02 Sep KI SEITZEI: JUST BECAUSE THEY “WEREN’T NICE”

Ammon and Moav:
What Was So Bad
About Not Giving Us
Bread and Water?
The verse in Parshas
Ki Seitzei reads,
“Neither an Ammonite nor a Moavite
shall enter the Congregation of the L-rd;
even to the tenth generation they shall
not come into the Congregation of the
L-rd, forever.” [Devorim 23:4] The law
is that we are not allowed to accept
(male) converts from the nation of
Ammon or Moav. Even though they are
our cousins (the descendants of Lot, the
nephew of Avram), nevertheless they
are never accepted as converts to

Judaism. [Since the Assyrian kings co-
mingled the nations at the end of the

First Temple period, there are no longer
identifiable members of these nations
today.]
The Torah explains the reason for this
severe restriction upon these nations:
“This is because they did not greet you

with bread and water when you were on
the way out of Egypt, and also because
they hired Bilaam son of Beor from
Pessor in Aram Naharaim to curse you.”
[23:5].
It sounds as if they are forever restricted
from entering the Jewish nation, simply
because “they weren’t nice”. What was
their great shortcoming? We were
cousins passing through – a mere
2,000,000 people – and we wanted bread
and water; but they refused to come out
and sell us the supplies we requested.
For this injustice they are eternally
excluded from our people.
Relative to other things that happened
to the Jewish people over the millennia
at the hands of the Gentile world, this
does not appear to be such a terrible
crime. It does not even rank! There have
been inquisitions, expulsions, torture,
pogroms – we know our history all too
well. Why is the Torah being so strict
with the Ammonites and Moavites,
simply because they were not nice

enough to bring bread and water to us?
Perhaps we should be grateful that they
did not kill us! Relatively speaking,
failing to offer us bread and water does
not seem so bad.
Furthermore, what is the relationship
of this first complaint to the fact that
“they hired against us Bilaam son of
Beor…”? Is this a two-count indictment
against Ammon and Moav? Maybe the
first count was not bad enough to deserve
the punishment that they were being
given? Many commentaries discuss
these points.
I saw a beautiful interpretation from
Rav Nisan Alpert, z”l. Ammon and
Moav are not being held accountable for
failing to be “nice guys”. We do not
demand or expect that. We reject
Ammon and Moav because their hatred
for the Jewish people was so profound
and pervasive, that it did not allow them
to act even in their own best interest.
The Jewish nation had just left Egypt.
“Nations heard and they shuddered;
Terror gripped those who dwell in
Phillistia…” [Shemos 15:14]. The
whole world was trembling from this
hoard of people on the march.
Everyone feared: “Wait until they get
here. What is going to happen to us?!”
What would be the politically
expedient action for Ammon and
Moav to take? We did not ask them
for righteousness, but they should
have at least acted in their own best
national interest. Clearly, it would
have been in their best interest to be
nice – not for ‘nice-ness’ sake; but to
be diplomatic and politically astute.
They could have even made some
money on the deal. They could have
come out, offered peace, sold bread
and water, and done a favor for
themselves in the process.
Antagonizing Israel was clearly
contrary to their own interests.
Why did Ammon and Moav reject
the “smart” approach? Because their
hatred for the Jewish people was so
strong that they cut off their collective
noses to spite their collective faces!
That is why they are so detestable to
us and that is why they are excluded
from entry into our people.
Perhaps one could make the

argument that the reason they were not
“nice” to us was because they were
principled people. They did not want to
be “two- faced”. Perhaps they were too
honest and straight to put their arms
around us and sell us bread and water on
the one hand, and then turn around and
whisper under their breath “we hate
those Jews!”
To clarify that they were far from being
principled, the Torah concludes with the
second point “and they hired against you
Bilaam son of Beor…” There is a history
to this event. Ammon and Moav were
defeated at the hands of Sichon. Who
did Sichon employ to destroy Ammon
and Moav? None other than old Bilaam
himself! Bilaam had a resume to his
credit. When Sichon needed Bilaam,
Sichon hired him to do to Ammon and
Moav what Ammon and Moav were
now trying to do to Israel. So even

though Bilaam should be the arch-
enemy of these two nations, when he

was needed to curse the Jews, they were
prepared to make friends with the devil
to accomplish that goal. They were now
prepared to let bygones by bygones and
put Bilaam on a retainer for the purpose
of cursing the Jews. They flatter him,
they honor him, and they wine and dine
him. Clearly we are not dealing with
principled nations!
Even though Ammon and Moav had no
principles, even though they were
prepared to make “deals with the devil,”
nonetheless, when it came to the Jews,
their hatred was so profound that any
civility was impossible. They even
turned away from financial dealings that
would have been to their own benefit.
That is why we can never accept these
nations. They have a national character
flaw that could never be accepted into
the Jewish nation.