D'var Torah: Devarim
Torah reading: Deuteronomy 1:1 to 3:22.
Third Haftarah of Rebuke: Isaiah 1:1-27.
Today's Torah reading comes from the beginning of Deuteronomy, which I've always found a very difficult book to deal with. Essentially, the book consists of a speech or sermon delivered by Moses as the people of Israel are about to cross the Jordan, slaughter the people living in Canaan and seize their land -- all, apparently, on God's explicit orders. When we come up against passages like Deuteronomy 7:2 ("When the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy") -- what are we to make of such a bloodthirsty command? Is God actually in favour of war and ethnic cleansing?
Having said that, when I read through today's excerpt I was struck not by how bloodthirsty it was, but instead by the repeated emphasis on -- amazingly -- peace.
"Then the Lord said to me [i.e. Moses], “You have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north. Give the people these orders: ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful. Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own. You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink....So we went on past our relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion Geber, and traveled along the desert road of Moab.Three times God reiterates that the Israelites are not to conquer the territory they pass through, but to respect their fellow nations -- even to the point of carefully paying for all food and water they consume on their way. Instead of emphasizing differences, God reminds Israel that these tribes are their distant relatives and must be respected.Then the Lord said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.”…And the Lord said, “Now get up and cross the Zered Valley.” So we crossed the valley…
The Lord said to me, "Today you are to pass by the region of Moab at Ar. When you come to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them to war, for I will not give you possession of any land belonging to the Ammonites. I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.”
Even when Israel finally does come to battle, it is only after an attempt at peaceful resolution:
From the Desert of Kedemoth I sent messengers to Sihon king of Heshbon offering peace and saying, “Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the main road; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left. Sell us food to eat and water to drink for their price in silver. Only let us pass through on foot— as the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for us—until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.” But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the Lord your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done.