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The Book of Numbers- ‫ספר במדבר‬

Torah Portion Matot

In the Torah portion Matot God commands Moshe to fight the Midianites before
his death and to avenge the vengeance of the Children of Israel.

"Avenge the vengeance of the Children of Israel from the Midianites;
afterward you shall be gathered to your people." (31:2)

There is a question here: why is it so important that Moshe will fight against the
Midianites before his death?

Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk explains: if Moshe would not have fought the
Midianites, like he fought against all the other enemies, the Children of Israel
would have suspected that this is because of personal reasons, because Moshe was
a guest in Midian for many years and married Tziporah, the daughter of Yitro
from Midian.

Therefore God commands Moshe to make vengeance on the Midianites before his
death, and thus will stop all the suspicions against him.
But it is interesting to note – when Moshe calls to the Children of Israel to fight
with Midian, he says to them to avenge "the vengeance of God" and not "the
vengeance of the Children of Israel," like God said to him.

"Moshe spoke to the nation, saying: 'Arm from among you men for the
army, that they will go against Midian, to execute the vengeance of God
on Midian." (31:3)

Rashi explains that Moshe said this to the Children of Israel in order to proclaim
that someone who stands against Israel is as if he is standing against God.

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