In Parshat Chukat, Bamidbar, 21:1-3 we read: “And the
Cnaanite King of
route of Atarim, he fought against Yisrael and took some of them as prisoners.
Yisrael made a vow to God and said: ‘If you will deliver this people into my
hand, I shall consecrate their cities.’ God heard Yisrael’s voice and he
delivered the Cnaanim into their hand and he (Yisrael) destroyed them and
consecrated their cities; the region was called Chorma.”
I have two questions about these verses:
Why did the Cnaanim specifically go to attack B’ani Yisrael
even before they reached the
Why weren’t the Cnaanim afraid to attack B’nai Yisrael,
knowing that God rescued them from
and split the
According to Ibn Ezra, the word Atarim is a variation on the
word tarim (the spies) with an extra alef, meaning that Atarim was not a
literal place but rather the route of the spies.
Ramban states that the Cnaanim followed the spies back to
the camp of
According to Nehama Leibowitz, B’nai Yisrael showed their
lack of confidence and fear of the future by sending the spies. The Cnaanim
fortified themselves with the knowledge of
inferiority. The lowering of
morale was followed automatically by the rising morale of their enemies.
The spies said (Bamidbar 13:33) “And we were in our own
sight as grasshoppers and so we were in their sight.”
Nehama Leibowitz continues, B’nai Yisrael showed a lack of
trust in God by sending the spies. The result was that the Cnaanim lost their
dread of the Chosen People and attacked them at the first opportunity.
Today, we must keep up our morale and continue to give the
world the impression that the State of Israel is strong. If we don’t show that
we are tough and self reliant, then others will not be afraid to attack us.
With our powerful army and God on our side we must remain confident that we
will triumph over our enemies.
Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov from Yerushalayim!
May we hear good news from the State of Israel!
