The Torah verses convey profound messages that we can insightfully extract for our daily lives. Rabbi Shay Tahan, the Rosh Kollel of Shaarei Ezra in Brooklyn, NY, graciously opens the gates to understand them.
When Moshe Rabenu was ready to descend from Har Sinai to the nation, he met Yehoshua on the way. Suddenly, they heard the sound of people shouting. Yehoshua turned to Moshe and said, "This is the sound of battle in the camp." Although the sound was actually the people celebrating around the Egel HaZahav, Yehoshua mistook it for the cheering of people who had just won a battle(רש״י- שהיו מריעים ושמחים וצוחקים) .
Upon hearing this from Yehoshua, Moshe was taken aback and rebuked him, saying(ירושלמי תענית פ״ד ה״ה) , "How will you lead the people after me if you cannot differentiate between sounds? This isn't the sound of people cheering for victory or people screaming from a lost battle. It is a distressing sound of people committing various sins(רש״י) ."
Moshe knew that this wasn't the sound of a battle because he had godly knowledge and was equipped with all the knowledge of the world(רמב״ן) . This raises a couple of questions. Firstly, the sound of people cheering for victory and people crying for defeat is very different. So why couldn't Yehoshua tell the difference, and why did Moshe need godly knowledge to distinguish it?
If the sound was distant and faint, which is why Yehoshua couldn't discern it, then why did Moshe rebuke him? If it was too far away to tell the difference, why correct Yehoshua at all? Additionally, Yehoshua only perceived it as the sound of people cheering and not crying for defeat(רש״י) . So why did Moshe tell him it wasn't a sound of winning or defeat, especially when Yehoshua didn't think it was a sound of defeat?
Here we come to a profound understanding of psychological warfare that we are very familiar with in today's era. In the war of Israel against their enemies, even if Israel completely destroys them in every aspect, leaving them totally defeated, on the day the war ends, the few enemies who are left may come out to the streets celebrating their "victory." This can leave you scratching your head, wondering what type of victory this could be. Regardless of the actual results of the war, we often see this as the final result.
Of course, they weren't victorious in any way, but in order to keep going on and to elevate their shattered honor, they feel the need to celebrate. This is a fascinating aspect of human psychology, where even in the face of defeat, the need to save face and maintain a sense of pride can lead to actions that seem paradoxical to an outside observer.
This seems to be what is going on in the conversation between Moshe and Yehoshua. As the sound emerged, it was one of cheering and happiness. Yehoshua says he hears the sound of people celebrating victory, but Moshe tells him he is wrong. It's not a sound of people celebrating victory or being defeated, but rather making a belief that they are victorious. Instead, it's a sound of people sinning.
This also explains what the Gemara says, that Moshe had the godly knowledge of recognizing the different types of sounds. Since the people who bitterly lost a war were expressing the same happiness as if they had won, it was hard to tell the difference.
This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel