23 Jul DIVINE ETHICS: TORAH’S CODE OF CONDUCT IN WARFARE

The narrative
involving Bilaam,
Zimri ben Saluh,
and the subsequent
command to
Moshe to take
vengeance on Midian in Parashat Pinchas
raises several complex questions about
the biblical perspective on the actions of
various nations towards Israel.
When examining the actions of Moav in
Parashat Balak, it is indeed understandable
from a human perspective why Moav
would be fearful and take defensive
measures against Israel. The Moabites
had seen Israel’s military successes and,
fearing for their own survival, sought to
protect themselves. Therefore, Hashem’s
anger towards the nations who fought
against Israel, specifically Moav and
Ammon, which the command states:
“You shall never concern yourself with
their welfare or benefit them as long as
you live,” needs an explanation.

Moreover, another question arises: it goes
to the extent that Hashem commands us
not to ever marry any men from Moav
and Ammon: “No Ammonite or Moabite
shall be admitted into the congregation of
Hashem; no descendants of such, even in
the tenth generation, shall ever be
admitted into the congregation of
Hashem.” One might wonder why, then,
Hashem permits marrying Edom, who
declared war against Israel, and also
allows marrying from Egypt, who
enslaved and tortured Israel for many
generations.
Indeed Chazal (Bamidbar Raba 21, 4)
already addressed this question and said:
“Assail the Midianites and smite them”
(Bamidbar 25:17).
“Assail the Midianites” – Why? “For they
assailed you” – from here the Sages said:
One who comes to kill you, kill him first.
Rabbi Shimon says; from where is it
derived that one who causes a person to
sin is worse than one who kills him? It is

because one who
kills, kills in this
world, but he has a
share in the World
to Come, but one
who causes him to
sin kills him in this
world and in the
World to Come.
Two nations
greeted Israel with
the sword, and two
with a
transgression. The
Egyptians and the
Edomites greeted
them with the sword – (the Egyptians
said: “I will pursue, I will overtake…I
will draw my sword”).
Regarding those who greeted them with
the sword, it is written: “You shall not
despise an Edomite…you shall not
despise an Egyptian” (Devarim 23:8).
However, regarding those who greeted
them with transgression to cause Israel to
sin: “An Amonite or a Moavite shall not
enter…even the tenth generation…
forever” (Devarim 23:4).
Today, wars must also adhere to moral
standards known as the code of conduct,
which was agreed upon at the Geneva
Convention. Among them are the
prohibitions of murder, mutilation,
torture, the taking of hostages, unfair
trials, and cruel, humiliating, and
degrading treatment. It seems that the
Torah was already sensitive to such rules
way before the Geneva Convention, and
this is the reason for the difference in the
way Hashem directs us to treat nations
based on their conduct in wars,
specifically in relation to treating our
people with immorality and inappropriate
violations. When Hashem tells us to take
vengeance on Midian, saying, “Assail the
Midianites and defeat them,” He explains
it is because “they assailed you by the
trickery they practiced against you.”
Rashi explains this to mean that they sent
their girls to cause Israel to sin with them
and also led them to worship the idol of
Peor. In Hashem’s eyes, this is a form of
war that goes against the code of conduct.
This is also what happened with Moav
and Ammon. The pasuk says that they did
not offer you food and water on your

journey after you left Egypt (Devarim 23,
5), but there is another pasuk (Devarim 2,
29) that clearly states that Moav did offer
food and water. The mefarshim (See Or
Hachayim) explain that Moav did not
initially offer any food or drink, but when
they wanted to cause the Jewish men to
sin, they invited them to their tents to buy
food, and that is when they lured them.
Also, Amalek was guilty of a similar
crime, as the pasuk warns us: “Remember
what Amalek did to you on your journey,
after you left Egypt.” Rashi explains that
Amalek immorally violated the men of
Israel, specifically the weak and
defenseless. Again, we see that when
nations use immorality as a conduct of
war, Hashem does not forgive them and
commands us to take full revenge on
them and never accept them into our
nation.
Now we clearly understand the different
way the Torah tells us to treat the nations.
Those who merely fought a war with us,
even if it was brutal and deadly, are not to
be rejected, including the Egyptians who
enslaved us for so many years and killed
our firstborns. But those who violate the
rules of conduct, specifically regarding
morality, are not forgiven.
Needless to say, today’s enemies of the
Jewish people are in violation of all the
above and more. They are guilty to the
extent that they are even proud of their
abominations. Such people are the worst
enemies of Hashem, who obviously hates
them even more than He hates Amalek, as
Amalek at least did not boast about their
misconduct and violations against
humanity the way the Arabs of Gaza do
today.