Perseverance
is needed for “Intercultural Understanding” a teacher said last week at a
professional development day for teachers I lead in Queensland. The teacher was
born in South America, grew up in Australia and is married to an Asian woman.
She nodded knowingly.
In
our Torah reading this week there are several verses that I cannot ignore, yet
I have little of value or new to say about them. One approach would be to simply ignore these or
pretend they are not there. I think the responsible thing to do is acknowledge
that these ideas exist within our sacred text even if I can’t find some happy
synthesis with my own sense of ethics. Instead,
I offer some limited comments and invite readers to share their own thoughts
about these. Relating to some of these
verses and more generally in our reading is the theme of responsibility.
Harsh
Revenge
Despite
the general prohibition against revenge[i], God
instructs Moses to "Take revenge for the children of Israel against the
Midianites. Afterwards you will be gathered to your people[ii]”
(eg. Moses would die). This was in relation against a deliberate campaign by
the nation of Midian in which they sent women to seduce Jewish men to morally
corrupt them and also to persuade the men to worship idols. When they return
from the battle Moses is angry at the commanders. “Moses said to them,
"you allowed all the females to live! They were the same ones who were
involved with the children of Israel on Balaam's advice to betray the Lord over
the incident of Peor (a form of Idol worship), resulting in a plague among the
congregation of the Lord[iii]”.
The
idea of going to war over men being seduced or persuaded to worship anything is
jarring to people who value religious freedom, Moses’ angry outburst even more
so. To modern sensibilities sexual activity between consenting adults is ok and
to punish a woman for the choice of a man is deeply problematic.
Part
of the context here is the weight the Bible puts on these things. Perhaps a
modern equivalent would be if one nation deliberately sought to destroy another
though a successful network of agents that turn citizens into drug addicts.
Commentary explains that the women Moses complained about were recognised as
having seduced this or that particular man[iv]. The bottom line for me is that this
instruction was a once off in the distant past and I don’t think it has a
direct literal message for our time. Instead I am interested in more
allegorical messages these verses might contain.
Responsibility
Messages in Midianite Mass Execution
If
we can put aside the issues in previous paragraph there are two moral messages
in this episode. The first relates to the link between Moses’ death and the
Midianite mission. When Moses was first confronted by the “moral onslaught” of
the Midianite women he fell apart and cried[v]. To
correct his failure to act at that time God commanded him to deal with this
“unfinished business” and only then would could he die[vi]. To
me this is a strong message about stepping up and taking action when it is
needed but difficult or showing leadership when the opportunity arises.
A
second message is hinted at in the omission or mention of the sorcerer/prophet
Balaam who gave advice that led to the seductions[vii]. When
punishment is being discussed Balaam is mentioned prominently, seemingly
bearing some of the blame for the whole episode. Yet, the role of Balaam is
completely absent when the story first appears, and the balance of blame at
least for the promiscuity is strongly placed on the Jewish men. “Israel settled in Shittim, and the people
began to commit harlotry with the daughters of the Moabites”. One of the
foremost female Torah scholars, Nehama Liebowitz, explains that at the time of
the sin the role of Balaam is irrelevant, the focus was and had to be on the
poor choice of the Jewish men who could have resisted the temptation[viii].
Ethnic-Religious
Cleansing
The
second difficult issue is the insistence on removing the existing inhabitants
of Canaan. “You shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before
you, destroy all their temples … 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[ix]”. The
research literature about racism talks about a “new racism” in which members of
dominant groups argue for excluding members of minorities based on
incompatibility between the two cultures. Often the differences are exaggerated
and based on ignorance, prejudice and misunderstanding. Yet here the Torah seems to be legitimizing
this very argument. I could argue that
again this an instruction for a specific time. Yet, the kind of argument the
Torah puts forward here seems to still be influencing decisions today[x]. I
would love to hear from others about this.
Extreme
idea of moral responsibly of leaders
If
someone kills a person by accident they are exiled to cities of refuge which
protect them from revenge by relatives of the deceased and also serve as
atonement for their deed. They are allowed to leave the city only when the high
priest dies.
One
explanation for the surprising link between the date of release and the death
of the high priest relates to a very high standard of responsibility. The
reason to keep the accidental killer in the city until that time is so that “they
do not ridicule the high priest when they see the killer going outside the city
of refuge and people would say “did you see this person who killed an innocent
person and now goes out and comes among the people and the high priest does not
take revenge against him, (assuming) this is something which he is responsible
for. This is not the case the case with a new High priest who cannot be
criticised about something that did not happen during his time in office[xi]”.
Conclusion
The
Talmud teaches “it is not for you to complete the work, but neither are you
free to desist from it”[xii]. This
week I have also been reading about research relating to business failure that
found that the collapse of great companies has been due less to lack of
boldness and more to lack of discipline and perseverance with core activities[xiii].
I have been privileged to be called to a leadership role in the field of
diversity. As I go about the business of this work, I will meet many texts and
people who will not fit neatly into the roles I would like them to play. I will
not fix them. I will seek a point of light, redeeming qualities and beauty. To
do less would be irresponsible.
[i]
Leviticus 19:18.
[ii]
Numbers 31:2
[iii]
Numbers 31:15-16
[iv]
Rashi to 31:16
[v]
Numbers 25:6 and as interpreted by Rashi and Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsh
[vi] Ohr
Hachaim
[vii]
Numbers 31:16
[viii]
Leibowitz, N Studies in Bamidbar Numbers, p.377-378
[ix]
Numbers 33:52 & 55
[xi]
Chizkuni
[xii]
Pirkey Avot 2:21
[xiii] Collins
J, (2009), How the Might Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In, Random
House Business Books
