<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"><FONT
id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>R' Chaim Manaster wrote:<BR>>>In parshas Matos I noticed a vort
in Torah Lodas from the Panim Yafos<BR>that does clair such shailos. The
Yalkut on Vayitzbu al Midyan ... They<BR>surrounded them on four sides. R.
Nosson says they left the fourth side<BR>open "kedai sheyivrechu," so that
they c[s]hould run away. He asks why<BR>should R. Nosson allow them to get
away? [gave a long answer]<<</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2> </DIV></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>R'n TK responded:</DIV></DIV>
<DIV>.</DIV>
<DIV>Please excuse me if I'm saying something so obvious that of /course/ you
already knew this, but -- the pshat is, if you don't allow a defeated enemy an
escape route, you corner him and force him to fight to the death -- thus
leading to unnecessary deaths among your own men.</DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10">
<DIV><BR><B><BR>--Toby Katz<BR>============</B></DIV><FONT color=#000000>
<P><STRONG>
<HR>
</STRONG>
<P></P>
<P><STRONG>CM responds:</STRONG></P>
<P>Sure, but that was not my point. My point was the "[gave a long answer]"
that you seem to have ignored.</P>
<P>BTW, there is an equally obvious alternative to the reason you regard as
pashut. First let me say that the reason you give is explicit in the Torah
Temimah on this pasuk. However, if you look in the Rambam who paskans like R.
Nosson in H. Melochim P6H7, you will find the Radvaz who takes a different
tack in explanation. He asserts that the the reason is "vekol zeh midarkai
hatorah asher kol nisivoseha shalom"</P>
<P>Furthermore, the Tana Kama who argues with R. Nosson, holds that you do
surround the enemy on all four sides not withstanding the logic you
propose.</P>
<P>KolTuv</P>
<P>Chaim Manaster</P>
<P> </P></FONT></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>