The Secret of the Vengeance Against Midian: Why Did Moshe Rabbeinu Prefer to Die?
Class No. 109 | Monday Morning, Parshas Nitzavim-Vayeilech, 20 Elul 5757 - At the Yeshiva in the Old City
Moshe Rabbeinu faced a fateful choice: to avenge the Children of Israel against Midian and pass away from the world, or to forgo the vengeance and live a long life. The article reveals the deep secret behind Moshe's choice, explaining how only through souls that sacrificed themselves for the sanctification of Hashem's Name (Kiddush Hashem), can the tzaddik bestow his knowledge and Torah upon the Jewish people.
The Fateful Choice of Moshe Rabbeinu
Before the histalkus (passing away) of Moshe Rabbeinu, Hashem presented him with a fateful choice. We read about this in the Torah portions of Matos-Masei, during the Three Weeks (Bein HaMetzarim) before Tisha B'Av:
"Avenge the vengeance of the Children of Israel against the Midianites; afterward you shall be gathered to your people."
Hashem was essentially telling Moshe Rabbeinu: You have a choice. You can live another hundred, two hundred, or perhaps even a thousand years. The choice is in your hands—either you avenge the vengeance of the Children of Israel against Midian and immediately be gathered to your people, or you forgo the vengeance and live a long life.
The answer seems simple and obvious: Must Moshe Rabbeinu die, Heaven forbid, just to take revenge on Midian? After all, just one day after Moshe takes revenge on the Midianites, he will die. What is the benefit of this vengeance if the price is the life of Moshe Rabbeinu? It would be worth sacrificing a million Jews for the sake of Moshe's life, all the more so that there is absolutely no logic in sacrificing his life just to kill a few non-Jews.
Moshe went to the Children of Israel and told them that they must go to war, but he slightly altered the command. While Hashem had told him, "Avenge the vengeance of the Children of Israel," Moshe told the nation: "To inflict the vengeance of Hashem against Midian." He explained to them: This is Hashem's vengeance, not your vengeance. If you want me to exact this vengeance, I will die immediately afterward. If you forgo it—I can live.
The Jewish people, six hundred thousand strong, decided unanimously: It is better that Moshe lives. What will it give us to kill a few non-Jews? After all, they are as numerous as the sand of the sea. What they already did to us—they did, and whoever they already killed—they killed. The main thing is that Moshe Rabbeinu lives. Therefore, the verse states:
"So there were delivered from the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for the legion."
They were delivered against their will. They did not want to go to war, because it was clear to them that it was better for Moshe to live.
Great is Vengeance and Great is Knowledge
The Gemara in Tractate Berachos discusses the verses:
"O G-d of vengeance, Hashem, O G-d of vengeance, appear!"
"For Hashem is a G-d of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed."
The Gemara says: Just as knowledge was placed between two Names of Hashem ("G-d of knowledge, Hashem"), so too vengeance was placed between two Names ("G-d of vengeance, Hashem"). The Gemara itself raises a difficulty: What is the connection between vengeance and knowledge? How can one compare the attainment of the knowledge of Hashem to the act of taking revenge on the nations? What does it matter if we kill another million non-Jews out of the billions in the world?
Moshe Rabbeinu had to go up and do Hisbodedus (secluded prayer), to cry out to Hashem to reveal the secret to him. What riddle was Hashem giving him here? What is truly better—vengeance or the life of Moshe? To understand this, Moshe had to ascend to the roots of the souls, to places he had never ascended to before.
The Secret of the Blood Avenger and the Gates of Gan Eden
The secret was revealed to Moshe in the Torah portion concerning the blood avenger (Goel HaDam), which we read close to Tisha B'Av. Moshe attained an awesome realization: Every soul that is killed by a non-Jew for the sanctification of Hashem's Name ascends straight to Gan Eden, but it refuses to enter inside.
The soul sits at the gates of Gan Eden and goes on "strike." It refuses to enter its resting place and ascend to its root until its blood is avenged. The Midrash illustrates this with a story about a mother whose two sons fought, and one killed the other. She took the blood of the murdered son and placed it in a cup, and the blood fermented and bubbled for years, until the murdering brother died. Only then did the blood become still.
So too was the blood of Zechariah the Prophet, which bubbled for two hundred years. Zechariah did not agree to ascend to the root of his soul until the terrible destruction arrived and his blood was avenged. The blood of the murdered victim bubbles, and he is unwilling to ascend to the root of his soul in Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden) until the murderer receives his punishment.
The Channels of Influence for the Tzaddik's Da'as (Knowledge)
Here, the secret of vengeance connects to the secret of da'as (knowledge). Rebbe Nachman of Breslov reveals (Likutey Moharan, Torah 20) an awesome secret: The tzaddik can only channel his Torah through souls that endure the greatest bitterness.
Hashem channels the Torah not through the wealthy nor through the wise, but through the souls who fulfill 'Bread with salt you shall eat, water in small measure you shall drink, upon the ground you shall sleep, and a life of hardship you shall live.' Only through these destitute souls, and especially those who were killed Al Kiddush Hashem (sanctifying God's Name), does the Torah pass. They become the channels for transmitting the da'as of the tzaddik.
Moshe Rabbeinu understood at that moment: He could live for hundreds more years, but without these souls, he would be unable to channel his Torah to the Jewish people. The nation simply would not understand him. There would again be disputes and "Waters of Strife" (Mei Merivah). The true tzaddik, who is the aspect of "Rosh Bayis" (the head of the house - an anagram of Bereishis), can only channel his spiritual attainments through these souls that ascend and become incorporated within him.
However, as long as those souls that were killed in Midian sit at the entrance of Gan Eden and refuse to enter because their blood has not yet been avenged—Moshe cannot use them as channels. They have not yet ascended to their root.
The Choice of Self-Sacrifice for the Sake of the Generations
This is the awesome realization that Moshe attained and the Children of Israel did not understand. All those Jews who were killed due to the sins of Midian were lofty souls who stood at Mount Sinai and saw Hashem face to face. Their death is considered Al Kiddush Hashem (sanctifying God's Name).
If Moshe does not avenge their vengeance, and those wicked people from Midian die a natural death, these souls will never agree to enter Gan Eden. They would prefer to descend again in a reincarnation to this world to avenge their vengeance themselves. In such a situation, Moshe would not be able to channel Torah through them.
Therefore, Moshe Rabbeinu decides: It is better that I die immediately and be without a body, but I will avenge the blood of these holy ones. In this way, they will ascend to their root, become incorporated in the 'Rosh Bayis', and through them I will be able to continue channeling all the new Torah teachings and spiritual attainments to the Jewish people until the end of all generations.
This is the secret that "Great is knowledge (da'as) which was placed between two Names [of God], and great is vengeance which was placed between two Names." Vengeance against the nations is not a goal in and of itself, but rather it is the vessel that allows the holy souls to ascend to their root, thereby opening the channels of the tzaddik's da'as and Torah to the world. In the merit of those souls who had self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh) to sanctify God's Name, we live and exist, and in their merit the Holy Temple will be rebuilt and we will merit the complete Geulah (Redemption) in the blink of an eye.
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