chukat answers

Chukat 5716
Alef.

Regarding the reason for why Moshe sent spies to the land of Israel that eventually led to the Divine Decree that the people would not be entering the land of Israel, RaShI attributes the decision to a request initiated by the people, and carried forward by Moshe, asking for HaShem’s Support. While HaShem only Allows the people to do what they want, Moshe takes this as Divine Approval for the enterprise. RaMBaN understands RaShI’s approach as leading to the conclusion that Moshe is to be blamed for sending the spies, since he did not object to the people’s request, and only in hindsight did he realize how destructive the project proved to be.

RaMBaN cites BaMidbar 21:32-5 as an indication that Moshe’s intentions were pure in the sense of looking for military information re how best to attack Canaan. If Moshe had had negative intentions back in BaMidbar 13, and was also seeking personal confirmation that the land was indeed a good land flowing with milk and honey, then once he sees the terrible consequences of sending spies, why would he send spies ever again instead of simply relying on God’s Leadership for conquering Canaan. By virtue of the fact that he does send spies again to Yazer, without consulting with HaShem for support, indicates that this is a normal practice, particularly in light of the principle that one should not rely on miracles, and that even the first time in BaMidbar 13, his intent was only to obtain information to be used in an attack. He failed to realize that the people and the overwhelming majority of the individuals who participated in the mission might have had a different agenda, i.e., to convince the Jews that Canaan was unconquerable, and that they should return to Egypt.

Beit.

1. “לפרק” means to divest oneself. The context of the statement is that however righteous and trusting one might be, he should always be prepared to doubt the inevitability of a good outcome because it is possible that something could go wrong. Fearing in this manner is a function of spiritual humility and the realization that one is not in control of events from the perspective of whether one continues to be deserving of positive Divine Intervention, regardless of previous Divine Promises.

2.  Although Yaakov is assured at the beginning of Parashat VaYetze that HaShem will Protect him and that generations will come after him and live in the land of Israel (Beraishit 28:13-5), when he is about to meet his estranged brother Eisav after many years of separation, he desperately prays that HaShem will Protect him (Ibid. 32:10-3). RaMBaN calls this state of mind “שמא יגרום החטא” (lest sin has caused [a change]), not attributing the lack of fulfillment of the Divine Promise to God’s Inconsistency, but rather to man’s inability to remain on the same spiritual level for any prolonged period of time.

3. With regard to why the Midrash assumes that Moshe might have been afraid only whether the Jews spiritually merited to win rather than because of Og’s military might,  

במדבר פרק כא

(לב) וישלח משה לרגל את יעזר וילכדו בנתיה ויירש ויורש את האמרי אשר שם:

(לג) ויפנו ויעלו דרך הבשן ויצא עוג מלך הבשן לקראתם הוא וכל עמו למלחמה אדרעי:

(לד) ויאמר יקוק אל משה אל תירא אתו כי בידך נתתי אתו ואת כל עמו ואת ארצו ועשית לו כאשר עשית לסיחן מלך האמרי אשר יושב בחשבון:

(לה) ויכו אתו ואת בניו ואת כל עמו עד בלתי השאיר לו שריד ויירשו את ארצו:

In the Gilayon for Chukat of 5709, which Nechama references in the present Gilayon, she quotes the same RaMBaN that she does in Section Gimel of this Gilayon, and it provides an approach for addressing this question.

In effect, RaMBaN explains that HaShem had Established a track record of being able to defeat any adversary that might present himself to the Jewish people. Therefore Og’s military prowess per se would not be a matter of concern as long as HaShem was on the side of the Jews. However, the latter was not necessarily a sure thing should the Jews have sinned to the point where God would Decide to Remove His Assistance, as happened later at the battle of Ai (Yehoshua 7:2-5). Another troubling factor to Moshe is that Og was not necessarily part of the Divine Plan of Conquering Canaan. Consequently it could be possible that the Jews could count on HaShem’s Assistance only for those battles that had direct bearing on the ultimate goal of bringing the Jews to Canaan. As it turns out, HaShem was Prepared to Assist in this battle as well. However, Moshe could not be certain of this from the outset.

Gimel.

1.  The addition of the word “אתו” in verse 34 suggests that there is something in particular about this individual that might give Moshe pause. Usually, warfare is a fear-inspiring setting regardless of who the adversary might be. Consequently, when, e.g., the Kohen Mashuach Milchama (in effect the military chaplain) gives the troops a pep talk prior to going into battle against any adversary, he says, (Devarim 20:3) “… 'Hear, O Israel, ye draw nigh this day unto battle against your enemies; let not your heart faint; fear not, nor be alarmed, neither be ye affrighted at them’”. However, there might be something in particular about Og, i.e., that he has earned some sort of special Divine Standing because of previous actions, that might result in him being victorious.

2.  In BaMidbar 21:23 ff. with regard to Sichon, messengers were sent, and preparations for war were initiated by the Jews. In the instance of Og, he is the one that is initiating hostilities. The fact that the Jews are begin beset upon could suggest that there is some Divine Retribution in this action, similar perhaps to the attack of Amalek, following the Jews leaving Egypt. (See for e.g., RaShI on Shemot 17:8.) Therefore Divine Reassurance is given to preclude such a line of thinking.

3.  Nechama refers to a particular RaMBaN to consider in addition to what RaMBaN states on v. 34:

רמב"ן במדבר פרק כא פסוק כא

(כא - כב) וישלח ישראל מלאכים אל סיחון וגו', אעברה בארצך - אף על פי שלא נצטוו לשלוח להם לשלום פתחו להם בשלום, לשון רש"י. ועוד אבאר בע"ה במקומו (דברים כ י) כי בכל האומות נצטוו לפתוח להם לשלום, חוץ מעמון ומואב. אבל באמת מה שאמר לו "אעברה בארצך" זה היה משה עושה מעצמו דרך פיוס, כי ארץ סיחון ועוג ירושתם של ישראל היתה כי לאמורי היא, והיה מן הדין שאם יענו שלום ופתחו להם שיהיה כל העם הנמצא בה להם למס ועבדום. אבל משה היה יודע כי ישראל עתה לא יכבשו כל עשרה עממים, והיה חפץ שיהיה כל כבושם מעבר לירדן והלאה, שיהיה מושבם יחד, ושהיא הארץ הטובה אשר היא זבת חלב ודבש, הלא תראה שאם לא בקשוהו ממנו בני גד ובני ראובן לא היה מניח שם אדם אלא שתהיה לחרבה. וכן שנוי בספרי (תבא רצט) לתת לך, פרט לעבר הירדן שנטלת מעצמך, ועוד אמרו רבותינו (במדב"ר ז ח) בעשר קדושות, שאין עבר הירדן ראוי לבית המקדש ולשכון השכינה, וכן נראה בכתוב שאמר (יהושע כב יט) ואך אם טמאה ארץ אחזתכם וגו'. ולא שלחו אל עוג דברי שלום, כי הוא כאשר ראה כי הכו את סיחון יצא לקראתם למלחמה:

a) Moshe did not send messengers or offers of peace, implying that he was not prepared to fight Og.

b) The fact that Og attacked at Edrei, at the edge of his land, supports the idea that Moshe led the people in a direction that would have allowed them to avoid crossing Og’s land altogether.

c) Moshe did not expect that any of the Jewish people would reside anywhere but in Canaan proper, so there was no need to conquer lands on the other side of the Jordan.

4. If in Devarim 2:25, Moshe says that on the day when Sichon fought the Jews and lost, HaShem Began to cause surrounding nations to fear Him and His People, why was Moshe reticent about fighting Sichon, and only asked to be granted permission to pass through the land? RaMBaN on BaMidbar explains that Moshe had not been made privy to the fact that HaShem Wished the Jews to conquer not only Canaan, but also at least some of the peoples on the near side of the Jordan. Consequently, since Moshe thought that the Divine Plan was for everyone to take up residence in Canaan, he wanted to avoid confrontations with Sichon and Og. In retrospect, after HaShem’s Approval of the deal with Reuven, Gad and ½ Menashe (implied by BaMidbar 32:31, although not stated explicitly, and it could appear from the Peshat of the verses that this is an arrangement that Moshe forged without consulting with HaShem) Moshe realized that in fact the defeats of Sichon and Og were the beginning of the conquest of Canaan by the Jews, and that HaShem had deliberately Orchestrated Sichon’s warlike response—Devarim 2:30.

דברים פרק ב

(כה) היום הזה אחל תת פחדך ויראתך על פני העמים תחת כל השמים אשר ישמעון שמעך ורגזו וחלו מפניך:

(כו) ואשלח מלאכים ממדבר קדמות אל סיחון מלך חשבון דברי שלום לאמר:

(כז) אעברה בארצך בדרך בדרך אלך לא אסור ימין ושמאול:

(כח) אכל בכסף תשברני ואכלתי ומים בכסף תתן לי ושתיתי רק אעברה ברגלי:

(כט) כאשר עשו לי בני עשו הישבים בשעיר והמואבים הישבים בער עד אשר אעבר את הירדן אל הארץ אשר יקוק אלקינו נתן לנו:

(ל) ולא אבה סיחן מלך חשבון העברנו בו כי הקשה יקוק אלקיך את רוחו ואמץ את לבבו למען תתו בידך כיום הזה: ס

(לא) ויאמר יקוק אלי ראה החלתי תת לפניך את סיחן ואת ארצו החל רש לרשת את ארצו:

(לב) ויצא סיחן לקראתנו הוא וכל עמו למלחמה יהצה:

(לג) ויתנהו יקוק אלקינו לפנינו ונך אתו ואת בנו בניו ואת כל עמו:

5. An alternative reading might claim that even if eventually the other side of the Jordan would be conquered, how should Moshe know that this was to happen immediately on his way to Canaan, rather than at some future point? It stands to reason that Moshe would not wish to engage in any warfare other than explicitly authorized by HaShem, as in the case of the war against Midian (BaMidbar 31:1 ff.)

Daled.

Since HaShem is above time, i.e., the fact that He is Immutable—does not change—suggests that cause and effect relationships are irrelevant when it comes to God. If He has already Decided that the Jews would defeat Sichon, then for all intents and purposes, it was already done. This parallels the understanding of the languages of redemption at the beginning of Shemot:

שמות פרק ו

(ו) לכן אמר לבני ישראל אני יקוק והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלת מצרים והצלתי אתכם מעבדתם וגאלתי אתכם בזרוע נטויה ובשפטים גדלים:

(ז) ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם והייתי לכם לאלקים וידעתם כי אני יקוק אלקיכם המוציא אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים:

(ח) והבאתי אתכם אל הארץ אשר נשאתי את ידי לתת אתה לאברהם ליצחק וליעקב ונתתי אתה לכם מורשה אני יקוק:

Although it could be claimed that the “Vav HaHipuch” changes the past into the future, it could also be argued that HaShem’s Planning to Redeem the Jews makes it a fait accomplis even before it happens.