Moshe Needed To Wage War On Midyan Before His Death “Nikom Nikmas Bnei Yisrael MeiEis
HaMidayanim Achar Tei’asef El Amecha,” (Matos 31:2). Hashem tells Moshe that he must take revenge against Midyan
before he dies. What is this imperative before Moshe dies? Could Pinchos or Yehoshua not have led the war?
The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh explains that after a person dies, if he reaches his perfection, he goes to a special place
called “Amav”, his nation. Without perfection, he will not be admitted until he rectifies his wrongs.
The story of Zimri was a blemish on Moshe which needed rectification. When Zimri presented Kosbi and his ultimatum
before Moshe, Moshe was speechless and did not react. It was only Pinchos who saved the day. Moshe needed to rectify
this by waging war on Midyan, and only then would he pass on and be admitted to the place waiting for him in Shamayim.
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Hagalas Keilim A Pillar of The Torah? After Bnei Yisrael returned from the war with Midyan with the
spoils, Moshe taught them the Halachos of Hagalas Keilim, kashering the utensils through boiling water and fire. The
parsha begins with the words, “Zos Chukas HaTorah,” (Matos 31:21). What is so special about the Halachos of Hagala
that the Torah uses the strong words, “Chukas HaTorah?”
Rav Moshe Feinstein answers that from the ability to make treif utensils kosher by boiling them we learn that a person
who sullies his neshama with aveiros, can also kasher it and cleanse it as if he never sinned. This is a pillar of the Torah,
as it teaches people never to give up, no matter how far they have gone away from the Torah.
Moreover, we see that keilim used in fire need to be kashered with fire, libun. And keilim used in boiling water become
kasher with boiling water. This teaches us that we must do tshuva the same way we did the aveira. If a person sinned with
the burning desire of taava, so too must be the tshuva. And if the taava was less passionate, then the tshuva can be on
the same scale.
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In Sichon & Og We Ate Pig, But In Midyan We Kashered The Utensils? “Kol Asher Yavo
BaEsh Taviru BaEsh; Everything that comes into fire, you shall pass through the fire and it shall be clean,” The pasuk
tells us that before using the vessels, which they took from Midyan, they must be Kashered. Prior to the war with Midyan,
the Jews had a major war with Sichon and Og. Why were the instructions of Kashering utensils not given immediately
after the war with Sichon and Og?
Ramban answers, “The Gemorah (Chulin 17a) says in regard to the pasuk in Devarim (6:10-11) – ‘It shall be when
Hashem will bring you to the land of your forefathers… great and good cities that you did not build, houses filled with every
good thing that you did not fill’, that this includes permission to use ‘Katlei DeChaziri=dried pieces of pork’ – taken among
the spoils or found in abandoned houses.
Consequently, in the battle with Sichon and Og, since the land of Emori is part of the inheritance of the Bnai Yisrael,
everything they took from them, including non-kosher utensils or foods, were permissible to use as is. However, the war
with Midyan was strictly a war of revenge for the act they did against Klal Yisrael. Their land was taken as a vengeance,
and is not part of the land, which was an inheritance to the Bnai Yisrael. Therefore, in order to use the utensils of Midyan,
it was necessary to put them through the process prescribed by Elazar the Kohen.”
According to the Ramban, everything, including non-kosher food, captured while conquering the land, which is of Jewish
inheritance, is permissible. However, according to the Rambam (Melachim 8:1), “It is permissible for soldiers to eat nonkosher
food taken among the spoils, only when they are hungry and do not have other food.”
Daas Zekainim MiBaalai HaTosfos answers, “Unlike the war with Sichon, of which the Torah writes, ‘He went out against
the Bnai Yisrael in the wilderness (21:23), the Jews went to Midyan to battle with the Bnei Midyan.’ Since the war with
Sichon took place in the Midbar, and it is uncommon to have cooking utensils on the battlefield, none were captured, and
it was not necessary to give instructions on how to make them permissible. However, the war with Midyan took place in
the cities, and the Bnai Yisrael took various kinds of spoils, including cooking utensils. That is why it was necessary for
Elazar to provide instructions for making the non kosher utensils fit for use by the Bnai Yisrael.”
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Zig Zagging Through The Desert “And Moshe wrote their going forth to their journeys… and these are their
journeys to their going forth.” Why does the pasuk start by saying, “Motza’ayhem LiMasayhem,” and then at the end of the
pasuk in the reverse, “Masayhem L’Motza’ayhem”
Kli Yakar explains, “Klal Yisrael traveled 42 journeys during their 40 yrs in the Midbar. Most of them were traveling forward
in the direction from Mitzrayim towards Eretz Yisrael. However, there were times that Klal Yisrael sinned and set out to
head back in the opposite direction, towards Mitzrayim. The term, “Motza’ayhem,” in the pasuk is referring to leaving their
place of origin – Mitzrayim. And the term, “LiMasayhem,” is referring to the place of their destination – Eretz Yisrael.
The pasuk starts by saying that these were their journeys – “Motza’ayhem LiMasayhem,” – which most of them were going
in the direction from their place of origin – Mitzrayim, “Motza’ayhem,” to, “LiMasayhem,” their destinantion – Eretz Yisrael.
This was all, “Al Pi Hashem,” (as the pasuk says). However, when they sinned, they went backwards – “Masayhem
L’Motza’ayhem,” – going in the direction from Eretz Yisrael back to Mitzrayim. – This was not, “Al Pi Hashem,” therefore,
the pasuk does not write it.
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Accidents Happen To The Negligent The pasuk tells us that 3 Arei Miklat were set up in Eretz Canan and
3 on the other side of the Yarden in the land of Bnei Gad and Bnei Reuven. There were 9 Shvatim in Eretz Canan and
only 2 1/2 on the other side of the Yarden, so why should the number of Arei Miklat be the same? The Gemara answers
that in Gilead (which was on the East side of the Yarden) there were many killers. They therefore needed as many cities
of refuge as the 9 Shvatim. This is difficult to understand. The cities of refuge were specifically for unintentional killers,
why would a city that has many intentional murders need more cities of refuge?
The Maharal in Gur Aryeh answers that the fact that there were many intentional murderers in Gilead, indicates that
human life was not sufficiently valued there. It stands to reason, that even those who were not murderers, tended to be
negligent. There were thus many unintentional killings there, as well.
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The Torah Ends With A Lesson For The Ages The Torah is considered to be complete after Sefer
Bamidbar. Sefer Devarim is Mishneh Torah a review of the first four Chumashim. The end of Parshas Masei talks about
the ban placed on women who inherit land to marry men out of their Shevet causing the land to transfer to another
shevet. This ban was later repealed. Why does the Torah choose to end with a mitzva that was only applicable for a
short time rather than one of the fundamental of the torah or mitzvos?
The Iturei Torah brings from The Mei HaShiloach, that there are two kinds of Mitzvos. One kind are mitzvos that are
fundamental to Yiddishkeit and apply always throughout history across all societies and eras. These are the Taryag
Mitzvos. However there are also mitzvos that apply for special reasons at special times. Hashem wants people to
understand Him and figure what is His Ratzon at any given time and under current circumstances. These are also
mitzvos albeit not counted among the 613 for obvious reasons.
The Torah teaches us the taryag mitzvos but in closing it tells us that this is not all one needs to do. It specifically ends
with a mitzva created for the special circumstance of Chalukas Eretz Yisroel. This mitzva did not earn an eternal place in
Yihadus, and was later abolished when it was no longer relevant. However it provided a sterling example of our need to
examine and fulfill Ratzon Hashem in everything we do under the circumstances at hand. Chazak Chazak ViNischazek!

Created By Rov Avrohom Sherman
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