Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Shlach - G-d is on our Side

In parshas Shelach Moshe our rabbi sends a delegation to tour the land of Canaan in preparation of its acquisition by the nation of Israel. This is a continuation of the process which started with the receiving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. The Ten Commandments were promptly fleshed out by other laws. Shortly after that the Temple was built and the priests and priestly tribe were inaugurated. To prepare for the entry into the Holy Land adult men, who are not assigned to Temple service, are registered for military service. Like other advances, mistakes are made in this one as well. In this one the spies conclude that the enemy is too powerful to be defeated.

From the standpoint of the Chumash the exploratory mission does not seem to be intended for the purpose of military reconnaissance nor does it seem that the army was intended to actually fight. Rather the splitting of the Red Sea was sufficient to make the inhabitants of Canaan melt away.  The haphtarah resumes this topic after a forty year hiatus. In it Joshua secretly sends two spies into Jericho, the first city intended to be taken. Based on the low morale in Jericho, it is concluded that victory by Israel is certain. Things like weapons and manpower are not even considered. What we see, though, is a spiritual fall by the nation of Israel in that some sort of military engagement is now required. Concerning the Canaanites the Tanakh is basically fanatical that they are incorrigibly evil and must be destroyed.

About six of the 22 chapters of the book of Joshua are about the conquest of Canaan. The first conquest is the city of Jericho, but it is not much of a battle. More or less the people of Israel march around the city a number of times, blow shofars, and shout. With that the walls of Jericho fall down and all of the people are killed. Israel has been admonished not to take any plunder so as not to put the stain of the Canaanites on them. Gold, silver, and metal vessels, though, are to be given to the Temple.  

One man violates this prohibition and loots gold, silver, and an expensive cloak. Because of this the campaign against the next city, Ai, is not successful. When the trespasser is discover, he is executed. The campaign resumes and is successful. It seems though that the rest of Israel was sympathetic to him, as a result permission is given to pillage the city.

Subsequently five Amorite kingdoms are defeated by Yehoshua after G-d strikes them with confusion, and when they are fleeing G-d rains huge hailstones on them. Next Hazor and its allies, who are more numerous than the sand on the shore, attack after G-d hardens their hearts to come out in battle. They totally annihilated and with that the war ends.

The 31 kings defeated by Joshua are graphically listed. HaKadosh baruch Hu tells Yehoshua that a large portion of the land remains to be occupied and lists the various nations that should be destroyed. However, they will be driven out by heaven from before the children of Israel.

It says in the book of Ecclesiastes (9:11), “I . . . saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the understanding, nor favor to the knowledgeable; rather time and chance happens to them all. Based on this there is a humorous American quip, “The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet”. It’s like that in war. It is better to have more and better soldiers and weapons than the enemy, but it does not guarantee victory. All too often the weaker side simply gets lucky or an advantage that seemed insignificant turns out to be very significant. Also at times one side loses its nerve and runs and the other side is brave and routs.

A popular aphorism is that there are no atheists in foxholes and, often in war the hidden hand of the Almighty is revealed. There are times that an intransigent enemy weakens only after an unpopular cause is embraced by the reluctant side that really should do better. It is the craft of the Jewish people to know what the will of the Creator is, and what causes He wants us to advance. Also at times there are people and even nations that have made an aspect of evil their lifeblood. Therefore at some point they must be humbled or even destroyed. It would seem that these are keys to victory in war and entry into the land of Israel.



לע"נ האמא מלכה  בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח
וגם בדואר אלקטרוני    ניתן באתר   http://dyschreiber.blogspot.co.il




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