Torah Violence
Torah ViolenceThere are stories of violence in the Torah that are difficult to read. The orgy of the Golden Calf in Parashat Ki Tisa (Exodus Chapter 32) ends with the killing of three thousand participants. The story of Israeli men’s ritual liaising with Midianite women in Parashat Balak (Numbers Chapter 25) culminates with murder. Pinchas, the priest, stabs Zimri the Israelite together with Kozbi daughter of Tzur, the Midianite princess. He spears both of them in the tent while they are sexually engaged.
In Parashat Matot (Numbers Chapter 31) we read that “Moses became angry with the commanders of the army… who came back from the military campaign. Moses said to them (disapprovingly), ‘Have you spared all the women”?! The armed forces had indeed slaughtered all the Midianite men but took mercy on the women taking them captive instead.
Was Moses Correct?
Since October 7th, here in Israel, we have been living through unrelenting loss and intense grief. We also receive daily reports of the immense death and destruction the military has been inflicting upon our enemies. Thus, we are emotionally and mentally exhausted. During this time of war it is hard to contend with the Torah’s narratives of killing and destruction. We ask ourselves, does the Torah really intend to justify violence and cruelty? Can it be the case that the Torah is validating violent zealotry and extremism? Was Moses correct to be angry at the commanders for sparing the women and children?
Israel’s Purpose
Viewing these stories of cruelty through the lens of Israel’s mission adds perspective. According to the Torah, Israel’s purpose and destiny is double pronged. One, is to model social justice. As we read: “Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof, you shall intensely pursue justice” (Deuteronomy chapter 16). Two, is to model an enduring relationship with the ultimate God. As we read: “V’Ehyeh Lakhem L’Elohim, I will be a God to you” (Jeremaia chapter 30). Therefore, when Israel’s mission is threatened – whether from within or from without – the response is measures to correspond with the severity of the threat.
The El In Israel
Additionally, the Torah’s stories of lethal events can be viewed symbolically. Killing in the Torah often indicates that an existential limit has been reached. For example, the Israelite worshippers of the Golden Calf threatened their people’s core monotheistic relationship. As a result, they were canceled or “killed-off”. The Torah canceled out these worshipers because Israel, Yisra-El, by semantic definition does not exist without a connection to El (God). In such a moment, the whole of Israel and its purpose should collapse. Or otherwise the destructive forces must disappear. These are the only two viable option.
The Midianite princess, Kozbi daughter of Tzur, represents deception. Her Hebrew name, Kozbi, derives from the root Kazav, meaning deception. She also symbolizes attachment to a lifeless god made out of stone. This fact is symbolically represented in her father’s name, Tzur, which means stone.
Kozbi represents the antithesis of the Israelite purpose, which is to model attachment to The living God. Both Kozbi and Zimri crossed a fatal boundary in their sexual union. Their act, according to tradition, was a worship of the Midianite idle Baal Peor. Their partnership led to their parting from life because it represented a conceptual impossibility. Either the destiny and purpose of Israel would have to collapse or the essence of the Baal Peor idle would have to shatter. Their union could not spiritually endure.
A Fight For Our Essence
Rabbi Ovadia Sforno, a medieval Italian Torah commentator, explains the difficult rebuke Moses offered the commanders. He points out that the Torah teaches us elsewhere that in a “typical” war “The women and children and livestock and all that is in the city, all its spoils, you may take for yourself” (Deuteronomy 20:14). Sforno suggests that nevertheless Moses is clarifying for the commanders that in this specific war they should have not spared the Midianite women who had previously seduced Israeli men to worship the Baal Peor idle, i.e. Kozbi the daughter of Tzur.
This was indeed a critical exception to the general rule. In other words, Moses was criticizing the commanders for forgetting their campaign’s core goal. It was to eliminate the threat to the Israelite’s essential mission of modeling a relationship with the Ultimate God. This essential threat was symbolically posed by the Midianite women. Thus we can see that Moses was not primarily concerned with the physical threat symbolically posed by the men, but with the spiritual one.
Defeating Hamas’ Ideology
Therefore the war against the ideology of Hamas and of Muslim extremism in general is far more significant than our efforts to destroy Hamas’ military infrastructure. Tactically, we Israelis, are delivering decisive blows to the enemy in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and Yemen. But ideologically, Muslim extremism as well as the Palestinian victim-narrative seem to be conquering public opinion the world over.
Thus, like Moses, we must remember that our fight is not for our survival alone but also in service of our destiny. Our mission to model social justice along with attachment to the Ultimate God defines us as well as justifies our existence. The true challenge is not war. The true challenge is doing “violence” to, rather than pandering to, the sophisticated forces opposing our essential purpose. The mission to demonstrate goodness and Godness must fiercely live on.
