In Parshat Matot, Hashem tells Moshe to go to battle against Midian, the nation who caused the Jewish people to sin, resulting in the death of 24,000 Jewish people. As it states (31:1), “Hashem spoke to Moshe saying, ‘Take vengeance for Bnei Yisrael against the Midianites ….’” Indeed, Bnei Yisrael went to war, as a few pesukim later (v. 7) it states, “They massed against Midian, as Hashem had commanded Moshe.”

It can be asked, if Hashem already told Moshe in verse one to go to battle against Midian, why is it then necessary in verse seven to state that they, in fact, did so, “as Hashem commanded Moshe.” Isn’t it obvious that if Bnei Yisrael went to battle against Midian that this was because Hashem had commanded Moshe about this?

Rav Binyamin Luban quotes Chazal who teach that when Hashem commanded to go to battle against Midian, He commanded that a path should be left open for the Midianites to have an avenue of escape. When we besiege a city to conquer it, we aren’t supposed to fully surround our enemy city from all sides, but instead leave one side open for them to be able to escape. The reason for this is to teach us to act with mercy even towards our enemies during times of war.

Based on this, Rav Luban explains that when it says in verse seven that Bnei Yisrael massed against Midian “as Hashem had commanded Moshe,” this comes to teach us that, in fact, Bnei Yisrael obeyed Hashem’s command to act with mercy when they battled against Midian (see Yesod Yisrael, Matot).

To put things in perspective: The Midianites were very wicked people—they caused Bnei Yisrael to worship idols, repudiate Hashem and the Torah and to act immorally! They contributed to the death of 24,000 of them! It seems that by following Bilaam’s evil advice to Balak, the Midianties’ intended to lure Bnei Yisrael to sin, apparently in order to cause Bnei Yisrael to be destroyed.

Yet, despite Hashem saying to take vengeance and battle against the Midianites, it seems, perhaps, that Hashem still maintained mercy for even such wicked people. We can perhaps learn from here the massive degree of Hashem’s mercy, to whom it even extends, and that we are to emulate Him in this way.

We may find a similar idea in parshat Masei which discusses the establishment of cities of refuge—where those who inadvertently killed others are exiled to, and which afforded these killers a place of refuge and safety from the close relative of the victim, the “avenger of the blood” (known as the “goel hadam”).

Although these killers acted inadvertently, Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv Broida points out that these killers were actually wicked people. This is seen from the Gemara (Makkot 10) which applies the verse (Shmuel 1, 24:13), “From the wicked comes forth wickedness,” to the inadvertent killer who is exiled to the city of refuge (meaning, this killer previously committed acts that classified him as wicked, and this ultimately brought forth the unfortunate act of the inadvertent murder).

And yet, even for these wicked murderers, Hashem cares for their welfare, and thus arranged that cities of refuge be established for them as a place of safety and where their needs would be taken care of. In fact, the pasuk (Devarim 4:41) states that “Moshe designated three cities … toward the rising sun,” and the Gemara notes that the significance of the phrase, “toward the rising sun,” teaches that Hashem said to Moshe, “Cause the sun to shine for the killer” (by providing their needs while they are in exile).

Indeed, the Gemara (ibid) lists a number of things done to benefit these killers. To list a few among them: The cities of refuge are established only in cities which contain water, and if there is no water, we bring them water. They are only established where there are marketplaces (so that food will be available for purchase). They are established only where there are population centers nearby (in order to provide protection, so that the goel hadam would be unable to gather people and attack the city), and if the surrounding areas population diminished, we add to them (by bringing other people in to live in the area). If it was a disciple who was exiled to a city of refuge, even his Rebbe was exiled with him.

Rav Simcha Zissel additionally points out that we even concern ourselves to give intentional killers the benefit of the doubt, as it states in parshat Masei, “The assembly shall judge … the assembly shall rescue,” teaching us (as Rashi in Pesachim 12 explains) that we are supposed to look for reasons to exonerate the accused (in order to avoid imposing the death penalty). (See Chochma U’Mussar 1:37 and 2:21).

We perhaps see from here how far and to whom acting with mercy extends. If there is such an idea of mercy and benevolence even towards people of this sort of standing, then perhaps how much more so are we to care for, and be merciful and giving to, the typical upstanding individual.

Binyamin is a graduate of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, and Wurzweiler School of Social Work.