After the reprisal attack against Midian, the Jewish soldiers presented an unusual donation to the Tabernacle: gold jewelry seized from the Midianite women.
?Every man who found any gold article - an anklet, a bracelet, a finger ring, an earring, or a body ornament - wishes to bring it, to atone for our souls before God.? (Numbers 31:50)
Why did the soldiers make this odd offering to the Tabernacle? The sages explained that they felt a need for atonement - not for improper actions - but due to improper thoughts while amongst the Midianite women. (Shabbat 64a) Yet, why not bring a more conventional offering? And why does the Torah list all of the various types of Midianite ornaments?
Some of the jewelry was of the normal variety, worn in full view: finger rings, earrings, etc. Other pieces, however, were of an intimate nature, worn underneath the clothes, such as the kumaz, a suggestive body ornament. From the Torah?s association of external and intimate jewelry, the Talmud derived the moral lesson that ?to gaze at a woman's little finger (for enjoyment) is like staring at her undressed.? (Shabbat 64b)
What is so terrible about enjoying a woman's natural aesthetic beauty?
On its own accord, beauty has intrinsic worth and can make a positive impression on the soul. The soul gains a wonderful sense of expansiveness when experiencing aesthetic pleasures that are pure. Yet, if the beauty is covering up that which is ethically repulsive, this attractiveness becomes a spiritual hazard. The external charm is but a snare, entrapping in its inner ugliness those caught in its net. In general, we only succumb to that which is morally repugnant when it is cloaked in a veneer of superficial beauty.
This was precisely the casus belli for the war against Midian. The girls of Moab and Midian enticed the men with their outer beauty, leading them to the vile idolatrous practices of Pe'or. ?When he was overcome by lust and asked her to submit to him, she drew a statue of Pe'or from her bosom toward him and said, ?First, prostrate yourself before this!?? (Sifrei 25:1, Rashi 25:2)
This phenomenon contains an even greater pitfall. The very act of staring at that which is prohibited undermines the soul?s healthy sense of morality and purity. If we are attracted to that which is morally repugnant, we become desensitized to the hideousness of the sin. The superficial beauty has not only concealed the inner ugliness, it has diminished our loathing for it.
Even if the soul is not sufficiently corrupted to be physically ensnared in the net of immorality, its purity has been nevertheless tainted by an attraction to the forbidden. To atone for their spiritual deterioration, the soldiers brought a unique offering: gold jewelry, whose shiny and glittery exterior concealed its corrupting inner core. The officers donated jewelry exhibited openly as well as ornaments worn intimately, as they recognized that both types share the potential to desensitize the soul and damage its integrity.
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Chanan Morrison, of Mitzpeh Yericho, runs a website (RavKook.n3.net) dedicated to presenting the Torah commentary of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, first Chief Rabbi of Eretz Yisrael, to the English-speaking community.
?Every man who found any gold article - an anklet, a bracelet, a finger ring, an earring, or a body ornament - wishes to bring it, to atone for our souls before God.? (Numbers 31:50)
Why did the soldiers make this odd offering to the Tabernacle? The sages explained that they felt a need for atonement - not for improper actions - but due to improper thoughts while amongst the Midianite women. (Shabbat 64a) Yet, why not bring a more conventional offering? And why does the Torah list all of the various types of Midianite ornaments?
Some of the jewelry was of the normal variety, worn in full view: finger rings, earrings, etc. Other pieces, however, were of an intimate nature, worn underneath the clothes, such as the kumaz, a suggestive body ornament. From the Torah?s association of external and intimate jewelry, the Talmud derived the moral lesson that ?to gaze at a woman's little finger (for enjoyment) is like staring at her undressed.? (Shabbat 64b)
What is so terrible about enjoying a woman's natural aesthetic beauty?
On its own accord, beauty has intrinsic worth and can make a positive impression on the soul. The soul gains a wonderful sense of expansiveness when experiencing aesthetic pleasures that are pure. Yet, if the beauty is covering up that which is ethically repulsive, this attractiveness becomes a spiritual hazard. The external charm is but a snare, entrapping in its inner ugliness those caught in its net. In general, we only succumb to that which is morally repugnant when it is cloaked in a veneer of superficial beauty.
This was precisely the casus belli for the war against Midian. The girls of Moab and Midian enticed the men with their outer beauty, leading them to the vile idolatrous practices of Pe'or. ?When he was overcome by lust and asked her to submit to him, she drew a statue of Pe'or from her bosom toward him and said, ?First, prostrate yourself before this!?? (Sifrei 25:1, Rashi 25:2)
This phenomenon contains an even greater pitfall. The very act of staring at that which is prohibited undermines the soul?s healthy sense of morality and purity. If we are attracted to that which is morally repugnant, we become desensitized to the hideousness of the sin. The superficial beauty has not only concealed the inner ugliness, it has diminished our loathing for it.
Even if the soul is not sufficiently corrupted to be physically ensnared in the net of immorality, its purity has been nevertheless tainted by an attraction to the forbidden. To atone for their spiritual deterioration, the soldiers brought a unique offering: gold jewelry, whose shiny and glittery exterior concealed its corrupting inner core. The officers donated jewelry exhibited openly as well as ornaments worn intimately, as they recognized that both types share the potential to desensitize the soul and damage its integrity.
--------------------------------------------------------
Chanan Morrison, of Mitzpeh Yericho, runs a website (RavKook.n3.net) dedicated to presenting the Torah commentary of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, first Chief Rabbi of Eretz Yisrael, to the English-speaking community.