Edited by B. Silberstein
In this week’s Parasha, Eikev, Moshe continues with his rebuke of Bnei Yisrael (Children of Israel), pointing out their defects and exhorting them to repair them. In the course of his orations, Moshe warned them not to get the wrong impression from certain great happenings that they were about to experience.
“Do not say in your heart, when the L-rd your G-d repels them from before you, as follows: ‘In my merit the L-rd brought me to take possession of this land; and in the wickedness of these nations, the L-rd banished them from before you.’ “Not in your merit, nor due to the uprightness of your heart, are you entering their land to take possession of it; rather, due to the wickedness of these nations, the L-rd your G-d banishes them before you, to fulfill the word that the L-rd swore to your forefathers, to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov. You shall therefore realize that not in your merit does the L-rd your G-d give you this good land to take possession of; for you are a stubborn people." (Devarim 9:4-6)
In the natural scheme of things, we would have taken Hashem’s displacement of the people of Canaan to give us their land as a sign that He favors us because of our righteousness. Moshe felt it necessary to disabuse Bnei Yisrael of this false perception. So why then is Hashem doing all this for them?
The Conquest Was Not a Reward
There are two factors at work in the miraculous conquest of the land. The first has nothing to do with Bnei Yisrael. Rather, the seven nations that inhabited Canaan had perverted their ways and violated the fundamental moral and ethical imperatives that all people are obliged to maintain. In this context, it is a misnomer to assert that the Torah applies only to Am Yisrael (Nation of Israel).
That is not the case. The Torah is the exclusive Divine Revelation, which is addressed to all mankind, Jew and Gentile alike. Secondly, we were singled out to enter into a special Covenant. This Covenant requires our commitment to observe the 613 commandments and grants us the right to enter, conquer, and dwell in Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel), in fulfillment of Hashem's promise to our righteous forefathers.
Non-Jews should not believe that they are completely relieved of the responsibility of observing Mitzvot. They cannot be considered righteous if they do not uphold the 7 Laws given in the time of Adam and Noach.
Hashem Judges All of Humanity
This truth is illustrated in our Parsha. The verse attests that, because of the “evil of these nations," G-d drove them out of the land. This demonstrates that Hashem cares about all people and governs them with justice. They neglected the basic moral code that He demands they live by. They violated the Noachide system and were punished by Hashem. It is mistaken to believe that Hashem doesn’t care about the nations and arbitrarily took away their land simply to benefit Bnei Yisrael.
This is supported by the verse in Bereishit (15:16) where Hashem conveys to Avraham that his descendants will inherit the land of Canaan:
“The fourth generation will return here; for the iniquity of the Amorites will not be completed until then."
G-d would not take action against this nation until its citizens had reached the point of no return, for He judges all people with absolute justice.
The Danger of Self-Deception
Moshe was concerned that Bnei Yisrael would not view things this way. Our ego impels us to distort reality and spin things to accord with our emotions. That was the argument Moshe made to Hashem after the sin of the Golden Calf: “You can’t destroy Am Yisrael," he maintained, because the Egyptians would misinterpret it to imply that You lacked the ability to bring them into the Promised Land and therefore killed them in the Wilderness.
But why would the Egyptians attribute the destruction of Bnei Yisrael to a Divine weakness and not realize that it was the sin of idolatry that was responsible for their downfall? It is because that interpretation would not be emotionally gratifying. They would prefer to believe that G-d had somehow failed.
This same predilection applies to Bnei Yisrael. Upon witnessing the miraculous defeat of the Amorites, Am Yisrael would not attribute it to the Amorites’ own culpability, but to their own righteousness. “Hashem did this for me," they would say, “because I am ethically superior." Moshe knew that this was how the people would think, and he therefore had to be brutally honest.
He told them that Hashem did not favor them over the Amorites because of their superior righteousness. In fact, he told them, they are a very stubborn lot, a stiff-necked People.
Chosen for a Mission, Not for Superiority
It is important for us to recognize that, indeed, we are a special, chosen nation. That is because Hashem entrusted us with a unique mission, not because we are innately superior, but only because we have very special ancestors.
“The L-rd only desired your forefathers to love them; and He chose their offspring after them, you from all the nations, as this day." (Devarim 10:15)
A false sense of moral superiority is the greatest impediment to the attainment of genuine righteousness. We need to be inspired by the great role Hashem has assigned to us in His plan for the perfection of all mankind.
And we must constantly strive to emulate the behaviors of our illustrious forefathers so Hashem will desire us, as He desired them.
May we all merit to achieve this.
Questions? Comments?
Please reach out to Mitch Rosner on WhatsApp at 054-426-3419 or by email at mitchrosner@gmail.com.