JULY 13 • 2023 | 61
understood the proposal and they are
ready to stand by it. He extracts from
them agreement to a tenai kaful, a double
condition, both positive and negative: If
we do this, these will be the consequences,
but if we fail to do this, those will be the
consequences. He asks that they affirm
their commitment. The two tribes agree.
Conflict has been averted. The Reubenites
and Gadites achieve what they want but
the interests of the other tribes and of the
nation as a whole have been secured. It is
a masterclass in negotiation.
The extent to which Moses’ concerns
were justified became apparent many
years later. The Reubenites and Gadites
did indeed fulfil their promise in the
days of Joshua. The rest of the tribes
conquered and settled Israel while they
(together with half the tribe of Manashe)
established their presence in Transjordan.
Despite this, within a brief space of time
there was almost civil war.
Chapter 22 of the Book of Joshua
describes how, after returning to their
families and settling their land, the
Reubenites and Gadites built “an altar to
the Lord” on the east side of the Jordan.
Seeing this as an act of secession, the
rest of the Israelites prepared to do battle
against them. Joshua, in a striking act
of diplomacy, sent Pinchas, the former
zealot, now man of peace, to negotiate. He
warned them of the terrible consequences
of what they had done by, in effect,
creating a religious center outside the
Land of Israel. It would split the nation
in two.
The Reubenites and Gadites made it
clear that this was not their intention at
all. To the contrary, they themselves were
worried that in the future, the rest of the
Israelites would see them living across the
Jordan and conclude that they no longer
wanted to be part of the nation. That is
why they had built the altar, not to offer
sacrifices, not as a rival to the nation’s
Sanctuary, but merely as a symbol and a
sign to future generations that they, too,
were Israelites. Pinchas and the rest of the
delegation were satisfied with this answer,
and once again civil war was averted.
PRINCIPLES OF NEGOTIATION
The negotiation between Moses and the
two tribes in our parshah follows closely
the principles arrived at by the Harvard
Negotiation Project, set out by Roger
Fisher and William Ury in their classic
text, Getting to Yes. Essentially, they
came to the conclusion that a successful
negotiation must involve four processes:
Separate the people from the problem.
There are all sorts of personal tensions in
any negotiation. It is essential that these
be cleared away first so that the problem
can be addressed objectively.
Focus on interests, not positions. It is
easy for any conflict to turn into a zero-
sum game: If I win, you lose. If you win,
I lose. That is what happens when you
focus on positions and the question
becomes, “Who wins?” By focusing not
on positions but on interests, the question
becomes, “Is there a way of achieving
what each of us wants?”
Invent options for mutual gain. This
is the idea expressed halachically as zeh
neheneh vezeh neheneh, “Both sides
benefit.” This comes about because the
two sides usually have different objectives,
neither of which excludes the other.
Insist on objective criteria. Make sure
that both sides agree in advance to the use
of objective, impartial criteria to judge
whether what has been agreed has been
achieved. Otherwise, despite all apparent
agreement, the dispute will continue, both
sides insisting that the other has not done
what was promised.
Moses does all four. First, he separates
the people from the problem by making
it clear to the Reubenites and Gadites
that the issue has nothing to do with
who they are, and everything to do with
the Israelites’ experience in the past,
specifically the episode of the spies.
Regardless of who the 10 negative spies
were and which tribes they came from,
everyone suffered. No one gained. The
problem is not about this tribe or that but
about the nation as a whole.
Second, he focused on interests, not
positions. The two tribes have an interest
in the fate of the nation as a whole. If
they put their personal interests first, God
will become angry and the entire people
will be punished, the Reubenites and
Gadites among them. It is striking how
this negotiation contrasts so strongly to
the dispute with Korach and his followers.
There, the whole argument was about
positions, not interests — about who was
entitled to be a leader. The result was
collective tragedy.
Third, the Reubenites and Gadites
then invent an option for mutual gain.
If you allow us to make temporary
provisions for our cattle and children,
they say, we will not only fight in the
army. We will be its advance guard. We
will benefit, knowing that our request
has been granted. The nation will benefit
by our willingness to take on the most
demanding military task.
Fourth, there was an agreement on
objective criteria. The Reubenites and
Gadites would not return to the east bank
of the Jordan until all the other tribes
were safely settled in their territories. And
so it happened, as narrated in the book of
Joshua:
“Then Joshua summoned the
Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe
of Manashe and said to them, ‘You have
done all that Moses the servant of the
Lord commanded, and you have obeyed
me in everything I commanded. For a
long time now — to this very day — you
have not deserted your fellow Israelites
but have carried out the mission the
Lord your God gave you. Now that the
Lord your God has given them rest as He
promised, return to your homes in the
land that Moses the servant of the Lord
gave you on the other side of the Jordan.’”
Joshua 22:1-4
This was, in short, a model negotiation,
a sign of hope after the many destructive
conflicts in the book of Bamidbar, as well
as a standing alternative to the many later
conflicts in Jewish history that had such
appalling outcomes.
Note that Moses succeeds not because
he is weak, not because he is willing
to compromise on the integrity of the
nation as a whole, not because he uses
honeyed words and diplomatic evasions,
but because he is honest, principled and
focused on the common good. We all
face conflicts in our lives. This is how to
resolve them.
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (1948-2020) was a
global religious leader, philosopher, the author of
more than 25 books and moral voice for our time. His
series of essays on the weekly Torah portion, entitled
“Covenant & Conversation” will continue to be shared
and distributed around the world.