Matot - Mas'ei

מַטּוֹת - מַסְעֵי
The Tribes / The Marches of [the Israelites]

Numbers 30:2–36:13

When Is Matot - Mas'ei Read?

/ 1 Av 5785
/ 26 Tammuz 5786
/ 26 Tammuz 5787

Summary

  • Moses explains to the Israelites the laws concerning vows made by men and women. (30:2—17)
  • Israel wages war against the Midianites. (31:1—18)
  • The laws regarding the spoils of war are outlined. (31:19—54)
  • The tribes of Reuben and Gad are granted permission to stay on the east bank of the Jordan River. (32:1—42)
  • The itinerary of the Israelites through the wilderness from Egypt to Jordan is delineated. (33:1-49)
  • Moses tells Israel to remove the current inhabitants of the land that God will give them and to destroy their gods. (33:50-56)
  • The boundaries of the Land of Israel are defined, along with those of the Levitical cities and the cities of refuge. (34:1-35:15)
  • God makes a precise distinction between murder and manslaughter. (35:16-34)
  • The laws of inheritance as they apply to Israelite women are delineated. (36:1-13)

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Ten Minutes of Torah: Matot - Mas'ei Commentary

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Echoes of the Wilderness, Part IX: How Far Afield?

By: Cantor Josh Breitzer

The final two portions of the Book of Numbers, Matot and Mas'ei, are most often combined. In their midst is the rarest cantillation in the entire Torah. It occurs in Numbers 35:5, which prescribes the size of pastures encircling the Levites' assigned town.

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