Shabbos Parashas Beha'alosecha - 5774

Shabbos Parashas Beha'alosecha - 5774

Rabbi Hal Miller

When you go to wage war in your land against an enemy who oppresses you,

you shall sound short blasts of the trumpets, and you shall be recalled

before Hashem your G-d, and you shall be saved from your foes.

[Bamidbar 10:9]

Our parsha is about the Levites and about travel through the desert. Why do we

find a verse on war in the middle?

Chapter 10 begins with the command to make two silver trumpets, then explains

the when and how for their use. Ramban says that our verse teaches the why. He

says that it is a Biblical obligation to pray and to sound trumpets in times

of communal misfortune and trouble. The next few verses list the heads of each

tribe, to which Ramban adds that the only reason for this mentioning of names

is that each was "positioned as a king among his troops" [Iyov 29:25], as do

those "anointed for war" [Devarim 20:2-4].

Abarbanel understands the trumpet blast as a call to repent. If you assemble

for war or any other crisis then blow the trumpets, remember and repent, and

you will be saved.

Why did the nation have to prepare for war at this point? Who was the enemy?

Our verse says "when you go to wage war", it says "in your land" and it says

"against an enemy who oppresses you". None of these conditions existed at the

time, so why did the Torah put the nation onto a war footing?

Then we reach the "middle book" in Bamidbar, verses 10:35-36. Set off by a

pair of inverted letter 'nun's, these two seem to stand on their own. They

read: "When the Ark would journey, Moshe said, 'Arise Hashem and let Your

foes be scattered, let those who hate You flee from before You'. And when it

rested, he would say, 'Reside tranquilly, O Hashem, among the myriad

thousands of Israel'." These verses clearly seem to indicate that war is upon

the nation.

But what immediately follows? Internal troubles. The incident of the demand for

meat, the 'rabble-rousers' in the camp demand a return to Egypt. Is this parsha

about war, or about something else?

Reading further into our parsha we see [11:21], "Moshe said, 'Six hundred

thousand foot soldiers are the people whose midst I am in yet You say I shall

give them meat'." Although the context of this verse is Moshe's discussion

with G-d over food, we also see him noting something relevant to our question.

Moshe referred to them as 'footsoldiers' and as "the people whose midst I am

in". Given the context, that the people were in fact rebelling against G-d and

Moshe's leadership, it appears that the enemy is not external, but internal.

The people have made themselves in Moshe's eyes into footsoldiers, to go to

wage war. Perhaps "in your land" refers to "within your people", meaning not

just the Land of Canaan, but the place where the nation might happen to be.

The "enemy who oppresses you" might be themselves.

But if this was the start of a civil war, why did the Torah command Moshe to

organize them into a military-type camp? Wouldn't it make more sense to keep

them disorganized?

This is where the amazing strength of the Torah shines through. Verse 35 said,

"let Your foes be scattered, let those who hate You flee from before You."

Built into this organization is the key to achieving the defeat of those who

would cause harm.

When Moshe said "in whose midst I am in", he defined the answer for us. A clear

organization, such as that of an army or that of the directed method of march

for the tribes, gives everyone a sense of belonging, of knowing their place in

the larger scheme. It gives an understanding of purpose. It yields a feeling

of strength. The people thought, "if I can feel this confident inside my

assigned position, maybe I can, together with everyone else, tackle this huge

problem of survival and succeed.

Our verse is saying that the war is within ourselves. The enemy oppressing us

is within us, our lack of faith and our yetzer ha'rah. The trumpets remind us

that all we need do is fulfill the mission given to us, to believe in G-d, and

we will defeat that foe. Even more, it tells us that G-d will save us from

that foe!