60 white sea shells and 60 red sea shells were used for the famous lottery that determined the lots given to the first 60 families that settled the new suburb on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, on a spring afternoon in 1909. In time, the suburb will be called Tel Aviv, a biblical name that means ‘The New Rising out of the Old.” And, indeed, the use of lottery to determine real estate lots in the holy land (and in other colonized ‘new’ lands worldwide) was the old way, or at least one of the old ways, handed down through generations. Even the word ‘lot’ to describe a plot of land is linked to the word ‘lottery’ because of these ancient practices.
The use of lottery to determine which of the 9 1/12 tribes that will enter the land promised by YHWH to his people, despite their previous occupation by indigenousnatives, is mentioned twice in the Book of Wilderness, once in today’s chapter:
“Moses instructed the Israelites: This is the land you are to receive by lot as your hereditary portion, which יAdonai has commanded to be given to the nine and a half tribes.” Ba 34:13
They probably didn’t use sea shells and we’ll never know how it worked exactly, but the problem is - there is another method to determine who gets what plot of land and it’s a different method altogether. In chapter 26 Moses tells the tribes that they will inherit land based on the census that was just completed, divided based on size and need: “Among these shall the land be apportioned as shares, according to the listed names. With larger groups increase the share, with smaller groups reduce the share. Each is to be assigned its portion according to its enrollment.” (Ba. 26:53-54)
Which is it? Commentaries over centuries have tried to come up with some claim that makes sense but most modern scholars point at this discrepancy as yet another example of several narratives and traditions cobbled together to try and create a single systemic text, often with the stitches showing. What’s interesting about this one is that the lottery use likely reflects the time period when this was added to the Torah - a historical moment requiring divine intervention and lottery to appease the settlers and their many diverse needs. Prof.Itamar Kislev claims that the insertion of the lottery option is a later addition, and that the original division of land was based on tribe size and other preferences. His view, as well as those of others, is that the Persian period, circa 5th century BCE is when the Bible was redacted - and when the population return to Jerusalem and the region, named Yehud by the Persian authorities, required a lottery - that was then written into history:
“The later layer in this passage was probably written in the Persian period, when waves of immigrants from Babylon arrived and the question of land ownership was burning. Any new wave of immigrants needed fields and lands and that naturally caused tensions between the various Judeans groups. The lot method emphasizes the place of YHWH in determining the apportionment, bestowing upon the borders holiness and permanence, granting the Persian-period resettlement of Yehud, an aura of antiquity and legitimacy.”
The use of lottery shows up a few more times in the Bible, including the central ritual of Yom Kippur, in which fate determines which of the two goats is sent out to the wilderness and which is sacrificed on the altar. In just over a month we’ll revisit this narrative, pondering, perhaps, the relative importance of fate - and faith - in our lives, despite what seems like natural birthright, inheritance, genetic codes or privilege. Perhaps sea shells and other forms of divination will be what helps us redistribute wealth in a world where greed has taken over as the primary paradigm?
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Pennsylvania, where I live, was once a haven for the Lenape, the Quakers and the pacifist Christian Moravians. All found refuge here until the Walking Purchase. The Moravian massacre in Ohio also ended this utopian era. Greed (for land) had taken over.
Pennsylvania, where I live, was once a haven for the Lenape, the Quakers and the pacifist Christian Moravians. All found refuge here until the Walking Purchase. The Moravian massacre in Ohio also ended this utopian era. Greed (for land) had taken over.