Avenge the Israelite People on the Midianites

Rabbi Melanie Aron

July 6, 2002

While Jews have always looked to the biblical text for religious inspiration and moral guidance, still we have recognized problematic passages, among them the section of Teddy's Torah portion this morning concerning the Midianites. The command of God is bad enough: "Avenge the Israelite people on the Midianites." while the Torah teaches explicitly, "You shall not take vengence." But Moses' response seems even worse. Meeting the returning officers, and finding them bringing female captives, Moses explodes in anger: "You have spared every female! Yet they are the very ones who at the bidding of Balaam induced the Israelites to trespass against the Lord in the mater of Peor, so that the Lord's community was struck by the plague. Now therefore slay every male among the children and slay also every woman who has known a man carnally."

We are not the first generation to have difficulties with this text. Already in the Talmud, this text made the rabbis uncomfortable. Reish Lakish, a famous rabbi who had been a gladiator before finding Torah, used this section to teach the danger of anger. According to his interpretation, this extention of God's commandment to avenge the Israelites to include collective punishment of children and women was a result of Moses's anger. He notes that Moses seems to make a mistake in speaking with the Israelites afterwards about purifying the camp from the war and that his nephew must step in and offer some corrections.

"Resh Lakish said: Any man who is angry, if he is wise then his wisdom departs from him...we know this from Moses, as it is written: "And Moses was enraged with the officers of the army" and then it is written, "Then Elazar spoke to the men of the army that went to the battle: "This is the law of the Torah which God commanded Moses" Because from Moses it had departed."

Centuries later Rashi wondered at the attack on the Midianites, when in last weeks Torah portion it explicitly states that it was Moabites woman who caused the trouble, excepting the one Midianite woman killed by Pinchas. He explains this seeming contradiction by noting that the Moabites were genuinely afraid that the Israelites might take their land, therefore they fought against them. They did not believe there could be such a thing as passing through their land without conquering it. But the Midianites knew that their land was not at risk. They fought with the Israelites because of groundless hatred, and for this reason needed to be destroyed.

Of course, modern biblical scholars have a different approach. They note that in the book of Judges, chapters 6-8, one of the oldest parts of the Biblical texts, the Midianites are so successful in their attacks on the Israelites that the Israelites are forced to flee their homes to live in caves in the hills, so impoverished that they beat their wheat in a winepress, to hide it from their overlords the Midianites. The description in the book of Numbers of a successful battle against the Midianites, may reflect the wish of those who suffered under the Midianites yoke.

Finally literary critics note the difference between the Biblical texts and the Homeric epics. Though there is a battle here and victory, there is no extended treatment of the battle and certainly no battlefield heroics to be glorified. In fact the bulk of the Torah portion deals not with this incident but with the cities of refuge, created so as to avoid the revenge killings of someone who accidentally commits manslaughter. These texts, which seek to prevent the death even of someone who has killed another person, are much more in keeping with the general Jewish perspective on revenge and killing.

The text speaks harshly, but reading the rabbi's eyes, we learn about the dangers of anger and groundless hatred. We are reminded not to glorify war- but to avoid killing, even when we may be filled with resentment.