Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

In Song: Masei

James Tissot, ‘The Ark Passes Over the Jordan,’ 1896-1902.

Each week The Arty Semite connects the Torah reading — however tenuously — with a classic work of rock and roll.

This week’s parsha, Masei, traces the route of Israel’s travels through the desert over 40 years.

The tribal princes responsible for parceling out the land are appointed and the boundaries of the Promised Land are sketched. Forty-eight cities are to be given to the tribe of Levi, including six cities of refuge, three on either side of the Jordan River.

Laws and definitions relating to murder and manslaughter are given.

Finally, the claim of the tribe of Menashe is accepted, whereby women who inherit land are only to marry within their tribe in order to keep the land within the tribe.

On the subject of dividing up the land, this week’s song is “Subdivisions” by Rush, led by a nice Jewish boy, Geddy Lee.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:

  • Credit the Forward
  • Retain our pixel
  • Preserve our canonical link in Google search
  • Add a noindex tag in Google search

See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.