by Rabbi Avi Billet
In the
beginning of Chapter 21, the Torah tells a tale of how an encounter with the
Canaanites of the Negev concluded with the capture of a single captive – which
Rashi identifies as a maidservant.
While I
generally try to shy away from attempts at identifying why this might have
happened, Targum Yonatan and others focus on the recent death of Aharon, and
the subsequent disappearance of the clouds, as the opening that provided the
chance for a military encounter to go sour.
The Torah
continues the tale explaining that Israel made a vow to God saying, “If you
give this nation into my hands, I will turn their city into a ‘cherem’ (will
forbid the taking of any booty).”
God, in
turn, listened to the voice of Israel and allowed them to defeat the Canaanites.
Two
questions come to mind. Why wouldn’t Moshe pray on behalf of the people, as he
has so many times in the past? Why is the language of Israel praying written in
the singular – isn’t the whole nation, millions of people, praying?
The Shakh
explains why Moshe might not have prayed on behalf of the people. Following a
line of thinking that appears in many places in the Midrash and Chazal, the
Shakh suggests (based on the Yalkut Shimoni) that when the people saw Moshe
descending from the mountain with Elazar, and without Aharon, they were
suspicious that Moshe had killed his brother.
There were
actually 3 groups – those who suspected Moshe of murder, those who suspected
Elazar of murder, and those who believed Aharon had died a natural death. To
squelch all the rumors, the people were given a vision of Aharon being
accompanied by angels to the point that all understood that he had died
naturally.
Two out of
three groups were suspicious of murder rendering Moshe uninterested in praying
on their behalf. Let them pray for themselves if after 40 years they could even
conceive of such a notion that Moshe or Elazar killed their brother/father.
The
singular language is more compelling of a question to me, but in light of
recent events, I think nothing could be more clear as to why the people are
depicted as praying in the singular, in the aftermath of one person being taken
captive.
All I have
read is that the country of Israel, as fractured as it sometimes is in times of
peace, and when people have time to fight about things that, all told, are not
that important, is a different country today than it was before Naftali, Eyal
and Gilad were kidnapped. We could surely benefit from the prayer of Moshe at
this time. But in the absence of a Moshe Rabbeinu, we are coming together to
pray as one.
In ancient
times all it took was one maidservant being taken captive, and the entire
nation of Israel became one. “Israel took a vow (‘vayidar’ – in the singular),
‘If you place the Canaanites in MY hand, I will leave the city desolate (with
the cherem).’”
The nation
and the country of Israel understands this well. The nation as one has taken a
vow to “bring our boys back.” As of this writing there was not much news or
hopes to hang onto. But the nation of Israel seems united as one, to rid its
land of the evil of Hamas, and to destroy the infrastructure that allows evil
people to roam freely, to kidnap innocent children because they “are frustrated
with the occupation.” And of course, to see the three boys returned to their
homes in safety.
Most of us
do things, and sometimes even regrettable things, when we are frustrated. But
we don’t kill people, or kidnap children. Moshe would be very frustrated with
even the suspicion of such.
That the
world accepts the Palestinian narrative that terrorism, and kidnapping, and
taking soldiers is a direct result of frustration just speaks volumes of how
liberal thinking goes. “If it’s Jews, they can’t be right. They’ve brought it
upon themselves. And the frustrated are justified.”
Maybe
Israel – the nation and the country – can take a vow, using the Torah’s
precedent, that if You, God, will help rid this pestilence from our land –
whether through political means, relocation strategies, exile, etc, then we, united
as one, will not take anything from the cherem, and we will not celebrate the
emptiness of once occupied lands.
We, as one
People, will celebrate that we live in peace, and that our youth need not fear
when they hitchhike, because they know they are in a “medinah yehudit” (Jewish
country) in which chesed is the guiding principle of Jews helping Jews, because
of course the person behind the wheel is concerned only for your welfare.
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