The Great Treachery

            In no fewer than four parashot, Tzror haMor attacks the “treachery” of the Tribe of Gad, who “despised the Desirable Land, the Land flowing milk and honey, and chose to settle in an unclean land, full of idolatry and the spirit of impurity.” Gad was guilty of two evils: “failure to see the sanctity of the Land of Israel and to love it,” despising the Land which is “desired by all nations, and give (to Israel) by the hand of God,” “not wanting to enter the Land of Israel, the Holy Land;” and “they failed to see the impurity and ugliness” of the land outside the Holy Land.”

            The Request of the Tribe of Gad to remain east of the River Jordan was “against the Divine will and against that of Moses’” and in making this request, the sons of Gad followed the approach of the spies in despising the Land, as well as the approach of Koraḥ, who dissociated himself from the congregation.

            In despising the Land, the sons of Gad “turned away from God, and were comparable to idolaters, as our Sages taught ‘Anyone who lives outside the Land is considered as one who does not have a God.’” [Babylonian Talmud, Ketubot 110b] Indeed, the nine and a half tribes who settled west of the Jordan suspected the tribes of the eastern side of the River Jordan of “rebellion against the Lord.” [Joshua 22:16]

            Tzror haMor sees the name “Gad” itself as conveying the treachery. Concerning the naming of Gad, we read:

Good fortune has come (ba gad) and she (Leah) named him Gad.                              Genesis 30:16

The words “ba gad” are written in the Torah as a single word and without the letter aleph, the spelling of the word which means treachery. Tzror haMor suggests that Leah’s choice of name conveyed a prophetic insight of the “great treachery” destined to be committed by the Tribe of Gad in choosing to remain in an impure land and abandon the desired Land, the Holy Land.

            Tzror haMor labels Gad’s preference for an inheritance east of the River Jordan not only as “treachery” but as well as a “great rebellion” against the Divine will. The motivation for Gad’s choice was the fact that the tribe was shepherds and their fear that the Land would be insufficient for their needs. In this consideration, Gad “failed to see that ‘No one ever said the place is too narrow.’” [Avot 5:5]  As well, Gad “failed to see that ‘the Land expands when Israel is upon her and contracts when they are not.’” [Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 57a]

            In addition, the Tribe of Gad ignored the fact that the Land is called “the desirable Land because the fathers of the world (our Patriarchs) desired it and it was given to them by (Divine) oath, as Scripture states ‘to your descendants will I give this Land’.” [Genesis 12:7]. As well, Gad ignored “all that Moses had done in order to enter the Land.”

            (The reason that the Tribe of Gad, and not Reuben is the subject of Tzror haMor’s strong criticism is the fact that “the sons of Gad advised Reuben to join them, and they (Gad) initiated the treachery. Thus Gad sinned and encouraged Reuben to sin along with him.” The verses are consistent in presenting Gad as the spokesperson, indicating that he was the initiator.)

            We may comment that Tzror haMor attacks Gad for choosing the eastern side of the River Jordan, which, though it is not the Land of the Shechina, has the sanctity of the Land. That is, “the eastern side of the Jordan is part of the Land of Israel, though its level of sanctity is below that of the main part of the Land (west of the Jordan).” [Talmudic Encyclopedia – Eretz Yisrael 208]

            Given this fact, what would Tzror haMor have to say about our brethren who choose to remain on foreign soil, in places completely devoid of sanctity, which are totally outside the Land!?!