In the United States, when one hears the words “Kings Highway”, they think of Brooklyn, NY or the Colonial American Road built by King Charles II between Charleston and Boston. But the original Kings Highway goes back to Biblical days and is located in today’s Jordan. It is believed to be one of the world’s oldest continuously used roads.

In Parshat Chukat, we learn about the Kings Highway when Moshe sends emissaries to the King of Edom saying (Bamidbar 20:17-21):

“Please let us pass through your land, we will not pass through any field or vineyard, and we will not drink well water; we will travel by the king’s road (Derech HaMelech), we will not turn aside to the right or left, until we have passed through your territory.”

Edom responded:

“You will not pass through my land, lest I go out against you with the sword!”

B’nai Yisrael said:

“We will go up by the highway (Mesilla), and if we or our cattle drink your water we will pay for it, it is just nothing, we only want to pass through on foot.”

Edom responded:

“Do not pass through!”

Edom came to confront B’nai Yisrael with a massive number of people and a strong hand. Edom refused to allow Yisrael to pass through its territory, and Yisrael turned aside from him.

According to Ibn Ezra, Derech HaMelech is the major highway upon which the king travels or the road that the King of Edom will command us to travel in.

Rashbam points out that it was a public highway, a road which may be travelled by everybody without restriction.

It makes it even more upsetting that B’nai Yisrael were not granted permission by Esav’s descendants to travel on a road that was technically open to all.

Derech HaMelech was the path from Aqaba, through Wadi Yotam, a scenic arid canyon in the Elat mountains crossing through the hills of Edom northward.

The section that B’nai Yisrael wanted to cross was probably from the Arava to Petra, later named Via Nova Traiana by the Roman Emperor Trajan, which was known as the incense and spice route.

Today, Kings Highway is called Highway 35. It runs south from Syria along the Jordan River. Since Biblical days, kings, warriors, pilgrims and merchants have travelled north to south through Jordan’s central highlands which connected ancient kingdoms and empires. Archeological evidence of the Edomites has been found in the area.

In Israel, we have our own ancient highway, Derech HaAvot (Path of the Patriarchs) which descends from Shechem to Shilo, to Beit El and to Hevron.

May we have the opportunity to visit these Biblical sites and see the Torah come alive.

Woe to you, O Moav, you are destroyed, people of Chemosh, he rendered your sons as refugees, and your daughters as captives, of Sichon, King of Emori.

Ramban explains that the people of Moav used to worship Chemosh, their deity and build alters for him and trust in him yet he didn’t save them. Chemosh was also worshipped by the people of Ammon.

In the Haftara (Shoftim 11:1-33), Yiftach explains that although Chemosh had been the idol of Moav, it was not able to save Moav from the Emori. The lands that Israel occupied in Trans-Jordan were taken from Sichon, King of Emori and Og, King of Bashan, not from Ammon or Moav.

In the Louvre in Paris, one can see the Mesha Stele, also known as the Moavite Stone. It was inscribed by King Mesha of Moav in around 840 BCE. In it, he describes the rivalry between Yisrael and Moav and gives us the back story to Melachim II Chapter 3 when Mesha refused to pay taxes to Israel as required under the terms of the peace settlement:

I am Mesha, son of Chemosh, king of Moav, the Divonite. My father ruled over Moav for thirty years, and I ruled after my father. I made this high place for Chemosh because he saved me from all predators
and because he made me triumph over all my enemies.

Omri was king of Israel, and oppressed Moab for many days, and Chemosh was angry with his aggressions. His son succeeded him, and he also said, I will oppress Moab. In my days he said, Let us go, and I will see my desire upon him and his house, and Israel said, I shall destroy it forever. Now Omri took the land of Madeba, and occupied it in his day, and in the days of his son, forty years. And Chemosh had mercy on it in my time. And I built Baal-meon and made therein the ditch, and I built Kiriathaim.

And the men of Gad dwelled in the country of Atarot from ancient times, and the king of Israel fortified Atarot. I assaulted the wall and captured it, and killed all the warriors of the city for the well-pleasing of Chemosh and Moav, and I removed from it all the spoil, and offered it before Chemosh in Kirjat; and I placed therein the men of Siran, and the men of Mochrat. And Chemosh said to me, Go take Nevo against Israel, and I went in the night and I fought against it from the break of day till noon, and I took it: and I killed in all seven thousand men…women and maidens, for I devoted them to Ashtar-Chemosh; and I took from it the vessels and offered them before Chemosh.

And the king of Israel fortified Jahaz, and occupied it, when he made war against me, and Chemosh drove him out before me, and I took from Moav two hundred men in all, and placed them in Jahaz and took it to annex it to Divon.

I built Karcha…I built Aroer, and I made the road across the Arnon. I built Bet-Bamoth for it was destroyed. I built Bezer for it was cut down by the armed men of Divon, for all Divon was now loyal; and I reigned from Bikran, which I added to my land. And I built Bet-Gamul, and Bet-Divlathaim…Bet Baal-Meon, and I placed there the poor people of the land… 

Some of the cities mentioned in the Mesha Stele, were the cities that were built by the tribe of Gad which we recognize from Bamidbar 32:34-36:

The sons of Gad built up Divon, Atarot, Aroer, Atrot Shofan, Yazeir, Yogbeha, Beit Nimra and Beit Haran as fortified cities and sheep pens.

Mesha was able to conquer all of the territory of Moav that B’nai Yisrael had originally conquered.

Unfortunately, the kingdom was split between Yehuda and Yisrael and this conflict gave Misha the opportunity to reclaim Moavite land that had been previously conquered by B’nai Yisrael.

This should be a lesson to Israelis today to remain united, especially during times of war so that our enemies won’t have the opportunity to take advantage of us when we are most vulnerable.

Sponsored by
Sharona & Josh Halickman on their 27^th Wedding Anniversary

In Parshat Chukat, Moshe sends
messengers to the king of Edom (Esav’s descendant) to see if he will let B’nai
Yisrael pass through his land. Before the messengers make the request, they start
off with a history lesson as we see in Bamidbar 20:14-16:

From
Kadesh, Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom: “Thus says your brother
Israel: You know all the hardships that have befallen us;  that
our ancestors went down to Egypt, that we dwelt in Egypt a long time, and that
the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our ancestors.  We cried to God who heard
our plea, sending a messenger who freed us from Egypt. Now we are in Kadesh,
the town on the border of your territory…”

Rashi
asks why it was necessary for the messengers to mention brotherhood here. His
answer, based on Midrash Tanchuma, was that Israel and Edom are brothers, grandsons
of Avraham to whom God said in Breisheet 15:13 “Know for sure that your
descendants will be foreigners in a land that is not theirs. They will enslave
them and oppress them for 400 years.” We are both responsible in fulfilling
that obligation and paying that debt.

Midrash
Tanchuma Chukat 12 states:

It
was us (B’nai Yisrael) who have been enslaved in Egypt while you (Edom) are
free. This whole subject is comparable to two brothers, against whose
grandfather a promissory note appeared. One of them arose and paid it. One day,
he asked a favor from his brother, and he said to him, “You know that debt was
incumbent on both of us, but it was I who paid it. Do not refuse any of my
favor that I am asking.”

Rashi explains that due to the “hardship”,
Esav separated from Yaakov as we see in Parshat Vayishlach, Breisheet 36:6:

Esav took his wives, his sons, his
daughters, all the people of his household, his livestock, his animals, and all
his possessions that he acquired in the Land of C’naan, and went to a land away
from his brother, Yaakov.

There Rashi writes that “away from
his brother, Yaakov” refers to Esav getting away from the bill of indebtedness
implied in the decree: “Your descendants will be foreigners,” that was imposed
on the descendants of Yitzchak. He therefore thought, “I will leave here, I
want no share in the gift- this Land which has been given to him- nor in the
payment of the bill of indebtedness.

Unfortunately, Moshe’s plan didn’t
work. The king of Edom was not impressed by the fact that they were family or
by the history lesson that the messengers gave him. He did not allow B’nai
Yisrael to pass through his land and even threatened them that he would go
against them with the sword if they tried.

We see from here that some people
are just impossible to talk to, have no mercy and really just don’t care.
Although the messengers tried a second time, it still did not help. Then, Edom
tried going after them with heavy force. At that point, Israel got the message
and turned away from them. With some people, you just have to cut your losses.

In Honor of Sharona and Josh Halickman’s 28^th
Wedding Anniversary

Nachal Zered is mentioned in both Parshat Chukat and in Parshat Dvarim.

Let’s take a look at the first passage (Bamidbar 21:11-12):

They (B’nai Yisrael) journeyed from Ovot and encamped in the ruins of
the passes in the wilderness facing Moav, towards the rising sun. From there
they journeyed and encamped at Nachal Zered.

The second passage is in Dvarim (2:13-14) where Moshe tells B’nai
Yisrael what God commanded them and gives us more details:

“Now, arise and cross Nachal Zered.” And we
crossed Nachal Zered. The time that it took us to go from Kadesh Barnea until
we crossed Nachal Zered was 38 years, until the end of the entire generation…

Sforno explains that since B’nai Yisrael could not cross through Seir
(Edom) or Moav to enter the Land of Israel, in order to get to the Jordan River
they were ordered to cross at Nachal Zered which is outside the territories of
Seir and Moav.

What made Nachal Zered a unique location is that it was a turning point
for B’nai Yisrael. This was their last destination in the wilderness. After
crossing Nachal Zered, they were finally headed in the direction of the Land of
C’naan. From there they went to conquer the Emori and began to inherit the land.

According to Tvuot Haaretz, the exact location of Nachal Zered is
unknown. However, Professor Yoel Elitzur (Places in the Parsha p. 492) points
out:

Based on the information that we have in the Tanach, Nachal Zered is
located in the northeast part of Moav. It should be identified with Wadi
Nukheile or Wadi Tafawiyye, which discharges into Wadi Nukheile…

Professor Elitzur is convinced that Wadi al-Hasa, which serves as the
border between Moav and Edom, is not Nachal Zered even though most scholars and
maps identify it as such. His reasoning is that according to the Torah it is in
the northern part of Moav.

While most scholars and maps do not agree with Professor Elitzur, his
reasoning makes sense. Wadi al-Hasa is too far south to be Nachal Zered.

If you happen to visit Jordan, keep this information in mind so that can
have a more accurate understanding of where B’nai Yisrael were standing when
they were told that they finally concluded their punishment of wandering in the
desert due to the sin of the spies and were now ready to enter the Land of
Israel.

After B’nai Yisrael were saved by
the splitting of the sea, Moshe and B’nai Yisrael sang “Az Yashir” to praise
God for miraculously delivering them from the hands of the Egyptians. “Az
Yashir” is recited daily as part of the Shacharit service. According to the
Zohar, one who recites “Az Yashir” with proper intent will merit to praise God
for future miracles as well.

There is another “Az Yashir” which
praises God for the well that provided B’nai Yisrael with water during their 40
years in the Wilderness but since it is not part of our daily prayer service it
is therefore less familiar. It can be found in Parshat Chukat, Bamidbar
21:17-20:

Az Yashir, Then Israel sang this
song: “Come up, O well, sing to it!

The well dug by princes, that the
nobles of the nation excavated, through the lawgiver with their staffs; from
the Wilderness a gift-

The gift traveled to the valley and
from the valley to the heights.

And from the heights to the valley
that is in the field of Moav, at the top of the peak that overlooks the wastelands.

You may have noticed that neither
Moshe nor God are mentioned in this Song of the Well.

Midrash Tanchuma explains that Moshe
is not mentioned since he was punished on account of the water.

According to Michtav Me’Eliahu, the
Song of the Sea was led by Moshe who helped B’nai Yisarel understand the extent
of the miracle. In the Song of the Well, since B’nai Yisrael sang without
Moshe, they did not reach the same spiritual levels.

Why did they sing about the well but
not about the Manna?

According to Or HaChaim, the well
and water refer to the Torah. We see this in the Talmud, Taanit 7a:

Rav Yehuda said: The day of rain is
as momentous as the day which the Torah was given; As it said (Dvarim 32:2): “My
teaching (lekach) shall drip down like rain,” and here the word “lekach” refers
to the Torah as it says (Mishlei 4:2): “For I (God) have given you a good
teaching (lekach tov); do not abandon my Torah.”

Or HaChaim continues:

Torah has frequently been compared
to a well of water. It is called “well” because it originates with God,
the ultimate well from which all springs forth. It is also called
“water” as it symbolizes water and its life-giving properties. When
the people sang “arise o well,” this was not a reference to the
physical well and the waters beneath the earth’s surface, but to a celestial
well.

Chidushei HaRim explains:

In Mishlei 3:18 we read:

It is a tree of life for those who
grasp it and its supporters are happy.

The more one grasps onto it, the
more life it gives. This can be compared to a rope that is thrown into the
water to save someone who is drowning. The stronger he grasps onto the rope,
the more likely he will be to save his life.

The more we grasp on to the Torah,
the more we will benefit from it.

It is not a coincidence that we
recite these verses from Mishlei as we put the Torah away:

Ki lekach tov natati lachem, Torati
al ta’azovu (For I have given you a good teaching; do not abandon my Torah).

Etz Chaim hi lamachazikim bah,
vetomcheha meushar (It is a tree of life for those who grasp it and its
supporters are happy).

Dracheha darchei noam, vechol
netivoteha shalom (Its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are
peace).

May we appreciate the Torah which,
like water, we cannot live without.

In Parshat Chukat (Bamidbar
20:22-29), we read about the death of Moshe’s brother, Aharon. God informs
Moshe that Aharon is about to die. Moshe is instructed to take Aharon and his
son Elazar to the top of Hor HaHar. At that point, Moshe takes off Aharon’s
vestments and dresses Elazar in them. Aharon dies there.

This must have been a traumatic
moment for Moshe as he was very close to Aharon.

Moshe and Aharon’s relationship is
described in Midrash Tanchuma, Shmot 27 to be very different from the other
sets of brothers in the Torah:

In the Torah, you find
that all sets of brothers hated each other. Kayin hated Hevel, as it is said: And Kayin rose up against Hevel his brother and he
killed him
(Breisheet 4:8). Yishmael hated Yitzchak, as is said: And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she
had borne unto Avraham, making sport (Breisheet 21:9). Making sport implies, in this instance, that he wanted to kill
him, as it is said: Let the
young men, I pray thee, arise and make sport before us (II Shmuel 2:14). Esav hated
Yaacov, as is said: And Esav
said in his heart,
“The mourning days for my father are approaching. I will then kill my
brother, Yaakov” (Breisheet 27:41). And the tribes hated Joseph, as it is
said: His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his
brothers, and they hated
him. They could not speak to him peaceably (Breisheet 37:4).

Moshe and Aharon were
different. Like it says: Behold
how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity (Tehilim 133:1). They loved and
cherished each other. At the time that Moshe took the kingship and Aharon the kehuna
(priesthood), they bore no resentment toward each other. In fact, they rejoiced
in each other’s exalted role.

The midrash continues:

A proof of this is that
when the Holy One, blessed be He, told Moshe to go to Pharaoh as His messenger,
he replied: O Lord, send, I
pray thee, by the hand of him whom You will send (Shmot 4:13). Put out of your
mind the thought that Moshe was distressed because he was not willing to go.
That is not so. He actually was concerned about Aharon’s prestige. Moshe said:
Before I was designated (to go), my brother Aharon prophesied in Egypt for
eighty years,
as it is
written: And I made known to
them in the land of Egypt (Shmot 20:5). How do we know that Aharon prophesied
for them in Egypt? We know this from the verse: And there came a man of God unto Eli and said unto
him: “Thus says the Lord: Did I reveal Myself unto the house of your father,
when they were in Egypt?” (I Shmuel 2:27). It was for this reason that Moshe
said: Throughout all these years my brother prophesied, and if I should now
intrude into his area (of service) he will be deeply distressed. That is why
Moshe did not wish to go. The Holy One, blessed be He, replied to Moshe: Aharon
will not be offended. In fact, not only will he not be displeased, but he will
rejoice. You know this is so, for He said to him: And also, behold, he comes forth to meet you; when he
sees you, he will be glad in his heart (Shmot 4:14). It does not say “he will be glad with
his mouth” or simply “he will be glad,” but rather, he will glad to see him, in his heart.

The midrash concludes:

Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai
said: The heart that rejoices in the importance of his brother will ultimately
rejoice in his own role, and as it is said: And you shall put on the breastplate of judgment, the
Urim and Tummin; and they shall be put upon Aharon’s heart (ibid. 28:13). Therefore, Behold, he comes forth to meet you implies that when he told him
that (Aharon would be glad) he agreed to go. Immediately the Holy One, blessed
be He, revealed Himself to Aharon and said to him: Go into the wilderness to meet Moshe. Hence, O that you were as my brother (Shir HaShirim 8:1) refers to the
kind of brothers Moshe and Aharon were to each other. When I would find you without, I would kiss you (ibid) indicates that he met him
at the mountain of the Holy One, blessed be He, and kissed him.

We see from here that
Moshe and Aharon had a special relationship as they actually got along! Neither
brother wanted to step on the other brother’s toes. Unfortunately, their
relationship was the exception as most of the biblical brothers were jealous of
each other and worried about losing out on their role as leader or inheritor.

May we learn humility
from Moshe and Aharon and the deep respect that they had for one another.

In Honor of Sharona and Josh Halickman’s 25th Wedding Anniversary

In Parshat Beshalach (Shmot 17), one month after B’nai Yisrael left
Egypt, they camped at Refidim and complained that they wanted water. God told
Moshe to take some of the elders of Israel as well as his staff. God promised
to be at a rock in Chorev which Moshe would strike with his staff and water
would come forth for the people to drink. Moshe followed God’s instructions and
water poured out of the rock. He called the place Masa u’Meriva because of the
contention of B’nai Yisrael and because of their test of God.

Nearly thirty-eight years later, in Parsha Chukat (Bamidbar 20), we see
a similar story: B’nai Yisrael arrived at Kadesh where Miriam died and the
community was without water.

In Bamidbar 20:3-5, the people quarrelled with Moshe saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before God. Why
have you brought God’s congregation into the wilderness for us and our beasts
to die there? Why did you make us leave Egypt to bring us to this terrible
place, a place with no grain or figs or vines or pomegranates? There is not
even water to drink!”

Moshe and Aharon fell on their faces
before God at the entrance of Ohel Moed. God told Moshe (verse 8), “You and
your brother Aharon, take the staff and assemble the community and speak to the
rock before their eyes that it shall give its waters. You shall bring forth for
them water from the rock and give drink to the assembly and to their animals.”

Rashbam points out that God did not
command Moshe to take the staff in order to strike the rock as he did in Shmot
17:6. He only commanded Moshe to display the staff to remind them that they had
again been very obstinate. The water was to be produced merely by speaking to
the rock.

Unfortunately, Moshe and Aharon err
(verses 9-11);

Moshe took the staff from before
God, as He had commanded him. Moshe and Aharon assembled the congregation in
front of the rock; and he said to them, “Listen you rebels, shall we get water
out of this rock?” Moshe raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his
rod; abundant water came forth and the assembly and their animals drank.

Rashbam comments that Moshe struck
the rock twice and then angrily asked them “Did you really think that we would
produce water from this rock?” Moshe said this because he harbored doubt;
seeing that God had instructed him to take the staff with him, he did not think
that speaking to the rock was meant to result in the rock yielding up its
water, but that striking it may be required, just as he had done in Refidim.

Although God allowed the water to
flow from the rock even though Moshe did not carefully follow His instructions,
God said to Moshe and Aharon (verse 12): “Because you did not believe in Me to
sanctify Me in the eyes of B’nai Yisrael, therefore you will not bring this
congregation to the Land that I have given them.”

Rashi explains why the Torah reveals
Moshe and Aharon’s transgression. If it had not been for this single sin (of
hitting the rock), Moshe and Aharon would have entered the Land of Israel. God
wanted to make sure that nobody would say: “Like the transgressions of the rest
of the generation of the desert (complaints, spies etc) against whom it was
decreed not to enter the Land- so was the transgression of Moshe and Aharon.”

Rashbam adds that God employs more
stringent rules when dealing with the righteous such as Moshe than He applies
to ordinary mortals. That is why his punishment is so much more severe.

Although we are not on the level of
Moshe and Aharon, we have been blessed with the opportunity to enter the Land
of Israel.

Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, the
borders of Israel are temporarily closed to tourists and Jews around the world
who would like to visit can now empathize with Moshe and understand his heartbreak
in not being able to even briefly enter the Land. In our case, we are hoping
that this momentary situation will end soon and all of the tourists will be
able to come in. With Moshe, there was greater despair knowing that due to one
mistake he would never have the opportunity to set foot in the Land of Israel.

In Parshat Chukat (Bamidbar 20:7-8),
God asked Moshe to speak to the rock so that it may bring forth water. However,
Moshe hit the rock instead of speaking to it. In verse 12, God said to Moshe
and Aharon, “Because you did not believe in Me to sanctify Me in the presence
of B’nai Yisrael; therefore, you will not bring this congregation into the land
that I have given them.”

This is a heartbreaking moment for
Moshe whose mission was to bring B’nai Yisrael into the Land of Israel.
However, Moshe does not slow down. Immediately after this incident (Mei Meriva,
Waters of Dispute) Moshe forges on. As we read in verse 14, “Moshe sent
emissaries from Kadesh to the King of Edom…”

The Midrash, Bamidbar Raba states:

When a person is slighted by their
business partner, he wishes to have nothing to do with them; whereas Moshe,
though he was punished on account of Israel, as it is stated: “They angered him
at the waters of Meriva, and it went ill with Moshe because of them”, did not
rid himself of their burden but: “sent messengers.”

According to Nehama Leibowitz, the Torah
mentions that the messengers were sent while B’nai Yisrael were still in Kadesh
to emphasize Moshe’s adherence to his mission of bringing the people to the
Land , even after his rebuff, in spite of the fact that he had been explicitly
excluded from it. And when his first deputation failed, he sent messengers a
second time.

It is clear from here that not only
did Moshe not give up on his job, he put more than 100% effort into continuing
his mission. Even after the King of Edom refused to let them through, he
continued to try to negotiate with him.

Moshe felt that his assignment to
make sure that B’nai Yisrael would arrive in the Land of Israel was not
complete and he continued to work on getting them there until the last day of
his life.

In Parhat Chukat, both Miriam, Moshe’s
sister and Aharon, Moshe’s brother pass away. The fact that Moshe continued to
live may have been a push for him to try to accomplish as much as possible
during his lifetime.

While teaching a class this week I
was asked the following question: “Why hasn’t the Mashiach (Messiah)
arrived yet?”

I explained that the process of the
geula (redemption) according to Rav Kook is a slow process which unfolds
gradually in small steps. Part of the process of redemption is the ingathering
of the exiles.

For the past 100 years, groups of
Jews have steadily been returning to the Land of Israel. It would be very
difficult if all of the Jews in the world decided to make aliya on the same day
so as long as small groups continue to arrive- as a group of 56 people
(including my friend Rachel) arrived from the USA this week, we are on the
right path.

Although we may be heading in the
right direction, we have an issue which may be holding up the coming of the
Mashiach and that is the fact that many of the Jews in Israel (who originate
from many different countries and who belong to different denominations) are
having trouble getting along with one another. Unfortunately, often their
differences are not respected and chaos ensues.

Today, I saw “religious” men
at the Kotel climbing on chairs in order to yell at the Women of the Wall on
the other side of the mechitza and throw things at them. This is a desecration
of God’s name. The only reason why women sometimes stand on chairs at the Kotel
is when they are trying to get a glimpse of the Bar Mitzvah boy over a mechitza
that is higher than it needs to be. These men have no business even looking at
the women’s section and distracting the hundreds of women (many of whom are not
even part of Women of the Wall) who are trying to pray with kavana (intent) at
the Kotel. This type of behavior will certainly not bring us closer to the
redemption.

Another issue that is holding us back
is the fact that the Chief Rabbinate of Israel is not making enough of an
effort to recognize converts from abroad. This is making it very difficult for
converts to marry in Israel and make aliya. Even when they are finally
accepted, it is after a long and stressful process which could cause many
brides and grooms to just give up and leave with a bad taste in their mouths
pushing people away who would otherwise have made aliya.

If we really want to bring about the
coming of the Mashiach, we need to remember that each of us has a part in the
process of redemption and we must do everything that we can to make Israel a
pleasant and welcoming place for the entire Jewish people.

In the Haftara of Parshat Chukat,
which was read last Shabbat in Israel and which will be read this Shabbat
outside of Israel, we read the beginning of the story of Yiftach  (Jephte) the judge and his famous vow (Shoftim
11:30) “If you will indeed deliver B’nai Yisrael into my hand, then it shall be
that whatever emerges- what will emerge from the doors of my house- toward me
when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall belong to God and I
shall offer it up as an elevation offering.”

The sad ending to the story is that
Yiftach’s daughter is the first to exit the house. Yiftach mistakenly thinks
that he can’t annul his vow and believes that he is obligated to sacrifice his
daughter.

She requests (11:37) two months to
“wail upon the mountains.”

Radak quotes Midrash Tanchuma which
explains that the word “mountains” is a euphemism for the Sanhedrin (High
Court). She asked her father for permission to ask the court whether the vow
could be annulled. He permitted her to do so. Yet we don’t see the Sanhedrin
intervening to try to cancel the vow and save her from being sacrificed.

In 11:39 we read: “At the end of two
months she returned to her father. He carried out with her the vow that he had
vowed and she never knew a man.”

According to Da’at Mikra, the plain
meaning of the text would lead us to believe that Yiftach actually sacrificed
his daughter. Even though he was a judge, a leader of the generation, Yiftach
didn’t understand that human sacrifice is an abomination since it was common
for the idol worshipping population which surrounded them to sacrifice their
children to their gods.

Where was the Sanhedrin? Where was
Pinchas who was both a Prophet and Kohen Gadol (High Priest)? Where was the
community? Why didn’t anybody protest?

According to Vayikra Raba, Yiftach
felt that Pinchas should have come to him and Pinchas felt that Yiftach should
come to him. Due to the stubbornness on both sides, they did not get together
to try to annul the vow and because of their pride, a young woman was
sacrificed.

Both men were punished for their
behavior which resulted in the death of Yiftach’s daughter. Pinchas was
deprived of his exalted positions and Yiftach contracted a disease where his
limbs fell off of his body one at a time. However, these punishments did not
bring back Yiftach’s only daughter.

Rashi states that the “chok”,
“practice in Israel” which is mentioned is sentence 39 is that they decreed that
no man should ever sacrifice their child again. All Yiftach needed to do was
discuss it with Pinchas and the vow would have been annulled.

Today, we unfortunately still have
the “Yiftach’s daughter phenomenon” where rabbis allow women to be mistreated
and abused even though there is no reason for it within the Halacha. Although
some are screaming out, it is not enough to make a change.

Where does this manifest itself? One
place is the problem of the agunah, where a woman’s husband refuses to give her
a Jewish divorce and the rabbis don’t protest. If the rabbis would take action,
many agunot would be freed. Rabbi Simcha Krauss who formed an International
Beit Din is working within Halacha to annul marriages where the husband refuses
to give a get. We need to insure that both rabbis and the general population
stand behind Rabbi Krauss and support him.

When the conversion by Rabbi
Lookstein was not recognized by the Israeli Rabbinical court in Petach Tikva,
250 people went out to protest including Natan Sharansky, MK Yehuda Glick, MK
Aliza Lavie, MK Elazar Stern and Dov Lipman. But where was everyone else? Why
is the community silent?

If we want to make sure that we
don’t have more daughters of Yiftach on our hands, women sacrificed due to the
negligence of others, then we as a community have to start making some changes.