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
