Login  

Register  

Parshas Chukas - History & Her Director

By Rabbi Paysach Diskind

Posted on 06/21/18

Parshas HaShavua Divrei Torah sponsored by
Dr. Shapsy Tajerstein, DPM - Podiatry Care.
(410) 788-6633

There is a basic principle when studying any discipline as follows. It is critical to know what are the factors that will affect the result. Without knowing these factors there is no equation to work with. If one is studying meteorology and wishes to learn how to predict the weather they must recognize which factors contribute to the outcome. They will need to know wind direction and wind velocity. They will need to know the barometric pressure and if it is going up or down. They will certainly need to know the temperature and many other factors. However, they will not need to know the cost of gas or if the Republicans control the House.


This principle creates an an inherent problem when studying history. Nobody really knows which factors are critical for causing the outcome. We make educated guesses that the economy plays a critical role and make associations between economic conditions and political changes. We do not know what the causes of those economic conditions are. We might associate the changes with sociological changes, with technological changes, with political changes and many other variables. However, our assumptions may not be accurate. Is there any way to know with certainty which changes cause change and which changes are the result of other changes. Can we ever know the ultimate cause for change and the direction of that change?


If history has no director and it is all happenstance, there is no way to be certain. However, if there is a Director to history and He is using history to accomplish His mission and He has told Man what that mission is, then we can begin to study history intelligently. Let us do a case study found in this week’s Parsha, Chukas.


Sichon, the extremely powerful king of Emori wanted to conquer Moav. He was unable to breach the city walls of Cheshbon, the capital of Moav. As a last resort, Sichon hired Bilaam, the famed sorcerer, who was known to have the power of cursing. His curses were potent. Bilaam did the job and the city of Cheshbon fell into Sichon’s hands. 


Given this information we could conclude that sorcery was the key component in the victory of Sichon over Moav. However, our Sages teach that this scheme occurred to provide the people of Israel with the opportunity to conquer Moav as follows. HaShem gave the land of Moav to the descendants of Lot, the nephew of Avraham. HaShem did not allow descendants of Avraham to take that land away from their cousins, the Moavites. However, He did want that we should take ownership of it. He therefore arranged that Sichon capture Cheshbon and it’s surrounding area. Once the nation of Moav was ousted He arranged that Sichon attack His people. Sichon’s attack against us resulted in our conquering all the lands of Sichon which included Moav’s land as well. (Reminiscent of the Six Day War)


We might well imagine the celebrations that took place when Sichon captured Cheshbon. However, little did Sichon know that he was but a pawn being used by the Director to facilitate his own destruction by the Jewish people. His conquest was not for him but for people of Israel. Only once he took possession of Moav our people were able to conquer it from him.


In next week’s Parsha we find these kings hiring Bilaam to curse the Jewish people in the hope that his curse will destroy the Jewish people just as it helped Sichon in his campaign against Moav. They were students of history without knowing which factors really cause change. They attributed the Sichon’s success to Bilaam when in fact it was the Director’s Will which governed the change. Could they expect success from Bilaam if Sichon’s success was caused by HaShem’s Will to give that land to us?!


While there are so many parts of history that we cannot understand, we nevertheless know the ultimate cause and the destination to which it all leads. May HaShem grant us the merit to arrive at that destination speedily in our days.




Paysach