Parashat Eikev

Parasha Thoughts

By Rabbi Yosef Shemtov

In this week’s Parasha, Moshe Rabeinu continues encouraging people not to be afraid when they enter Eretz Israel. He assures them that the Almighty will defeat their enemies and Israel will take over the country.

Moshe Rabeinu tells them, “But bear in mind you won’t defeat enemies quickly rather you will take over the country little by little.” In fact, it took them seven years to conquer the land. The Torah states the reason you don’t take over the land quickly is “Lest wild animals will increase on you.” The simple explanation is that if you take over the cities and you don’t dwell there, wild animals will enter the cities because there is nobody there.
This reason doesn’t make so much sense. God could prevent animals from entering the cities, and even if they did come, the animals would leave when people start coming back.
The deeper understanding of this is “Lest the animal nature will increase within you,” meaning if you keep on fighting and killing without stopping to charge your batteries like praying and learning Torah, you become like an animal whose nature is to kill other weaker animals. Because of this Moshe is telling Beni Israel that Hashem will not let you conquer the land quickly.

Golda Meir once said something interesting to the Arabs. She said that “We can forgive you for killing our children, but we cannot forgive you for forcing our soldiers to kill.”