War… It means far more to us today than it did a year ago. Indeed, after the actions of this week it means far more to us today than it did a month ago. The war we hoped would come to a quick and victorious end hovers on the precipice of regional escalation. And this calls to the question the conundrum of the very existence of war.
One would think that in the ideal world there would be no
such thing as war. Utopian fantasies are often premised on the very idea of a
society so advanced and enlightened that there is no fighting. And, in truth,
there are certainly ideas that in the coming days of Moshiach (bimhera,
byamenu) the “lion shall lie down with the lamb” and “"nation shall not
lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” But that’s
the dream of the future, and this week’s parsha, parshas matos-massai, is just
one of several parshios in the Torah that discuss Bnei Yisrael going to war.
Perek lamed -aleph actually presents a particularly relevant
call to arms. “So Moshe spoke to the people, saying, ‘Arm from among you men
for the army, that they can be against Midian, and carry out the revenge of the
Lord against Midian’” (31:3). God has instructed Moshe to arm Bnei Yisrael to
fight the Midianites as his final leadership act before he dies.
Quite clearly, this is neither a war of defense nor a war of
conquest, but specifically a war of revenge against the Midianites. To those of
us raised in the 20th or 21st century Western culture,
the idea of a war of revenge seems anything but religious or Godly. Nevertheless,
that is exactly what Hashem ordered.
What was it that needed to be avenged? Parshas Balak, it may
be recalled, contains two nations trying to interfere with the Jewish people.
Balak was the king of the Moabites, and, according to the commentaries, they had
reason to be concerned about the Israelites. Chizkuni, on pasuk 25:17 states: “whatever
the Moabites had done, they had done because they had believed that they had a
legitimate reason to fear for their lives from the Israelites. Furthermore, the
Israelites had already taken possession of lands which used to be theirs before
Sichon had conquered it from them in war.”
The Midianites, however, also busied themselves with Balak’s war, and
Rashi points out on Bamidbar 31:2 – “The Moabites entered into the matter out
of fear, because they feared that they might plunder them, since about them it
was stated only, (Devarim 2:9) “Do not contend with them in battle”; but the
Midianites, however, had got excited (had interfered) in a quarrel that did not
concern them.”
This is not so different from the world we live in today,
when everyone seems to have an opinion and a sense of a permission to get
involved in a quarrel that does not concern them.
As much as we may disagree with their ideology, the
Palestinian battle has a morsal of reason to it (which is not to say that any
of their means of fighting are legitimate or that their distortions of history
are acceptable. There is a country for Palestinians as understood by the term as
those who lived in the Ottoman entity of Palestine and that is the Kingdom of
Jordan that was created from the majority of the original territory…but I
digress). However, what have Houthis of Yemen to do with it? What does Iran
have to do with it?
But there is a deeper issue at hand as well. What was it
that the Midianites did to the Israelites? They followed the advice of Balaam
of Moav and attacked Israel on a moral level. They lured them into licentious behavior
so that Hashem would turn His favor away from them.
So much of the world today seems to believe that Israel
wants to be aggressive, that Israel deserves to be judged and condemned. That
sentiment is not just about Israel and Zionists, but as we see through the
general increase in anti-Semitism, it is about all of Klal Yisrael. The global
situation today, while it is actually bringing many Jews closer to their
Judaism and the community, is derailing the Jewish nation from their greater
responsibility, which is to be an Ohr LeGeula, a light unto the nations.
We are not in a world today where Hashem directly communicates.
We have no great leader to tell us exactly what to do and how. But we do have
to recognize that through all the trials and tribulations our nation is going
through, it is up to us to remember our mission. It is up to us to make an even
greater effort to make a Kiddush Hashem and show the world who we truly are. We
also have to know and recognize that it is okay to fight, it is okay to engage
in war, to let the truth shine through.
May Hashem protect Israel and all of the brave men and women
who must stand strong in the face of so much danger and who protect our nation
both physically and spiritually.
301 – BRING THEM HOME, please Hashem.
Good Shabbas
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