachshon the son of Aminadav [prince of the children of Yehuda] and his colleagues had died." (Ramban ibid)
These are the leaders who represented their tribes in the general leadership of the people.
Later in the Parasha, they are also mentioned as the people's representatives in making the agreement with the sons of Reuben and Gad:
וַיְצַ֤ו לָהֶם֙ מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֵ֚ת אֶלְעָזָ֣ר הַכֹּהֵ֔ן וְאֵ֖ת יְהוֹשֻׁ֣עַ בִּן־נ֑וּן וְאֶת־רָאשֵׁ֛י אֲב֥וֹת הַמַּטּ֖וֹת לִבְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֲלֵהֶ֗ם אִם־יַעַבְר֣וּ בְנֵי־גָ֣ד וּבְנֵי־רְאוּבֵ֣ן אִ֠תְּכֶ֠ם אֶֽת־הַיַּרְדֵּ֞ן כׇּל־חָל֤וּץ לַמִּלְחָמָה֙ לִפְנֵ֣י ה' ...
"Then Moshe gave instructions concerning them to Eleazar the priest, Yehoshua son of Nun, and the family heads of the Israelite tribes. Moshe said to them, “If every shock-fighter among the Gadites and the Reubenites crosses the Jordan with you to do battle, at Hashem's instance… (32:28)
This Shabbat we will also read Parashat Masei, where it is also mentioned that they were part of the leadership during the land distribution.
אֵ֚לֶּה שְׁמ֣וֹת הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֔ים אֲשֶׁר־יִנְחֲל֥וּ לָכֶ֖ם אֶת־הָאָ֑רֶץ אֶלְעָזָר֙ הַכֹּהֵ֔ן וִיהוֹשֻׁ֖עַ בִּן־נֽוּן׃
וְנָשִׂ֥יא אֶחָ֛ד נָשִׂ֥יא אֶחָ֖ד מִמַּטֶּ֑ה תִּקְח֖וּ לִנְחֹ֥ל אֶת־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
"These are the names of the participants through whom the land shall be apportioned for you: Eleazar the priest and Yehoshua son of Nun. And you shall also take a chieftain from each tribe through whom the land shall be apportioned." (34:17-18)
And they were the representatives of the community in the distribution of the tribal estate:
אלעזר ויהושע יהיו נציגי הכלל. בהשגחתם ובהדרכתם "ינחל" כל נשיא שבט "לצורך שבטו" את הנחלה שניתנה לאותו שבט, והנשיא יחלק אותה למשפחות ולגברים הזכאים לנחלה. אנשים אלה נתמנו כאן כנציגי השבטים, המשפחות והיחידים, והרי הם באי כחם של כל הזכאים לנחלה וכל מה שהם עושים למענם יש לו תוקף משפטי והוא חל סופית (רש"ר הירש שם, ומפנה לרש"י).
"Elazar and Yehoshua will be the representatives for all. Under their supervision and guidance, each tribal representative will "inherit" for the needs of his tribe the estate that was given to that tribe, and the representative will distribute it to the families and men entitled to the estate. These people were appointed here as the representatives of the tribes, families and individuals. After all, they are in the power of all those entitled to the property and everything they do on their behalf has legal validity and is final" (Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, referring to Rashi ibid).
Even during the time of Yehoshua, they took part in the leadership that stood by his side in the division of the land:
וְאֵ֛לֶּה אֲשֶׁר־נָחֲל֥וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בְּאֶ֣רֶץ כְּנָ֑עַן אֲשֶׁ֨ר נִחֲל֜וּ אוֹתָ֗ם אֶלְעָזָ֤ר הַכֹּהֵן֙ וִיהוֹשֻׁ֣עַ בִּן־נ֔וּן וְרָאשֵׁ֛י אֲב֥וֹת הַמַּטּ֖וֹת לִבְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
"And these are the allotments of the Israelites in the land of Canaan, that were apportioned to them by the priest Eleazar, by Yehoshua son of Nun, and by the family heads of the Israelite tribes" (Yehoshua 14:1)
And, in the arrangement of the cities for the tribe of Levi:
וַֽיִּגְּשׁ֗וּ רָאשֵׁי֙ אֲב֣וֹת הַלְוִיִּ֔ם אֶל־אֶלְעָזָר֙ הַכֹּהֵ֔ן וְאֶל־יְהוֹשֻׁ֖עַ בִּן־נ֑וּן וְאֶל־רָאשֵׁ֛י אֲב֥וֹת הַמַּטּ֖וֹת לִבְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ וַיְדַבְּר֨וּ אֲלֵיהֶ֜ם בְּשִׁלֹ֗ה בְּאֶ֤רֶץ כְּנַ֙עַן֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר ה' צִוָּ֣ה בְיַד מֹשֶׁ֔ה לָתֶת לָ֥נוּ עָרִ֖ים לָשָׁ֑בֶת וּמִגְרְשֵׁיהֶ֖ן לִבְהֶמְתֵּֽנוּ׃
"The family heads of the Levites approached the priest Eleazar, Yehoshua son of Nun, and the family heads of the Israelite tribes, and spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, as follows: “Hashem commanded through Moshe that we be given towns to live in, along with their pastures for our livestock.” (Yehoshua 21:1-2)
Even in the days of King Solomon, they are mentioned as part of the leadership in the building of the Temple:
אָ֣ז יַקְהֵ֣ל שְׁלֹמֹ֣ה אֶת זִקְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֡ל אֶת כׇּל רָאשֵׁ֣י הַמַּטּוֹת֩ נְשִׂיאֵ֨י הָאָב֜וֹת לִבְנֵ֧י יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל אֶל הַמֶּ֥לֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹ֖ה יְרוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם לְֽהַעֲל֞וֹת אֶת אֲר֧וֹן בְּרִית ה' מֵעִ֥יר דָּוִ֖ד הִ֥יא צִיּֽוֹן׃
"Then Solomon convoked the elders of Israel—all the heads of the tribes and the ancestral chieftains of the Israelites—before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of Hashem from the City of David, that is, Zion". (I Kings 8:1)
This is the right way to lead the people. This is a healthy situation that causes trust between the people and their leadership.