Matot, means tribes and is also related to the Hebrew word mateh which means staff, which symbolizes lasting strength.
Matot is always read during the ‘three weeks’ prior to Tisha B’Av, the date of the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, and many of the themes in the Torah Portion and its haftorah relate to the inner strength that has enabled us to survive as a people through two thousand years of exile.
There are three primary sources of this inner strength 1) natural resilience 2) interdependence 3) our attachment to the leaders.
