נקם נקמת בני ישראל מאת המדינים אחר תאסף אל עמיך
(במדבר לא:ב)
“Bnei Yisroel should take revenge from the Midyanim and then you will return to your people,” (in other words, Moshe will then die). (Bamidbar 31:2)
On this pasuk, the midrash (Yalkut Shemoni, remez 485) comments, “achar tay’ahsaif el amecha—then you will return to your people.” Hakodosh Baruch Hu said to Moshe, “If you want to live for many more years, then Bnei Yisroel will not be able to take revenge on their enemies and they will not be able to conquer Midyan.” Moshe immediately replied that, “It is better for Bnei Yisroel to conquer Midyan and to see their enemy fall before them, than for me to live longer.”
We learn from this midrash that only Moshe can take revenge from Midyan and it will take place close to his death.
Zera Shimshon asks: Why is it like this? Why is it that only Moshe takes revenge from Midyan?
Zera Shimshon answers based on a principle that the Kabbalists mention; when a ruler of a country conquers another country, the conqueror must have some connection to the defeated nation. If he is completely foreign to them, he cannot conquer them.
For instance, Pinchas conquered Midyan and he was a descendent of Yisro (Babba Basra 109b) the Kohen of Midyan. Dovid conquered Moav and he was a descendent of Rus the Moavite. If Pinchas would have not have had lineage from Midyan or Dovid from Moav, they would have not been able to conquer these nations.
We have to understand, though, why is this so? Why must the conqueror be connected to the other nation in order to defeat them?
Zera Shimshon answers in light of two seemingly contradictory halachos concerning the holiness of an article that houses a sefer Torah.
The first halacha is in Shulchan Aruch, (Orach Chaim 154:3) that the Shulchan Aruch paskens that something that protects a sefer Torah—like a jug or cloth sack—must be treated with the same respect as the sefer Torah itself. Meaning, just like one may not throw a sefer Torah in the garbage, but it must be buried in a respected way; so too, any article that houses and protects a sefer Torah must also be disposed respectfully.
The second halacha is that the Rema paskens in the same siman (chapter), halacha one, that a sefer Torah encased in a wall or in a built-in Aron Kodesh and the moisture from the wall damaged the sefer Torah, one does not have to act towards that wall with respect but it can be torn down etc.
The Magen Avraham asks: What is the difference between a jug or cloth covering—which has kedushah like the sefer Torah since it encased it—and a wall, that does not have the same kedushah as the sefer Torah even though it also encased the sefer Torah?
He answers: The wall caused damage to the sefer Torah, so we do not consider the wall as a part of the sefer Torah, since it is not “serving” or giving benefit to the sefer Torah. However, in a situation that the encasement “served” the sefer Torah and the sefer Torah benefited from it, then the case also has kedushah—like the sefer Torah.
Chazal teach us that the reason Moshe and Bnei Yisroel were not allowed to wage war against Ammon and Moav is because, “I (Hashem) have two ‘baby birds’ (young women), Rus the Moavite and Naamah the Ammonite to extract from them,” (Babba Kama 38b).
According to this—reasons Zera Shimshon—it is very probable that just like the righteousness of the two women—Rus and Naamah—protected their nations because they will be a part of these nations in the future, so too after they leave their nations, the protection will continue. This is just like the casing of the sefer Torah that has kedushah like a sefer Torah, even after the sefer Torah is removed from it.
However, this isn’t always true. If the country in which the tzaddik was raised was detrimental to his spiritual growth, the country cannot be protected by the merits of the tzaddik after he leaves—just like a moist wall isn’t considered holy, even though it encased the sefer Torah.
An outsider cannot fully discern if the tzaddik’s environment affected him positively or negatively. Only the tzaddik who grew up there can know. The tzaddik can feel and judge if he benefited from the country in which he grew up in or if it harmed him and he would have been greater if he wasn’t there.
Therefore—concerning Moshe and Midyan—no one other than Moshe could wage war against Midyan because no one other than Moshe could know if Midyan’s culture helped Moshe to be so great and they, therefore, must treat the country with respect … or, was it really detrimental to Moshe and they would not have to treat them with respect. Only Moshe knew how it affected him. Hashem, therefore, told Moshe that only he would be able to destroy Midyan.
