A scene in Fiddler on the Roof goes as follows: One person makes a statement and the main character Tevye remarks, “he is right.” Another person contradicts him and Tevye once again says, “he is right.” Finally, a third person who observed the entire interaction says, “he’s right and he’s right. They can’t both be right!” Teyve, ever quick to respond, says, “You know, you are also right.”
This scene reminds me of the juggling of fairness as described in this week’s Torah portion Matot-Masei. Just last week we learned of Machlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noa, the five sisters who fought for the right to their father’s inherit land. God decided their claim was fair and that they were “right.” Now this week, a leader in their tribe presents the issue that if these women marry a person from another tribe, the land will move into that other tribe’s possession. God rules that this claim too is fair and “right.” I feel like the bystander who watched the whole interaction and asks, “how can they both be right?” Either the women inherited the land and can do with it as they please, or the land still belongs to the tribe but both cannot exist at once.
But God responds likes Tevya, solving the problem by ruling, “they can marry whomever they prefer, as long as that person is part of their tribe.”
Sometimes we focus so much on one truth, on one way of seeing things, that we only see other views as opposed to ours. In ruling for both sides, God opens us up to the truth in both claims. And the question remains whether these five sisters were treated fairly.
In your own life, are you able to hold multiple truths at once? How do you determine what is fair?
– Rabbi Avi Fine
