"Thanks for Nothing"

In last week's Torah portion, Parashat Hukkat [Bamidbar/Numbers 19:1-22:1], the Children of Israel are poised on the border of the land of Edom.

There were three peoples whose lands the Israelites were forbidden to conquer even though they were closely adjacent to the Land of Israel: Edom (Eisav/Esau), Yaakov's brother, and Moav and Amon, descendents of Avraham's nephew Lot through his two daughters.

They were previously promised these lands by G-d. Moshe sends messengers asking for permission to pass through the land of Edom. The message stipulates that the Israelites will impose the most stringent conditions on themselves: To pass only on the main highway, to muzzle their animals so that they will not graze along the way, and to pay for any food and drink that they consume while within Edomite territory.

But the children of Edom either did not believe them or were so small minded in not wanting to help them that they were willing to forego the potential profit from the enterprise. The Edomites, taking after their progenitor Eisav, were a bloodthirsty people who naturally projected their own intentions on others. Besides that, they still harbored a hatred for Israel because of the patriarchal blessing which Ya'akov received in place of their ancestor Eisav. Even the prospect of making some good money off selling food, drinks and maybe some tourist souvenirs and premium prices did not interest them. Their response was to get out their swords.

So what happened? Did the Israelites beg, plead or offer more money to appease the anti-Semites (whoops, the Edomites were also Semites -- but you get the idea)? Did they ask for their passage to be negotiated by a neutral third party? No, they just backed off and left.

In the case of the Emorites, at the end of the portion, the Israelites had no limitations on conquering their land. And so, after a polite request was rebuffed, they just met their army with all the force they had and did it with no apologies whatsoever. No problems, folks. A busy people has a date with destiny in Eretz Yisrael. No time for endless diplomatic jawing, bowing and scraping. The time for the true fulfillment of the Torah, possible only in Eretz Yisrael, is already 40 years late.

Rav Tzvi Tau, head of Yeshivat Har Hamor in Jerusalem and one of the chief expositors of the Torah of Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook zt"l explains in his book L'Emunat Iteinu ("Faith For Our Time"), available in Hebrew only, that the GRA, the Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna (18th century Lithuania) had a unique explanation of the categories of Israel's historical enemies. It appeared in his commentary on the prophet Havakuk, but was deleted by the Christian censor.

Israel had three hostile neighbors adjacent to its territory: Moav to the east, Edom to the south and the Philistines to the west. Moav is the source of impurity who sought to defile Israel with the daughters of Moav in Shittim. Edom is the source of damage, seeking to inflict destruction on both the body and property of Israel. Finally the Philistines, from whom the name Palestine is derived, caused great harm to Israel in preventing them from achieving national development and statehood.

From here it is possible to understand what Moshe had in mind when he opted to bypass Edom. From an involvement with Edom nothing but damage can result. This is why Ya'akov politely declined Eisav's invitation to visit him in Seir. In later generations of exile there was no choice, and Israel sojourned in the Edomite lands of Europe. We are speaking here of the ideological rather than the biological descendents. When we have a choice, we move on.

Today we encounter a similar but different situation. The People of Israel returning to its land encounters opposition directed against the divine commandment to inherit the land. In our time various enemies endlessly repeat that they are not anti-Semitic, they are anti-Zionist. All opposition by the nations of the world to Israel today is framed in opposition to nationalism and national identity.

The Philistines had no "religious" opposition to the Israelites. We could worship and sacrifice in any way we wished. The Palestinians of today have the same intentions. They are totally lacking in seriousness and full of mocking. If they had wanted to have a "Palestinian" state, they could have had one many times over on a silver platter. But that is not what they want. They want the Jews not to have a state.

Every people has its purpose in the world. But only Israel is capable of building the tools of nationality and statecraft in holiness through the Torah. We will be able to do this only if we become filled with belief, with Torah and mitzvot (commandments) without being fearful of what the nations of the world are plotting against us.

We must stay steadfast in our resolve to build a holy nation in Eretz Yisrael as a light to the nations. In the end the nations will also discover that the existence of the holy Jewish nation in the world is for their good as well.

May that time come speedily in our days