ויגר מואב מפני העם מאד
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…