3 months ago

Beshalach: Moshiach vs Amalek

This week’s Torah reading begins with the splitting of the ‘Red’ Sea and finishes with G-d declaring war: “… my hand is raised (in an oath) on the Throne of YH, an eternal war of G-d against Amalek!” (17:16). Amalek is a race of anti-Semites found in every generation that opposes G-d and His people; the Jews. That is why Moses had to fight Amalek here. This battle will continue until the Moshiach will eradicate them • Full Article

By Rabbi Tuvia Bolton, Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim, Kfar Chabad, Israel

Amalek is a race of anti-Semites found in every generation that opposes G-d and His people; the Jews. That is why Moses had to fight Amalek here. This battle will continue until the Moshiach will eradicate them.

But at first glance, this makes no sense at all!

1) If G-d hates Amalek, then why does He create them (G-d creates everything constantly)!!?? Or why doesn’t He just destroy them Himself? Why ask Moses?

2) What does it mean G-d raised His hand in an oath? Oaths are for people that might change their minds! G-d never changes!

3) What does it mean that the oath was on “The Throne of YH”?

4) Why is this in the same Torah reading as the splitting of the sea? Have they anything to do with one another?

5) And, most important, what has all this got to do us today?

To understand this, here is a story about the Baal Shem Tov (Besh’t for short) the founder of ‘Chassidic’ thought in Judaism.

At the beginning of the 18th century Judaism was tired and almost bereft of the original vision and excitement that our forefather, Abraham, began it with. The Khmelnitsky massacres, the evil false Messiah Shabbatai Tzvi, the ‘enlightenment’ movement, and the ignorance and poverty of the late sixteen hundreds were beginning to take their toll.

The Jewish people were sharply divided into two general groups; the Talmudic scholars and the unscholarly masses. The scholars believed that Judaism was very serious and austere and its goal was to go to heaven…. and they had no time for the masses (Am HaAretzim) who lacked Torah learning and even knowledge of basic Jewish law.

The Besh’t came to change all this. He taught that Judaism, as serious as it is, must be joyous and its goal is to reveal that THIS world is even higher than heaven (as it was in the Holy Temple)!

He also taught that the wholesomeness of simple Jews is as (or more) essential to Judaism as the erudition of the scholars.

As you can imagine, this aroused the ire of the ‘serious’ Jews who declared open war on his ideas, often without even knowing exactly what they were.

One such Jew, a scholar by the name of Rabbi Zundel (fictitious name), decided to take matters in his hands. Unlike his companions who distanced themselves and hoped for the Besht’s demise, he decided he would travel to the Besh’t and try to wean him from his erroneous ways.

He reasoned that 1. It was forbidden to judge a man guilty before hearing his defense. 2. It was very important commandment to try to make sinners repent and. 3. If he succeeded, he would merit a very high place in the world to come!

He arrived at the Besht’s modest headquarters, was shown in, sat down and immediately began his mission.

“My friend,” he began his plea to the Besh’t. “I have come a long way to try to correct you. I understand from what I have heard that you are trying to change the holy Torah and even make up your own ideas. How can you trust yourself to such a degree?! For instance, I have read that you say that G-d is everywhere, not only in the Torah and that every Jew is holy, not only the Torah scholars. This borders on heresy!! I am giving you the opportunity to defend yourself.”

The Besh’t fell silent for a while and then answered in a clear voice.

“I can only tell you that when I was only five years old my father on his deathbed told me two things; that I must fear ONLY G-d and that I must love every Jew.

“After my father’s passing, an inner voice told me to wander in the forests and contemplate. There I came to understand that G-d is much farther and at the same time much closer to us than we can possibly imagine.

“It was there also that I met with hidden mystics who began to teach me the secrets of Torah. They told me I had a special soul and advised me to conceal what they taught me until the proper time arrived.

“Since then, I have experienced much, but those two principles of my father are always before my eyes. I fear only G-d, because He alone creates all being constantly. And I love every Jew, because each and every one is an only child of the Creator entrusted with the job of putting meaning and blessing into this world and benefiting all mankind.

“But I also learned ‘Hashgacha Protis’: That G-d, sends messages to us through every creation to help us know and serve Him with joy.

“Even a breeze in the night, the chirping of a bird, a word uttered by a gentile, in fact EVERYTHING that happens contains such a message. And one of my jobs is to open the eyes of the Jewish people to understand these messages and take them to heart. Do you understand Rabbi Zundel? To take them to heart!! Understanding, even Torah understanding, means nothing if is not taken to HEART!

“You for instance; you understand all the books, but it hasn’t effected your heart. You are cold. For you G-d is still very far away. But the entire creation is saying messages to you… take them to heart!”

Rav Zundel looked at him like a maniac.

“Do you want to tell me that a tree…. Or, or even a GENTILE can teach me? Why that is not Judaism, it is pure lunacy!! I cannot listen to such things!!”

“No” answered the Besh’t “It’s not that you cannot, it’s that you DON’T WANT TO!”

Rav Zundel stormed out of the Besht’s room into the street, jumped on his wagon and headed back to his home town. He knew the truth now. The Besh’t was an incorrigible renegade trying to throw all of Orthodox Judaism into pandemonium!!

About an hour later, still angrily mumbling to himself, he noticed in the distance an overturned wagon with a man standing next to it trying to push it aright. As he neared, he saw how the poor fellow was unsuccessfully trying to use a fallen tree branch as a makeshift leaver and was covered with mud from head to toe. When the fellow noticed Rav Zundel’s wagon he began yelling and gesturing wildly for him to stop.

But Rav Zundel only slowed down enough to make it past the fallen carriage and make a getaway.

“Hey! Stop! Stop!” yelled the Gentile, “Come help me!”

“Sorry” the Rabbi yelled over his shoulder while trying to look where he was going, “I can’t help!”

“Ahh” said the gentile in contempt, “Don’t say that you CAN’T! You don’t WANT TO! ………IF YOU WANTED TO YOU COULD!!”

It was like a bolt of lightning on a clear day! Suddenly Rav Zundel realized that (as the Besh’t said) a gentile was teaching him the lesson of his life.
He stopped the carriage, got out, helped push the wagon back on its wheels and headed back to the Besh’t. He would learn how to open his heart.

Now we can understand Amalek.

Everything mentioned in the Torah is also inside of us. Including Amalek.

So inside of each of us is an Amalek that hates Judaism and G-d and loves egotism and selfishness. That makes us cold to Torah and even miracles. Something

like the Rabbi in our story.

And it even affects G-d!

In mystical terms G-d has many names each representing His different facets, but His main name is the four letters YHVH. The first two letters represent His hidden ‘self’ and the last two; what is revealed to us.

And because, since Adam, G-d reacts to what we do. If we don’t combat the coldness, the Amalek, within us then that causes the first two letters of G-d’s name, YH, become separated from the last two VH making the world cold, meaningless and G-dless.

We cannot learn the lessons the world is trying to teach us.

That is why G-d made an ‘oath’ that in every generation there will be a Moses (a Moshiach) to inspire and empower us to defy and defeat Amalek.

The Baal Shem Tov was one and his pupils… down to the Lubavitcher Rebbe are others.

They teach and inspire us to fight coldness and rejoin G-d’s essence (YH) with the world (VH).

But it can only happen when we follow our ‘Moses’ as they did at the splitting of the sea when, ‘They believed in G-d and Moses His servant” (14:23).

As the Lubavitcher Rebbe said: we have to desire Moshiach; demand Moshiach, learn about Moshiach and follow his (the Rebbe’s) instructions and advice to bring Moshiach.

Only then will we finally destroy Amalek. Then there will be peace, health, prosperity and love between all mankind and G_d will be revealed in every detail of creation.

It all depends on us.

We are standing on the merits of thousands of years of Jewish hopes, prayers and suffering. Now it could be that just one more good deed, word or even thought will bring ……

Moshiach NOW!!

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