Moses raised his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice,

when an abundance of water gushed forth,

and the congregation and their livestock drank.

(Bamidbar 20:11)

 

When an abundance of water gushed forth Know, that the blessing willingly and warmly given by God is not laudable for its quantity but rather for its quality, for it is more exalted and proper that one satisfy one's hunger with a little food and quench one's thirst with a little water, as He promised in His blessing, and you shall eat your bread to satiation (the beginning of parashat Hukkat), to eat a bit of food and be blessed in one's insides (Rashi), and therefore the Sages said, "The Israelites were not assured until they heard, and you shall eat your bread to satiation" (See Zohar, Midrash HaNe'elam, parashat Toldot 136). It is an exalted thing when one is sated with a little food, and if a person eats food that leaves the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, that is happiness to the soul and spiritual food, as the Sages spoke of the marvels of the manna - the bread of heroes - each person receiving it in accordance with his level of perfection, as they said in Yoma 75, "to the righteous," etc. Therefore, if they had not deviated from God's word and instead acted in accordance with His commandments, the blessing in their gut would have been of quality rather than quantity, as it was with the manna, that one who collected a lot did not get more than an omer, and that was sufficient. Their drinking was also a spiritual matter; it distinguished them from the way animals drink to extinguish the thirsty heat of the belly's fire. However, when they did not sanctify His name, may it be blessed, then the blessing became one of quantity rather than quality, and they drank like animals. That is why God said and bring forth water for them, etc. and did not mention the abundance of water [which is also not mentioned in Beshalah], and water the congregation and - v'et - their animals V'et marks a break between sections of the verse [as is stated in Bava Kama 65 on the verse, v'et ashamo]. This means that their drinking would be different from animals' drinking. But when they did not act as He commanded, then, an abundance of water gushed forth, and the congregation and their livestock drank [the words congregation and livestock no longer separated by v'et]. They were identical in their drinking, and the blessing was one of quantity alone.

(Meshekh Hokhma Bamidbar 20:11)

 

You shall not pass through me

Nuri Gross and Avinoam Lahavi

In our parasha we find the Israelites situated at Kadesh on Edom's western border. The people are tired of wandering, their complaints are on the rise, and some of them question Moses' leadership. Moses struggles to fulfill their needs. Nevertheless, they must continue their long trek from Egypt towards the Land of Israel.

Moses sends emissaries to travel east from Kadesh Barneia to the steppes of Moav, asking the King of Edom to allow the Israelites passage through his land.

The following dialogue is based on chapter 20, verses 14-21 and its interpretation by various commentaries, including Rashi, Ibn Ezra, and Da'at Mikra. We add to these our own insights.

The emissaries: We have been sent by Moses, the leader of your brother Israel, to ask permission to pass through your land. You know that we have endured many trials: our fathers went down to Egypt, we lived there for many years. The Egyptians mistreated us, and our fathers - Edom [Esau] and Israel share a common father, who would not want us to suffer. We cried out to God, He heard us and sent an emissary who took us out from Egypt. Now we are in Kadesh, the town on your border. We ask to pass through your land. We promise not to pass through fields or vineyards, or to drink well-water. We shall walk on the king's highway, deviating neither right nor left. We shall not pitch our tents until we leave your borders.

King of Edom: You shall not pass through me. Why should you pass through my land, of all lands? The passage you ask for is not a slight matter. You are a nation of war-refugees seeking solace from its pains and rest from its trials, and you cannot turn back. This is too dangerous a situation for me; it threatens not only my land, but also my very existence. Your temporary presence may become permanent; you will multiply and take over my land, changing its character. You refugees will become the lords of the land.

I cannot permit the transformation that you may cause me. Therefore, my answer is: You shall not pass through me, lest I go out to meet you with the sword.

Despite the king's refusal and explicit threat, the emissaries make a further attempt to convince him:

The emissaries: We will travel via the more difficult side roads. If we or our livestock drink, just set your price and we shall pay it. You won't even notice us. We won't change anything; we only ask to pass through.

King of Edom: You shall not pass.

The King of Edom musters his troops to guard the border and keep the Israelites from passing through his land. The Israelites retreat and continue their trek towards Moav.

Travelling east, they pass through Derekh Atarim, which seems to be Canaan's southern border (21:1-3). There the Canaanites come out to do battle against them. The Israelites call out to God; He saves them from the Canaanites, who are delivered into their hands.

The parasha ends with an attempt by the people to pass through the Emorite kingdom of King Sihon. Their request is similar to that made of the King of Edom: Let me pass through your land. We will not turn into fields or vineyards, nor drink well water. We shall walk along the king's road, until we have passed through your territory (21:22). In his case, when Sihon refuses their request and sets out to do battle against Israel he is struck down and loses his kingdom, leaving no remnant (verses 23-35).

The parasha shows us the various consequences of refusal to accept the request made by the Israelite refugees from Egypt.

They only asked to pass through. The word ma'avar - "passage" - appears seven times in various forms in the Israelites' request addressed to Edom. The fact that Israel was not interested in war or conquest, but rather only in free passage, is repeatedly emphasized.

If so, what is the cause of the refusal?

The fear seems justified: The kings of the various lands are worried about being taken over by a people who went down to Egypt and stayed there for many generations; there is no guarantee that their temporary passage will not become a permanent residency. Furthermore, when a nomadic people passes through an area bordering on the desert, they may diminish the limited resources of water and arable land. If we read the Edomite King's response carefully, it seems to refer to more than a concern. The phrase, you shall not pass through me suggests that for the king, the passage will not be merely physical, but also essential and cultural, something which generates real anxiety. It is this anxiety which keeps the king of Edom and the Emorite king after him, from accepting any of the offered solutions. It is not enough that the Israelites stay on the king's highway, take an alternative route to be chosen by the king, or offer monetary compensation. It is this anxiety which generates immoral behavior resulting in a declaration of war.

We began as a nation of refugees, but today we are a sovereign nation living in its land. Today many refugees of catastrophe and war in Africa knock upon our gates. Our concerns are justified: limited job opportunities may be taken up by the refugees; the refugees may settle in the land and not return home when conditions permit; they will no longer meet the technical definition of "refugees"; the refugees may include imposters who merely seek improvement of their economic conditions.

We do not have reliable statistics regarding the number of African refugees. There are those who try to inflate the refugees' numbers, perhaps in order to increase anxiety and prevent their entry. There is fear of the refugees bringing diseases with them; fear of demographic changes that will threaten the Jewish majority; and fear of the culture which the refugees may set up here.

Fear precludes a moral consideration of the situation that would allow these concerns to be solved.

So it was with the King of Edom: his anxiety kept him from being able to listen to the request and led to the total closure of his gates: you shall not pass. A security argument is commonly made against allowing refugees to enter the land from the Egyptian border: hostile elements may pose as refugees to gain entry. A proposed bill for preventing infiltration is being considered by the government. This bill does not distinguish between hostile elements and genuine refugees (the law proposes heavier punishments against people arriving from hostile countries, including Sudan.)

The request addressed to the King of Edom begins: Israel is you brother; you know all the tribulations that found us. The request is for empathy with the situation of the Israelite refugees from Egypt. The call for empathy is moral in nature.

We have been commanded many times throughout Scripture to treat the weak, such as slaves and strangers, morally. We are asked to do so as a people who know their troubles. We believe that we similarly commanded today to display similar empathy towards the refugees who seek our help today, and not to ignore them in their time of trouble.

Nuri Gross and Avinoam Lehavi are students in the Ha'EMeK Pre-Military Academy.

 

A New Bottle Full of Old Wine - from the pen of our member, Ronen Ahituv

And Moses sent emissaries... to the King of Edom: "So says your brother, Israel.." (20:14)

From whom did Moses learn to send emissaries? He learned it from his grandfather, for it is said: And Jacob sent emissaries before him to his brother Esau to the land of Seir, the fields of Edom (Bereishit 32:4)

Just as the emissaries sent word back to Jacob, so they did to Moses. By Jacob it says: and he has gone forth towards you, and four hundred men are with him (32:7). By Moses it says: And Edom went forth towards him with many people and a strong arm (20:20).

Moses uttered this verse: I am for peace, yet when I speak, they are for war (Psalms 120:7). And immediately: Israel turned away from him (20:21).

A Heavenly Voice spoke out to him: "You should have learned from your grandfather Jacob, who placated Esau and kissed him whole-heartedly. By your life, your people is destined to live in his land and be hated, for it is said: I have lived much with the hater of peace (Psalms 120:6)

Compare the two delegations. Who treated Edom more correctly?

 

 The Sin of Moses

...God rebuked both Moses and Aaron in the most severe manner (in Devarim 32:51): You were unfaithful to Me, You did not uphold My sanctity - and that was why God decreed that they would die outside Canaan. We ask: how did Moses break faith with God? What was his sin? How did he not uphold God's sanctity?

These matters are not explained in the Torah. Those who studied and delved into the Torah raised many and varied hypotheses in attempting to find the meaning from the text itself, and could not find any... It is possible that this event has a most profound explanation. In any event, a Midrashic source states it - and I would like to relate to this. In order for us to understand the significance of the interpretation, we must realize one fact that is possibly decisive in every attempt to understand the affair: the fact that Moses himself is not aware that he sinned. On every occasion - and this is repeated three times in the Torah - when Moses pleads to God to annul His decree and to allow him to achieve the goal for which he worked for forty years - he never asks God for forgiveness for his sin, but merely asks for the decree to be annulled ... Did Moses sin or did he not sin? If Moses, the most humble of all men, was not cognizant of having sinned, who are we to seek for sins in Moses? And why this decree made against him?

And yet in the same Midrash, we are told that God told Moses in regard to his prayers for the decree to be annulled: "Moses, with what do you wish to enter the land?" The Midrash implies a message which it later states explicitly: "The generation that you [Moses] led was not granted the privilege of entering the Land - and you, the leader of that generation, wish to enter?" This is analogous to a shepherd whose flock was torn to shreds by wild animals - can he then say: "I'm going home now"? In other words, the leader has a share in the sins of his generation, for the sins which were committed under his leadership, even if he himself is not - either legally or morally or by any other human criterion - responsible for the sins, the omissions, or the errors of those under him. Yet he has a share in their sins... And in modern day concepts, in the social and political spheres, we refer to this as the assumption of ministerial responsibility.

(From Notes and Remarks on the Weekly Parashah by Prof. Yeshayahu Leibowitz,

Chemed Books, tr. S. Himelstein, pp. 146-49.)

 

Her paths are paths of pleasantness and all her ways are of peace

Now this is the Instruction for the slaughter offering of shalom [shelamim]: That which is written, Her paths are paths of pleasantness and all her ways are of peace, means that everything which is written in the Torah is written for the sake of peace. And even though the Torah speaks of wars, this too was written for the sake of peace. You find, that The Holy One, Blessed Be He, abolished his decree because of peace. When? When The Holy One, Blessed Be He said to Moses, When you set siege on a city for many days (Devarim 20:19), and all pertaining to that subject, The Holy One, Blessed Be He, said to him that no spoil may be taken, as is written, You are to devote them to destruction, yes, destruction (Ibid. 20:17). But Moses did not do so; rather he said, "Shall I go and smite both he who sinned and he who sinned not? But I shall come upon them in peace, as is written, Now I sent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedemot... words of peace, saying, Let me cross through your land (Ibid. 2:26-27)." When he saw that he (Sihon) did not come for peace, he smote him, as is written, So they struck him and his sons and all his people (Bamidbar 21:35). Said The Holy One, Blessed Be He, "I said, You are to devote them to destruction, yes, destruction, but you did not do so! By your life, as you spoke so will I do, as is written, When you approach a city to wage war against it, you shall call upon it to make peace (Devarim 20:10)." Therefore does it say, Her paths are paths of pleasantness and all her ways are of peace (Proverbs 3:17).

(Tanhuma Tzav, 3)

 

Yiftah's Sin

This was Yiftah's error with regards to his daughter: he thought than when a leader in Israel declares that certain people should be killed or that whoever disobeys his order deserves the death penalty, and also if one should vow during wartime to offer a person or persons as a sacrifice, that such vows are binding. He did not know that the above declaration of the king and the Sanhedrin is intended to destroy the rebels or whoever transgresses their injunctions and decrees, but Heaven forbid that a vow be taken to offer as sacrifice something which is inappropriate for an offering to God. Therefore it is said in Bereishit Rabba (63) that he was not even obligated to make monetary substitution (for the object dedicated), and therefore he was punished with her blood (Money and blood share a common root - ('domim' -'dom'))

One must not crown Yiftah with a halo of a national hero; one should not be impressed by his act as if it were an act of great sacrifice prompted by patriotic emotion. His act was cruel and without basis. We can accept as valid the words of Chazal, who judged him to be an am ha-aretz, empty-headed and rash. Enthusiasm in itself is no guarantee of proper and desirable direction; enthusiasm without a compass, which lacks the restraint of Torah - is liable to result in utter destruction. In the words of Midrash Tanhuma (Behukotai 5) "What caused Yiftah to lose his daughter? He did not study Torah."

(Iyyunim BeSefer Bamidbar, Prof. Nechama Leibowitz z'l)

 

 

 

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