Kommentar zu Schemot 17:12

וידי משה כבדים BUT MOSES HANDS BECAME HEAVY — Because he had shown himself remiss in the duty that was his, of waging war himself against Amalek, and had appointed another in his stead, his hands became heavy (cf. (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 17:12:1).

AND HIS HANDS WERE ‘EMUNAH’. This means that they remained steadily uplifted. The usage of the word is similar to the expressions: ‘va’amanah’ (And a sure) ordinance concerning the singers, as every day required;⁴⁶⁵Nehemiah 11:23. And yet for all this we make ‘amanah’ (a sure) covenant,⁴⁶⁶Ibid., 10:1. meaning a provision “fixed” by covenant. Similarly, a peg fastened in a place ‘ne’eman’⁴⁶⁷Isaiah 22:23. means [sure and] strong.
By way of the Truth, [the mystic lore of the Cabala], Moses lifted his ten fingers to the height of heaven⁴⁶⁸See Proverbs 25:3. in order to allude to the ten emanations and to cleave firmly to Him Who fights for Israel.⁴⁶⁹Deuteronomy 3:22, For the Eternal your G-d, He it is that fighteth for you. Here is explained the matter of uplifting of hands during the blessing of the priests, and its secret.⁴⁷⁰By uplifting their ten fingers, which allude to the ten emanations, the priests point to the Most High One Whose beneficence is brought down through them to the world by the priestly benediction (L’vush Ha’orah explaining the Ricanti, who quotes the language of Ramban).

אמונה; keeping them steady. We find a parallel to this in Isaiah 22,23 ותקעתיו יתד במקום נאמן, ”I will fix him as a peg in a firm place.” Also in Psalms 100,5 and in Deuteronomy 28,59 we find aimilar syntax.

ויהי ידיו אמונה, “His hands ‘was’ steadfast.” Ibn Ezra explains the singular mode of ויהי instead of ויהיו as referring to each of Moses’ individual hands separately. Other commentators justify the singular mode by saying that Moses’ hands appeared to the onlookers as if they had been fused to be one single hand. Yet other commentators claim that the word אמונה refers to the faith displayed by the people. Still another commentator compares the expression to what we read in Meggilat Esther about Mordechai’s relationship to Esther, his niece. The text there is: ויהי אומן, “he had adopted her,” as if we were to say that someone supported someone else by carrying them on his hands.

ומזה אחד, “and from this (side) one.” This verse illustrates that when Moses spread out his hands toward heaven in prayer while he was on top of the hill, Aaron stood on his right and Chur on his left. When one raises one’s ten fingers one receives the power of divine support between these fingers. This is an example of what is called the קו האמצעי, by means of which the prophetic power sought by the supplicant is received via the Seraphim (angels) which are above him. [According to Remak (Rabbi Moshe Cordovero) this “line” is the central conduit of celestial input into the terrestrial world. Ed] We find elsewhere also that the deputy of the High Priest would be positioned on his right whereas the next lower ranking dignitary the אב בית דין would be positioned on his left (Yuma 37). Moses followed this pattern. Nonetheless, the infusion of celestial input occurs directly via the one who carries on the battle, i.e. Moses against the spiritual head of Amalek.

Moshe was. . . hands were with faithfulness. Rashi is answering the question: [If ויהי refers to Moshe’s hands] why did it not say ויהיו , [the plural form, rather than ויהי ]? Thus Rashi explains that ויהי refers to Moshe, not to his hands.

וידי משה כבדים “and Moses’ hands became heavy;” it was tiresome for Moses to have to stand all day long, as we know from verse 9 where he announced that on the following day he would take up a position on the top of the hill, and it would be difficult for him to keep his hands lifted upwards all day long. Aaron and Chur provided a stone for Moses to sit on; and they supported his arms from either side so that he could keep holding his staff aloft. All of this was necessary in order that the people would not become demoralised. The expression: אמונה, describes anything that does not weaken or decrease in size when remaining in the same position for a long time, such as from morning to evening. An example of the meaning of אמונה what we described are found in Isaiah 22,23: ותקעתיו יתד במקום נאמן, “I will fix him as a peg in a firm place.” There are numerous other examples of this kind. Moses’ doing this enabled Joshua to weaken the Amalekites and their troops. Once the Torah writes of ידו, “his hand”, singular mode, and another time it writes ידיו, “his hands,” plural mode. At the beginning of the battle Moses raised only one of his hands, while lowering his second hand; eventually both of his hands had become too heavy for him to keep aloft without someone supporting them. In the Midrash quoted in Torah shleymah item 94, in the name of several well known commentators, none of whom have revealed the name of that Midrash, we find the following interpretation of the words in this paragraph: the word אמונה, is a reminder of Avraham who had been complimented by G-d on his emunah, “faith,” already in Genesis chapter 15. When Moses’ prayer on behalf of his people embattled against Amalek had not elicited a response from Hashem, he appealed to the forefather Avraham to join his plea. The words: עד בא, are a hint that he similarly turned to the Jewish people’s forefather Yitzchok, of whom we read that he had returned from prayer at the well where Hagar’s prayer had been answered. (Genesis 24,62). The words: עד בוא השמש, are a reminder of our forefather Yaakov who had prematurely spent a night at Luz where he had his first prophetic revelation in the dream with the ladder. (Genesis 28,11 כי בא השמש). Moses called on the combined merits of all three forefathers to reinforce his prayer. Our author quotes from Genesis 49,22 and Samuel I4,15, as well as from Joshua 20,9, that the word אמונה applied here to both of Moses’ hands, is a legitimate mode of the feminine mode corresponding to the masculine plural mode of the word אמונים.

ויקחו AND THEY TOOK — Aaron and Hur took —

אמונה, ”steadfast.” As in Nechemyah 10,1 אנחנו כרתים אמונה, “we make this pledge, etc.” This matter will endure. Some commentators view the word אמונה here as a promise to Israel that they would emerge victorious. Others view the words as derived from אומן in the sense of the artist who possesses special skills, able to perform tasks others are unable to perform as they are not as gifted with skill and imagination. Moses excelled in both spheres. According to the Midrash, the word refers to Moses invoking the merit of the patriarchs who, thanks to their abiding faith in G’d, had left us a heritage of merits that we can call on when the situation demands it. The term והאמין בה'appears first in connection with Avraham in Genesis 15, “He had abiding faith in the G’d Who promised that his children would inherit the land of Canaan at a time when Avraham did not even have any children yet.”

Faithful and well-intended prayer. [ תפלה נכונה ] means: focused prayer. [Maharshal]

אבן וישימו תחתיו A STONE AND THEY PUT IT UNDER HIM [AND HE SAT THEREON] — but he did not seat himself upon a cushion or a pillow, for he said, “Israel is in tribulation; I will be in tribulation together with them”. (Taanit 11a).

ויהי ידיו אמונה (lit., and he was, his hands faithfulness) — and Moses was in the condition that his hands were in faithfulness — spread forth to heaven in a confident and firm prayer.

עד בא השמש UNTIL THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN — Because the Amalekites had calculated the hours by astrology, as to which hour they would prove victorious, Moses held back the sun against them and brought the hours into confusion (Midrash Tanchuma, Beshalach 28).