Rabbi Dov Kramer on the Parsha

Taking a Closer Look (Rabbi Dov Kramer)

Besides the 12,000 soldiers sent to enact revenge against Midyan for trying to corrupt the Children of Israel, both spiritually (“for the matter of Pe’or,” i.e. causing them to worship Pe’or) and morally (“and for the matter of Kuzbi,” Bamidbar 25:18), Moshe also sent Pinachas (31:11) as the Kohain Gadol anointed for wartime. Rashi quotes three reasons why Pinachas went rather than Elazar (his father), with the second being “that he went to enact the vengeance of his grandfather (meaning a grandparent on his mother’s side), Yosef.” Yosef had been sold as a slave to Egypt by Midyanite merchants (Beraishis 37:36), and his great-grandson Pinachas was going to “even the score” by leading the war against Midyan.

The commentators raise several issues regarding this reason for sending Pinachas. For one thing, Yosef was sold as a slave 270 years before this war was fought; are we supposed to hold a grudge for hundreds of years? Secondly, it was only those merchants that sold Yosef; why is the entire nation of Midyan held accountable for something done only by one caravan of merchants? Additionally, selling things bought in one location for a higher price in a different location is how merchants make a living, and slaves were a normal commodity; why are these merchants considered to have done anything wrong if this was their profession?

The Maharal (on Chumash and on Soteh 43a) says that the point is not really Pinachas taking revenge for what had been done to his great-grandfather, but that Pinachas, his makeup and what he represented, was the appropriate foil for Midyan. They were extremely immoral, which is why they sent their daughters to seduce Israel, while Yosef, who overcame the temptation of Potifar’s wife, and Pinachas, who took a strong stand against the immoral behavior going on when he killed Zimri and Kuzbi, were completely removed from immorality. Whereas the immorality of Midyan had been victorious over Yosef when they sold him, Pinachas reversed the situation when he destroyed Midyan in this war.

Others only address how merchants can be blamed for doing what merchants normally do. The Taz says that the Midyanites realized Yosef’s potential for greatness, and in order to prevent him from ever attaining such greatness, purposely sold him to Egypt, where slaves were never allowed to leave. However, Rashi had told us (Beraishis 37:25) that G-d arranged for the caravan that brought Yosef to Egypt to be carrying pleasant-smelling perfumes and spices, rather the foul-smelling wares they usually sold, and the verse says explicitly that this caravan’s destination had been Egypt even before Yosef became part of their cargo. Even if they were happy that this was their destination because it meant Yosef would never be able to get out, Pinachas likely didn’t know that, and couldn’t blame them for not changing their itinerary once Yosef was sold to them. Besides, the brothers knew where the caravan was headed before they sold Yosef to them, which is how they knew to look for him in Egypt when they went down to buy grain during the famine (see Rashi on Beraishis 42:13); it would be the other Tribes that Pinachas should “enact vengeance upon,” not the merchants who were heading to Egypt anyway. [It should be noted that according to Sefer Hayashar the brothers planned on selling Yosef to the caravan (they knew to be) heading for Egypt, but ended up selling him to the Midyanite merchants who pulled him out of the pit. When the Midyanites regretted buying Yosef (fearing retribution from the powerful “Hebrews”), they sold him to the caravan that the brothers had first spotted, who brought Yosef to Egypt. Nevertheless, this sale was made out of fear, not to subject Yosef to Egyptian slavery. (Since the brothers knew where Yosef was, they must have found out from these merchants that they sold Yosef to the caravan heading for Egypt.) Either way, Pinachas shouldn’t have blamed the merchants for causing Yosef to be sold to Egypt.]

The Netziv (in his commentary on the Sifri, which is Rashi’s source), says that Yosef surely told them who he was, and that they would get paid even more money if they returned him to his family. Because they preferred selling him as a slave over making more money, they were not being “merchants,” and were held accountable for Yosef being sold as a slave. (Rabbi Peretz Steinberg, shlita, makes a very similar suggestion in “Pri Eitz Hachayim,” which he published in 1991.) Although Sefer Hayashar (which the Netziv references) says that the Midyanite merchants recognized that Yosef was too dignified (etc.) to be a slave, and that Shimon identified himself and his brothers as being the sons of Yaakov, they feared suffering repercussions for having Yosef, and probably did not think they could sell him back to his family for a large profit. It’s also hard to imagine that they would believe their captive slave’s claim that they could get a better deal from his family, as the captive would likely say anything to get back to his family.

Midyan was one of the sons of Keturah (Beraishis 25:2), the wife Avraham married after Sarah died. The people of Midyan were therefore relatives of the Children of Israel, but more than being related, Midyan should have been aware of who the Children of Israel were and what their status was. Lavan, the grandson of Avraham’s brother (Nachor), knew that Avraham was “blessed of G-d” (Beraishis 24:31), and they (Nachor’s family) were honored to have their daughter/sister marry into this blessed family. What perspective of Avraham’s (other) family (Yitzchok’s grandchildren) was embedded in the consciousness of the nation of Midyan? Did they respect Israel’s mission of fulfilling G-d’s word? Did they ignore it (or forget about it)? Or, did they resent it? Had Midyan taught his children about their ancestry, that they also descended from Avraham, who brought monotheism (back) to the world, they would have been in awe of Yaakov and his sons, and respected them. Even the merchants would know of them, and would never consider selling one of them as a slave. Either the special status of Israel never made an impression on Midyan (the nation), or they resented it, thus allowing these merchants to deal with Yosef as they would with any other business dealing (or worse). It wasn’t just the merchants that had “sinned” against Yosef, but the entire nation, starting from Midyan himself, for not valuing Avraham’s message or the people who were carrying it out.

When they tried corrupting Israel, getting them to worship another deity and to engage in illicit behavior, it became apparent that Midyan didn’t just ignore Israel’s special status, but resented it. In retrospect, it showed that ignoring Yosef’s pleas was more than just a result of not valuing Avraham’s message and the mission of the Children of Israel; they wanted to help thwart that mission, and selling Yosef to Egypt (they thought) would help accomplish that. Therefore, when sending an army to destroy the nation that would otherwise continue trying to thwart the mission of the Children of Israel, Moshe included Yosef’s great-grandson, who understood the danger Midyan posed, and would make sure that the war against them would end successfully.