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Parshat Ki Teitze

By: SFW Students & Alumna
Miriam Englander, SFW 5766

Devarim 23:4-5 says: 'an Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the congregation of Hashem, even their tenth generation shall not enter the congregation of Hashem, to eternity, because of the fact that they did not greet you with bread and water on the road when you were leaving Egypt, and because he hired against you Balaam son of Beor, of Pethor, Aram Naharaim, to curse you'.

These pesukim are not so easy to understand.  It does not seem that the lack of chesed that Ammon and Moav show is a huge deal compared to what others have attempted over the years – and what is the connection between this lack of chesed and the hiring of Balaam? 

In Limudei Nissan, Rabbi Nissan Alpert, one of Rav Moshe Feinstein's talmidim, explains that the reason they are never allowed into Bnei Yisrael is their implacable hatred for us – a hatred that made them act in a way that was detrimental to their own well-being.  All nations of the world knew of all that Hashem had done for Bnei Yisrael (Shemos 15:14-16 even mentions Moav specifically).  It is therefore clear that Ammon and Moav knew that there was no way they would win in a confrontation with Bnei Yisrael.  Yet they still gave it their all.  They were so completely consumed by a profound hatred of Bnei Yisrael that their only aim was their destruction, regardless of whether their actions backfired (this is especially striking since they could have capitalized on their kinship to Bnei Yisrael).                                                    

But perhaps they were simply too honest to dissemble; when they didn't like someone they were unable to deny that hatred even if it was the sensible thing to do.  Surely, that is an admirable quality!  It is precisely to dispel this idea that the Torah reminds us that they brought Balaam to curse us – Balaam, who had previously been hired by Sichon to curse Moav (Bamidbar Rabbah 19)!  They were willing to overlook their dislike of Balaam when they saw an opportunity to harm Israel but could not get passed their dislike of us even when it was in their own self-interest to do so.  These are not people who can ever get over their hatred for and therefore can never be allowed to join Bnei Yisrael. 

Shabbat Shalom!