Matot-Masei - 2023

Chevre, this week’s parsha is מַטּוֹת-מַסְעֵי (Matot-Masei). This week we are finishing Sefer BaMidbar (the book of Numbers). As we wrap up this book, we are also wrapping up the journey of Am Yisrael. The entire next book of Devarim is Moshe’s goodbye to the people. So the people are at the border of Israel, we learn about dividing up spoils of conquest, intentional and unintentional murder and then we leave off with Tribal Intermarriage. The key issue here is the inheritance since each tribe has it’s area of Israel, what happens when folks marry into other tribes? Normally, the woman would move to the man’s location, but what happens with the daughters of Zelophehad who are inheriting their father, since they had no brothers? In this case, the daughters of Zelophehad area to remain Single AZ or stay within their tribe. This is an example of an exception to the preference of Multi-AZ. A specific time when being Multi-AZ (or Multi-Tribe) is a problem. By marrying inside the tribe, they avoid the issue of inheritance being swapped between tribes and alleviate the Cross AZ data transfer charge. Shabbat Shalom.