Mattos: A United Family
A rabbi, a doctor, and a lawyer found themselves in a philosophical discussion over what essentially constitutes a family. The doctor offered, “A family is shared geneticsa family is a family when everybody looks like each other.” The rabbi countered, “No, no, it’s not when they look like each other, but when they look after each other.” The lawyer however insisted: “A family is neither of these things. It’s a family when all of the members share a common will a will waiting for probate.”
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Mattos: A United Family
THE JEWISH ARMY
In this portion, G-d tells Moses, ‘Before you die, I want you to take revenge on the Midianites for attempting to seduce and undermine the Jewish people.’ G-d instructs him regarding the size of the Jewish army: Elef l’mata, elef l’mata–”One thousand per tribe, one thousand per tribe.” What is the significance of gathering 1,000 soldiers from each of the tribes of Israel?
MORE QUESTIONS
1.) The spelling of elef, ‘thousand’, is exactly the same as the spelling of the word Alef. What might the letter Alef teach us about the mission to conquer Midian?
2.) Why did G-d burden Moses with the responsibility of organizing this war just as he was about to die? Couldn’t G-d have given the task to Joshua, for example?
3) The parsha of Mattos is always read during the Three Weeks spanning the Seventeenth of Tamuz through the Ninth of Av, when the walls of Jerusalem were breached and the Temple was destroyed.[1] What’s the connection between Mattos and the Three Weeks?
ONE THOUSAND PER TRIBE
Chassidus explains that the word midian means ‘discord and strife’–the ultimate enemy of any society. Because of this, the war against Midian had to be executed through Moses since Moses was the spiritual antithesis to forces of discord and strife. Moses is the one who said, V’nachnu mah? “And what are we?”[2] Mah refers to the attribute of humility, and this is the quality necessary to counteract divisiveness, and to bring unity among people.
This underscores the symbolism of gathering soldiers in groups of 1,000. Elef is Alef, and Alef stands for oneness. In order to conquer Midian, the Jews had to be unified.
ALEF 
We see the connection between the letter Alef and ‘unity’ in it’s unique graphic design, gematria, and homiletical meaning.[3]
Graphic Design: Alef is composed of a Yud on top, a Yud on the bottom, and a diagonal line crossing in between. In general, Yud represents chochma, wisdom, the seminal drop or lightning flash of a concept. The two Yuds here reveal that there are two kinds of chochma: upper, or supernal wisdom, and lower, or ‘scientific’ wisdom. The Vav is a hook that connects and unifies the upper and lower wisdoms.[4]
Alternatively, the Yud looks like a drop, and so it represents water. The two Yuds therefore represent the ‘higher waters’ and the ‘lower waters’ of Creation. These two ‘waters’ are also united in the design of the letter Alef.
Gematria: Alef = 1,000 (elef). The number 1,000 refers to the world of Atzilus, the highest of the four worlds. In Atzilus, G-d’s lights and vessels are united in oneness.
The number 1,000 is also related to Moses. At Mount Sinai, G-d gave Moses 1,000 spiritual lights. At the Sin of the Golden Calf, 999 of these lights were removed from him. The 1,000 lights were, however, restored to him every Shabbos. That’s why we sing in the Shabbos prayers, “Moses rejoiced with the gift of his portion.” When he conquered Midian, however, all 1,000 lights were permanently restored to him.[5]
Meaning: Alef is spelled Alef-Lamed-Peh. Rearranging the letters to form Alef-Peh-Lamed, spells aifel, ‘darkness’. This alludes to “He made darkness His concealment,”[6] meaning G-d’s Self-concealment. Beyond all spiritual realms of light, one may enter a metaphorical darkness, where G-d dwells. In that realm, there is no independent creature, no arrogance or divisiveness, for all manifestations are truly nullified before G-d there; all are one.
MATTOS AND THE THREE WEEKS
Traditionally, Levi did not accompany the other tribes into battle, when the nation went to war. However, Rashi and the Sifri reveal in this parsha that the tribe of Levi joined the greater Jewish family in the struggle against Midian.[7] The word levi literally means ‘to join’ or ‘to unite’. The spiritual war that the Jews fought was also a personal battle to overcome their own ego, so they could ‘levi’, unite, with their fellows.[8]
The Second Holy Temple was destroyed because of unwarranted hatred–a lack of Jewish unity. If we will join together today, to help and inspire our fellow Jews, we can bring about the ultimate and complete Redemption.
A STORY [9]
A beardless Gerer chassid from Israel once happened to walk into 346 New York Avenue, Brooklyn, the apartment building where the Lubavitcher Rebbe lived. The Rebbe greeted him and asked him what brought him to New York. He answered, “I’m here on business. I often have to travel between Nicaragua and New York.” The Rebbe asked, “Is there a mikvah in Nicaragua?” “Not to my knowledge,” replied the chassid with surprise. “So, in the meantime, when you’re in Nicaragua, why don’t you arrange to have a mikvah built there?”
Thirty years passed, and meanwhile the chassid grew a beard. One Sunday morning, while passing through New York, the chassid decided to go and receive a dollar and a blessing from the Rebbe. As he passed by, the Rebbe looked at him and said, “Nu, what’s with the mikvah in Nicaragua? The man was deeply moved–there had been no correspondence between them for thirty years.
Later, the chassid visited his own rebbe in Israel, the Lev Simcha. He told him about his experience with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. He asked, “How is it possible that the Lubavitcher Rebbe recognized me after all these years? I was thinking: the Torah says Yosef recognized his brothers when they came down to Egypt, but the brothers didn’t recognize Yosef. Rashi explains that they didn’t recognize him because Yosef was still beardless when he went down to Egypt.[10] I was still shaving thirty years ago, and yet the Lubavitcher Rebbe recognized me as I now appear.”
The Lev Simcha paused and then answered, “I’m not amazed that he recognized you–we rebbes always look beyond the face, into the soul of a person. But what impresses me, is that a Jew in Brooklyn is so deeply concerned about people that may benefit from a mikvah in Nicaragua, so far away.”
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The Rebbe was concerned about every single Jew. We should cultivate this same concern.
ACTION:Reach out to someone, in the spirit of unity. Call someone today, who you haven’t spoken with in a while.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Talmud: Taanis, 26b, 28b, and elsewhere.
[2] Exodus, 16:7
[3] See Sefer HaLekutim by the Tzemach Tzedek, on the Letter Alef
[4] Also, Vav is spelled Vav Alef Vav, which equals 13, the same gematria as the word ‘echad’ (Alef-Ches-Dalet)-one.
[5] Lekutei Torah, Mattos, p. 87a; and Sefer HaSichos 5751, Ki Tisa, p. 377; Also HaYom Yom, 17th of Tammuz [6] Psalms, 18:12
[7] Generally, when we count the twelve tribes, we omit the tribe of Levi in our count. Both Rashi and the Sifri reveal that the tribe of Levi also had to fight in this war. This means there were actually thirteen tribes fighting: 13 is the gematria of the word echadone. Alef = 1 + Ches = 8 + Dalet = 4 = 13.
[8] Lekutei Sichos, Vol. 28, p. 344
[9] I heard this story in the name of Rabbi Laibel Groner, a secretary of the Rebbe.
[10] Genesis, 42:8. See Rashi’s commentary there.
