A Nine Days Message?

 Parshat Matos-Masei

by Rabbi Avi Billet

The source for our need to kasher (kosherize) and toivel (immerse in a mikveh) pots for cooking is the tale of the war with Midian, as appears in our parsha (31:21-24). In the book Shaar-Bas-Rabim, the author notes the question of Ramban – why was there a rule to kasher these items in the context of this war, but not in the context of the previous wars with the Emorite kings, Sichon King of Cheshbon, and Og King of Bashan? 

Shaar-Bas-Rabim answers the question through looking at the concept of kashering as a metaphor for other kinds of purging. Halakhically, the way one kashers a metal pot that has been used for non-kosher, or has been accidentally used for dairy (if a meat pot) or for meat (if a dairy pot) is usually to clean it thoroughly, then wait at least 24 hours, then burn out the absorbed flavors through the same method used to have them absorb into the pot. An additional method for removing the absorbed flavors is through boiling bleach or ammonia in the pot (noten ta’am lifgam), thereby rendering any absorbed flavors as having been neutralized. (Wash thoroughly and boil again with water afterwards to neutralize that agent!) 

The metaphor of kashering/purging can be implied from the word utilized in Elazar’s depiction of the rules of kashering – when he spoke to those who were הבאים למלחמה – those coming “to” war after the war was already over. The “war” was a personal one – what kind of credit will you be taking for the success in the battlefield? This is the war “to which” they were coming – the war against the yetzer hara, the inclination that tries to convince them that they are responsible for their own successes. 

In many examples in the Torah and books of Navi, it is not always numbers alone which are the decisive factor in any battle. In fact, sometimes it is the underwhelming number who bring about a victory or a salvation. Sometimes it is the merit of the righteous who go out to battle which brings about a salvation or victory. 

The difference between the battles with Sichon and Og v. the battle with Midian is that in the former battles the entire nation went to fight against, while against Midian it was a select group of 12,000, 1,000 soldiers per tribe (31:5). In the former, they could look at their sheer numbers and explain away their victory as not having been something they achieved because of any special merit. But after the battle with Midian, they simply couldn’t say that. Firstly their numbers were tiny, and secondly the selective nature of who went out to fight would seem to indicate they were chosen for their merits as well. 

When the entire nation goes out to war, the righteous and the not-as-righteous, no one can argue that it is the merit of any part of the nation that brought a salvation because all people were included in the battle. 

In the battle with Midian, however, there is a concern that those elite few will have their victory get to their head. The rules of purging forbidden flavors from the captured pots was thus a metaphor for these soldiers to purge such thoughts from their minds, to remember that while their success in the battlefield is partly on account of their merits, that should not get them thinking that it is ALL in their merits. “Purge such thoughts,” Elazar was telling them. “Purify the heart, cleanse it from anything that might get you to forget God’s role in all of this.” 

On the one hand, perhaps this notion can serve as a source of encouragement for us, that even when we have question as to the need to kasher something that is brand new (which is accomplished by dipping it briefly in a mikveh) our action is meant to remind us that we too need a cleansing, that we too need to be purified on a regular basis through doing an action that demonstrates our awareness of God’s presence in our lives. 

On the other hand, it could serve as a reminder that even when we are righteous, we constantly have a battle with the yetzer hara who tries to destroy us. 

Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman was once asked, “You moved around studying in different yeshivas in your formative years. Who did you consider to be your Rebbe Muvhak (your main teacher)?” His answer was, “My main rebbe is the yetzer hara. I am still trying to not listen to what he teaches me.” 

When we consider the statement that “any generation that does not live to see the rebuilding of the Temple is as if they’ve witnessed its destruction” we must always ask ourselves why we do not merit? What are we, the collective Jewish people, still doing wrong? 

Like the full nation that went out to war against Sichon and Og, perhaps our collective hearts are not yet pure enough to be worthy to see the final redemption. Perhaps seeing this kashering of pots as the metaphor we need for purging evil inclinations and impurity from our hearts is a good step towards reaching our communal goals that will help us achieve redemption.