HASHEM’s People
When
HASHEM took the Jewish People out of Mitzraim, He did it in a highly visible
manner. The word quickly spread throughout the world that these were
HASHEM’s people, under His direct guidance and protection, and the world
stood in awe of the Klal Yisroel. Shortly after this point, Amalek attacked
and were severely beaten, their powerful warriors dismembered and laid
helpless in front of the victorious Jews.
While we
won the war, Rashi says that it was still a tragedy for us because now other
nations were able to fight against the Jews. To clarify the point, Rashi
offers a Moshol: There was once a scalding hot bath that no one could enter.
Along came one foolish individual who jumped in. Although he was immediately
burned, he cooled off the bath for others. So too, even though the Amalekim
were beaten, they cooled off the bath and made it easier for others to
attack.
How did Amalek cook the bath?
The Rosh
HaYeshiva (Rav Henoch Leibowitz), shlita, asked that this Rashi seems to be
counterintuitive. When HASHEM brought the Jewish people into the desert, it
was to be assumed that He would defend them. However, up until Amalek
attacked, it was only a theory. What Amalek did was take this concept from
the theoretical to the actual. It was now a reality; Amalek tried and were
badly defeated. Anyone hearing of this battle understood that G-d fights the
Jewish wars.
In what
sense, then, did Amalek cool off the bath? If anything, their attack should
have made it more difficult for others to make the same mistake.
The
answer to this question seems to be that there are many factors that control
a person’s behavior. One of them is that we only consider that which is in
the realm of the possible.
Murder isn’t in the realm of the
possible
To
illustrate, imagine that you walk out of your house one morning and find
your driveway blocked by another car. You quickly conclude that person who
parked that car is rude and inconsiderate. Because he had
somewhere to go, he didn’t care about the consequences of his actions, and
he blocked you in. You might even get angry. “The chutzpah of that person!
Not at all concerned with my needs, only with his own.”
Your
sense of righteous indignation might even take you so far as to consider
taking revenge. Letting the air out of his tires might cross your mind – or
maybe even damaging the car. But it would be hard to imagine that you would
begin fantasizing about murdering the driver. “Let me see, would I rather
choke him or stab him? A slow painful death or a quick violent one?”
The idea
of murder is so far removed from your realm of thought that it wouldn’t even
cross your mind - no matter how angry you were. To us, murder is in the
realm of the unthinkable.
Breaking the aura
The Rosh
Ha’Yeshiva explained that when the Jewish People left Mitzraim, they were in
the realm of the untouchable. The concept of any nation
attacking the Jews was unthinkable. It wasn’t a thought that
would be considered and quickly rejected – it just wasn’t a possibility. The
Jews had an air of being so far above any other nation that no one would
attack them - not because they would be beaten back - but because it was
unthinkable. What Amalek did was break the aura. Although they were
beaten, they now brought the idea of fighting the Jews into the realm of a
question - Should we or shouldn’t we? Do we think we will win or not? Till
that point it wasn’t a question. Once it became a question, then some people
would and some wouldn’t, but it was a question. And in that sense they
opened the door for others.
This
concept has great application in our lives. The stark difference between the
Torah’s view of acceptable behavior and that which is propagated in the
world at large is so far apart that it would almost seem that we are
experiencing a culture war.
The leaders of S’dom would be humbled
As an illustration, imagine if the leaders
of S’dom were reincarnated and given a brief tour of the Internet. They
would likely fall down in humble submission. “We thought we led the vanguard
of indecency and depravity. We now see that we were pygmies compared to
giants. Such decadence, corruption and evil -- we didn’t begin to scratch
the surface of what you’ve brought into the world, and not just the world,
into every living room and workplace. We respect you as true giants – how
small we are compared to you.”
The dangers of our Times
In recent times there has been a
destruction of all sense of decency and common sense. Effectively, we have
witnessed the death of right and wrong.
While the idea of being
open-minded and broad are certainly Torah based, in these times of clouded
sense of right and wrong, for our sakes and the purity of our children, we
have to doubly safeguard against any influences that sell evil as acceptable
and deviant as normal -- the unthinkable must remain unthinkable.
For more on this topic please listen to Shmuz # 135 – Imagination – the Devil’s
Playground
