Shabbos Parashas Devarim - 5778

Shabbos Parashas Devarim - 5778

Rabbi Hal Miller

I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sichon, king of Cheshbon,

words of peace. [Devarim 2:26]

Two verses earlier [2:24], the Torah commands, "See, into your hand have I delivered

Sichon king of the Cheshbon, the Emorite, and his land, begin to drive him out and

provoke war with him.​" Later [Devarim 20:10], the Torah commands, "When you draw

near to a city to wage war against it, you shall call out to it for peace.​"

At first glance, it appears that Moshe received conflicting instructions. Should he

attack Sichon and drive the Emorites out, or should he attempt peace?

Abarbanel asks this question, and points to a conundrum. If Moshe offered and

Sichon agreed to peace terms, would Moshe then not drive him out? If Moshe

attacked in violation of an agreement, it would have been breaking his word. If Moshe

attacked without offering peace, he would have been violating the command to offer

peace terms prior to any attack.

Rashi says that Moshe learned from God's own actions. When God wished to bring

the Torah to the world, He offered it to each nation in turn, knowing that each nation,

until Israel, would decline it, but He offered it anyway. Moshe knew that offering

peace to Sichon would not result in peace, therefore although his offer was genuine,

he knew that the next step was going to be the attack.

Tanchuma cites Tehillim [34:15], "Depart from evil and do good, seek peace and

pursue it." He says that we are directed to actively pursue peace, regardless of

what we may expect to find. However, we are not directed to actively pursue other

commandments, rather to perform them when we come upon them or they come

upon us. Thus Moshe sent a delegation, knowing they would fail, but it was only

after that attempt that the commandment to drive Sichon out would become ripe.

Ramban notes the order of the verses. First is God's command to drive out Sichon.

Second is our verse, Moshe's mention of having sent a peace delegation. Third is

the commandment to offer peace before an attack. He says that if we accept this

order as the chronological chain of events, then Moshe violated God's word, thus

we need to read our verse differently. "I sent messengers" refers to what Moshe

did at some point in the past, prior to God's command to attack the Emorites.

Sichon refused the offer of peace, thus God commanded the battle.

We must perform commandments as we find opportunities, but we must pursue

peace, even when we do not see an opportunity to succeed.