לך לך- The Zechut of a good deed

Perashat Huqat discusses several battles in which Bene Yisrael engaged with enemies including Amalek and Sihon. Prior to their battle with Og, king of Bashan, Hashem said to Moshe, “Do not fear him, for into your hand I have given him…” (21:34). However, the passuk does not mention what it was that Moshe was afraid of.

When reading this weeks Perasha you might notice a mention of the “Fugitive,” "Ha Palit," who came to inform Avraham that Lot had been captured. Rashi tells us that this fugitive is none other than Og, king of Bashan, the same king who would later go to battle against Moshe is said here to have done a good deed towards Avraham. Moshe was afraid that in this zechut, Og would prevail in his battle against Bene Yisrael.

Although at first glance it seems as if Og is doing a favor for Avraham by informing him of Lot’s capture, in reality, Og only informed Avraham so that Avraham would be killed when saving Lot and he, Og, could marry Sarah. Why then was Moshe afraid? We can learn a valuable lesson from Moshe about the value of a good deed. Og’s actions should not earn him any zechut whatsoever! Despite this, Moshe still feared that the minimal zechut that Og may have for his good action would result Og’s triumph.

Every missva we do, big and small, can earn us the zechut that will protect us in our time of need. As the mishna in Pirke Avot says, “Be as meticulous in performing a minor missva as in a major one, for you do not know the reward given for the missvot,” (2:1). We never know which of our actions or missvot will earn us the zechut we need for our tephilot to be answered. May the zechut of all our actions bring the mashiah bimhera beyamenu.