Parshas Devarim – No One Wants War

 

Parshas Devarim – No One Wants War

 

Dedicated to a refuah shelaima for Moshe Aaron ben Necha Itta, Binyamin ben Simcha, Chaya Sarah bas Esther Leah, and Sharon bas Shoshana

 

Parshas Devarim begins Moshe’s presentation of the events that transpired to the Jewish people and the travels they made. It may see strange since that which he describes in the second half of the parsha took place within the last few years, but it is objectively difficult to understand the significance of the times one is living through. Moshe is, therefore, reframing the events – the wars and interactions with the nearest neighbors of the Promised Land – to strengthen the faith of the people before him and to clarify history for the generations to follow.

 

Given that Bnei Yisrael have not yet entered the Promised Land, there is an impressive amount of conquest that occurs in Parshas Devarim. Specifically, Moshe goes into great detail about the wars with the Amorites and the Bashonites, specifically about how powerful they were and how they resided in the lands of giants. Indeed, Moshe even states that the bed of Og, King of Bashan, was “nine cubits long and four cubits wide according to the cubit of the man” (Devarim 3:11). While the detailing of these tremendous victories may have been an excellent pep talk before entering the Promised Land, anyone reading the parsha cannot fail to note that these nations were wiped out completely, “At that time we captured all his towns, and we doomed every town—men, women, and children —leaving no survivor” (2:34). And there is no denying, from a 21^st century perspective, that this is shocking turn of events. It is so shocking a statement that it is easy to forget that Bnei Yisrael did not attack the Amorites, but, rather, they requested safe passage. The response was a full out attack, and the results were as stated above.

 

Bnei Yisrael was not then, nor is it now, a bellicose nation. There is no instance in the Torah before they arrive at the Land of Israel where Bnei Yisrael specifically set out to conquer land. In fact, Hashem was very specific with them about not attacking land that He had promised to other nations such as Edom, Amon, and Moav. It was only once the Amorites and Bashanites attacked that Hashem gave the enemy “into their hands.” And it was only once these nations had been defeated that it was determined to be acceptable for two tribes, upon their own request, to settle there. What Parshas Devarim makes clear is that Bnei Yisrael had one goal, and that was the land that had been promised to and surveyed by Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.

 

Underlying everything that is occurring in Parshas Devarim is the idea of the Divine promise of land. It is a foundational belief of Judaism that Hashem owns the world and determines the specific lands of the nations. Thus, the area of Har (Mount) Seir is specified for Edom and etc..

 

It is nearly impossible to come to Parshas Devarim for a second time during Israel’s current state of war and not use this as an opportunity to make grave political statements about the situation. There is no desire for the atrocities of war – in the wars above and in future wars, utter destruction only came at the command of Hashem. War in the Torah has a goal, and that goal – except for the directives against Amalek – is twofold the protection of the people (thus the Midianites, Amorites, and etc) and settlement of the Promised Land. And even in the wars of conquest yet to come, there were instructions on the means of avoiding utter cruelty.

 

The current situation is incredibly complex. War is a terrible thing, and it is always most cruel and devastating to the one’s least involved in the war itself. We do not have, today, a Divine voice telling us how to finish this war, and so we are left in the human quagmire. What we do know is that defending ourselves to our full strength against one who attacks us is as well-documented in Jewish tradition as the preciousness of the Promised Land.

 

This Shabbas is Shabbas Chazon, the Shabbas preceding, immediately in this year’s case, the observance of Tisha B’Av. On Tisha B’Av, we mourn the loss of the Beis Hamikdash – we mourn the fact that we have to fight for our homeland. We mourn that fact that not only are we at war with another nation, but that that war is a source of battle among ourselves, and divisiveness within ourselves led to the destruction of Bayis Sheini. On Tisha B’Av, we mourn the fact that what we are truly missing in our lives, due to our own foibles, is that clear and precise guidance from Hashem. Beyond peace, beyond returning to our homeland, beyond anything else – this is our greatest sorrow.

 

May this be the last of our years of mourning.