A Thought on Parshas Matos

"...va'yedaber Moshe el roshei ha'matos l'Benei Yisroel..." "...and Moshe spoke to the heads of the Matos to the Children of Israel..." (30:2) This week's parsha begins with the laws regarding vows, and how they are to be managed. The Torah tells us that when a person vows to do something, there is a mechanism whereby he or she can be absolved of having to maintain the restrictive nature of that vow. For example, a woman might ask her husband to annul her vow. The difficulty with our opening verse is the word "Matos." Now, sometimes that word can mean "tribes", although a more common term for tribe is shevet. Also - why would the Torah speak here about Moshe addressing the heads of the tribes when we are really talking about a law that is a more individual one, not one which pertains to a collective tribe or its leaders? Rashi addresses this question by saying that the Torah is referencing the sequence in which Moshe taught this law to the nation. The tribal heads were given instruction prior to the rest of the nation. Rashi suggests that the reason for this is that when it comes to dealing with the laws of vows, a person may turn to a wise man, a Torah sage, who has the authority to annul or remove the restrictions of some vows. The Torah is hinting at that procedure by Moshe addressing the "heads of the tribes" which serves almost as a euphemism for "those who are ahead of other individuals by being Torah scholars." The Panae'ach Raza appreciates this approach, for in fact Rashi extracted his lesson from the Talmud itself, which makes it an un-disputable approach. The Talmud indeed teaches that a Torah scholar has the authority to release one from a vow. What concerns the Panae'ach Raza, however, is the use of the term "matos". If we mean " heads of tribes", then the Torah could have written the standard "shevet." If we mean "Torah scholar", the verse might have just said "Torah scholars can annul vows." What is the actual meaning of the actual words here? What or who exactly are these "Matos heads"? The Panae'ach Raza suggests that the word "matos" does not mean tribe in the context of our verse. It comes from the word "le'hatos" which means to alter, adjust or redirect. One who can redirect or change something is "mateh" in a particular direction (as in "acharei rabim le'hatos"). Hence, our verse's phrase "roshei ha'matos" means, in context, "those in charge of redirecting", which is a reference to the ability of a wise Torah scholar to work with someone and to redirect his thinking and help him reconsider and resolve whatever drove him to make an unjustifiable vow in the first place. The "roshei matos" are the experts who understand what drives people, how people form perceptions, judgments and make decisions, and who can apply their insightful expertise, if needed, to help one release himself or herself from what may have been a mistaken decision. A Torah scholar who has demonstrated this capacity to be insightful, empathic and aware of the scope of the laws involved in nedarim, vows, is the one who we turn to when needing to rethink and reconsider the binds that we get ourselves into. Wishing you a good Shabbos from the Heavenly City of Jerusalem. May we soon rejoice with a release from all that binds us. D Fox