A Thought on Parshios Matos Massei

"...la'ses nikmas HaShem..." "...to take HaShem's vengeance..." (31:3) Moshe orders the Jewish warriors to respond to the treachery of Midian by counterattack. He refers to this as "avenging the assault against HaShem." This is depicted as if it is the vengeance sought by HaShem himself. The Gan observes that there is a midrashic thought on this. One verse earlier, HaShem instructs Moshe to "avenge the vengeance of Benei Yisrael." When HaShem speaks, He refers to the counterattack as "the revenge of the Jews", whereas when Moshe speaks, he terms it "the revenge of G-d." What is the meaning of this contrast in terms? The midrash cited by the Gan darshans: "Moshe said, "Master of the Universe! This vengeance is not about us. It is about You! These nations do not hate us, other than for the fact that we represent You. We live by Your Torah and follow Your commandments. It is our way of life that the nations reject, so their hatred of us is in reality a disdain for Your Torah and mitzvos." Moshe reframed the idea that we needed to avenge our own honor. He insisted that the vengeance was about HaShem and His sanctified system. When a Jew walks in the ways of Torah and abides by mitzvos, he is an ambassador of the Divine. When his pure and sincere efforts are respected, this brings Kiddush Shem Shomayim to Earth. When those efforts, that lifestyle, is ridiculed and despised, this is an affront to that same Shem Shomayim. In turn, when we ourselves ridicule or compromise our professed roles in this life by veering from the Divine path, it is not just ourselves whose image is sullied. It is the higher ideals which we are meant to model that are tarnished. Good Shabbos as we begin the Nine Days of Av. May we live in the way which will bring us yeshuos. D Fox The Gan was written by 13th century Rabbeinu Aharon ben Yosi haCohen, Baal Tosfos More pirushim presented by Rabbi Dr. Dovid Fox at http://thoughtonparsha.blogspot.com/