Guarding Our Surroundings

Moses tells the Jewish people to arm men to wage war against Midian to inflict God’s vengeance for seducing the Jewish men and turning them away from Torah and mitzvot. Interestingly, the Hebrew word used for men is “anashim” which Rashi, the famous Torah commentator, explains denotes righteous individuals. Later on in the Torah portion, we learn that these righteous men brought the loot and spoils of war to Moses. Rashi explains this to mean that they were “decent and righteous, and they were not suspect of theft by laying a hand upon the spoils without permission.”

If the Torah tells us that they were righteous, why does the Torah later on explain that they acted in a righteous manner – we would not expect anything less!

Lesson:

We are all effected by our surroundings and environment. There is the famous debate in science if one is affected by nature or nurture, and of course it’s both! There are many instances in the Torah where one is affected, good or bad, by their surroundings.

We are not impervious to what we see, hear, feel, etc. When one is exposed to something less than ideal, it slowly and even unconsciously affects them such that they become desensitized to what they are being exposed to. In fact, soldiers are often trained for battle by video games that depict a similar scenario. What’s the point one might think? One is pushing a button on a screen and the other is real life! But what one sees, hears, etc. travels to one’s heart and mind and effects their being.

This is what the Parsha is telling us: the leaders left as righteous individuals and returned as righteous individuals. While difficult to do, the leaders did not let going to war, and all that they saw and do, negatively affect them. They were able to remain their righteousness and listen to Moses’s command of returning the spoils.

We often dismiss things as being innocuous: seeing an immodest billboard, hearing a song that may not have a great message or language, and think you’re not wearing that outfit, you’re not singing that song, so it’s ok. However, this parsha is teaching us a very important lesson: if even these righteous men could be affected by their surroundings, then how much more so do we need to guard ourselves with what we see, hear, and experience.

Exercise: Be extra vigilant about guarding your surroundings.