Gad and Reuben's Request to Receive Lands East of the Jordan

Just before entering the Promised Land, two and a half of the Twelve Tribes ask for special permission to settle on the other side of the Jordan River. If they were meant to settle in that place, then why didn't G-d assign it to them to begin with? And if...

The tribes had put sheep first, then children. But can it then be that that they actually loved their sheep more than their children?

It was the tribes of Reuven and Gad that requested to settle in the land east of the Jordan; but half the tribe of Menasheh also receives their portion on the other side of the Jordan. Why?

Sometimes the question is raised whether the Torah scholar is “escaping” from the real world.

Why the dramatic shift in Moses' view on the Jewish settlement of the eastern territories? If the Reubenites' and Gadites' petition initially struck him as reminiscent of the sin of the Spies, what convinced him to endorse their plan and even expand on it...

The Circuitous Route, Defeat of Sihon and Og, The Division of Trans-Jordan

Likkutei Sichos, Vol. VIII, p. 186ff. I. This week’s Torah reading relates that the tribes of Reuven and Gad had many herds. Therefore they spoke to Moshe, saying:Bamidbar 32:4. “The land which G‑d has smitten before the congregation of Israel is a land f...

“Attention, campers and counselors!” the head counselor’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “It’s learning time. Please go to your learning groups now.” Mindy’s group sat in the shade of a large oak tree and listened as Simi, their counselor, began. “The...

Why Moses was troubled by Reuben and Gad's request to settle outside of the Holy Land.

As pointed out previously, Reuvain and Gad are Ovdei Elokim, whose service is the active refinement of the physical world. Therefore, they specifically chose to possess land that does not share the high level of innate holiness of Eretz Yisroel proper, bu...