Hashem spoke to Moshe saying as follows. “Take vengeance for the Children of Israel from the Midyanim; afterward you will be gathered unto your people”. Moshe spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among yourselves for the army, that they be against Midyan, to inflict Hashem’s vengeance against Midyan”.
The Midrash (כ"ב ב') expounds on these Passukim as follows.
הקב"ה אמר נקמת בני ישראל ומשה אמר נקמת ה' במדין. אמר הקב"ה להם, אינו אלא דיקו שלכם שגרמו לי להזיק אותן, אמר משה, רבון העולמים אם היינו ערלים או עובדי עבודת כוכבים או כופרי מצוות לא היו שונאין אותנו ואינן רודפין אחרינו אלא בשביל תורה ומצות שנתת לנו, הלכך הנקמה שלך.
Hashem said, “vengeance for the Children of Israel from the Midyanim”, while Moshe said, “Hashem’s vengeance against Midyan”. Hashem said to them, “it is your affront which caused Me to go against them”, while Moshe said, “Master Of The Universe if we would have been uncircumcised, idol worshipers or unbelieving in Your Mitzvos, they would never have hated us, and it is only because of the Torah and Mitzvos that You gave us that they persecute us, therefore the vengeance is Yours”.
We need to understand why Moshe was so particular that the war against Midyan be considered the vengeance of Hashem and not of the Jewish People.
The Yalkut Shimoni
The Yalkut Shimoni (רמז תשפ"ה) says, וידבר ה' אל משה לאמר נקם נקמת וכו'. אין וידבר אלא לשון עז... ולמה דבר עמו בלשון עז, לפי שלא מיחה בשבטו של שמעון. א"ל הקב"ה ומה אם בזמן שעמדו כל ישראל בצד אחד בשעת העגל ולא היה עמך אלא שבט לוי בלבד עמדת ומחית בכל ישראל, עכשיו שכל ישראל עמך ולא עמד בצד אחד אלא שבטו של שמעון לא היה לך למחות.
Hashem spoke to Moshe saying as follows, “Take vengeance...”, the word וידבר [which is the word that the Torah opted to use in conveying to us that Hashem spoke to Moshe] connotes harshness... and why did Hashem talk to Moshe harshly? Because he didn’t protest against the Tribe of Shimon. [When their Nasi publicly defied Hashem’s Torah, Moshe and Aharon were passive and only Pinchas took action against him]. Hashem told Moshe, “When the Jewish Nation worshipped the golden calf, it was the entire Jewish Nation against you and only the Tribe of Levi standing faithfully with you, and nevertheless you found the courage to protest in My Honor. Now, when only the Nasi of the Tribe of Shimon sinned and thus only the Tribe of Shimon rose against you, while the entire Jewish Nation faithfully stood with you, should you not have had the courage to protest in my honor?!
Hashem’s Message to Moshe
When Hashem told Moshe “Take vengeance for the Children of Israel from the Midyanim; afterward you will be gathered unto your people”, He was essentially saying the following. Because the Midyanim caused the Jewish People to suffer they deserve to die, and therefore the Jews need to go to war with them. Moshe as well, because he didn’t protest against the tribe of Shimon and it is considered as if he, so to speak, caused Hashem to punish the Jews by bringing the Midyanim upon them, thus he was partially to blame for the Jewish People suffering in the hands of the Midyanim, and so he too deserved to die.
When Moshe heard this he replied, “No, it is Hashem’s vengeance against Midyan”. Moshe told Hashem as follows. Because it was only the Jewish People’s devotion to Hashem and his Torah that was behind the Midyanim’s intense hatred towards them and what caused them to antagonize the Jews, therefore, it should be considered ‘Hashem’s vengeance against Midyan’. Moshe was implying that because the Jews suffered under the hands of the Midyanim only due to their zealousness in keeping the Mitzvos of the Torah, and it was he, Moshe, who was actually behind their zealousness - through him teaching them the Torah, and constantly encouraging them to keep its laws and rebuking them whenever they strayed from it - therefore, on the contrary, the Midyanim’s actions actually demonstrate how faithful Moshe is to Hashem and to the Torah. Hence, when Moshe did not protest in Hashem’s honor, it obviously wasn’t out of laxity towards Hashem’s honor, rather because as Rashi explains (כ"ה ו')נתעלמה ממנו הלכה – The law which applied to that situation was concealed from Moshe, and therefore there is no reason for Moshe to deserve to die.
Zera Shimshon Parashat Mattos, Ot Hei
