D’var Torah Mattot

Take revenge for the Children of Israel against the Midianites; afterwards you will be gathered to your people. (Numbers 31:2)
God instructed Moses “avenge the Children of Israel from the Midianites,” yet in the following verse, when Moses relayed God’s instructions to the People, he did not relay God’s words exactly, rather, telling the people to “execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian.”
Rashi notes “since they (the Midianites) stood against Israel, it is considered as if they stood against the Holy One blessed be He.” In essence, attacking the People of Israel is equivalent to attacking the God of Israel.
My father commented that Moses’ change of wording is intended (among other points) to stress that the Israelites are to be motivated not by the personal affront and harm done to them, but rather by the Midianites’ affront to God. The two verses convey the ideal of the relationship between God and Israel. God’s concern, as it were, is to avenge the wrong done to His people, while the People are moved to act to avenge God’s honor.
The following two verses, describing the enlistment of the 12,000 soldiers (1000 from each tribe) to fight the Midianites begin and end with the letter aleph. Ba’al haTurim quotes the Talmudic comment [Babylonian Talmud. Yevamot 61a]: "this shows that they were united with a single heart towards their Father in Heaven," adding the comment of Sifrei: "they devoted themselves to the sanctification of God’s name and the salvation of Israel." My father explained that it is this unity and this dedication which not only brought the victory, but allow all the fighters to return safely, as the verse says, “and no man is missing unto us.” [Numbers 31:49]

This lesson is patently relevant today. May we be wise enough to achieve unity and dedication to the sanctification of God’s name and the salvation of Israel and thereby merit victory and the safe return of all our soldiers and hostages. (David Magence)


Shabbat Shalom

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