Yehoshua Chapter 22
This chapter focuses upon the tribes of Gad, Reuven and half of Menashe, and is the “epilogue” of their story. In exchange for being permitted to dwell in the Transjordan in the territory captured from Sihon and Og, the tribes of Reuven and Gad had promised Moshe Rabbenu that they would join the remaining tribes in fighting the battles of conquest and would not return to their homes until the settlement of the land was completed. They fulfilled their commitment and were given an acknowledgment and inspiring send-off from Yehoshua as they departed to resume life with their families on the eastern side of the Jordan River.
Shortly after this, however, the Jews in mainland Israel make an alarming discovery: since their return, the tribes of Reuven, Gad and half of Menashe have constructed a large altar beside the Jordan River, an exact facsimile of the sacrificial altar of the Mishkan! This was understandably interpreted as a sign of rebellion against Hashem and an affront to the national unity of Israel that presupposed a single Sanctuary and Altar for all.
A delegation led by Pinhas and representatives of each of the tribes is dispatched to confront the leadership of the Transjordan Jewish community regarding this disturbing development. They come prepared for civil war if necessary. The elders of the two and a half tribes explain that they never, G-d forbid, intended to use the altar they had constructed for any sacrificial worship, nor did they mean for their action to be construed as one of separatism or rebellion.
On the contrary, they were genuinely concerned that their children, when visiting the national sanctuary in mainland Israel, might be rebuffed and rejected by their brethren as if they were non-Jews. The fact that they live in a geographically distinct area could cause the majority of the Jewish people, as well as the two and a half tribes themselves, to lose their sense of being one nation serving One God.
The minority population in the Transjordan could be perceived as “outsiders” by those in Israel proper, and this discrimination, so to speak, would in turn shape the identity of the children of Reuven, Gad and half of Menashe. The symbolic altar, a precise copy of the one in the Mishkan, would remind their descendants that they are, in fact Jews, and that is why they possess an altar that is never used for any sacrificial service but merely evokes the memory of the national sanctuary on the western side of the Jordan. This plausible and sincere explanation is accepted by the delegation and no further action is taken against the two and a half tribes.
This narrative takes us back to the original discussion between the tribes of Reuven and Gad and Moshe Rabbenu. The tribes declared their intention to build pens for their animals and cities for their children in the Transjordan, where their families would remain and to which they would return after fighting alongside their brethren in Israel. Moshe Rabbenu, in agreeing to their proposition, reverses the order, instructing them instead to construct cities for their children and pens for their animals. The Rabbis comment that the tribes of Reuven and Gad cared more about their animals than their children! How did they feel justified in registering such a sweeping indictment of the tribes based upon a nuance in word order alone?
This story in the Book of Yehoshua sheds light on the answer. Moshe Rabbenu foresaw what the two tribes could not or did not – that their children’s connection to the Torah and the Jewish people would be jeopardized by the decision to remain on the eastern side of the Jordan. Their choice was motivated by financial concerns but neglected to take the spiritual welfare of future generations into account. It was only after the two and a half tribes returned to the Transjordan that the religious implications of their distance from mainland Israel dawned upon them, and they took action to rectify or, at the very least, ameliorate the problem by constructing the symbolic altar. Truth be told, the tribes in the Transjordan developed a much weaker Jewish identity over time – they would be the quickest to assimilate into non-Jewish culture and, centuries later, would be the first Jewish population to be sent into exile.