Commentaire de citation sur Samuel 1 15:12

ויאמר כי יד על כס י-ה, he (Moses) said: “as soon as G–d’s hand on His throne will become firmly established throughout His universe, He will go to war against Amalek. The word יד describing an active monarchy is found in Samuel I 15,12,. I have heard in the name of Rabbi Aaron Halevi of blessed memory who questioned that the subject of the word יד here is Amalek, seeing that it says: ”I will surely wipe out.” How could Amalek have said this of himself? On the other hand in Deuteronomy 25,19, Moses commands the people in the name of the Lord that once the time has come when there is no more antisemitism, instead of letting bygones be bygones, the Jewish people are charged with seeing to it that even the mention of the name Amalek will be eradicated once and for all. Personally, I do not see a problem there at all. In our portion we discuss times when Amalek raises its hand against Israel. At such a time we need G–d to defend us against him. In Deuteronomy, it is presumed Amalek is raising his sword against the Temple, G–d’s home on earth. When the residence of the Lord is in danger, it is G–d’s people, we, who have to rise up in its defense. Jerusalem is called the throne of G–d. His throne is not secure as long as there is still any descendant of Amalek alive on this earth. We read in Psalms 9,8: וה' לעולם ישב כונן למשפט כסאו, “but the Lord abides forever; He has set up His throne for judgment.” This is the reason why the dead are unable to praise the Lord (Psalms 115,17) seeing that being dead they cannot battle Amalek. This is why David continues in Psalm 118 with: לא אמות כי אחיה ואספר מעשי ה' וגו', “I do not wish to die, as I want to be able to tell of the great deeds of the Lord, etc.”

יד, the word יד normally translated as “hand,” in this instance refers to power, Royal authority.” We know of a similar example for the meaning of that word from Samuel I 15,12, where the prophet Shmuel was advised of Shaul’s arriving at Mount Carmel, and he prepares for this by erecting a יד, for him, i.e. an altar. The words there are: והנה הוא מציב לו יד. In Samuel II 8,3 we also find the word יד used in this sense when David built an altar. [Not the traditional understanding of the word by most commentators. Ed.] The word כסא usually is used as a symbol of power, Royal Power.[If this is so, the word יד in the same line cannot mean the same, of course. Ed.] A different interpretation: the verse means that as long as nations, or especially Amalek, see in Jerusalem and what its stands for its spiritual nemesis, there will be an ongoing war between G-d and His representative on earth, Israel; מלחמה לה' בעמלק, “a state of war between G-d and Amalek; this phrase is what the liturgist has in mind when he wrote in his poetic prayer recited on the Sabbath preceding the reading of Parshat zachor on the Sabbath preceding Purim.־, commencing with the words: אלוקים אל דמי לך, “do not be silent o G-d”; the author queries G-d’s relative inactivity versus Amalek although He has dealt more harshly with other adversaries throughout history. [There are only few congregations in which this liturgical poem is recited nowadays in the synagogues. It is lengthy and the language requires assistance by commentaries as provided in the prayer book known as otzar hatefillot. Ed.] G-d’s answer is that until Amalek attacks G-d directly, not just His people, it is our task to deal with him, once he does the latter, G-d personally will wipe him out, This is why when Titus destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem G-d dealt with him, whereas at this stage it was our task to fight him. According to Jeremiah 3,17 Jerusalem is called G-d’s throne.

This section adds an explanation to the putting of the blood [of the Passover-offering, mentioned above in Verse 7], i.e., that it be done with a bunch of hyssop and that it be dipped in the blood that is in the basin,²³⁷Verse 22. which was not explicitly mentioned above but in a general way, And they shall take of the blood, etc.²³⁸Above, Verse 7. It teaches us that every undefined “taking” prescribed in the Torah must be with “a bunch,”²³⁹Thus, in the case of the Red Heifer where the verse says, And the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet (Numbers 19:6) it means a bunch of cedar-wood and hyssop tied with scarlet (Parah 3:10). and that all “taking” of the blood [prescribed in the Torah] must be in a vessel,²⁴⁰Thus, when Scripture says, And the priest that is anointed shall take of the blood (Leviticus 4:5), it means of the blood that is in the vessel. as our Rabbis have explained.²⁴¹Mechilta here on the matter of “the bunch”. Concerning the principle of taking the blood in a vessel, I have not found a source deriving it from the verse before us. In Zebachim 97 b, it is derived from the verse, And he [Moses] put it in basins (further, 24:6).
And He further explained to them in this section, and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning,²³⁷Verse 22. for on account of it they were commanded to put the blood [of the Passover-offering] upon the lintel so that they would be protected there, just as He said, and there shall be no plague upon you to destroy you.²⁴²Above, Verse 13.
Now Rashi commented: “And none of you shall go out. This teaches us that once permission is given to the destroying angel, he does not discriminate between righteous and wicked, and night-time is the domain of the destroying messengers, as it is said, Thou makest darkness, and it is night, wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.”²⁴³Psalms 104:20.
I did not understand that which Rashi said, “and night-time is the domain of the destroying messengers, as it is said, … wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.”²⁴³Psalms 104:20. Is a person forbidden on any night to go out of the door of his house until the morning, on the authority of this verse? Rather, Rashi should have said, “for on that night permission to destroy was given the angel of destruction, and therefore He warned them against it.” But the Rabbi [Rashi] did not find it correct to say so since the Holy One, blessed be He, in His Presence and in His glory, was the One who smote [the first-born].²⁴⁴Hence there was nothing unique about this night as far as the destroying angel was concerned since he had no special function that night, and yet the Israelites were warned against going out of the door of their homes until the morning! It must necessarily be that night-time is the domain of the destroying messengers. Now on every other night, if a person goes out and he is harmed by them, the profaning of G-d’s Name is not entailed. But on the night of Passover, if an Israelite were to be harmed, the Egyptians would say that Moses was not a true prophet, and G-d’s Name would be profaned. Hence they were forbidden to go out from their homes.
This subject is taught in the Mechilta in another version:²⁴⁵Mechilta on the verse before us (Lauterbach’s edition, pp. 85-6). “And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. This teaches us that once permission is given to the destroying angel,²⁴⁶“The destroying angel.” In the Mechilta: “the angel.” he does not discriminate between righteous and wicked, as it is said, Come My people, enter into thy chambers … until the indignation be overpast.²⁴⁷Isaiah 26:20. And it also says, Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth My sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.²⁴⁸Ezekiel 21:8. And it further says, And it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock.²⁴⁹Further, 33:22. This is to teach you²⁵⁰In the Mechilta: “Until the morning. This is to teach you….” that you are to come into a place only in the daytime²⁵¹Literally: “when it is good,” a reference to the verse, And G-d saw the light, that it was good (Genesis 1:4). and leave it only in the daytime.²⁵¹Literally: “when it is good,” a reference to the verse, And G-d saw the light, that it was good (Genesis 1:4). And thus you find that the patriarchs and the prophets observed this as a custom, as it is said: And Abraham rose early in the morning;²⁵²Ibid., 22:3. And Jacob rose up early in the morning;²⁵³Ibid., 28:18. And Moses rose up early in the morning;²⁵⁴Further, 34:4. And Joshua rose up in the morning;²⁵⁵Joshua 3:1. And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning.²⁵⁶I Samuel 15:12. Now is it not a kal vachomer:²⁵⁷See above, Note 208. If the patriarchs and the prophets, who went to carry out the will of Him by Whose word the world came into being, observed this as a custom, how much more should all other people observe it! And thus it says, Thou makest darkness, and it is night;²⁴³Psalms 104:20. The young lions roar after their prey;²⁵⁸Psalms 104:21. Thou givest it unto them, they gather it;²⁵⁹Ibid., Verse 28. The sun ariseth, they slink away.²⁶⁰Ibid., Verse 22. From then on, Man goeth forth unto his work, and to his labor until the evening.”²⁶¹Ibid., Verse 23. Thus far extends [the quotation from] the Beraitha.²⁶²See above, Note 208.
The purport thereof is to state that Scripture warned the Israelites in Egypt not to go out of the door of their homes on that night because the Holy One, blessed be He, was passing through Egypt like a king who passes from one place to another and whose guardsmen go before him so that people should neither meet him nor see him. This is similar to that which is said, And the Eternal my G-d shall come, and all the holy ones with Thee;²⁶³Zechariah 14:5. and also, And it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock,²⁴⁹Further, 33:22. i.e., to protect him [Moses] from the seraphim and the heavenly agencies. And since we find that once permission is given to the destroying angel he does not discriminate between righteous and wicked, therefore a person has no right²⁶⁴Thus there appears a distinction between Rashi’s explanation and that of Ramban. The conclusion drawn from Rashi’s explanation would be that “it is forbidden” to go out on any other night, as Ramban argued. According to Ramban, one has “no right” to do it, since in going against the established order of nature, he may endanger his life, and this he has no right to do. to change from the customary way of the world and leave at night-time, since it is the time of the wild beasts when they go out for prey, and there is no way [for them] to distinguish between righteous and wicked.

And he repaired the altar of Adonoy that had been broken down. He built an altar⁷A ‘ח’ and an ‘ע’ are both guttural letters and are therefore interchangeable. and reminded Yisroel that God’s altar should enter their thoughts and should be oft mentioned, for it was torn down and destroyed, and its name and its mention had ceased from the mouth of all the ten tribes. Thus I heard is its plain interpretation.⁸Although once the Beis Hamikdosh was built private altars were not permitted, however, extraordinary circumstances allow for the suspension of certain laws in cases of dire necessity, such as this. See Maseches Sanhedrin 89b and Tosafos there. Also see footnote on v. 36 below. And its Midrashic interpretation I heard, is that Shaul built an altar on Mount Carmel, and that is what it states, “Shaul came to Carmel, and is setting up a place for himself,”⁹Alternatively, as a result of the miracle on Mount Carmel, many people repented and went to Yerusholayim to offer sacrifices in the Beis Hamikdosh. Thus he reactivated [וירפא] the altar which had been dormant [ההרוס].—Radak and there it states, “and he erected an altar there.”¹⁰I Shmuel 15:12. But the kings of Yisroel tore down all the altars and high places in their land that were made in the Name of Heaven, and Eliyahu built this altar of Shaul that had been torn down.