Commentaire de citation sur Rois 1 18:3

Pour out your wrath on the nations (“Asher”) who/because they do not know you: At first glance the anger expressed in this passage against the other nations is hard to understand. Against whom and why do we ask God to, “pour out His wrath?” One might say that this statement applies to anyone who is not Jewish since the other nations do not truly know God nor do they share our faith. The key to understanding this passage lies in the word “asher.” This word can be translated in a variety of different ways with different meanings. It can mean that God should pour out His wrath on those nations who don’t know him or it can mean God should pour His wrath out on all the nations because they - all of them - do not know God. Yet how can the other nations of the world be held responsible for not knowing God since they were not blessed with this gift? A similar issue is raised in a Midrash associated with the story of the Israel’s war against the nation of Amalek in the Book of Exodus, Chapter 17. Upon leaving Egypt and crossing the Red Sea, Israel was attacked by the Amalekites in a series of raids aimed at Israel’s weakest members. Moses commanded Joshua to destroy Amalek. Why this severe judgment, the Midrash wonders? In Deuteronomy, Chapter 25:18 we are told that Amalek “Did not fear the Lord.” Moses said to Joshua who was a descendant of Joseph, “Your ancestor Joseph feared God. So you must now destroy the one who did not fear God and attacked Israel.” At first glance, this does not seem to be sufficient reason to utterly destroy Amalek. It does not explain why Joshua was singled out to accomplish this mission. Also to be one who truly fears God is something unique and rare, even among Jews. So how could the Torah condemn Amalek for not fearing God? This would be like condemning someone for not being a saint. Not everyone is expected to be saintly. Yet the Torah assumes that a certain amount of fear of God is expected even of the other nations. While the nations are not expected to follow all of God’s laws they are expected to recognize that the role that they play in the world is a product of God’s will. Even when they persecute the Jews, it is only because God has allowed them to do so. Amalek was guilty therefore, not of oppressing the Jewish People but of arrogantly believing that this was a product of their own strength and self determination and not God’s will. Similarly when the Haggadah condemns, “…the nations who do not know You,” it suggests that a nation’s that believes that their success in persecuting Israel was a product of their own strength is what led to their condemnation. It is the second part of this passage that is the real reason for their punishment, “Because they consumed Jacob and destroyed his dwelling place.” The nations tried to destroy Israel with a vengeance rather than simply obeying God’s will. We learn that the nations can be God fearing from the story of Amalek. God chose to single out Joshua for this mission because he was a descendent of Joseph. While in Egypt, Joseph described himself as a God fearing man even when he was not identified as a descendent of Abraham. By doing this he taught the nations that one can be God fearing without being a participant in God’s covenant or a descendant of Abraham. Moses tells Joshua, “You are a descendent of Joseph who feared God. Therefore go and destroy Amalek who was not God fearing!” The fact that Joseph was God fearing even when he lived among the nations became an example to the other nations that they should emulate his attributes and could not excuse themselves by saying that they did not know God.

ויפקידהו על ביתו, “he appointed him to be in charge of his household.” He was the supervisor of the entire household. We find such a position in Kings I 18,3 when Achav appointed such a supervisor.

The Metzudat David and Malbim adopt the basic approach set forth by the Abarbanel that “the prophets base a miracle on something tangible so that the miracle is not a creation ex nihilo (from nothing).”¹⁹⁷The Gemara (Sanhedrin 92a) states that whoever does not leave some bread on the table at the meal’s conclusion will not ever see a sign of Berachah. This idea parallels the Zohar, which teaches that Berachah cannot come from nothing; it must be founded upon something tangible. We find that both Eliyahu HaNavi and Elisha cause the oil flask (and the flour jar) to pour forth continuously to sustain the meritorious women— but they do not make it appear out of thin air. (Melachim I 17 and Melachim II 4, respectively). The Berachah has to be founded upon something already in existence. So too, one must leave over some bread at the end of the meal, so the Berachah will have something to “rest” upon. This Halachah is codified by the Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 180:2). However, this does not explain why it is necessary for the widow to assemble the vessels.¹⁹⁸TABC student Dovi Lederer (‘20) understands the need to use oil from the widow’s home to generate more oil, based on Chazal’s (cited by Rashi to Melachim II 4:1) identification of her late husband as none other than the righteous Ovadiah. Dovi compares the Almanah’s remaining bit of oil to the one pure jug of oil that is used to light the Menorah for the Chanukah miracle. They could have used impure oil for the Menorah (due to the idea of Tumah Hutrah/Dechuya BeTzibbur, that we may use impure material when pure items or not available) but they specifically used pure oil for the reopening of the Beit HaMikdash. The Chachamim wanted the foundation of the renewed Beit HaMikdash to stem from a pure source. So too with the widow, Elisha wants to start her new lease on life with the foundation of the pure oil that remains from the house in which her righteous husband lived, who is described in Melachim I 18:3 and 18:12 as a great “Yarei Shamayim,” one who fears God, from his youth. This approach works beautifully with the Midrash cited by Radak (to Melachim I 4:1), that the great debt was accumulated to pay for the oil to light the caves where Ovadiah hid the one hundred prophets of Hashem so that they could learn Torah at all times. Accordingly, the remaining oil in Ovadiah’s home certainly comes from a very pure source.