Posted on 02/02/2007 5:26:54 AM PST by APRPEH
Two enemies attack Israel -- Pharaoh and Amalek. Though Israel was armed they did not fight Pharaoh -- "G-d will do battle for you and you be silent."1 When Amalek attacked, Moses sent out troops to fight.
Pharaoh and Amalek represent different threats to our people, and Moses' tactics symbolize the defense against these enemies. Pharaoh was the material enemy, the slave-master. Pharaoh seeks mastery over the body of the Jew; he would literally kill the infant boys.
Amalek, the spiritual foe, stands between the Jews and Sinai, blocking the path toward the Torah, disparaging the faith of the Jew, deprecating his religion, impeding his observance of Torah precepts. His is a "war against G-d through the generations." He wants to extinguish the spirit of Israel.
Our people seldom had the material means to defend and perpetuate themselves. Mighty empires and powerful legions were (are?) pledged to destroy Israel, and for centuries our ancestors didn't even have the swords to raise in their defense. Our very existence today is fulfillment of Moses' assurance that "G-d will do battle for you" against those who seek Israel's destruction.
When however, it is not Jewry directly but Judaism that is the target, then the Jew regards himself alone as the guarantor of tomorrow. Nothing may stand between the Jew and Torah. Forced conversion, "painless" gradual assimilation, prison for observing mitzvot, minority status -- these are some of the potent forces attempting to keep the Jew from Sinai. In this struggle we must create our own miracles.
G-d's power protects the Jew. The Jew's heroic devotion protects the Torah.
FOOTNOTES
1. Exodus 14:14.
Pharaoh seeks mastery over the body of the Jew; he would literally kill the infant boys.Amalek, the spiritual foe, stands between the Jews and Sinai, blocking the path toward the Torah, disparaging the faith of the Jew, deprecating his religion, impeding his observance of Torah precepts.
17 “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, 18 how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. 19 Therefore it shall be, when the LORD your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.
***
Attacked you on the way… attacked you on the road (map).
A time to battle indeed!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.