Were the Moavites really afraid that the Jews would overrun them? Does the Torah not exhort us, “You shall not distress Moav, and you shall not provoke war with them” (Devarim 2:9). Certainly, explains the Chasam Sofer, Moav was acutely aware that the Jews on their own would not harass them and surely not contend militarily with them. What did they fear? It was the Am, “the People” – the eirev rav, mixed multitude, who tagged along with the nation, claiming they wanted to join. It was this same eirev rav that catalyzed the Golden Calf, and it has been the eirev rav, throughout every generation, that seeks to bend the rules with their “innovative” interpretation of the Torah (all in the name of Orthodoxy, of course) that has been a thorn to our collective nation. Moav feared the eirev rav would provoke a war with them.
although the original eirev rav was comprised of Egyptians who feigned conversion, the term has often been used metaphorically to describe individuals or groups within the Jewish community who undermine its values, promote division, or pursue self-serving agendas, while outwardly identifying as part of the collective.
The struggle against internal spiritual challenges can, at times, feel as painful as external threats of destruction. At the end of the day, they are brothers whose misguided philosophies, exacerbated by their physical weaknesses, have placed them on a collision course with normative Torah oriented Judaism. Our most effective response to this outrage is to elevate and strengthen our own commitment to Torah and mitzvos. By uplifting ourselves, we will have a positive effect on those whose spiritual GPS’s are apparently defective.
