The Arab’s role today is the same as the Canaanite’s. Opinion.
As I am scheduled to start Israeli Defense Forces training right after Pesach, I thought that I should review Sefer Shoftim (the Book of Judges) to find inspiration. The reason why I specifically chose Shoftim was that there are many similarities between the present era and the time period of Shoftim. Today, there is no Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple), nor monarchy, nor the complete sovereignty of all of Biblical Israel.
Modern Israel mirrors the emerging state of ancient Israel just after the death of Yehoshua (Joshua), an era of both vulnerability and divine testing.
While I was studying Shoftim, these two verses stood out to me.
Shoftim 3:1-2
“וְאֵ֤לֶּה הַגּוֹיִם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הִנִּ֣יחַ יְהֹוָ֔ה לְנַסּ֥וֹת בָּ֖ם אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אֵ֚ת כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹא־יָדְע֔וּ אֵ֖ת כׇּל־מִלְחֲמ֥וֹת כְּנָֽעַן׃
רַ֗ק לְמַ֙עַן֙ דַּ֚עַת דֹּר֣וֹת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לְלַמְּדָ֖ם מִלְחָמָ֑ה רַ֥ק אֲשֶׁר־לְפָנִ֖ים לֹ֥א יְדָעֽוּם׃”
“These are the nations that G-d left in order to test the Israelites who had not known any of the wars of Canaan, Only so that the generations of the Sons of Israel might know warfare, whereas this was unknown earlier.”
It is clear from this verse that the foreign nations that remained within Israel served a precise purpose for the Jewish people. Their role was to teach the Jewish people how to go to war against other nations.
Why did the Jewish people have to learn warfare? Why does it say ‘whereas this was unknown earlier’? Didn’t the previous generation conquer Israel from the Canaanites?
The reason is that the Jews were dependent on open miracles while conquering the Land of Israel. After hundreds of years of intense slavery and 40 years of wandering in the desert, the Jews finally arrived in Israel. They were in no condition to create a kingdom, and certainly unable to defeat some of the strongest nations of that time. So G-d revealed himself through his miracles and helped the Jewish nation annihilate most of their enemies.
Once they acquired the Promised Land, they were no longer a people without land. It was necessary to mature into a nation with self-respect that could wage war using traditional warfare and not be overly reliant on open miracles. So G-d allowed adversaries to stay in the land to help teach us how to fight against evil.
Just as the Jews in the times of the Tanakh did not have the strength to conquer the land without G-dly support, the modern State of Israel found itself in a similar situation at its conception. The new young Jewish State found itself amid a war for its survival. About 700,000 Arabs miraculously fled from Israel out of fear, without Israel fighting them. This is strikingly similar to Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, where G-d fought the battles for the ancient Israelites without them needing to be immersed in the intricacies of warfare. But G-d didn’t completely cleanse the land of the Canaanites, just like in 1948 when 150,000 Arabs were still left in UN recognized Israel and many more in the surrounding Arab areas that are part of Biblical Israel.
In 1948 we needed to once again transform from a landless and oppressed people to an independent nation. G-d could have scared off all the Arabs and given us Israel with all of her Biblical boundaries without requiring any serious effort from us, but that would be counterproductive to what we must achieve as a nation in this land. Our goal is to grow as a nation through our struggles. If G-d would have given us all the land which he promised with zero hostile Arabs, on a silver platter, we would have become complacent and weak.
The Arabs are messengers from G-d to keep the Jewish people strong and battle-hardened, ready to wage war against the many evils in this world. Not only do they keep us physically strong, but also spiritually. The current conflict forces us to appreciate our land and see how necessary every part of it is.
We are beginning to realize that all of Israel is ours and that every inch of it that we give up (G-d forbid) will come back to hurt us, just as the “Disengagement from Gaza” in 2005 and the hurried withdrawal from Southern Lebanon in 2000 both have done. The Redemption is on its way and with every terrible deal we make, the further away it becomes. We are living in Messianic times and we must act like it. If G-d decreed us to possess the land, we must listen.
Hopefully we can learn to understand that the Arabs are not our main enemies. The Arab’s role today is the same as the Canaanite’s. To test us and help us develop into a physically and spiritually strong influence on the world. A nation with the capability to wage the wars of Moshiach Ben David, build the Third Temple and bring peace to the world.
As I get ready to join the IDF, I am trying to remember that the challenges we face are not just random—they are part of something much larger. Just like in the time of the Judges, Shoftim, we are being tested so we can grow stronger. I hope to carry that mindset with me as I serve.
