THEMES of Featured Mystical Classics Articles

Kabbalah teaches that victory is guaranteed when one's soldiers are righteous.

From the Ohr HaChaim commentary by Rabbi Chaim (ben Moshe) ibn Attar

"Separate [moblize] from amongst you men...and they will be against Midian."

According to the Midrash, these men were all righteous. Moses had to mobilize the kind of soldiers who had not indulged in sinful thoughts of illicit sex. Only those who knew that they could qualify under this heading would be considered for the contingent of 1,000 per tribe.

The Final Mission

Moses could not die peacefully until he had rehabilitated himself by organizing the punitive expedition against Midian.

Translated and annotated by Rahmiel-Hayyim Drizin from PaRDeS HaBahir

The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that the war against the seven Canaanite nations alludes to the battle of refining one's undesirable traits stemming from the seven emotional faculties of the animal soul.

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Resting in Peace

The soul of the murdered must be appeased.

From Shenei Luchot HaBrit by Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz

The act of murder is viewed as if the murderer had also severed the life of the soul in the celestial regions from its "body" in those regions. Although such separation would have occurred sooner or later by the natural death of the victim, the murderer is punished for having brought this about prematurely and his own soul will not find its resting place until the murder has been avenged.