Pensée juive sur Les Nombres 33:55

The Midrash quoted by Rashi on the verse is well known. (3) When the Torah admonishes in Ki Teytze "remember what Amalek did to you," that warning is a reminder of the conditions under which an Amalek feels encouraged to pounce upon Israel. Israel's own conduct is a provocation . When Joshua is told to choose anashim, i.e. tzaddikim, this is to serve as evidence that there are people amongst Israel who by dint of their lifestyle can face an Amalek without fear, secure in the knowledge that they can count on G-d’s support. Moses assured Joshua that on the morrow he would add the power of prayer to that of the courage of the tzaddikim (5) The visible evidence of Moses’s hands raised in prayer was a psychological prop to the warriors engaged in battle. When Moses’s hands were resting, due to fatigue, this prop was absent inducing fear amongst the Israelites, thus giving Amalek the advantage. Moses’s own physical strength was affected by the knowledge of the weakness of Israel's moral case, as demonstrated by their most recent behaviour. (4+6) Therefore Moses was in need of a physical prop to convey the illusion of superhuman strength and endurance. Viewing Moses’s posture, the Israelites realised that only Moses’s prayer ensured their ascendancy at that particular moment in history. The Talmud Rosh Hashanah 29, compares this happening to the incident with the copper snake, which had the power to heal when the Israelites looked at it. (Numbers 21,6-10) That look also symbolised one's faith in G-d and did not mean that the snake had any power at all. (7+8) For the reasons cited, Israel could not achieve more at that time than to weaken Amalek, not destroy it. This campaign could not be compared to the conquest of the Canaanite nations, since here the warriors had to rely on their own strength, though G-d assisted indirectly in order not to ignore Moses’s prayer. On the one hand G-d wanted to prove to Israel that they had been wrong in questioning His Presence; on the other hand, G-d wanted Israel to know that He was still angry at them. For that reason He commanded Moses to "write this in a book and tell Joshua." Only the latter was deemed worthy at that juncture to be told that the ongoing fight against Amalek was indeed G-d’s fight, and that He would not forsake Israel when the latter would come under attack by Amalek. (9) The revelation that Hashem Himself would in future destroy Amalek, warranted that Moses would build an altar which he named "G-d is My banner." This served as proof that G-d had approved the manner in which Moses had acted on his own when Amalek attacked. The very thing that G-d approved of was Moses’s taking the initiative. G-d was aware that if Israel would be left to its own devices, they would not complete the destruction of Amalek, just as they did not complete the destruction of the seven Canaanite nations despite G-d’s warning that leaving any of them alive or in the country, would prove a destabilising influence to Israel's society. (Numbers 33,55) It was Moses who proclaimed "for as long as there is a hand raised against the throne of G-d, He will be at war with Amalek." (Exodus 17,16) It was Moses’s conviction that the importance of wiping out Amalek warranted that G-d personally would continue to take an active part in such endeavours until they would be crowned with total success. This is the reason we read in Samuel I 15,30, after Saul's failure that "Israel's eternity will not be denied." The ultimate success does not depend on any particular leader of Israel who may or may not carry out G-d’s wishes wholeheartedly. (10) Although G-d commands Israel to wage this war of extermination against Amalek, He Himself will complete whatever has not been accomplished by Israel. This is also the meaning of Bileam's statement "Amalek is the first of the nations, therefore its end must be utter destruction." (Numbers 24,20.) When referring to "nations," Bileam means the first nation to rebel against G-d as a nation. Another reason may be that Amalek committed two wrongs 1) They disregarded the agreement made between their respective ancestors Jacob and Esau. 2) They attacked G-d’s chosen people at a particularly sensitive moment. In the words of the Midrash, Amalek put his hands on a scaldingly hot bathtub, meaning right after a clear demonstration of G-d’s power on behalf of Israel. Therefore, both G-d and Israel would share in the task of punishing Amalek. In Parshat Ki Teytze we read about Israel's part, whereas in Parshat Beshalach we read about G-d’s part. These two portions are complementary to one another. This brings us back to our opening Midrash. Once the Messiah will come, Israel will no longer display the usual human inadequacies, i.e. fulfilling G-d’s will only in part. At that time we will be granted G-d’s direct guidance, and will not have to be led by men, who, though G-d’s instruments, are chosen for their relative merit only. In those latter days the salvation will endure eternally, because intermediaries no longer need to be employed by G-d.

Apart from other motivations mentioned in connection with Moses' request to Sichon to allow passage through his land, the purpose of recording it here is to teach future generations that though the request was couched in imperious language, it was peaceful in content. Although G'ds instructions had been to make war, Moses offered Sichon peaceful means of avoiding war without impairing his sovereign existence. The major difference between the approach to Edom and that to Sichon was the use of the word "please" in the request to Edom. Reviewing the total defeat of Sichon and Og, is to underline that during the stewardship of Moses, and in accordance with G'ds promise to him, no remnant of these two nations was to be left. Israel inherited their land by right, there being no survivors who could lay claim to any part of those lands.

(1) When Moses had asked G'd to allow him to cross the Jordan, he wanted to make sure that the conquest of the West Bank would proceed along the same lines, eliminating all survivors who could pose a threat to the Jewish people in the future. (2+3) In Numbers 33,55-56, G'd had warned that His assistance would be predicated on the degree of absolute war Israel would wage against those inhabitants. Had Israel remained under the leadership of Moses after they crossed the Jordan, all the problems that developed later would not have occurred. His request then was not for his own sake, but for the sake of the people. He begged for a continued display of G'ds greatness, His strong hand, His unparalleled Power as displayed in the wars against Sichon and Og. (4) Since the people were not worthy of that degree of success, Moses could not be allowed to cross the Jordan, since G'd could not have denied Moses such a degree of success. However, only the physical crossing was denied Moses, not the view of the country. In order to placate me, Moses tells the people, Hashem told me to ascend the mountain and see the expanse of the land of Israel. Concerning the conquests, however, G'd instructed him to command Joshua, making it plain that Moses had asked for the role of leading the conquest of the land. Moses is told that he should do his utmost to prepare Joshua for his task. G'd would then fulfil what He had promised Moses after the episode of the golden calf, when Moses had stood in the crook of the rock and G'd had assured him "in view of the whole nation, I will perform miracles." In this, G'd had referred to the arrest of the sun and the moon in their respective orbits during the term of Joshua's leadership of the people, as well as other lesser miracles. The people's fear, that if G'd did not respond favourably to Moses' prayer, there would be no chance that He would respond to the likes of them, is put to rest by Moses. He points out that they have survived the anger of G'd on the occasion of the sin at Baal Peor, and that the merit of the multitude in any case is much stronger collectively than that of any individual, however great that individual. This was what had enabled them to survive at that time. Moses points out that their success and survival is not conditional on his physical presence in their midst, but rather lies in their observing the laws that Moses had been teaching them before his death. In the event they had failed to appreciate the connection between the life giving power of observing mitzvot, Moses points out that precisely those of whom it could be said "you who have cleaved to the Lord your G'd" are the ones who are alive and well today. (see commentary chapter 83) In contrast, when one person sins, he may have to pay for his transgression. This is why Moses' sin resulted in his having to die prior to entry into Eretz Yisrael. This was due partly to the fact that Moses' error had had repercussions on the people. "G'd was angry at me because of your words." Even though they were the cause of his error, his personal merit did not suffice to reverse the decree of death against him. At this point, Moses returns to making laudatory comments. He points out that the observance of the commandments by the whole people prior to the sin of Baal Peor was the merit that had enabled the majority of them to escape the fatal consequences of the avodah zarah, that their idol worship would otherwise have had. Only the closeness between you and your G'd that you had established by means of observing mitzvot, enables you to survive to this day." Reminding the Jewish people of the revelation at Mount Sinai, he recalls that at that time they had not seen any visible signs of the deity. Theirs was a different religion; they were not in need of visible symbols of G'd. Visible symbols serve as intermediaries, reduce the closeness, the direct line between man and his Creator. Therefore, apart from the fact that none of them wield independent power, they constitute a downgrading of hashgachah peratit, and in the case of the Jewish people are a form of idol worship. Other nations who have not been the beneficiaries of hashgachah peratit, G'ds direct guidance, may employ these celestial spheres to approach the Creator, but not Israel. It is Israel's function to enjoy the direct guidance of G'd. Moses contrasts the value of the multitude's merit when he says anochi meyt, I am about to die, with ve-attem ovrim, "yet you will cross the Jordan." This merit of the multitude is effective however, only against such sins as do not involve the breaching of G'ds covenant with the people. Since, in the case of the sin at Baal Peor, their idol worshipping had not been due to philosophical religious considerations, but had merely been the by product of the weakness of the flesh, the urge to commit immoral sexual acts with the daughters of Moab, that merit did protect most of them. For all these reasons, the uppermost requirement for survival of the nation is the maintenance of the closest possible relations with G'd. (5) The sequence commencing with the paragraph "when you will beget children" (4,25), describes the never ending loving concern of G'd for Israel as a whole. All the retributions listed in the paragraph serve only one purpose. Israel will be forced to throw itself on the mercy of their G'd for psychological reasons, will repent, hoping for forgiveness. The promise that in such an event forgiveness will be available, is to reassure Israel that they need never lose the special relationship established between them and their G'd during their stay in Egypt and the subsequent Exodus. All punishments will have as their aim what a father aims at when he punishes an errant child. The reassurance that lies in verses 31-40, answers the unspoken question of Israel that if G'd has seen fit to keep His people in exile close to two thousand years already, it is hard to believe that He will awaken one day and restore us to our former glory. Moses says that since G'd is an kel kanna eysh ochlah, a jealous G'd, consuming fire, one could have expected a swift and utter annihilation of the Jewish people once His patience had been exhausted. The reference to the Egyptian experience teaches that after two thousand years of human history G'd had established a special relationship with one people. That had been a first in the annals of mankind. The eventual redemption of the Jewish people, when it comes, will therefore be less astounding than their selection had been in the first place when it had taken place.