Parshas Balak takes place while the Children of Israel were camped at Arvos Moav. As a matter of fact, they were in Arvos Moav from the last verse in last week’s Parsha (Bamidbar 22:1) through the end of Sefer Devarim. Arvos Moav (the Plains of Moav) is located just north of the Dead Sea, on the eastern side of the Jordan River. Nothing controversial there; I don’t think anyone disagrees. What isn’t so clear is why the nation camped there specifically before entering the Promised Land. After all, in order to get there they had to go around Edom, past Moav, and through the land Sichon had conquered from Moav. Why didn’t they just enter Eretz Yisroel from the south, the way the scouts did, rather than traveling so far out of the way to enter from the east?
(1) The Exodus from Egypt concluded with the miraculous splitting of the sea, and the entry into the Promised Land started with the Jordan River miraculously splitting. This symmetry may have been reason enough to enter from “the other side of the Jordan,” with Arvos Moav being the southernmost part of “the other side of the Jordan,” and therefore the closest. The miraculous conquest of Yericho—which is opposite Arvos Moav (just across the river)—may have been a factor too, although a similarly miraculous conquest could have occurred no matter where they entered from.
(2) When the Children of Israel left Egypt, God didn’t take them the most direct way (Shemos 13:17), which would have been along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea towards the southwestern part of the Promised Land (where the Pelishtim were). There are numerous suggestions as to why this route wasn’t taken; Shemos Rabbah (20:14), starts one of them with this parable: “A king had 12 sons, but only 10 pieces of property. He said if I give them [the property] now, I will cause them to fight over it. Instead, I’ll wait until I acquire two more pieces of property, and then I’ll divide the [12 pieces of property] between them. Similarly, the Holy One, blessed is He, said if I bring them into [the Promised Land] now, there won’t be a portion for all 12 Tribes. Instead, I’ll keep them in the desert until they take over [the land on] the other side of the Jordan [River], and the sons of Reuvain and the sons of Gad and half of the Tribe of Menashe will take that part, and then I’ll bring [the nation] into the [Promised] Land.”
There are several important ideas to glean from this Midrash (one of which I hope to discuss next week, iy”H), but the reason why God didn’t take them into the Promised Land via the shortest route (along the coastline) applies to anywhere along the south; they had to enter from the east so that the land on the other side of the Jordan River could be conquered first. [Bear in mind that Sichon and Og were being paid by those who lived in Canaan to prevent the Children of Israel from entering their land (Bamidbar Rabbah 19:29). Had the nation entered from the south, Sichon and Og might not have felt the need to go all out, as their war with Israel would have occurred after Canaan had already been conquered (so preventing the Children of Israel from getting into Canaan no longer applied). This would have made conquering the land on the eastern side of the Jordan River a more prolonged, arduous process. Because the Children of Israel entered from the east, Sichon and Og attacked with their entire army in order to prevent them from entering Canaan, leading to a quick defeat.]
(3) Before Moshe died, he taught the nation the Torah again,and renewed their covenant with the Creator. This renewal was connected to the renewal of the covenant that occurred on Mt. Grizim and Mt. Eival with Yehoshua, on the western side of the Jordan River. Although Moshe couldn’t be there when they renewed the covenant inside the Promised Land, having it occur in close proximity to where Moshe had renewed it—just across the River—allowed for Moshe’s presence to still be felt. Additionally, renewing it with Moshe after having begun the conquest of their own land put this renewal in a very different perspective, one that could not be matched had it occurred in the barren desert south of the Promised Land, before they tasted land ownership. By the time they got to Arvos Moav, life had changed; renewing the covenant there gave it more relevance to the life they would have after crossing the Jordan.
(4) Although there is no controversy about where Arvos Moav is, there is some controversy regarding what else may have occurred there. As I wrote for Parshas Vayeira, because there is archeological evidence of a Sedom-like destruction at a location within visual distance of Beis El (where Avraham and Lot were when Lot chose to move elsewhere), סדם (Sedom, or Sodom) was likely just north of the Dead Sea, on the eastern side of the Jordan River—i.e. Arvos Moav. Besides that location being uninhabited because of its tragic history (so there weren’t any locals who considered the Children of Israel to be in “their” city when they camped in Arvos Moav), there were other advantages to being in the exact spot where סדם was destroyed.
As I’ve previously discussed, the “curses” in Parshas Ki Savo—the consequences for not keeping the covenant Moshe laid out at Arvos Moav—are an integral part of the covenant itself. Just imagine how much more powerfully these consequences resonated being delivered precisely where another divine punishment—of literally biblical proportions—had occurred.
סדם is explicitly referenced in the consequences (Devarim 29:22, see also 32:32), and even though there’s no indication that Moshe mentioned that the nation was currently on the actual site of סדם’s destruction, it was likely more impactful for the history of the location to be discussed amongst themselves, initiated by them (“Hey, do you know where we are? OMG!”) rather than being hit over the head with it by Moshe.
When Moav became distressed by the presence of the Children of Israel, they didn’t physically attack them, hiring Bilam to curse them instead. Aside from being afraid to start a war after being defeated by Sichon, who was then soundly defeated by the Children of Israel, the fact that the God of Israel had destroyed סדם—with His people currently on the very site of that destruction—may have contributed to Moav realizing that trying to overpower the God of Israel was futile. They therefore brought in Bilam, who (they thought) would work with God rather than against Him, cursing the Children of Israel and thereby causing Him to become angry with them. We know it didn’t work, but because the Children of Israel were camped in Arvos Moav, where God had destroyed סדם centuries earlier, waging war against Israel wasn’t Moav’s first course of action.
Rabbi Dov Kramer wrote a weekly dvar Torah from 5764-5776, most of which are archived at RabbiDMK.wordpress.com and AishDas.org/ta. His piece on the location of סדם can be accessed at dmkjewishgeography.wordpress.com/2023/10/31/vayeira-5784.
