Torture and violence are not the answer: A d'var torah on Shelah-Lekha

D’var Torah on Shelah-Lekha

June 2010

by Abby Cohen

Rabbinical Student

Jewish Theological Seminary of America

In Shelah-Lekha (Numbers 13-15), the Jews are wandering in the wilderness on their way to the land of Israel. At God’s instruction, Moses sends a dozen “spies” to scout out the land and report back. Moses wants to know about the land: is it good or bad? How is the soil? What grows there? What about the inhabitants: Are they strong or weak, few or many? How fortified are their cities? 

After forty days, the spies return and describe a fertile land flowing with milk and honey. The inhabitants, however, are reported to be giants, and the cities are heavily fortified. Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, are confident that the Israelites can conquer the land. The other ten spies, however, declare that the inhabitants are stronger than the Israelites, and predict that the land will “devour” them. Hearing this, the people become utterly discouraged. They complain to Moses and whine that they never should have left Egypt.

Seeing the people’s lack of faith, God is enraged and wants to kill all the Israelites and make Moses the sole progenitor of the Jewish people. “I will strike them with pestilence and disown them, and make of you a nation far more numerous than they.” (Numbers 14:12)

Moses argues with God on behalf of the people. Moses reminds God of God’s promise to bring the Israelites into the land. If they fail to conquer the land, it will reflect poorly on God, making God look weak rather than strong. Moses tells God, “If …you slay this people to a man, the nations who have heard Your fame will say, ‘It must be because the Lord was powerless to bring the people into the land He had promised them’.” (Numbers 14:15-16) Moses persuades God that it is better to demonstrate “great forbearance” than violent destruction. God’s power will be more evident to the world when God treats the people with tolerance and leads them into the promised land rather than lashing out in anger.

Moses points out that inflicting violence on the Israelites would make God appear weak, not powerful. The people became fearful when they heard that the land harbored terrifying giants and highly fortified cities. At their moment of fear, they needed not to be annihilated, but to be led. Moses reminds God not to throw aside the Jewish people in anger and haste, but to exercise restraint.

Great nations, too, are tempted to resort to violence in a misguided effort to show their strength. Governments, agencies and individuals who continue to practice and advocate torture perpetuate their own people’s feelings of fear and helplessness.  So-called leaders who encourage these fears are not leading at all; their attitude makes them weak, rather than strong.

In February, 2009, former Vice President Dick Cheney said:  “If it hadn’t been for what we did—with respect to the…enhanced interrogation techniques for high-value detainees…—then we would have been attacked again.”

Neither Mr. Cheney nor anyone else, however, has presented any real evidence that torture has kept us safe. On the contrary, FBI Director Robert Mueller was asked whether so far as he is aware, any attacks on America have been disrupted thanks to intelligence obtained through what the administration still calls ‘enhanced techniques’. He responded: ”I’m really reluctant to answer that.” He paused, looked at an aide, and then said quietly, declining to elaborate: “I don’t believe that has been the case.” 

FBI Special Agent Jack Cloonan testified to Congress on June 10, 2008:  

“It is my belief, based on a 27 year career as a Special Agent and interviews with hundreds of subjects in custodial settings, including members of al Qaeda, that the use of coercive interrogation techniques is not effective. The alternative approach, sometimes referred to as ‘rapport building’ is more effective, efficient and reliable.”

If we throw aside our values and resort to torture in the belief that it will keep us “safe”, we act out of weakness. Moses convinced God to exercise restraint, and to demonstrate true power by remaining true to God’s ideals and promises. Our leaders today must learn that abusing weak and helpless prisoners severely compromises our ideals and diminishes rather than enhances our power.

June is Torture Awareness Month. We must challenge our government and its agencies to exercise restraint, tolerance and humanity in its treatment of all prisoners. Moses acted bravely and spoke out in God’s presence and Moses prevailed. If Moses can challenge God to act with compassion rather than violence, we, too must demand an end to the practice of torture everywhere. We cannot remain silent on this issue.

Quotation sources: “The Red Cross Torture Report: What It Means”, Mark Danner, New York Review of Books, April 30, 2009;

“Why Bush’s Enhanced Interrogation Program Failed”, www.thinkprogress.org

A compelling collection of essays on the subject of torture can be found at http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2008/0801.torture.pdf