Chumashחומש

מה תנסון. לוֹמַר הֲיוּכַל לָתֵת מַיִם בְּאֶרֶץ צִיָּה?:

מה תנסון TO WHY DO YE TRY [THE LORD] by saying, “Will He be able to give us water in an arid land?”

עוד מעט. אִם אַמְתִּין עוֹד מְעַט וסקלני:

עוד מעט YET A LITTLE means, if I wait but a little more they will stone me.

עבור לפני העם. וּרְאֵה אִם יִסְקְלוּךָ, לָמָּה הוֹצֵאתָ לַעַז עַל בָּנַי? (שמות רבה):

עבר לפני העם PASS BEFORE THE PEOPLE and see whether they will stone you! (Midrash Tanchuma, Beshalach 23) Why have you uttered a slander against My children?

וקח אתך מזקני ישראל. לְעֵדוּת, שֶׁיִּרְאוּ שֶׁעַל יָדְךָ מַיִם יוֹצְאִים מִן הַצּוּר, וְלֹא יֹאמְרוּ מַעְיָנוֹת הָיוּ שָׁם מִימֵי קֶדֶם:

וקח אתך מזקני ישראל AND TAKE WITH THEE OF THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL as witnesses — that they may see that it is by your agency that the water will come forth from the rock and that people may not say that there had been springs there from time immemorial (Mekhilta).

ומטך אשר הכית בו את היאר. מַה תַּ"לֹ "אֲשֶׁר הִכִּיתָ בּוֹ אֶת הַיְאֹר"? אֶלָּא שֶׁהָיוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל אוֹמְרִים עַל הַמַּטֶּה שֶׁאֵינוֹ מוּכָן אֶלָּא לְפֻרְעָנוּת – בּוֹ לָקָה פַרְעֹה וּמִצְרַיִם כַּמָּה מַכּוֹת בְּמִצְרַיִם וְעַל הַיָּם – לְכָךְ נֶאֱמַר אֲשֶׁר הִכִּיתָ בּוֹ אֶת הַיְאֹר, יִרְאוּ עַתָּה שֶׁאַף לְטוֹבָה הוּא מוּכָן (מכילתא):

ומטך אשר הכית בו את היאר AND THY STAFF, WHEREWITH THOU SMOTEST THE RIVER — What is the force of the words “wherewith thou smotest the river” — they are apparently superfluous? But these are added because the Israelites had said of the staff that it was intended only for punishment: by it Pharaoh and the Egyptians had been stricken with many plagues in Egypt and at the Red Sea. On this account it is stated here: take the staff wherewith thou smotest the river — they shall see now that it is also intended for good (Mekhilta).

והכית בצור. עַל הַצּוּר לֹא נֶאֱמַר אֶלָּא בַצּוּר, מִכָּאן שֶׁהַמַּטֶּה הָיָה שֶׁל מִין דָּבָר חָזָק וּשְׁמוֹ סַנְפִּירִינוֹן, וְהַצּוּר נִבְקַע מִפָּנָיו (שם):

והכית בצור AND THOU SHALT SMITE THE ROCK — It does not say here “thou shalt smite על הצור”, upon the surface of the rock, but בצור, right into the rock — from this it follows that the rod must have been composed of a kind of hard material the name of which is sapphire, and the rock was split by it (Mekhilta).

ויבא עמלק וגו'. סָמַךְ פָּרָשָׁה זוֹ לְמִקְרָא זֶה, לוֹמַר, תָּמִיד אֲנִי בֵינֵיכֶם וּמְזֻמָּן לְכָל צָרְכֵּיכֶם וְאַתֶּם אוֹמְרִים הֲיֵשׁ ה' בְּקִרְבֵּנוּ אִם אָיִן, חַיֵּיכֶם שֶׁהַכֶּלֶב בָּא וְנוֹשֵׁךְ אֶתְכֶם וְאַתֶּם צוֹעֲקִים לִי וְתֵדְעוּ הֵיכָן אֲנִי? מָשָׁל לְאָדָם שֶׁהִרְכִּיב בְּנוֹ עַל כְּתֵפוֹ וְיָצָא לַדֶּרֶךְ, הָיָה אוֹתוֹ הַבֵּן רוֹאֶה חֵפֶץ וְאוֹמֵר, אַבָּא טֹל חֵפֶץ זֶה וְתֵן לִי וְהוּא נוֹתֵן לוֹ, וְכֵן שְׁנִיָּה, וְכֵן שְׁלִישִׁית, פָּגְעוּ בְאָדָם אֶחָד אָמַר לוֹ אוֹתוֹ הַבֵּן, רָאִיתָ אֶת אַבָּא? אָמַר לוֹ אָבִיו, אֵינְךָ יוֹדֵעַ הֵיכָן אֲנִי? הִשְׁלִיכוֹ מֵעָלָיו וּבָא הַכֶּלֶב וּנְשָׁכוֹ (תנחומא יתרו):

ויבא עמלק THEN CAME AMALEK — Scripture places this section immediately after this preceding verse (they said, “Is the Lord among us or not?”) to imply, “I am ever among you and ready at hand for every thing you may need, and yet you say, “Is the Lord among us or not?” By your lives, I swear that the hound (Amalek) shall come and bite you, and you will cry for Me and then you will know where I am!” A parable: it may be compared to a man who carried his son upon his shoulder, and went out on a journey. The son saw an article and said, “Father, pick up that thing and give it to me”. He gave it to him, and so a second time and so also a third time. They met a certain man to whom the son said, “Have you seen my father anywhere?” Whereupon his father said to him, “Don’t you know where I am?” — He, therefore, cast him off from himself and a hound came and bit him (Midrash Tanchuma, Yitro 3).

בחר לנו. לִי וּלְךָ – הִשְׁוָהוּ לוֹ; מִכָּאן אָמְרוּ חֲכָמִים יְהִי כְבוֹד תַּלְמִידְךָ חָבִיב עָלֶיךָ כְּשֶׁלָּךְ; וּכְבוֹד חֲבֵרְךָ כְּמוֹרָא רַבָּךְ מִנַּיִן? שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "וַיֹּאמֶר אַהֲרֹן אֶל מֹשֶׁה בִּי אֲדֹנִי", וַהֲלֹא אַהֲרֹן גָּדוֹל מֵאָחִיו הָיָה וְעוֹשֶׂה אֶת חֲבֵרוֹ כְּרַבּוֹ. וּמוֹרָא רַבָּךְ כְּמוֹרָא שָׁמַיִם מִנַּיִן? שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "אֲדֹנִי מֹשֶׁה כְּלָאֵם" – כַּלֵּם מִן הָעוֹלָם, חַיָּבִין הֵם כְּלָיָה, הַמּוֹרְדִים בְּךָ כְּאִלּוּ מָרְדוּ בְּהַקָּבָּ"ה:

בחר לנו CHOOSE OUT MEN FOR US — for me and for you: he (Moses) placed him (Joshua) on the same level with himself. They (the Rabbis) derived from here the teaching: let thy disciple’s honour be as dear to thee as thy own. And whence may we derive the next statement in thee well-known passage: and thy colleague’s honour as dear to thee as the reverence due to thy teacher? Because it is said, (Numbers 12:11) “And Aaron spake to Moses, “I beseech thee, my lord” — but surely Aaron was older than his brother and yet by addressing him as “my lord” he treated his colleague (Moses) as his teacher! “And the reverence due to thy teacher as the reverence due to God” — whence may this be derived? Because it is said, (Numbers 11:28) “[And he (Joshua) said (to his teacher, Moses)] “My lord, Moses, כלאם”, destroy them (כַּלֵּם) from out of the world! they who rebel against thee deserve to be destroyed just the same as though they had rebelled against the Holy One, blessed be He (Mekhilta).

וצא הלחם. צֵא מִן הֶעָנָן וְהִלָּחֵם בּוֹ:

וצא הלחם GO OUT, FIGHT — go out from the cloud and fight against him (Mekhilta),

מחר. בְּעֵת הַמִּלְחָמָה, אָנֹכִי נִצָּב:

מחר TO-MORROW, at the time of the battle, I will take my stand.

בחר לנו אנשים. גִּבּוֹרִים וְיִרְאֵי חֵטְא שֶׁתְּהֵא זְכוּתָן מְסַיַּעְתָּן. דָּבָר אַחֵר – בְּחַר לָנוּ אֲנָשִׁים שֶׁיּוֹדְעִין לְבַטֵּל כְּשָׁפִים, לְפִי שֶׁבְּנֵי עֲמָלֵק מְכַשְּׁפִין הָיוּ:

בחר לנו אנשים CHOOSE US MEN — brave men, and men who fear sin (אנשים does not mean merely men — males, but men fit for war and at the same time God-fearing) — choose these so that their merit may stand them in good stead (cf. (Mekhilta). Another explanation: בחר לנו אנשים Choose us men who know how to make witchcraft of none effect; he said this because the sons of Amalek were wizards (cf. Rashi on v. 12)

ומשה אהרן וחור. מִכָּאן לְתַעֲנִית שֶׁצְּרִיכִים שְׁלֹשָׁה לַעֲבֹר לִפְנֵי הַתֵּבָה, שֶׁבְּתַעֲנִית הָיוּ שְׁרוּיִים (מכילתא):

AND MOSES AND AARON AND HUR — From this we may infer as regards a public fast that three men must pass before the Holy Ark (i. e. must officiate at prayer) — we may infer this because they (the Israelites) were then engaged in fasting (Mekhilta).

חור. בְּנָהּ שֶׁל מִרְיָם הָיָה וְכָלֵב בַּעְלָהּ (סוטה י"א):

חור HUR was the son of Miriam and her husband was Caleb (Sotah 11b).

כאשר ירים משה ידו. וְכִי יָדָיו שֶׁל מֹשֶׁה נוֹצְחוֹת הָיוּ הַמִּלְחָמָה וְכוּ' כִּדְאִיתָא בְּרֹ"הַ:

כאשר ירים משה ידו WHEN MOSES LIFTED UP HIS HAND — But could Moses’ hands win the battle etc.? See the whole passage as it is given in the Treatise Rosh Hashanah 29a.

וידי משה כבדים. בִּשְׁבִיל שֶׁנִּתְעַצֵּל בַּמִּצְוָה וּמִנָּה אַחֵר תַּחְתָּיו, נִתְיַקְּרוּ יָדָיו:

וידי משה כבדים BUT MOSES HANDS BECAME HEAVY — Because he had shown himself remiss in the duty that was his, of waging war himself against Amalek, and had appointed another in his stead, his hands became heavy (cf. (Mekhilta).

ויקחו. אַהֲרֹן וְחוּר:

ויקחו AND THEY TOOK — Aaron and Hur took —

אבן וישימו תחתיו. וְלֹא יָשַׁב לוֹ עַל כַּר וָכֶסֶת. אָמַר: יִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁרוּיִין בְּצַעַר, אַף אֲנִי אֶהְיֶה עִמָּהֶם בְּצַעַר (תענית י"א):

אבן וישימו תחתיו A STONE AND THEY PUT IT UNDER HIM [AND HE SAT THEREON] — but he did not seat himself upon a cushion or a pillow, for he said, “Israel is in tribulation; I will be in tribulation together with them”. (Taanit 11a).

ויהי ידיו אמונה. וַיְהִי מֹשֶׁה יָדָיו בֶּאֱמוּנָה, פְּרוּשׂוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם בִּתְפִלָּה נֶאֱמָנָה וּנְכוֹנָה:

ויהי ידיו אמונה (lit., and he was, his hands faithfulness) — and Moses was in the condition that his hands were in faithfulness — spread forth to heaven in a confident and firm prayer.

עד בא השמש. שֶׁהָיוּ עֲמָלֵקִים מְחַשְּׁבִין אֶת הַשָּׁעוֹת בָּאִיצְטְרוּלוֹגִיאָה, בְּאֵיזוֹ שָׁעָה הֵם נוֹצְחִים, וְהֶעֱמִיד לָהֶם מֹשֶׁה חַמָּה וְעִרְבֵּב אֶת הַשָּׁעוֹת (תנחומא):

עד בא השמש UNTIL THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN — Because the Amalekites had calculated the hours by astrology, as to which hour they would prove victorious, Moses held back the sun against them and brought the hours into confusion (Midrash Tanchuma, Beshalach 28).

ויחלש יהושע. חָתַךְ רָאשֵׁי גִבּוֹרָיו וְלֹא הִשְׁאִיר אֶלָּא חַלָּשִׁים שֶׁבָּהֶם, וְלֹא הֲרָגָם כֻּלָּם, מִכָּאן אָנוּ לְמֵדִים שֶׁעָשׂוּ עַ"פִּ הַדִּבּוּר שֶׁל שְׁכִינָה (שם):

ויחלש יהושע AND JOSHUA DISCOMFITED [AMALEK] (more lit., he weakened Amalek) — he cut off the heads of his mighty men and left only the weak amongst them, and he did not kill all of them (leaving the weak men alive: thus Amalek was made weak, and powerless for further mischief). From this we may learn that they acted according to the expressed pronouncement of the Shechina (otherwise they would, in the stress of battle, not have so discriminated) (Mekhilta).

כתב זאת זכרון. שֶׁבָּא עֲמָלֵק לְהִזְדַּוֵּג לְיִשְׂרָאֵל קֹדֶם לְכָל הָאֻמּוֹת:

כתב זאת זכרון WRITE THIS FOR A MEMORIAL, that Amalek came to wage war against Israel before any other nation.

ושים באזני יהושע. הַמַּכְנִיס אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל לָאָרֶץ, שֶׁיְּצַוֶּה אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל לְשַׁלֵּם לוֹ אֶת גְּמוּלוֹ; כָּאן נִרְמַז לוֹ לְמֹשֶׁה שֶׁיְּהוֹשֻׁעַ מַכְנִיס אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל לָאָרֶץ (שם):

ושים באזני יהושע AND PUT INTO THE EARS OF JOSHUA, who will bring Israel into the Holy Land, that he must command Israel to pay him his recompense. Here it was intimated to Moses (by the mere statement that Joshua should in some future time carry out the injunction to destroy Amalek) that Joshua would bring Israel into the Holy Land (cf. (Mekhilta).

כי מחה אמחה. לְכָךְ אֲנִי מַזְהִירְךָ כֵּן, כִּי חָפֵץ אֲנִי לִמְחוֹתוֹ:

כי מחה אמחה BECAUSE I WOULD UTTERLY BLOT OUT [THE REMEMBRANCE OF AMALEK] — the reason why I admonish you thus is because (כי) I desire to blot it out.

ויקרא שמו. שֶׁל מִזְבֵּחַ:

ויקרא שמו AND HE CALLED HIS (or its) NAME — the name of the altar,

ה' נסי. הַקָּבָּ"ה עָשָׂה לָנוּ כָּאן נֵס. לֹא שֶׁהַמִּזְבֵּחַ קָרוּי ה', אֶלָּא הַמַּזְכִּיר שְׁמוֹ שֶׁל מִזְבֵּחַ זוֹכֵר אֶת הַנֵּס שֶׁעָשָׂה הַמָּקוֹם – ה' הוּא נֵס שֶׁלָּנוּ:

ה׳ נסי (lit., the Lord is my banner or my miracle) — The Holy One, blessed be He, here performed a miracle for us. It does not mean that the altar was named ה׳, “the Lord, my banner”, but the reason for so calling it was that anyone mentioning the altar’s name would thereby remember the miracle which the Omni-present had performed, since he would be saying: the Lord, He is our Miracle (cf. Rashi on Genesis 33:20).

ויאמר. מֹשֶׁה:

ויאמר AND HE SAID — i. e. Moses said.

כי יד על כס יה. יָדוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּבָּ"ה הוּרְמָה לִשָּׁבַע בְּכִסְאוֹ לִהְיוֹת לוֹ מִלְחָמָה וְאֵיבָה בַעֲמָלֵק עוֹלָמִית, וּמַהוּ כֵּס וְלֹא נֶאֱמַר כִּסֵּא? וְאַף הַשֵּׁם נֶחֱלַק לְחֶצְיוֹ? נִשְׁבַּע הַקָּבָּ"ה שֶׁאֵין שְׁמוֹ שָׁלֵם וְאֵין כִּסְאוֹ שָׁלֵם עַד שֶׁיִּמָּחֶה שְׁמוֹ שֶׁל עֲמָלֵק כֻּלּוֹ, וּכְשֶׁיִּמָּחֶה שְׁמוֹ יִהְיֶה הַשֵּׁם שָׁלֵם וְהַכִּסֵּא שָׁלֵם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "הָאוֹיֵב תַּמּוּ חֳרָבוֹת לָנֶצַח" (תהלים ט'), זֶהוּ עֲמָלֵק שֶׁכָּתוּב בּוֹ "וְעֶבְרָתוֹ שְׁמָרָה נֶצַח" (עמוס א'), "וְעָרִים נָתַשְׁתָּ אָבַד זִכְרָם הֵמָּה" (תהלים שם), מַהוּ אוֹמֵר אַחֲרָיו? "וַה' לְעוֹלָם יֵשֵׁב" — הֲרֵי הַשֵּׁם שָׁלֵם, "כּוֹנֵן לַמִּשְׁפָּט כִּסְאוֹ" — הֲרֵי כִּסְּאוֹ שָׁלֵם:

כי יד על כס יה BECAUSE THE HAND IS UPON THE THRONE OF JAH — the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, is raised to swear by His throne that He will have war and enmity against Amalek to all eternity. And what is the force of כס — why does it not say as usual כסא? And the Divine Name, also, is divided into half (יה is only the half of the Tetragrammaton)! The Holy One, blessed be He, swears that His Name will not be perfect nor His throne perfect until the name of Amalek be entirely blotted out. But when his name is blotted out then will His (God’s) Name be perfect and His throne perfect, as it is said, (Psalms 9:7) “The enemy is come to an end, he whose swords were for ever” — and this refers to Amalek of whom it is written, (Amos 1:11; the paragraph is a prophecy against Edom — Esau — the father of Amalek) “he kept his wrath for ever”. The verse in the Psalm continues: “and thou didst uproot enemies, their very memorial is perished”, What does it say immediately after this? (Psalms 9:8) “But the Lord (the Divine Name as given here is the Tetragrammaton) shall now remain for ever” — you see that the Name will be perfect (after Amalek is entirely rooted out as is mentioned in v. 7); “He establishes his throne (כסאו not כס) in righteousness” — so you see that His throne will then be perfect (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Teitzei 11).