במדבר

ועתה שבו נא בזה. במקום הזה. גם אתם הלילה. לכך נפרע הקב"ה ממואב בלילה (ישעיהו ט״ו:א׳) כי בליל שודד ער מואב נדמה כי בליל שודד קיר מואב נדמה, כנגד שתי לילות הללו שנשתלחו שלוחי מואב לבלעם, כך דרשו רז"ל.

ועתה שבו נא בזה, “and now, please stay here, etc.” The word בזה refers to “this place.” גם אתם הלילה, “also you, for the night.” [According to the cantillation there is a comma between “also you” and “night.” Ed.] Our sages claim that G’d punished Moav for this “night” which its emissaries spent with Bileam. They derive this from Isaiah 15,1 in which the prophet deals with G’d’s judgment of Moav. The prophet writes: “Ah, in the night Ar was sacked (a capital of Moav), Moav was ruined; Ah, in the night Kir was sacked, Moav was ruined.” The two nights which two delegations of Moav spent with Bileam attempting to get him to curse the Jewish people proved ultimately to boomerang on them. [This writer believes that the dropping of an atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the Americans also boomeranged, i.e. the men the U.S. lost in Korea and in Vietnam. Ed.].