“When the Canaanite king of Arad… learned that Israel was coming… he engaged Israel in battle and took some of them captive.” (Numbers 21:1)

This week’s Torah reading, Hukkat, discusses the Israelites’ journey through enemy territory as they prepared to enter the land of Israel. They wage war against those nations who do not permit them to pass through their land. The verse above, in any other year just part of the narrative, jumps out at us so strongly in this moment.

How do our ancient ancestors resolve this situation of brethren taken into captivity? “Then Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, ‘If You deliver the people into our hand, we will proscribe their towns [meaning not take any spoils and leave it all for God]. The Lord heeded Israel’s plea and delivered up the Canaanites.” (Numbers 21:2-3).

By making a promise to leave all the spoils of war to God and not take any for themselves, God ensures that the Israelites are successful in war and the captives are rescued. If only it were so simple for us right now.

One lesson from this short piece of Torah is that the Israelites elevate the return of captives above the regular practice of how war is conducted; they give up in order to get. They also make a communal commitment. If one soldier breaks the vow and takes something home with him, then the vow is nullified and the captives may not be rescued.

Both learnings, giving up in order to get and being communally committed to a plan, are hard to come by right now. While we as individuals have our thoughts and perspectives as to what should be done and at what cost to return our captives, we are not the decision-makers. Yet, as it always does, our Torah provides us with a meaningful modern connection to the world in which we are currently living, and for this reason, we read it over again, year after year.

Shabbat Shalom,
Daniel Silverman