HAFTORAH

BY REBBETZIN DR. ADINA SHMIDMAN INSIGHTS

SHOFTIM 11:1-33

The connection between the story of Yiftach and this week’s parsha seems to be quite obvious. Parshat Chukat describes the conquest of the land of Sichon HaEmori.The land originally belonged to Moav and Ammon and through military efforts, Sichon conquered this land. Seeking direct passage into Eretz Yisrael, the Jewish people asked to cross through the Emorite land, had legitimate claims to the land.

Let me pass through your country. We will not turn off into fields or vineyards, and we will not drink water from wells.We will follow the king’s highway until we have crossed your territory. Not only did the Emoraim refuse to let Bnei Yisrael pass through, they came out and attacked them. Bnei Yisrael were victorious and ultimately the tribes of Reuven, Gad and half of Menashe settled in these lands.

In our Haftorah, this incident comes back to haunt Bnei Yisrael. Ammon accuses the Jewish people of robbing them of their land. Yiftach repeats the story almost word for word in our parsha, recounting how the disputed land was actually first conquered from the Ammon nation by Sichon. After requesting safe passage, the Jewish people defended themselves and were ultimately victorious and acquired Sichon’s land. There was no cause for Ammon’s threat and ultimate battle as the Jewish people

However, upon closer analysis, the two stories don’t align as neatly as it seems upon first glance. Yiftach recounts an exchange that precedes the battle with Sichon. He shares that first Bnei Yisrael asked the nations of Edom and Moav to pass through their lands. However, when looking at the narrative presented in the Torah, it doesn’t mention Moav - not in the Bamidbar account nor the Devarim account. How could this be? Could Yiftach have embellished the story when speaking to the nation of Ammon?

The Abarbanel offers a profound insight that applies not only to this incident but across the entire cannon of our holy sefarim. He suggests that לכב

, the entire Torah and the words of all the Neviim were written with the Divine spirit, b’ruach haKodesh. At times the Divine truth is not obvious. The prophets were provided with the Dvar Hashem so that we might know the ultimate, if hidden, truth. We do not have this advantage nowadays and must therefore recognize that perhaps there is a deeper truth needed to understand the events of the day. Even though this truth is unknown to us we must retain faith.

Editor, Torah Tidbits