From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 2:31
AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas
Mattos-Massei, 5766
Beyond
Yourself
By Rabbi Joshua (combatantly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
Parshas Mattos begins with the laws governing the taking of vows and their
dissolution. Rav Amnon Bazak, in his Nekudas Pesicha, suggests that these laws
are connected to a verse at the end of the previous parsha, Pinchas. Referring
to the section on sacrifices brought to the mishkan and the Beis HaMikdash daily
as well as on Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh and Yom Tov, the Torah there says, "These
you shall do for God on your appointed festivals, besides your vows and our
free-will offerings…" (Bamidbar 29:39). Since the Torah mentioned that one may
vow to bring a sacrifice, it goes on to explain the process of taking vows.
However, I believe that the section of vows also has a connection to the section
which follows it, describing the war that the Jewish nation waged against the
nation of Midian. Besides the fact that people are prone to make vows during a
time of distress, such as war, and, in fact, the rabbis tell us that it is
proper to do so in such times, I believe that there is an intrinsic connection
between the subject of vows and the specific battle against Midian, as I will
try to demonstrate.
When commanding Moshe to wage war against
Midian, God told him, "Take vengeance for the children of Israel from the
Midianites ; afterwards, you will be brought in into your people" (Bamidbar
31:2). Thus, Moshe’s death was contingent upon the execution of the war against
Midian. The Torah then says that Moshe spoke to the people and told them to arm
men for the war. Rashi comments that even though Moshe knew that his death
depended on this war taking place, he did not delay in carrying out God’s
command, but acted immediately, with joy. Moshe thus acted with ‘mesiras
nefesh,’ or a sense of self-sacrifice, in carrying out this war. Why was it
necessary for there to be this sense of mesiras nefesh in this particular war ?
Rav Avrohom Halevi Schorr, in his work HaLekach VeHalibuv,
notes that when, after the war, Moshe berated the officers for not having killed
the women of Midian, he said, " Did you let every female live ? See now, they
were the ones who caused the children of Israel, by the word of Bilaam to commit
a transgress against the Lord in the matter of Peor.." (Bamidbar 31:15-16). The
words’ to commit a transgress’ - are, in Hebrew, ‘limsor ma’al’, meaning,
literally, to give oneself over to a transgression, although the usual
words used for the term ‘to commit a transgression’ are ‘ limol ma’al.’ Rabbi
Schorr cites Rabbi Dovid Kimchi, known as the Radak, who writes, in his
dictionary Sefer HaShorashim, that the use of the word ‘limsor’ - to give
over - instead of ‘limol,’ indicates that the Midianites acted with mesiras
nefesh, giving themselves over to commit a transgression. Thus, they acted with
a sense of self-sacrifice when they caused the Jews to sin. Therefore, says
Rabbi Schorr, in order to combat this factor, the Jews needed to have a sense of
self-sacrifice in their battle of vengeance against Midian.
Based on Rabbi Schorr’s comment, we can explain why there was a need for Moshe
to know that he would die after the war against Midian was waged. By reacting to
his awareness of this fact by immediately making arrangements for the war, Moshe
was acting with a sense of self-sacrifice, thus providing the element that was
necessary to be victorious in the war, and setting an example for the rest of
the people to act in a similar way. In this context, we can understand why the
laws of vows were given as a prelude to this war. The laws of vows provide a
mechanism by which a person can, through his own speech, create obligations upon
himself that go beyond those imposed upon him by the Torah. This
mechanism, therefore, provides a person with the means to go beyond his usual
obligations, and thereby generate a spirit of self-sacrifice in his service of
God. Since it was exactly this spirit of self-sacrifice that was needed to
defeat the enemy in the war against Midian, it was appropriate to command these
laws immediately before Moshe was commanded to wage that war.
Please
address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) with the following
address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.
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