Dvarim: Shared decisions

In Cancer  Medicine, we have a concept of "Shared Decision." A shared decision arises when the doctor cannot make a clear recommendation for a course of action.  Treating bacterial pneumonia with antibiotics is not  a shared  decision. It is virtually certain that the appropriate antibiotics will help the patient and the probability of harm is very small. Taking toxic chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer is (supposed to be) a shared decision.  The chance that it will prolong life are well under 50% and the chance that it will have unpleasant side effects approaches or exceeds 50% . These decisions may be shared, but the votes are not equal. The doctor is guiding the conversation and comes with credentials that the patient is paying for. 

In Dvarim,  Moshe recalls important decisions that seem to be shared. The complex introduction to the chapter  is explicit

וָאֹמַ֣ר אֲלֵכֶ֔ם בָּעֵ֥ת הַהִ֖וא לֵאמֹ֑ר לֹא־אוּכַ֥ל לְבַדִּ֖י שְׂאֵ֥ת אֶתְכֶֽם׃ 

Thereupon I said to you, “I cannot bear the burden of you by myself.

A system of judges is established. Presumably, these judges also advised Moshe. 

When the nation approached the promised land, before the 40 years in the desert, Moshe characterizes the interaction as a request from the people: 

וַתִּקְרְב֣וּן אֵלַי֮ כֻּלְּכֶם֒ וַתֹּאמְר֗וּ נִשְׁלְחָ֤ה אֲנָשִׁים֙ לְפָנֵ֔ינוּ וְיַחְפְּרוּ־לָ֖נוּ אֶת־הָאָ֑רֶץ וְיָשִׁ֤בוּ אֹתָ֙נוּ֙ דָּבָ֔ר אֶת־הַדֶּ֙רֶךְ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נַעֲלֶה־בָּ֔הּ וְאֵת֙ הֶֽעָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָבֹ֖א אֲלֵיהֶֽן׃ 

Then all of you came to me and said, “Let us send agents ahead to reconnoiter the land for us and bring back word on the route we shall follow and the cities we shall come to.”  

Moshe admits that he endorsed the plan.

וַיִּיטַ֥ב בְּעֵינַ֖י הַדָּבָ֑ר וָאֶקַּ֤ח מִכֶּם֙ שְׁנֵ֣ים עָשָׂ֣ר אֲנָשִׁ֔ים אִ֥ישׁ אֶחָ֖ד לַשָּֽׁבֶט׃ 

I approved of the plan, and so I selected twelve of you, one representative from each tribe.

This was a shared decision. It appeared to be a wise and prudent idea. There was a plan for conquest.  Tactics and strategy would be employed.  The armies  needed information to make the most effective plans. 

 The consequences of that decision were disastrous. The spies told truths about what they had seen: fortified cities, strong champions, a dug-in population. The probability of victory by the Israelites was small.  The nation heard these practical truths and cried. The Powers (through Moshe) was telling them to enter into a hopeless battle. Hearing their despair, Gd declared that they would not conquer the land... now. That generation would die in the wilderness and their children would conquer the land. 

Gd knew that people were terrified of war. When the Exodus is described in Beshalach:

וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁלַּ֣ח פַּרְעֹה֮ אֶת־הָעָם֒ וְלֹא־נָחָ֣ם אֱ

 דֶּ֚רֶךְ אֶ֣רֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים כִּ֥י קָר֖וֹב ה֑וּא כִּ֣י ׀ אָמַ֣ר אֱ

 פֶּֽן־יִנָּחֵ֥ם הָעָ֛ם בִּרְאֹתָ֥ם מִלְחָמָ֖ה וְשָׁ֥בוּ מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃ 

Now when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearer; for God said, “The people may have a change of heart when they see war, and return to Egypt.”

The Israelites had been supported by miracles, they had been guided by a cloud and a pillar of fire.  The decision to send the spies was a practical human decision, an abandonment of the miracle-guidance. The reaction to the spies' report  meant that future events  would take place in a miracle-free world.  Human action, predictable forces, laws of probability would determine outcomes. They would not follow the order to ascend to the Promised Land because it violated their world-view.   

The contrite nation proved the truth of their logical conclusion. They attempted to enter the land, after Gd had forbidden it to them.  They were sorely defeated by the Amorites

Timothy Snyder (in Black Earth)  proposes that Hitler waged his war based on the belief that the earth's resources could not sustain the growing population. He would assure that the German people survived while others starved.  The supply of fertilizer was limiting and running out. The invention of fertilizer synthesized from air, creating a (near) limitless supply  of organic nitrogen (the invention of Fritz Haber, his own chief chemist) did not enter his world view. Limited vision can be very costly. 

The chapter goes on to describe attempts to reach the land  by passing through the lands of Esau and Moab. These (privileged) tribes refused to allow the Israelites passage. We are reminded that these peoples had conquered lands once held by Titans. Their successful replacement of the  Aymim (by Moab) and the Chorim ( by Esau)  indicated the possibility of victory over a strong nation of giants.  Those colonizations  rationalize the acts that Israel is now told to do: displace indigenous peoples. 

The Promised Land that is conquered in this chapter  has (recently?) been taken from the last conquistador.  Sichon had acquired his rule over Cheshvon  by victory over the Moabites.  ( Numbers 21;26)

כִּ֣י חֶשְׁבּ֔וֹן עִ֗יר סִיחֹ֛ן מֶ֥לֶךְ הָאֱמֹרִ֖י הִ֑וא וְה֣וּא נִלְחַ֗ם בְּמֶ֤לֶךְ מוֹאָב֙ הָֽרִאשׁ֔וֹן וַיִּקַּ֧ח אֶת־כׇּל־אַרְצ֛וֹ מִיָּד֖וֹ עַד־אַרְנֹֽן׃ 

Now Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against a former king of Moab and taken all his land from him as far as the Arnon.

Thus, when Moses sends messengers to Sichon, asking to cross his territory, and reminds him of Israel's behavior with Esau and Maob, perhaps he was pointing out the distinction. Sichon had usurped power from Moab. Attacking  Cheshvon was  an act of liberation as well as conquest. When Sichon was offered a peaceful solution (allowing the Israelites to pass), he responded by amassing his troops and declaring war. That is how the conquest began. 

I have come to believe that our decisions do not change history. Human world view is too narrow for that. Our decisions determine our place in history; and no one, not even Moses, is right all the time.