Spiritual and
Ethical Issues in the Historical Books of Tanach;
JOSHUA, JUDGES, SAMUEL, KINGS (Nevi’im Rishonim) These four books ostensibly are merely the history of Israel from the entry into the Promised Land until the destruction of the Temple and the temporary loss of independent statehood. In fact they are actually, in a specifically Jewish sense, the most deeply religious and spiritual books of the Bible. One does not have to be specifically Jewish to see or feel the religion and spirituality in the revelations of the prophetic writings or in the words of the Tehillim. They speak to all people, as evidenced by the fact that the Bible is still the world's bestseller and there are millions of non-Jews who regularly recite the Psalms. However, it is specifically and intrinsically Jewish to understand that G-d is revealed in the prosaic material, in the political, social and military events in the lives of ordinary men and women, kings and leaders that are described in the Nevim Rishonim. Here are described the ideology and religious thoughts in Judaism, while in Chronicles we have the purely historical. Miracles of National Redemption (Melachim
Bet 6,7) The first stage of the war was a series of guerilla attacks; something with which we are familiar through our own present day experiences. Groups of Aramean soldiers set ambushes for the troops of Yoram that were repeatedly discovered in time by Elisha and thwarted. The angry and frustrated Aramean king [probably Ben Hadad the second], accused his courtiers of treacherous gossip, to which they answered that it was the gift of prophecy of Elisha that revealed everything to him. Thereon Ben Hadad sent soldiers to capture Elisha from Dotan that lies on the road between Jenin and Shomron [close to present day Shechem] in the valley where the brothers sold Yosef and the scene of an important tank battle during the Six Day War. (And where Phil did his basic training - Ed.) To Elisha's frightened disciple, who told him of the resultant encirclement of the city, the prophet answered: "The horses and soldiers who are with us are far more numerous than they are". Then it was revealed to the disciple that hosts of angelic chariots and horsemen filled the surrounding mountains. Now Elisha prayed that Hashem should strike the Aramean soldiers with blindness. "We should know that the opening of the eyes and the blindness described here [and with the people who surrounded Lot's house in Sodom], has nothing to do with physical sight, but solely with the ability to perceive and understand" (Rambam, Moreh Nevuchim 1:2; Bereishit Rabbah 3:5-7). With the troops blinded, literally and/or figuratively, Elisha offered to take them to the prophet they sought. So he leads them on to Shomron, the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Once there, standing in front of Yoram's palace, Elisha prayed for their eyes to be opened so that they would recognize that they were trapped in the center of their enemy. Our Sages note that an important attribute of G-d's is shown in the language used by Elisha. When he asks for blindness, both in the case of his disciple and the Arameans, he does not include G-d's Name in his prayer. However, when he prays for Him to restore their sight he does so. "Hashem does not associate His Name with suffering, rather only with good. So we see that at the creation of Adam and Eve it is written: And Hashem blessed them (Bereishit 1:28), while when He cursed them after their sin, it is written 'And to Adam He said, and to Eve He said'. There are three people whom Hashem addresses with His Name even though it is for punishment; one who incites others to sin, one who fails to follow the words of Chachamim and one who places their trust in humans rather than in G-d" (Yalkut Shimoni). So too the Midrash [Bereishit Rabba 3:8] brings the verse (Bereishit 1:5) 'And Hashem called the light day, [whereas] the darkness was called night', to teach the same idea. Yoram, excited at Israel's good fortune and cognisant of the prophet's spiritual power, addressing him as 'My Father', asked his permission to kill the Aramean prisoners of war. Elisha's answer is negative and his additional advice to the king is to give them bread to eat and water to drink. The king accepted this and as a result of their return, Ben Hadad no longer sent guerillas into Israel. "Elisha achieved more than all the wars of Yoram" (Eliyahu Rabba 7). It is easy to see Elisha's advice as shrewd political thinking as they would thereby be grateful and return to Aram with a message of goodwill and peace. Such cost-benefit thinking is the same as seeing moral business behavior, not as the right thing to do but as good business. However, Judaism sees moral behavior as G-d's imperative whether it is profitable or not. So our commentators [Abarbanel, Radak, Ralbag and Malbim] see the prophet's words, 'Do you kill those you have captured'? as disapproval. They grant the right to kill in battle but question the right to kill prisoners of war; to which is added the fact that Yoram had no part in their capture. This concept of "kosher war" is in keeping with halakha that mandates offering peace to the enemy before the battle and providing them with avenues of escape together with part of their property, during and after it (Rambam Hilkhot Melakhim 6:1-5). Interestingly, this applies even to the 7 Nations who lived in Eretz Yisrael, whom we were commanded to destroy. Such mercy is also consistent with the morality of Hilkhot Shechita, whereby the shochet has to make a bracha that grants Divine permission to slaughter animals; without the bracha this would be akin to murder. Furthermore, the blood (of slaughter of fowl and "wild" animals) has to be covered with soil accompanied by the appropriate bracha, thus preventing the callousness in the shochet that we often find amongst those who deal in the suffering of others. Yoram magnanimously freed the prisoners, gave them a great feast and sent them back to Aram. We can imagine the effect of this Kiddush Hashem on Aram and on Israel, demanded by Elisha as the prophet of G-d. This is the 44th installment in Dr. Tamari’s series on “Tanach and its messages for our times” [The
Parshat Pinchas Homepage]
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