In “On Torah Values” (March 6, 2025) Rabbi Jeremy Wieder took issue with my citation of verses from the Torah in support of expelling the murderous Gazan population and against giving away the land that God promised us to other nations in my article, “When Did Torah Values Become Extreme?” (Feb. 27, 2025). Rabbi Wieder did not merely disagree; he said that by interpreting these verses in this way, I am a “megaleh panim ba’Torah she’lo k’halacha,” one “who interprets the Torah contrary to its true intent.” Rabbi Elazar of Modi’in held that one who is guilty of this sin “has no share in the World to Come” (Pirkei Avot 3:13). Given the seriousness of Rabbi Wieder’s accusation — against me, personally, and by extension, the great rabbis whose views I am citing— I am compelled to respond to his accusations.
In my article, I cited the following verse as proof that it is God’s will that we expel hostile populations that endanger the people of Israel: “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the Land from before you, then those whom you leave over will be as spikes in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they will harass you in the land in which you settle” (Bamidbar 33:55). Rabbi Wieder wrote that “Using verses in this way is problematic. These sources refer to the expulsion of the Seven Nations from the Land of Israel in Biblical times and, as such, bear no halachic relevance to modern day Israel.”1
Are the stories of Tanach merely “history?” Does the Torah preserve accounts of the many wars of Am Yisrael from Moshe’s slaughter of Sichon and Og, to Yehoshua’s destruction of Canaanite tribes, to David’s destruction of Amalek and the Plishtim — merely for our reading pleasure? Rabbi Wieder’s approach effectively strips vast sections of the Torah of any contemporary meaning. In contrast, many of Israel’s greatest Torah thinkers believe that everything God included in Tanach is eternally relevant and meant to guide us in our own generation.
Rabbi Wieder condemns as a perversion of Torah my citation of Bamidbar 33:55 as divine justification for expelling the murderous Gazans from our Land. But Rav Yehuda Leon Ashkenazi zt”l, a leading French gadol of the 20th century whose students include Rav Shlomo Aviner and Rav Uri Sherki, disagreed with Rabbi Wieder. He explicitly stated that this verse is applicable in our time:
When haters of Israel are given a place in the Land of Israel, it allows them to overcome us. This is exactly what is happening today. About this, the Torah already said: ‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the Land from before you, then those whom you leave over will be as spikes in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they will harass you in the land in which you settle’ (Bamidbar 33:55). This verse is the answer to all those who say we must give up parts of Israel. How do Torah scholars whose Torah is their profession not grasp the seriousness of this matter?… It is precisely among distinguished scholars that we discover negative tendencies regarding the Land of Israel. They are ready to give it up, as if the Land were something external and not essential” (Sod Midrash HaToldot 2:217-218).
More recently, Rav Shmuel Eliyahu, chief rabbi of Tzfat and the son of the late chief rabbi of Israel, Rav Mordechai Eliyahu zt”l, explicitly cited this verse regarding the current war in Gaza:
“We now understand that our enemies do not want the Land, but our spilled blood. Just as the Torah tells us: ‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell’ (Numbers 33:55)… It is astounding to see how correct the words of the Torah are” (The War in Gaza – A War on Humanity).
Is Rabbi Wieder prepared to condemn Rav Ashkenazi as “interpreting the Torah contrary to its true intent”? Would he suggest that Rav Shmuel Eliyahu forfeits his share in the World to Come for applying this verse to our present reality? Google these supposedly “irrelevant” verses in Hebrew yourself and you will discover hundreds of articles from Israel’s foremost Religious Zionist authorities, including Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, author of the Peninei Halahkah—each one interpreting these verses contrary to Rabbi Wieder’s position.
Going forward, I hope to have many more opportunities to engage in critical discussions regarding the future of Am Yisrael. But I hope we can do so without harsh accusations that question my religious integrity.
Rabbi Elie Mischel
Israel
1 Interestingly, this verse does not explicitly reference the Seven Nations, but rather the “yoshvei ha’aretz,” the “Inhabitants of the Land” – implying that it is relevant not only to the Seven Nations but for all generations.
