Adapted from a shiur given by the Tolner Rebbe shlita, Eikev 5776
לע"נ האשה החשובה מרת אסתר בת הרה"ח ר' זאב ע"ה נלב"ע י"ד סיון תשפ"ה נתרם ע"י בנה ידידינו הנגיד הנכבד רבי זאב מאשקאוויטש שליט"א
הַמַסֹּת הַגְּדֹּלֹת אֲשֶׁר רָאוּ עֵינֶׁיךָ וְּהָאֹּתֹּת וְּהַמֹּפְּתִים וְּהַיָד הַחֲזָקָה וְּהַזְּרֹּעַ הַנְּטוּיָה אֲשֶׁר הוֹצִאֲךָ ה' אֱלֹהֶׁיךָ
נֵיהֶׁם אֱלֹהֶׁיךָ לְּכָל הָעַמִים אֲשֶׁר אַתָה יָרֵא מִפְּ 'ה כֵן יַעֲשֶׁה -- The great tests that your eyes saw, and the signs, the wonders, the strong hand, and the outstretched arm with which Hashem, your God, took you out; so shall Hashem, your God, do to all the people before whom you fear. In a similar Possuk in Parshas Vaeschanan it says:
:בְּמַסֹּת בְּאֹּתֹּת וּבְּמוֹפְּתִים וּבְּמִלְּחָמָה וּבְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְּרוֹעַ נְּטוּיָה וּבְּמוֹרָאִים גְּדֹּלִים כְּכֹּל אֲשֶׁר עָשָה לָכֶׁם יְּהֹּוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶׁם בְּמִצְּרַיִם לְּעֵינֶׁיךָ -- ...With challenges, and, and with greatly awesome deeds, such as everything that Hashem, your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes.
With Signs, With Wonders and With War
The two pesukim are similar, but with notable differences: In Vaeschanan it says, with signs, and with wonders, and with war, whereas in our Parshah with war is not mentioned. Also, In Vaeschanan it says with greatly awesome deeds, with nothing of the sort mentioned here. Why the difference?
Q1 Q2
Rashi explains בְּמַסֹּת בְּאֹּתֹּת וּבְּמוֹפְּתִים the same way in both places. Regarding the words that appear in both places, With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, however, Rashi writes in our Parshah: With a strong hand – This is the pestilence; And the outstretched arm – This is the sword of the plague of the firstborn. On these very same words in Vaeschanan, Rashi says nothing. Why did he wait for our parshah to explain these words?
Q3
When You Go out to War Against Your Enemies
Let us start with an important principle the Piltzer Rebbe cites from his grandfather, the Chidushei Harim, in the name of the Rebbe, R’ Bunim of Pshischa: In days of old, when Bnei Yisrael waged war, the simple meaning referred to waging war against the nations, and it hinted at the battle against the yetzer hara as well. In our generation, when we don’t wage war against the nations, the simple meaning of the possuk is specifically the battle against the yetzer hara.
Prophesizing About the Churban
Upon analysis, we find that the pesukim of the two parshiyos that were difficult, are stated in different contexts. The pesukim in Vaeschanan are part of a prophesy about the time of the churban – in fact, those pesukim are read on Tishah B’av. It says: When you beget children and grandchildren and you will have been long in the land, you will grow corrupt and make a carved image of the likeness of any thing, and you will do evil in the eyes of Hashem, your God, to anger Him. The Ramban there explains that it is prophesizing the future... it refers to the period of exile.
Inquire Now Regarding the Early Days
So the Torah continues with the result of such behavior: I call the heavens and the earth this day to bear witness against you that you will surely perish quickly from the land to which you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of...Hashem will scatter you among the peoples.... After mentioning the worsening situation, it says: When you are in distress and all these things have befallen you, at the end of days, you will return unto Hashem, your God, and listen to His voice... Then, to encourage returning to Hashem, it says: For inquire now regarding the early days that preceded you...Has there been anything like this great thing or has anything like it been heard? Has a people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire as you have heard, and survived? Or has any god ever performed miracles to come and take for himself a nation from amidst a nation, with challenges, with signs, and with wonders, and with war, and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm and with greatly awesome deeds, such as everything that Hashem, your God, did for you in Egypt before your eyes? Clearly, the context is seeing the miracles and completely repenting.
Perhaps You Will Say, These Nations Are More Numerous Than I
By contrast, our Parshah begins, Perhaps you will say in your heart, “These nations are more numerous than I, how will I be able to drive them out?” In other words, Bnei Yisrael, as they are about to triumphantly enter the land of Israel, are adjured not to fear the mighty nations with whom they are about to wage war, are reminded of the miraculous way they were saved from Egypt: The great tests that your eyes saw, and the signs, the wonders, the strong hand, and the outstretched arm with which Hashem, your God, took you out; so shall Hashem, your God, do to all the people before whom you fear.
This Memory Takes the Fear Out of the Heart
The Abarbanel, here, points out that merely being told not to fear does not stop a person facing a fearsome task from being afraid. After all, one cannot choose whether or not to be afraid. On the other hand, he says, one can choose whether to remember something or not. The memory of victory against a fearsome enemy, and the Divine aid one had towards such victory, is now promised against the upcoming enemy; this does take fear out of the heart. We thus see that the reason for mentioning the miracles in our Parshah is very different from the reason they are mentioned in Vaeschanan. Here it is to remind a people who are in step with Hashem that He is with them, and they have nothing to fear for that reason.
The War At Yam Suf
With this in mind, we can understand why it says with war and with greatly awesome deeds in Vaeschanan, but not here. In trying to encourage repentance and drawing closer to Hashem, they are reminded of all the miracles that had occurred, including the war at Yam Suf.
Let us ponder this war at Yam Suf. After all the wonders and miracles, as specified in Rashi both here and there, after all the plagues suffered by the Egyptians, and all the miracles they saw, when they stood at Yam Suf they nevertheless completely lost their faith in Hashem, completely questioning why they were taken out of Egypt!
And With Greatly Awesome Deeds
This behavior at Yam Suf was a great downfall for Bnei Yisrael, after all the miracles that they had witnessed. Indeed, according to the Midrash, their statement that Mosheh took them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness was the reason for the terrible decree that they should actually die in the wilderness. Nevertheless it was still followed by great Divine revelations, the greatly awesome deeds they witnessed on Yam Suf, that elevated them from this lowly level to such an exalted level that the Midrash says, that a maidservant saw at Yam Suf exalted sights greater than those seen by the prophets. Thus, to encourage repentance, and show that one can rise up from the lowest level to the highest, they were reminded of the war at Yam Suf, and the ensuing greatly awesome deeds. This applied only to Parshas Vaeschanan, as a reminder to all generations, even those at the time of the destruction, that through repentance one can go from the lowest level to the highest.
This is also why Rashi did not explain With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm there, and waited until our parshah. There, the point was to inspire to rise up after falling, and not to explain all the miracles.
Do Not Fear Them...
By contrast, as we have explained, our Parshah refers to a people afraid of entering the land and battling against thirty-one mighty kings. As explained by the Abarbanel, it is insufficient to just tell people who are afraid, Do not fear them. Instead, as we said it was necessary to remind them why not to fear, by saying: Do not fear them! You shall remember what Hashem, Your God did to Paroh and to all of Egypt. The great tests that your eyes saw, and the signs, the wonders, the strong hand, and the outstretched arm with which Hashem, your God, took you out; so shall Hashem, your God, do to all the people before whom you fear.
The Strong Hand and the Outstretched Arm
This is the reason why Rashi explains the strong hand, and the outstretched arm first here, saying that it refers to the pestilence and to the sword of the plague of the firstborn. One could ask, why choose just these two? We can say that it is in these two that one sees most clearly the difference between Bnei Yisrael and the Egyptians. The pestilence affected the animals of the Egyptians only. Now, there is no external difference between Egyptian animals and Jewish animals, and yet Hashem did not affect the animals of Bnei Yisrael. Similarly the plague of the firstborn. All firstborn were affected – but not Jewish firstborn. So Rashi, in the parshah whose purpose it was to give reason not to fear, uses these two examples as reasons not to fear – The One Who differentiated between Egyptian and Jew in Egypt to protect Bnei Yisrael, will continue to protect them against all enemies.
He Has No Weakness, Only Power
Now that we have answered our questions, let us turn to the practical lessons. As we have cited from the Pshischer, the “battle” discussed in the Torah, for our generation, is the battle against the Evil Inclination. Our generation has so greatly increased the numbers studying Torah, yet there is more and more fear, “How can we stand up to these ‘great nations’?” Our task is to remember what Your God did to Paroh and to all of Egypt... so shall Hashem, your God, do to all the ‘people’ before whom you fear. We have to remember – and remind the youth – that each of us has been given special power to withstand the forces of impurity that face us. Do not fear them! You shall remember. In the words of the Abarbanel, “When the one who fears remembers that he has help against his foes, and he remembers that they tried time after time to defeat him without harming him at all, instead they were defeated and wiped off the face of the earth, that memory will take the fear out of his heart... and he has no weakness, only power.” It is especially important for youth to recognize this power – the power of being the child of the Almighty, and beloved by Him. As such, it is beneath them to succumb to the Yetzeh Hara, and they have the power to stand on a high level and merit the good hidden for the righteous in this world and the next.
So Shall Hashem Do to All the People Before Whom You Fear
There’s a marvelous story told by the legendary Rebbi Gad Eisner, the Menahel Ruchani of Yeshivas Chidushei Harim. After the terrible war, a survivor asked to speak with him about a private matter. The survivor told him that he was hidden by a righteous gentile during the war, who put himself and his family in danger by doing so. All those years, the gentile’s daughter really put herself out to help him, and in gratitude for her sacrifice, he wanted to marry her. After some thought, R’ Gad’l said that it was a difficult Shulchan Aruch question, and he had no Shulchan Aruch with him, and besides, his mind was weakened in the course of the terrible war, so he could not give a proper halachic answer. But, he said, having known the survivors illustrious father and grandfather, he would think that a Chassidic marriage would be more fitting for him. The young man heard, and accepted the answer.
R’ Gad’l told his friend R’ Itche Leiser that the young man still remembered that such marriage was forbidden by the Torah. He nevertheless asked him, feeling that only he would understand. So there was no point in telling him that it was forbidden. Instead he raised the young man up to the level of a Chassidic Jew of illustrious parentage. This pulled him out of the depths to which he had sunk. This is the way to succeed in our poor orphaned generation. Raise each person up to recognize his inherent power, that he is a beloved child of Hashem who has nothing to fear from all who come against him. Through this may we merit the help of Hashem from all powers that rise up against us, and merit to rise up in Torah and service, worshipping Him wholeheartedly and willingly forever. Amen, KYR.
