Aliya Summary: G‑d instructs the Jewish people to eradicate all
Canaan's inhabitants and destroy their idols after crossing the Jordan
River. The borders of the land of Israel are delineated. The land was
to be divided by lottery amongst the nine and a half tribes (Reuven,
Gad and half of the tribe of Menashe were going to settle on the
eastern bank of the Jordan).
The Jews were warned that
they must clear out the existing inhabitants of their new land before
settling in it, and then were warned again that if they didn't clear out
all the existing inhabitants, the existing tenants would end up being
"spikes in their eyes and thorns in their sides", an interesting
depiction of their pending troubles. Spikes in their eyes represent
obstacles visible to the naked eye (improper behavior, appearance, etc),
and thorns in their sides represent obstacles less obvious (societal
influence, peer pressures, etc). Both are equally painful spikes,
although we may not see the thorns coming. The Passuk is equating the
obstacles visible to us with those not visible to us, warning us of the
perils of exposure to each.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment