(ז) וַֽיִּצְבְּאוּ֙ עַל־מִדְיָ֔ן כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר צִוָּ֥ה יְהוָ֖ה אֶת־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיַּֽהַרְג֖וּ כָּל־זָכָֽר׃(ט) וַיִּשְׁבּ֧וּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל אֶת־נְשֵׁ֥י מִדְיָ֖ן וְאֶת־טַפָּ֑ם וְאֵ֨ת כָּל־בְּהֶמְתָּ֧ם וְאֶת־כָּל־מִקְנֵהֶ֛ם וְאֶת־כָּל־חֵילָ֖ם בָּזָֽזוּ׃ (י) וְאֵ֤ת כָּל־עָרֵיהֶם֙ בְּמ֣וֹשְׁבֹתָ֔ם וְאֵ֖ת כָּל־טִֽירֹתָ֑ם שָׂרְפ֖וּ בָּאֵֽשׁ׃ (יא) וַיִּקְחוּ֙ אֶת־כָּל־הַשָּׁלָ֔ל וְאֵ֖ת כָּל־הַמַּלְק֑וֹחַ בָּאָדָ֖ם וּבַבְּהֵמָֽה׃ (יב) וַיָּבִ֡אוּ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה֩ וְאֶל־אֶלְעָזָ֨ר הַכֹּהֵ֜ן וְאֶל־עֲדַ֣ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אֶת־הַשְּׁבִ֧י וְאֶת־הַמַּלְק֛וֹחַ וְאֶת־הַשָּׁלָ֖ל אֶל־הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֑ה אֶל־עַֽרְבֹ֣ת מוֹאָ֔ב אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־יַרְדֵּ֥ן יְרֵחֽוֹ׃ (ס)
(7) They took the field against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and slew every male. [...]
(9) The Israelites took the women and children of the Midianites captive, and seized as booty all their beasts, all their herds, and all their wealth. (10) And they destroyed by fire all the towns in which they were settled, and their encampments. (11) They gathered all the spoil and all the booty, man and beast, (12) and they brought the captives, the booty, and the spoil to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the whole Israelite community, at the camp in the steppes of Moab, at the Jordan near Jericho.
(13) Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the chieftains of the community came out to meet them outside the camp. (14) Moses became angry with the commanders of the army, the officers of thousands and the officers of hundreds, who had come back from the military campaign. (15) Moses said to them, “You have spared every female! (16) Yet they are the very ones who, at the bidding of Balaam, induced the Israelites to trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, so that the LORD’s community was struck by the plague. (17) Now, therefore, slay every male among the children, and slay also every woman who is not a virgin; (18) but spare every young woman who is a virgin.
excerpts from: Matot Masei Are We Capable of Evil
One opinion:
What makes this tradition challenging is the fact that we choose to include it in our sacred book and to read it out loud in public. I think we, in our congregations, ought to read these terrifying verses at synagogue (maybe in a special sad chant). By reading this tradition, we admit that we are not perfect or different from other nations.
And, by reading these verses, we declare our responsibility to learn, to change, and to become better.
[...]
As long as we claim that "they" were capable of committing these atrocities while "we" aren't, and claim that there are some people who are capable of evil and others who are righteous in their very nature, we are playing into the hands of our worst enemies. Ethical living begins to be a challenge when we realize that all of us are capable of evil and all of us are commanded to do good.
The Holy One is not a rescue company. I have no way of knowing if there is a God, and I certainly don't have any possible way of understanding Her essence if She does exist, but I prefer to believe in Her existence. I prefer a world with God over a world without God, and therefore I believe.
My open eyes observe reality teaching me that God does not offer general or personal providence, and therefore my God is not a judge or a police officer. My God is possibility; my God is choice. Faith in God for me is faith in the fact that there is a moral demand outside of me. This is the faith that commands me to do good.
Dr. Ruhama Weiss
Another opinion:
These verses highlight the Israelites’ utter lack of humanity. I don’t know anyone today who would want to be associated with this type of unethical behavior, this group of people, or this type of commanding God.
If we are to keep our connection to Torah, to understand it as a human document that can inspire and help us find holiness, then perhaps it would be useful to read this passage as a page taken from a mythic battle of light versus dark forces. Clearly, this Moses is not the sweet baby in his waterproof bassinette floating on the Nile, protected by ducks and ibises. The gentle shepherd has certainly lost his bashful stutter, and he has turned into a calculating general who exceeds even God’s own deadly commands in order to exact an unforgiving price from the enemy.
[...]
Of course, this is a horrific tale of excessive force. It is also an exaggerated tale of vengeance on an enemy that may have posed an existential threat to the Israelites at a specific time in history. Just as the Torah portion Matot is hitched to its neighboring portion Mas’ei, so too this story from Matot can be juxtaposed with the rules for intentional and accidental shedding of human blood found in Mas’ei that reinforce the belief in the value of even one human life (Num. 35:16-34). Those of us who draw close to Jewish teaching and to the Torah can find sparks of holiness generated by the friction between stories like these, tales of mass vengeance, and laws that proclaim the irreplaceable worth of a single soul.
Rabbi Sharon G. Forman
(כא) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֶלְעָזָ֤ר הַכֹּהֵן֙ אֶל־אַנְשֵׁ֣י הַצָּבָ֔א הַבָּאִ֖ים לַמִּלְחָמָ֑ה זֹ֚את חֻקַּ֣ת הַתּוֹרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּ֥ה יְהוָ֖ה אֶת־מֹשֶֽׁה׃ (כב) אַ֥ךְ אֶת־הַזָּהָ֖ב וְאֶת־הַכָּ֑סֶף אֶֽת־הַנְּחֹ֙שֶׁת֙ אֶת־הַבַּרְזֶ֔ל אֶֽת־הַבְּדִ֖יל וְאֶת־הָעֹפָֽרֶת׃ (כג) כָּל־דָּבָ֞ר אֲשֶׁר־יָבֹ֣א בָאֵ֗שׁ תַּעֲבִ֤ירוּ בָאֵשׁ֙ וְטָהֵ֔ר אַ֕ךְ בְּמֵ֥י נִדָּ֖ה יִתְחַטָּ֑א וְכֹ֨ל אֲשֶׁ֧ר לֹֽא־יָבֹ֛א בָּאֵ֖שׁ תַּעֲבִ֥ירוּ בַמָּֽיִם׃ (כד) וְכִבַּסְתֶּ֧ם בִּגְדֵיכֶ֛ם בַּיּ֥וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖י וּטְהַרְתֶּ֑ם וְאַחַ֖ר תָּבֹ֥אוּ אֶל־הַֽמַּחֲנֶֽה׃ (פ)
(21) Eleazar the priest said to the troops who had taken part in the fighting, “This is the ritual law that the LORD has enjoined upon Moses: (22) Gold and silver, copper, iron, tin, and lead— (23) any article that can withstand fire—these you shall pass through fire and they shall be clean, except that they must be cleansed with water of lustration; and anything that cannot withstand fire you must pass through water. (24) On the seventh day you shall wash your clothes and be clean, and after that you may enter the camp.”
The image that prompted me to write this poem [below] comes from Numbers 31:21-23: "Eleazar the priest said to the troops [...] This is the ritual law that the Lord has enjoined upon Moses: Gold and silver, copper, iron, tin, and lead — any article that can withstand fire —" It's striking to me that there's a ritual of cleansing for the spoils of war... but what about the participants? How might the wholesale slaughter of the Midianites have affected them?
Rabbi Rachel Barenblat
The spoils of war
were passed through fire
their history cleansed
but regarding the Israelites
tasked with destruction
our story is silent
they spared non-combatants,
women and children, but
Moshe's outrage overflowed
he demanded death
for those who had seduced us
into foreign worship
we sent their young sons too
beyond the veil
into the realm we can't know
how did our soldiers
emerge from this trial
this awful moment of power
was their compassion burned away
did their humanity
disappear into smoke