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Why did Klal Yisrael only wage war against Midian when Moav was more involved in the sin with their women? Rashi (רש"י) explains Moav acted from fear, but his language of "spoils of war" creates a contradiction. The resolution involves Avrohom's original claim to Sodom's wealth that may have passed down to Moav through Lot.
The shiur analyzes a puzzling Rashi (רש"י) in Parshas Matos regarding why Hashem (ה׳) commanded vengeance only against Midian when Moav was far more involved in the sin that led to the plague. While 176,000 men were involved with Moavite women compared to just one recorded incident with Midian (Kozbi), the Torah (תורה) specifies attacking only Midian. Rashi explains that Moav acted out of fear ("nimtzu m'pach ad bumer machas yirah") because they were afraid the Jews would take their property, while Midian acted as a true enemy ("v'sa gu orev lo lahem"). However, this creates a textual difficulty: if Hashem told the Jews "al tischa bom l'chama" - not to wage war against Moav - why would Moav be afraid, and why does Rashi use the term "shoylim osom" (spoils of war) when describing their fear?
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Parshas Matos 31:2
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