Bakers, Amalek and War – Chukat
וַיִּשְׁמַע הַכְּנַעֲנִי מֶלֶךְ עֲרָד יֹשֵׁב הַנֶּגֶב כִּי בָּא יִשְׂרָאֵל דֶּרֶךְ הָאֲתָרִים וַיִּלָּחֶם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּשְׁבְּ מִמֶּנּוּ שֶׁבִי. (במדבר כא, א)
In this shiur we will be exploring the intricate connection between three elements that have adversely affected our history as a nation, right up to the present day. However, before we dive in, a short introduction.
Between this week's parsha and last week's parsha Korach, the Torah skips over a period of about thirty-eight years. In last week's parsha we read about Am Yisrael in the second year in the Midbar (meraglim/Korach) and in this week's parsha we read about Am Yisrael at the end of the forty years.
In parshat Chukat we read about the death of two (of the three) פַּרְנָסִים of Am Yisrael in the Midbar - Miriam and Aharon (the third is Moshe).
The eldest of the three was Miriam and in her merit Am Yisrael received the Well of Miriam during our forty years in the Midbar. This miraculous, "travelling" rock/well accompanied us on our journeys through the desert, providing drinking water and more. When Am Yisrael camped, this rock/well would position itself in the courtyard of the Ohel Moed (תנחומא, במדבר ב).
The Midrash (במדבר רבה, חקת יט, כו) tells us that the נְשִׂיאִים of each tribe would mark lines, using their staffs, from the well to the encampment of each of their tribes and would sing עֲלִי בְאֵר עֱנוּ לָהּ (במדבר כא, יז). Water would then burst forth from the well, creating thirteen "rivers" on the demarcated lines, providing water to each and every tribe.
These rivers were so wide that if someone wanted to chat with a member of another tribe, they had to cross to the other side of the river with a boat! In addition, the water overflowed the banks of these rivers and instantaneously gave rise to grasses, plants and trees, including grains, vegetables and fruit. It was a kind of a "travelling oasis".
Anyone drinking water from the Well of Miriam was instantly cured of any illness (זרע שמשון, פרשת וירא דף יח ע"ב). Similarly, by drinking this miraculous water, Am Yisrael were able to uncover the secrets of the Torah and their purpose/tikkun in this world (אגרא דכלה, פרשת חוקת ד"ה וממוצא).
When Miriam died, the well temporarily disappeared and this instigated the episode of Mei Meriva that appears in our parsha. Later, the well returned in the merit of Moshe and Aharon. When Am Yisrael entered Eretz Yisrael, the Well of Miriam became incorporated into the Sea of Galilee (Rashi, Bamidbar 21, 20). When the Geulah commences בבי"א, the Well of Miriam will move to Yerushalayim and give forth מַיִם חַיִּים (זכריה יד, ח).
The next of the פַּרְנָסִים to die was Aharon HaKohen. In Aharon's merit Am Yisrael received the עַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד. These Clouds of Glory protected and guided Am Yisrael in the Midbar. Numerous miracles are described relating to the עַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד. They served as a kind of "teleportation device" that instantly "teleported" Am Yisrael from place to place (מדרש זוטא שיר השירים ח).
There were seven clouds in total (תנחומא, בשלח ג). One cloud below, to transport us without having to walk (see "teleport" above), which flattened all terrain, so that Am Yisrael did not need to climb mountains or descend valleys. One cloud above, to protect us from the hot sun and arrows of our enemies.
The climate inside the clouds was temperature and humidity controlled, like air conditioning – never too hot and never too cold (this was perhaps the greatest miracle of all, since today in shul/home it is virtually impossible to get everyone to agree on the 'right' setting of the A/C, which is a continual source of machloket).
Four clouds on the sides (N/S/E/W) to protect us from wild animals and bandits. And the final, seventh cloud, which went in front, to lead the way. This cloud would kill all snakes and scorpions and burn all wild brush and thorns in our way.
In addition to Clouds of Glory in the day, at night there was the עַמּוּד הָאֵשׁ, that provided light, so that nobody needed to light a candle to read or to move from place to place (ספרי במדבר פג). Since the clouds and the עַמּוּד הָאֵשׁ concealed the sun and the moon, the way Am Yisrael knew when it was day is when the clouds turned white and at night, they turned red. This was a miraculous light that allowed you to see through solid objects, like the contents inside a barrel, for example - a kind of an X-ray (ילקוט שמעוני שמות פרק ב).
The עַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד also had another function. According to Rashi (דברים ח, ד), before you went to bed at night you would hang up your clothes, and in the morning when you awoke, they would be laundered and pressed. The clothes also never wore out, the fabric miraculously remained new as the day it was made. Your clothes and shoes also grew with you as you became older. Small children who left Egypt were wearing the same clothes forty years later.
It was not only Am Yisrael who observed the עַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד, it was also everyone around them, including our enemies. Word spread far and wide that Am Yisrael were protected and nobody even tried to mess with us.
When Aharon died, these עַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד temporarily disappeared (they returned later in the merit of Moshe).
This brings us to our passuk above, וַיִּשְׁמַע הַכְּנַעֲנִי מֶלֶךְ עֲרָד יֹשֵׁב הַנֶּגֶב כִּי בָּא יִשְׂרָאֵל דֶּרֶךְ הָאֲתָרִים וַיִּלָּחֶם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּשְׁבְּ מִמֶּנּוּ שֶׁבִי. Although the passuk states הַכְּנַעֲנִי, the Canaanites, Rashi (ibid.) and the Targum Yonatan (ibid.) say this was actually Amalek, not Canaanites. What did Amalek hear (וַיִּשְׁמַע)? That Aharon had died and that the עַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד were no longer protecting Am Yisrael. This is when they decided to attack.
They attacked in a very "interesting" way. They tried to "disguise" themselves and confuse Am Yisrael as to who they were, by speaking the language of the Canaanites, although they were dressed in clothes of the Amalekites. What did they hope to achieve by this?
That Am Yisrael would daven to HKB"H to help us triumph over the "Canaanites", since we heard them speaking the language of the Canaanites. However, since they were Amalekites and not Canaanites, our prayers would not be answered. Chazal and the Mefarshim say that this is a musar haskel for us, that when we daven, we must try to be as specific as possible, so that our prayers will be answered appropriately.
As stated in previous shiurim, Amalek were(/are) not mindless thugs. They have intricate knowledge of Am Yisrael – our strong and weak points – and they manipulate these to our disadvantage.
As in all cases when Amalek attacks, they target our weakest point, with the purpose of taking captives/hostages. In this specific case, HKB"H foiled their plans and they managed to only capture one maidservant (ילקוט שמעוני רמז תשסד). Who was this שִׁפְחָה? We will discuss this later.
Realizing this ruse of the Amalekites, Am Yisrael prayed to HKB"H, asking Him אִם נָתֹן תִּתֵּן אֶת הָעָם הַזֶּה בְּיָדִי וְהַחֲרַמְתִּי אֶת עָרֵיהֶם (שם, ב), using a more "generic" term הָעָם הַזֶּה, in order that it would "cover all bases" (i.e. Amalekites/Canaanites) so that our prayers would be answered. And indeed, HKB"H answered our prayers and we succeeded in killing them all, looting their cities and dedicating them to HKB"H, חֵרֶם (Rashi, ibid.).
This is the description of the incident in the psukkim in the Torah. It is followed by the paragraph of Am Yisrael complaining about the Mann, which was derogatorily referred to as לֶּחֶם הַקְּלֹקֵל.
As a result, HKB"H smote us with a plague of snakes that killed many (a specific number is not stated) in Am Yisrael. To remedy this, HKB"H commands Moshe to construct a metal snake (Moshe made it from copper) and place it high on a pole. Anyone who was bitten by a snake and looks up at this copper snake will be cured of the snake bite and live.
Although it does not appear here in the parsha, there is another entire "hidden" episode that takes place here, which is only hinted to in the Torah. In parshat Ekev the passuk says וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל נָסְעוּ מִבְּאֵרֹת בְּנֵי יַעֲקָן מוֹסֵרָה שָׁם מֵת אַהֲרֹן וַיִּקָּבֵר שָׁם וגו' (דברים י, ו). The Yerushalmi (סוטה א, י) asks the question וְכִי בְּמוֹסֵרוֹת מֵת אַהֲרֹן וַהֲלֹא בְּהֹר הָהָר מֵת? Why does it say in Devarim that Aharon died at Moseirot? Surely Aharon died at Hor HaHar, like it says in our parsha Chukat?
The Gemara goes on to tell a horrific tale.
After Aharon HaKohen died, the עַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד disappeared and Amalek started provoking and attacking Am Yisrael. At this point, Am Yisrael were in a panic and they decided to do a U-turn and go back to Egypt! They backtracked eight stops until מוֹסֵרָה.
When the Tribe of Levi saw this, they waged a civil war with the rest of Am Israel. In this war "eight families" in Am Yisrael were killed and "four families" from Levi were killed. The Tribe of Levi, who were true to HKB"H, managed to reverse this rebellious retreat and caused Am Yisrael to do teshuva.
Am Yisrael said "Why have these troubles befallen us? Because we did not properly eulogize Aharon when he died!" Therefore, although Aharon actually died at Hor HaHar, Am Yisrael only did a הֶסְפֵּד for him at מוֹסֵרָה, which is why it appears thus in sefer Devarim (above).
After that introduction we can begin to analyze what actually happened here.
In previous shiurim we described why Amalek exists. It says זֶה לְעֻמַּת זֶה עָשָׂה הָאֱ-לֹקִים (קהלת ז, יד), When HKB"H creates a force of good in the world (Am Yisrael), at the same time, to balance it and maintain free choice, HKB"H also creates the antithesis, an evil force in the world (Amalek).
The purpose of Amalek in this world is, as Rashi (במדבר כא, א) says, to be a רְצוּעַת מַרְדּוּת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל. Amalek is a kind of "ring of destruction" for Am Yisrael. As long as Am Yisrael is following the ways of HKB"H and the Torah, Amalek wields no power over us, however, whenever Am Yisrael strays from the path … up pops Amalek to bite us and return us to the straight and narrow.
The Torah lists three times that Amalek attacked us. The first was in Refidim וַיָּבֹא עֲמָלֵק וַיִּלָּחֶם עִם יִשְׂרָאֵל בִּרְפִידִם (שמות יז, ח). The second time is after the sin of the meraglim, when the ma'apilim tried to enter Eretz Yisrael against HKB"H's will וַיֵּרֶד הָעֲמָלֵקִי וְהַכְּנַעֲנִי הַיֹּשֵׁב בָּהָר הַהוּא וַיַּכּוּם וַיַּכְּתוּם עַד הַחָרְמָה (במדבר יד, מה). The third time is in this week's parsha (above).
Let us try to define parallels to each of these three episodes.
The first common denominator is that they all took place when Am Yisrael were spiritually at a low level. At Refidim, Chazal (תנחומא בשלח כה) say אֵין רְפִידִים אֶלָּא שֶׁרָפוּ יְדֵיהֶם מִן הַתּוֹרָה, Am Yisrael questioned HKB"H הֲיֵשׁ ה' בְּקִרְבֵּנוּ אִם אָיִן (שמות יז, ז) (have you ever noticed how many sources that are related to Amalek have the number "seven", ז in them? in the chapter number or passuk number – hinting to the seven names of the yetzer hara).
At Kadesh the ten spies spoke lashon harah against Eretz Yisrael and caused almost the entire Am Yisrael to rebel against HKB"H. In this week's parsha Am Yisrael rebelled against HKB"H and tried to return to Egypt.
The second common thread that binds all these episodes is that they are "bread" related. Just before Refidim, Am Yisrael complained that they had no food to eat and in Alush (the stop before Refidim), HKB"H gave them Mann, "bread" from Heaven.
At Kadesh the ten spies brought back different types of fruit (see shiur on Shlach 2025), one of which was a רִמֹּן (without a vav), which we showed there - is referring to chametz bread. In this week's parsha, the paragraph immediately following Amalek's attack tells how Am Yisrael complained against the Mann, calling it לֶּחֶם הַקְּלֹקֵל.
The third common denominator between these episodes is that following the attack of Amalek on Am Yisrael, it resulted in many deaths, sometimes by the hand of Amalek and sometimes, by our own hand, but was always followed by Am Yisrael doing teshuva and returning to HKB"H.
In last week's parsha, Korach, we read about a small group of people (relative to the entire Am Yisrael) who rebelled against Moshe's and Aharon HaKohen's status as leaders. After Korach and his rebels were swallowed up by the earth, the incident escalated into a larger proportion of Am Yisrael accusing Moshe אַתֶּם הֲמִתֶּם אֶת עַם ה' (במדבר יז, ו). The issue was only resolved when Aharon's staff flowered. After two years in the desert, Aharon's status was not yet rock solid.
Skipping forward to this week's parsha, 38 years later, we find a completely different reality. When Aharon dies, the passuk says וַיִּבְכּוּ אֶת אַהֲרֹן שְׁלֹשִׁים יוֹם כֹּל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל (במדבר כ, כט). The entire nation wept for Aharon, he was loved by all and his death was a mortal blow to the nation. Of the three פַּרְנָסִים, Aharon was the only one who enjoyed such unanimous love. We don't find this expression כֹּל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל not with Miriam and not even with Moshe.
After the episode of Korach, Aharon, through his love for peace אוֹהֵב שָׁלוֹם וְרוֹדֵף שָׁלוֹם, managed to unite Am Yisrael. When Aharon died the Clouds of Glory temporarily disappeared. There was one cloud that is not listed in Chazal.
In addition to the seven clouds listed in the Midrash, there was another "cloud" that enveloped Am Yisrael, a cloud of UNITY. When Aharon died, the unity in Am Yisrael fell apart and resulted in a civil war between the Tribe of Levi and the rest of Am Yisrael, who wanted to backtrack, throw in the towel and return to Egypt.
Here we discover the fourth common denominator between all the cases when Amalek attacked – lack of unity in Am Yisrael.
What does "bread" have to do with Amalek attacking us? It is connected to the sin of Adam and Chava eating bread from the עֵץ הַדַּעַת. The gematria of מִלְחֶמֶת עֲמָלֵק is אָדָם וְאִשְׁתּוֹ. The epic battle between Am Yisrael and Amalek is the same battle between Adam and Chava and the נָחָשׁ. The one "maidservant", שִׁפְחָה that was taken captive in our parsha, refers to Chava who was seduced by the serpent.
This is why when Am Yisrael complain against the Mann in our parsha, calling it לֶּחֶם הַקְּלֹקֵל, HKB"H sends a plague of snakes against us. The remedy to the plague is to "impale" a metal snake made from נְחֹשֶׁת, on the top of a pole which symbolizes killing the brazenness (מֵצַח נְחוּשָׁה) of the snake.
Only when Am Yisrael cast their gaze upwards to HKB"H, will they be cured. It was "bakers" who began the war therefore it requires "bakers" to do tikkun and end the war – Beit Garmu baking the Lechem HaPanim in the Beit Mikdash and women doing hafrashat challah from their dough at home.
This is the repetitive pattern of Amalek vs. Am Yisrael throughout time, all the way to the present day.
Amalek is a "smart" enemy, not a mindless thug. Amalek knows Am Yisrael inside out, our strong points and our weak points and manipulates us accordingly. Amalek knows that when Am Yisrael are spiritually elevated, united and have a close connection with HKB"H, we are undefeatable. In order to defeat us, Amalek must attack one or more of these foundation pillars of our invincibility.
The forces of Amalek are working at this very moment to diminish our spiritual level, by luring us with the honey trap of materialism and avodah zara. Amalek is a master of disguise and deception and those who are leading us astray in this regard often appear as our friends and allies and thus succeed in entrapping a large portion of our nation with their Western "culture" and "morality".
These forces know no geographical boundaries, they traverse the entire globe, from the Americas to Europe, to the Middle East to Asia. They have one common goal – to keep Israel weak (at best) or to eradicate us (at worst).
Amalek knows how to dress up in various disguises, to trick us into not being able to identify him - like recruiting proxies who speak the languages of Canaan, but "dress up" (arm themselves) like Amalek. To confuse us so that we cannot easily identify which enemy we are really fighting.
How many there are in Am Yisrael today who still live under the delusion that we can make peace with this enemy in disguise. For decades we have been trying to make peace with the "disguise". Such a thing can never work because it is an illusion. Underneath the disguise lies the true enemy who seeks only our destruction, not peace.
If you want to uncover who the true enemy is under the disguise, look to the bread/baking related marker. This is a marker that identifies if we are dealing with Amalek or not. What is the symbol of victory whenever our Amalek enemies commit a terrorist attack on us? It is the bakeries handing out trays of baklava and other baked goodies to passers-by on the street. Why davka that symbol? Why not celebrate a terrorist attack and the loss of Jewish life by drinking Arak or distributing garlands of flowers? There are so many other ways to celebrate, why davka by eating sweet baked goods? It is the same primordial battle of the snake/Amalek with Adam HaRishon/Am Yisrael.
Soon after October 7, when the IDF attacked Hamas in Gaza, one of the pictures that they repeatedly flashed on all the international media channels was that of a Gazan bakery in ruins. As a baker myself, seeing another baker's "labor of love" reduced to rubble would normally evoke sympathy, however, not in this case. These bakers' "labor of love" is - celebrating killing Jews.
Amalek's modus operandi is – pit Jew against Jew, sow disunity and attack. This was October 7 in a nutshell.
We are now almost two years later and many things have changed, but too many have also remained the same. We have dealt near fatal blows to our enemies on multiple fronts, Amalek is greatly weakened, but not gone. We still cannot summon the courage to stand up against all the forces of Amalek in the world and for once and for all, finally remove him completely.
Just like with Shaul HaMelech and Agag, we have not been able to completely transcend and complete the job. We are still too attracted by the honey trap and subject to שִׁעְבּוּד מַלְכוּיוֹת.
From within we still have the same Adat Korach gnawing at our growing impregnability, that same small minority that holds almost the entire Am Yisrael hostage and wreaks the worst damage of Amalek - from within. Which brings us to the fourth common denominator that typifies our ongoing battle with Amalek, loss of life from within.
In our heroic effort to preserve unity in Am Yisrael, like Aharon HaKohen, we have given in repeatedly and stood down in an all-out confrontation with the forces of Amalek from within, those in Am Yisrael who have been irreparably damaged by Amalek. Sometimes a situation arises where to stand down and give in causes more harm than standing firm.
With Adat Korach Moshe made a last-ditch effort to appease, but when that failed, Moshe did not back down from the inevitable conflict, which in the short term resulted in a painful and horrific loss of life, but in the long term prevented Am Yisrael from vanishing from the pages of history.
Unfortunately, it appears that we are once again approaching such a juncture. History has taught us that in our battle with Amalek, loss of life, by our enemy's hand or by our own hand due to infighting, is inescapable, but inevitably results in Am Yisrael becoming stronger and closer to HKB"H.
None of these prospects are pleasant, nobody likes war, not from without and not from within. That is what חֶבְלֵי מָשִׁיחַ means, it is like birth pains. Not something pleasant, but from which new life emerges. We have the option to skip the birth pains, if we all just wise up together, do teshuva and return to HKB"H, but that just does not seem possible in reality - the נָחָשׁ/yetzer harah seems to be too powerful. בָּאֵשׁ הִצַּתָּהּ, וּבָאֵשׁ אַתָּה עָתִיד לִבְנוֹתָהּ It seems that the crucible of fire before the Geulah is unavoidable.
We pray to HKB"H for the strength to emerge on the other side, on the righteous side, HKB"H's side, with minimal loss of life in Am Yisrael. To hear the shofar of Mashiach that will herald the new era of Geulah and peace for all mankind.
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
No comments:
Post a Comment