In Memory of our beloved David Schwartz, who fell in battle sanctifying God’s name, on 27 Tevet, 5784 (8 January 2024).
“Le’David Barchi Nafshi” is a compilation of essays written on the weekly Torah reading by David Schwartz, of blessed memory. First published on the occasion of his marriage to Meital, David’s unique Torah thoughts that delve into the depths of the Torah are shared now to elevate his memory and sanctify his soul.
"Shall your brethren go to war, while you remain here”? (32:6)
Moshe poses this pointed question to the tribes of Reuven and Gad after they sought his permission to remain on the eastern side of the Jordan River. All of this took place as the people were about to cross over to conquer and inherit the land that God promised.
Moshe responded harshly to them. After his question, “Will your brothers go to war while you stay here?!” Moshe continues to berate them at length. He adds: “Behold! - you are rising up in the manner of your fathers, as a society of sinful people, adding more to the wrathful anger of the Lord against Israel.”
As we read this passage in the Torah, we can actually feel Moshe’s anger. Moshe asks: “Why do you dissuade the people of Israel from going forward to the land that the Lord has given them?”
Their request of Moshe leads him to recall the earlier episode of the spies (Numbers 13) when God harshly punished the people of Israel. In that instance, the spies' lack of enthusiasm for entering the land caused the people to lose faith. Moshe is concerned that a similar outcome may develop now, so he completely rejects the request of Reuven and Gad.
After some negotiations take place, ultimately a compromise is reached so that the tribes can inherit the eastern bank of the land. The condition would be that the men from the tribes should first join the fighting to conquer the land of Israel in the war ahead.
It is the first reaction by Moshe to the tribes’ request that draws our attention. His initial reaction raises a point that is not entirely connected to the critical issue at hand, namely that the people must not come to despise the land and must have faith to conquer it. Instead of targeting that issue, Moshe first responds by asking a question about the moral injustice of the tribes’ request. Moshe understands that there is a fundamental problem with the request here by the tribes, aside from the concern that people might come to despise the land. He definitely is concerned that their request could bring about a decline in their military capability, but Moshe deals with that issue only after he asks his first question:
“How can it be that your brothers will go to war and you will remain here?”
Moshe has dealt with complicated issues before this, and he knows where to turn for answers. In other places, he has turned to God with questions, as we saw last week when he asked God to answer the question of the daughters of Tzelafchad. In the case at hand, Moshe does not turn to God for counsel, and he does not see a need to gather the elders. Rather, he immediately replies, “How can it be that your brothers will go to war and you will remain here?”
Could there be a wrong greater than that from an ethical, moral or religious point of view?
The Talmud in Tractate Sotah deals with the issue connected to soldiers who are afraid and retreat from the battle. At the same time it rules on everyone’s obligation to go out and fight in a time of existential war: “In an obligatory war, everyone must fight, even the groom must leave his room and the bride must step away from the chuppah.” (Sotah 44b) The Talmud on this Mishnah emphasizes that “everyone must go to fight”--without exception. Many of our holy sages were involved in the wars of Israel, like Joshua in the war against Amalek and David in the battle with Goliath. Through the generations, many of our ancestors were a positive example of this.
Our sages tell us that, “The mitzvah to live in the land of Israel is equal to all the other mitzvot in the Torah.” We have relied on this law as our foundation and pillar of support throughout our history. Even before the formation of our people during the servitude in Egypt, God gave the land of Israel to Abraham at the “Covenant of the Pieces” (Brit Bein Habetarim, Genesis 15).
After seeing all this and the words of Moshe above, we have to wonder why Moshe deals with the issue of enlistment in the army (32:6) before the question of despising the land of Israel (32:7). After all that has been said, how could one even think that Moshe sees the possibility that the tribes may discourage the people from entering the land as a “secondary” issue? Why would it be dealt with second after the question of who is to enlist in the army?
The explanation must be, in my opinion, that Moshe truly thinks that the problem of who is enlisting in the army is critical to deal with first. Right away, he establishes the law in practice that our sages taught - “Derech Eretz precedes the Torah.” This may be translated as “Proper Ethical behavior precedes the Torah.” Moshe is emphasizing that kinship and kindness to our friend is prior to all the commandments in the Torah, and even prior to this important mitzvah. Moshe explains that this concept is not just a symbol but a way of life.
Rabbi Yehuda Amital (1924-2010) writes about this issue of “Derech Eretz” in his works. In “The Land was Given to People” (Hebrew, “Ve’haEretz Natan LeBenei Adam”) Rav Amital gives many sources about the priority that the Torah places on Derech Eretz. In one passage, he cites the Maharal: “Derech eretz is the guiding force that moves this world. Those who do not lead lives with derech eretz are not part of the channel of reality that is guiding the world. Therefore, a person should not belittle matters of derech eretz because that force of derech eretz precedes the Torah … And the reality of the Torah is impossible without derech eretz. As it is said, ‘If there is no derech eretz then there is no Torah.’ From this it is taught that derech eretz is the foundation of the Torah, the life sustaining tree.”
You have to be a Mentsch. That is the important lesson that Moshe is teaching us in this parsha.
The topic at hand, the matter of enlistment in the army, is truly prior to the other additional commands whose importance is indeed not minor at all. For this reason, Moshe first cries out with a moral question, even before he turns to deal with the other issue that the tribes were requesting. The clear and inescapable understanding is that someone else cannot possibly endanger his life for your benefit unless you too are part of that effort. That lesson needs to be deeply engraved in our minds. The power of this claim is just as important in our time. We must ask in our day, Where did our rabbis teach us that Torah students are exempt from war? Who among us is as great as Moses, who has authority to permit the forbidden? The answer is with God.
מי שאמר לעולמו די יאמר לצרותינו די ונזכה לביאת משיח צדקנו במהרה בימינו אמן