Dear Rav Mordecai,
I heard recently in a Shiur the claim that Bnei Yisrael weren't supposed to receive Ever HaYarden until we were attacked by Sichon.
I thought of a Netziv in Matos who writes that if it were not for the request of Bnei Gad and Bnei Reuven, there would be 12 portions on each side of the Yarden, one on this side for the people, and one on the other side for the sheep and cattle (an "industrial zone").
Also Rashi in Parshas Shoftim (18:2) writes that Sichon and Og are the Kena'ani and Emori, promised to Avraham.
Have you ever heard of the Shitah mentioned by that Magid Shiur?
BiVirkas haTorah,
Ya'akov Tavin
Shalom u'Verachah, Rav Ya'akov shlit'a! It is wonderful to hear from you!
1) I think this might be the Shitah of the Ramban in Parshas Chukas (Bamidbar 21:21), where the Pasuk says that Moshe Rabeinu sent messengers to Sichon to make peace. The Ramban writes that the land of Sichon and Og was the inheritance of Yisrael. If Sichon would have wanted peace, his nation would have worked for Am Yisrael and paid a tributary. Moshe knew that Yisrael would not now conquer all ten nations and he wanted the entire people to be together on the western side of the Yarden, which is the "good land flowing with milk and honey." The Ramban writes that if Bnei Gad and Bnei Reuven would not have asked for the eastern side of the Yarden, Moshe Rabeinu would have not settled anyone there but would have left it desolate.
2) I think that we do not have to say that the Ramban disagrees with Rashi in Parshas Shoftim (Devarim 18:2), who says that Sichon and Og are Emori and Kena'ani. We can say that if Sichon and Og would have made peace they would have remained living in this land even though it was an inheritance for Yisrael.
Dovid Bloom