MATTOT – MAS’E: Tora and Human Sacrifices

Our Parasha tells us that when the people of Israel were about to enter the land of Canaan, the Torah warned them about a subtle and destructive danger: the naïve tolerance of pagan cultures and the mistake of allowing them to remain in the land.

The message was clear:

“…if you do not expel the inhabitants of the land when you settle in it, those you allow to remain will be like thorns in your eyes and like spikes in your sides, and they will cause you suffering in the land where you live.” (Bemidbar 33:55)

The Torah does not justify the expulsion of these nations because of abstract religious differences. The issue was that the peoples of Canaan had crossed an irreversible moral line. They practiced violence, human trafficking, ritual prostitution, and — especially — human sacrifice, including the immolation of their own children to their bloodthirsty idols.

In contrast, the Torah brought into the world an unprecedented ethical revolution. In a world where gods demanded human blood, the Torah proclaimed that serving God means helping others, elevating morality, and making sacrifices of all kinds — to preserve life! God taught Abraham Avinu that He does not want human sacrifices, but rather justice, compassion, and righteousness. From that moment on, Judaism became a beacon of morality in a world that applauded barbarism.

Is this message still relevant?

Unfortunately, yes. And it seems more than ever. Israel is surrounded by extremist ideologies that present themselves as monotheistic religions but act with the violence and immorality of the ancient pagan nations of Canaan. Hamas and other jihadist movements do not seek coexistence; their goal is genocide — the complete elimination of any Jewish presence from the “Islamic land,” as clearly demonstrated on October 7.

To achieve their goals, Hamas is willing to do anything: violence, lies, victimization, and especially their favorite weapon — human sacrifice.

HUNGER IN GAZA:

The lie of the international “hunger in Gaza” campaign is one example. According to official COGAT figures, from October 7, 2023 to July 2025, more than 520,000 tons of food, water, medicine, and humanitarian supplies have been transferred. This aid has been stolen by Hamas, who stockpile it and then sell it at exorbitant prices, taking advantage of their own civilians. Just two days ago, drone footage exposed thousands of aid trucks and containers parked inside Gaza, with food beginning to rot under the sun.

Why isn’t that food used to end hunger in Gaza? Because Hamas benefits from the narrative of hunger and has no problem letting its own people starve in the process.

They do not seek to alleviate suffering, but to create it, manipulate it, and export it as images for social media. Hamas films malnourished children in order to accuse Israel. The true cause of hunger in Gaza is not Israel. It is Hamas — and its pagan ideology of human sacrifice.

The entire world is calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Appeals for “peace” and to end the “intolerable” suffering of Palestinian children multiply every day. And with unprecedented cynicism, the media blames Israel for this tragedy. Very few dare to say the obvious: all this suffering could end tomorrow if Hamas simply returned the Israeli hostages —20 alive and 30 bodies— that it has held since October 7.

I believe there is no clearer proof than this: blaming Israel —instead of Hamas— for the war in Gaza exposes Hamas’ cynicism and the antisemitic complicity of the rest of the world. There is no greater contrast, and no clearer evidence of the difference between Israel and Hamas, than the fact that Hamas is willing to sacrifice tens of thousands of human lives for a strategic victory, while Israel is willing to sacrifice territory, strategic advantages, prisoners —whatever it takes— to save the life of even one of its hostages.

Hamas does not want a ceasefire because it needs to keep feeding its narrative of victimization. The world is complicit and refuses to see that Hamas sacrifices its own children and celebrates their deaths as if its god were thirsty for their blood. This is not resistance. It is violent paganism disguised as religion.

THE CHILDREN OF GAZA

Hamas has turned the children of Gaza into human shields. It fires rockets from schools, hospitals, and residential neighborhoods, knowing that when Israel responds, it will be accused of war crimes. It does not protect its population — it deliberately places them in harm’s way in order to later exploit the images of dead children as a propaganda tool.

Thousands of civilians, including children, have been sacrificed by Hamas — not by mistake, but by strategic decision and theological justification (jihad).

Hamas indoctrinates children from a young age. It teaches them to hate Jews, to glorify death, to self-immolate. It trains them to become suicide bombers. In its education system, martyrdom is the goal. Palestinian childhood has been corrupted and replaced with a cult of death. Hamas does not educate children to live — it teaches them to kill and to die.

And they have crossed the Rubicon. There is no turning back. There is no way to fix this culture.

The more children suffer or die, incredibly, the more sympathy Hamas gains from those who hate Israel — and the more rewards it reaps from the international community, such as France’s recent recognition of a Palestinian state.

There is no other nation on the planet that uses its own children as cannon fodder with such coldness and systematic perversion. No one else trains children to die as human explosives. This is the 21st-century version of human sacrifice — practiced only by Israel’s enemies.

Solution?

The Torah stated it with absolute clarity more than three thousand years ago: when a society crosses these lines, there is no cure, no salvation, no possibility of redemption:

“If you do not expel the inhabitants of the land… they will be like thorns in your eyes and like spikes in your sides.” (Bemidbar 33:55)

Today, just as in biblical times, the solution is not the utopia of coexistence, nor peace agreements with those who are willing to kill their own children for political gain.

The only realistic path to peace for Israel is to adopt the plan proposed by the Trump administration and other leaders with a similar biblical vision: voluntary —or incentivized— emigration of the Palestinian population from Gaza.

And if I may suggest a destination where Palestinians could live in peace, harmony, and feel at home — I believe the best option is Macron’s France.

Bienvenue à tous

SHABBAT SHALOM