ChatGPT
I am reminded of a Jewish joke when reading parashat Ekev, chapter 9, verses 4-6.
It goes like this: Rabbi Goldberg, who never knew Jake, is officiating at his funeral. “Could someone please say something nice about Jake?” the Rabbi asks. His request is met with silence. He repeats it, and once again, silence. He repeats his request a third time, fairly pleading with those assembled. Finally, a man at the back of the shul shouts out: “His brother was worse.”
In pasuk daled Moshe says to Am Yisrael:
אַל־תֹּאמַ֣ר בִּלְבָבְךָ֗ בַּהֲדֹ֣ף יְהֹוָה֩ אֱלֹהֶ֨יךָ אֹתָ֥ם ׀ מִלְּפָנֶ֘יךָ֮ לֵאמֹר֒ בְּצִדְקָתִי֙ הֱבִיאַ֣נִי יְהֹוָ֔ה לָרֶ֖שֶׁת אֶת־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַזֹּ֑את וּבְרִשְׁעַת֙ הַגּוֹיִ֣ם הָאֵ֔לֶּה יְהֹוָ֖ה מוֹרִישָׁ֥ם מִפָּנֶֽיךָ׃
And when the LORD your God has thrust them from your path, say not to yourselves, “The LORD has enabled us to possess this land because of our virtues;” it is rather because of the wickedness of those nations that the LORD is dispossessing them before you.
The Israelites are not to suppose that they are morally superior to the Canaanites and for this reason they have the merit of possessing the land.
Lest there be any misunderstanding by the Jewish people on this point, Moshe elaborates:
לֹ֣א בְצִדְקָתְךָ֗ וּבְיֹ֙שֶׁר֙ לְבָ֣בְךָ֔ אַתָּ֥ה בָ֖א לָרֶ֣שֶׁת אֶת־אַרְצָ֑ם כִּ֞י בְּרִשְׁעַ֣ת ׀ הַגּוֹיִ֣ם הָאֵ֗לֶּה יְהֹוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ מוֹרִישָׁ֣ם מִפָּנֶ֔יךָ וּלְמַ֜עַן הָקִ֣ים אֶת־הַדָּבָ֗ר אֲשֶׁ֨ר נִשְׁבַּ֤ע יְהֹוָה֙ לַאֲבֹתֶ֔יךָ לְאַבְרָהָ֥ם לְיִצְחָ֖ק וּֽלְיַעֲקֹֽב׃
It is not because of your virtues and your rectitude that you will be able to possess their country; but it is because of their wickedness that the LORD your God is dispossessing those nations before you, and in order to fulfill the oath that the LORD made to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Moshe repeats this important, if not disheartening, fact yet a third time:
וְיָדַעְתָּ֗ כִּ֠י לֹ֤א בְצִדְקָֽתְךָ֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱ֠לֹהֶ֠יךָ נֹתֵ֨ן לְךָ֜ אֶת־הָאָ֧רֶץ הַטּוֹבָ֛ה הַזֹּ֖את לְרִשְׁתָּ֑הּ כִּ֥י עַם־קְשֵׁה־עֹ֖רֶף אָֽתָּה׃
Know, then, that it is not for any virtue of yours that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess; for you are a stiff-necked people.
Rashi states that both statements were true: Am Yisrael was not righteous and the Canaanites were evil, and despite the lack of moral merit the Jews would emerge victorious in their conquest of the land, but only because God made an oath to their forefathers. The Ramban states that it was only the Dor Hamidbar, the desert generation, that was unrighteous, in view of their many rebellions against God, not Israel in general. “… here he reproves that particular generation that has been rebellious against the Eternal from the day they were in the wilderness.”
The Ramban cites Devarim 7:8 as proof of God’s love for Bnei Yisrael:
כִּי֩ מֵאַֽהֲבַ֨ת יְהֹוָ֜ה אֶתְכֶ֗ם וּמִשּׁמְר֤וֹ אֶת־הַשְּׁבֻעָה֙ אֲשֶׁ֤ר נִשְׁבַּע֙ לַאֲבֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם הוֹצִ֧יא יְהֹוָ֛ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם בְּיָ֣ד חֲזָקָ֑ה וַֽיִּפְדְּךָ֙ מִבֵּ֣ית עֲבָדִ֔ים מִיַּ֖ד פַּרְעֹ֥ה מֶֽלֶךְ־מִצְרָֽיִ
but because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn to your fathers, has the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Par῾o king of Miżrayim.
So on the one hand, God has declared His love for Bnei Yisrael, and on the other hand he reproves them for lacking any righteousness at a critical juncture in their history—as they are about to enter the Promised Land and risk their lives fighting the Canaanites.
Can you imagine, lehavdil, General Dwight Eisenhower speaking to the Allied Troops as they were about to land on the beaches of Normandy saying: “Just so you know, it’s not because of your moral superiority that I have faith that you’ll emerge victorious, but it’s because of the greater moral perfidy of the Nazis.” Not exactly an uplifting pep talk.
Would it have been so bad if Bnei Yisrael had entered the battles in Canaan thinking that they were ethically superior to the Canaanites and that their inheritance of the land was not only a fulfillment of a Divine promise to their forefathers but morally justified as well? I think the answer may lie in pasuk 6:
וְיָדַעְתָּ֗ כִּ֠י לֹ֤א בְצִדְקָֽתְךָ֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱ֠לֹהֶ֠יךָ נֹתֵ֨ן לְךָ֜ אֶת־הָאָ֧רֶץ הַטּוֹבָ֛ה הַזֹּ֖את לְרִשְׁתָּ֑הּ כִּ֥י עַם־קְשֵׁה־עֹ֖רֶף אָֽתָּה
Know, then, that it is not for any virtue of yours that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess; for you are a stiff-necked people.
What, exactly does עַם־קְשֵׁה־עֹ֙רֶף֙ mean?
Stiff-necked means stubborn, rebellious, unwilling to admit errors of behavior, as the Ramban explains on Devarim 10:16:
וּמַלְתֶּ֕ם אֵ֖ת ערְלַ֣ת לְבַבְכֶ֑ם וְערְפְּכֶ֔ם לֹ֥א תַקְשׁ֖וּ עֽוֹד׃
Cut away, therefore, the thickening about your hearts and stiffen your necks no more.
Stiff-necked people do not take orders from superiors, not even at times from God, and certainly not from commanding officers in battle. If the Israelites are to prevail in battle, it is precisely this fatal flaw that must be addressed prior to their entering Canaan and engaging in battle. Moshe is addressing this persistent character flaw of God’s chosen people by repeating in three successive sentences that they are not to think of themselves as righteous, because if they enter Canaan as an overconfident, self-righteous, arrogant army, they are doomed to defeat. Only if they obey the orders of their generals and keep the laws of the Torah, will they emerge victorious, and God’s promise to their forefathers be realized.
To read this post in Spanish, click here
Daf of the Day
