Shabbat Table Topics – Parashat Shofetim/0/en
Shabbat Table Topics – Parashat Shofetim
Calling for Peace
Many modern readers wonder about the directive to annihilate the nations of Canaan. Was there really no possibility for peaceful co-existence? Medieval commentators also debated the issue, with Rashi maintaining that it was prohibited to call for peace and war was inevitable, and Radak claiming that the Israelites were obligated to offer terms of peace before waging war against the Canaanites.
- How would each side of the debate read the verses of Devarim 20? What other verses could support each position? How does the story of the Gibeonites' deceit in Sefer Yehoshua shed light on the issue?
- According to Rashi, the reason for the decree of obliteration is religious in nature, lest the nations sway Israel towards idolatry. Sometimes a zero-tolerance policy is necessary. Do you agree? In what circumstances are compromises not an option?
- According to Radak, what would have happened had the nations actually surrendered to Israel? Could the land have sustained both populations? How might the course of our history have changed? For more, see Calling for Peace in the Conquest of Canaan.
Determining Truth
We sometimes look back to the Biblical period and wonder how a nation who lived in a prophetic age and merited to hear the Divine word could still mess up so badly. With access to Hashem's will, and with prophets to tell you for certain what was right and wrong, was not being a good person be much easier? Why did the people so often not heed the prophetic instructions?
It is possible that part of the problem was determining who was a true or false prophet to begin with.
