Chasidut zu Jehoschua 10:11
וַיְהִ֞י בְּנֻסָ֣ם ׀ מִפְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל הֵ֞ם בְּמוֹרַ֤ד בֵּית־חוֹרֹן֙ וַֽיהוָ֡ה הִשְׁלִ֣יךְ עֲלֵיהֶם֩ אֲבָנִ֨ים גְּדֹל֧וֹת מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֛יִם עַד־עֲזֵקָ֖ה וַיָּמֻ֑תוּ רַבִּ֗ים אֲשֶׁר־מֵ֙תוּ֙ בְּאַבְנֵ֣י הַבָּרָ֔ד מֵאֲשֶׁ֥ר הָרְג֛וּ בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בֶּחָֽרֶב׃ (ס)
Und als sie vor Israel flohen — sie waren am Abhange von Bet-Horon — da warf der Herr auf sie große Steine vom Himmel, bis Aseka, dass sie starben. Mehr waren derer, die durch die Hagelsteine starben, als welche die Kinder Israel getötet durch das Schwert.
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 17,16.“for as long as a hand is raised against the throne of G’d, Hashem will continue to wage war against Amalek.” We need to understand why the “war” against Amalek is so extraordinarily difficult and long drawn out for G’d, Who could create the universe with merely 10 verbal directives. This question is also posed by the author of the Zohar, when reflecting on the ongoing struggle, מדור ודור, “from generation to generation. (Zohar II 133)
It appears to me that without a doubt the Creator Who had created all the various universes could have disposed of Amalek with a single breath of His mouth. This is especially so, in light of what G’d had already demonstrated at the sea of reeds, when He drowned a far mightier army than was at the disposal of Amalek, in a single hour. The point we must consider is that G’d at all times- even when apparently acting destructively- does in fact act for the good of mankind. The Ari z’al stresses this already in his commentary on Exodus 3,10 when G’d first appointed Moses by saying to him: לכה ואשלחך אל פרעה והוצא את עמי בני ישראל ממצרים, “come, I will send you to Pharaoh and you shall free My people the Children of Israel from Egypt.” It is clear from this wording that G’d had hoped to accomplish the Exodus without having to impose judgments on Pharaoh and his people. It is simply not in the nature of G’d to inflict harm even on the gentile peoples of the world, if His purpose can be achieved by avoiding this.
If it becomes necessary to perform miracles which at the same time afflict the people who made these miracles necessary so that they suffer from them, it is because G’d sees ultimate good in these very afflictions that He decrees on the victims. The author refers to an article of his on the general subject of miracles where he dealt with this subject.
One of the “good results” from such miracles is the fact that some of the people who are the victims will choose of their own free will to convert to Judaism and to become servants of the only G’d. In the case of Amalek, in spite of this people having witnessed the miracles which had so profoundly impressed all the other nations, no such positive outcome as people converting to Judaism resulted. On the contrary, as Rashi had described, the Amalekites decided to put an end to such “repentance movements” among the idolaters by even risking suicide to show that G’d was not invincible and could be opposed. By doing so they threw down a gauntlet to the Creator by daring Him to destroy them immediately and thereby becoming known as a G’d Who was overly cruel to a nation that had not even harmed His people for hundreds of years as had the Egyptians, who had survived, except for their army. [Some of the words are my own, but they reflect the tenor of the words of the author. Ed.]
Amalek’s conduct had shown that regardless of how many more miracles G’d would perform, this would not result in at least some of these people realizing the error of their ways and converting to monotheism after repenting. G’d’s only recourse then was to make the judgment of Amalek look like His avenging Himself. The problem with this was that it would reflect negatively on G’d’s image as the Merciful One.
The Ari’zal also writes that when G’d does decide to apply His judgments to such sinners as a form of revenge, He does not do so in a manner that directly involves any of His attributes. He entrusts this tasks to messengers, so that in this instance the first stage was waging war on the battlefield. “War” is always perceived as an action initiated by human beings, not by G’d. This war was to be fought without G’d directly intervening in its outcome, or raining down a hail of stones as in the war for the capture of the land of the Canaanites. (Joshua 10,11) When G’d tells Moses in verse 14 כי מחה אמחה את זכר עמלק “for I will utterly destroy any remembrance of Amalek,” the word מחה has been repeated to tell us that memory of Amalek will not only be wiped out in the lower part of the universe, the area inhabited by man, but also in the celestial regions there will not remain any residue of that nation. This absolute destruction is not found with any other nation concerning which the prophets in the Bible predict disaster at one time or another. Among all the other nations Divine judgments had resulted in some positive developments, so that their continued existence in one form or another could be justified.
We have mentioned earlier that when G’d performs overt miracles His 4-lettered name י-ה-ו-ה is involved, whereas here the Torah makes a point of describing Amalek’s provocation as aimed at the throne of י-ה, i.e. not at the tetragram, as that name of G’d had not become involved with the fate of that nation. The word יד in that verse, as always when it appears in connection with G’d is an allusion to G’d’s loving kindness. The word כס describes the Divine chariot, or “throne.” While G’d is involved in the ongoing war against Amalek, מלחמה, His attribute of חסד remains totally uninvolved.
It appears to me that without a doubt the Creator Who had created all the various universes could have disposed of Amalek with a single breath of His mouth. This is especially so, in light of what G’d had already demonstrated at the sea of reeds, when He drowned a far mightier army than was at the disposal of Amalek, in a single hour. The point we must consider is that G’d at all times- even when apparently acting destructively- does in fact act for the good of mankind. The Ari z’al stresses this already in his commentary on Exodus 3,10 when G’d first appointed Moses by saying to him: לכה ואשלחך אל פרעה והוצא את עמי בני ישראל ממצרים, “come, I will send you to Pharaoh and you shall free My people the Children of Israel from Egypt.” It is clear from this wording that G’d had hoped to accomplish the Exodus without having to impose judgments on Pharaoh and his people. It is simply not in the nature of G’d to inflict harm even on the gentile peoples of the world, if His purpose can be achieved by avoiding this.
If it becomes necessary to perform miracles which at the same time afflict the people who made these miracles necessary so that they suffer from them, it is because G’d sees ultimate good in these very afflictions that He decrees on the victims. The author refers to an article of his on the general subject of miracles where he dealt with this subject.
One of the “good results” from such miracles is the fact that some of the people who are the victims will choose of their own free will to convert to Judaism and to become servants of the only G’d. In the case of Amalek, in spite of this people having witnessed the miracles which had so profoundly impressed all the other nations, no such positive outcome as people converting to Judaism resulted. On the contrary, as Rashi had described, the Amalekites decided to put an end to such “repentance movements” among the idolaters by even risking suicide to show that G’d was not invincible and could be opposed. By doing so they threw down a gauntlet to the Creator by daring Him to destroy them immediately and thereby becoming known as a G’d Who was overly cruel to a nation that had not even harmed His people for hundreds of years as had the Egyptians, who had survived, except for their army. [Some of the words are my own, but they reflect the tenor of the words of the author. Ed.]
Amalek’s conduct had shown that regardless of how many more miracles G’d would perform, this would not result in at least some of these people realizing the error of their ways and converting to monotheism after repenting. G’d’s only recourse then was to make the judgment of Amalek look like His avenging Himself. The problem with this was that it would reflect negatively on G’d’s image as the Merciful One.
The Ari’zal also writes that when G’d does decide to apply His judgments to such sinners as a form of revenge, He does not do so in a manner that directly involves any of His attributes. He entrusts this tasks to messengers, so that in this instance the first stage was waging war on the battlefield. “War” is always perceived as an action initiated by human beings, not by G’d. This war was to be fought without G’d directly intervening in its outcome, or raining down a hail of stones as in the war for the capture of the land of the Canaanites. (Joshua 10,11) When G’d tells Moses in verse 14 כי מחה אמחה את זכר עמלק “for I will utterly destroy any remembrance of Amalek,” the word מחה has been repeated to tell us that memory of Amalek will not only be wiped out in the lower part of the universe, the area inhabited by man, but also in the celestial regions there will not remain any residue of that nation. This absolute destruction is not found with any other nation concerning which the prophets in the Bible predict disaster at one time or another. Among all the other nations Divine judgments had resulted in some positive developments, so that their continued existence in one form or another could be justified.
We have mentioned earlier that when G’d performs overt miracles His 4-lettered name י-ה-ו-ה is involved, whereas here the Torah makes a point of describing Amalek’s provocation as aimed at the throne of י-ה, i.e. not at the tetragram, as that name of G’d had not become involved with the fate of that nation. The word יד in that verse, as always when it appears in connection with G’d is an allusion to G’d’s loving kindness. The word כס describes the Divine chariot, or “throne.” While G’d is involved in the ongoing war against Amalek, מלחמה, His attribute of חסד remains totally uninvolved.
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