Obviously there must be more to Yehoshua being chosen than a
play on the words yarei – yarei. All of the
shevatim were yirei shamayim -- just because these words did not come out of
their mouths does not mean their character was lacking. So why were Yosef and his descendants alone charged with leading the war against Amalek?
Ksav Sofer answers that, as we discussed in the past, war
against Amalek has to be waged l’shem shamayim.
When we fight Amalek it must not be done out of animosity or hatred, but
rather simply to fulfill “milchama l’Hashem,” for Hashem’s honor alone. Yosef
surely had motive, means, and ample opportunity to take revenge against his
brothers for their crime of selling him into slavery. Had Yosef wanted to be vindictive, he certainly
could have justified his actions. Yet Yosef
put aside his personal feelings and chose not to lash out at his brothers. Any pain he caused them was done l’shem
shamayim to see the dreams/prophecy foretold to him fulfilled. It was this quality of selflessness, the
ability to put aside personal feelings and act completely l’shem shamayim,
which made Yosef and his descendants the best candidates to carry out this "milchama l'Hashem" against Amalek.
Where did Yosef get that quality from? I think it came from his mother Rachel,
who put aside her own desire to be Ya’akov’s wife and gave the simanim to her sister Leah
to spare her the embarrassment of being rejected by Ya’akov when he realized that Lavan had switched their places. Rachel gave away everything l'shem shamayim; her children inherited that quality.
Perhaps there is another reason Yosef was chosen as a foil
for Amalek. Amalek was among the
offspring of Timna. Chazal (Sanhedrin 99)
tell us that Timna was a princess who came to the Avos and wanted to convert
and join Klal Yisrael, but the Avos rejected her. She therefore went to Eisav and ended up
marrying Elifaz, Eisav’s son, and giving birth to Amalek. Timna was pushed away from the family of the
Avos and the result was Amalek, “lo yarei Elokim.” Yosef was pushed away by his brothers, but
rather than abandon his yiras shamayim, he only grew stronger, “es haElokim ani
yarei.”
After the battle ended Moshe erected a mizbeiach which he
called “Hashem Nisi,” G-d is my miracle. Ksav Sofer asks
why Moshe erected an altar
on this occasion alone – why did he not do the same after leaving Mitzrayim or
after the splitting of Yam Suf?
Ksav Sofer answers that the victory against Amalek was not an
overt, supernatural miracle like the plagues or the splitting of the sea. For all intents and purposes it looked like
any other war between two armies. Moshe therefore
built a mizbeiach and named it “Hashem Nisi” to publicize the fact that miracles
do not always come in supernatural garb.
For a rag tag “army” of just escaped slaves to stand up to a full scale
surprise attack by an enemy dedicated to their destruction was also indeed nothing
short of miraculous.
I would like to suggest that Moshe’s actions go hand in hand
with the selection of Yosef’s sheivet to lead the war. Yosef’s outward appearance was that of an
Egyptian viceroy. He probably dressed
Egyptian, he certainly spoke Egyptian, and he was able to move in the highest
strata of Egyptian society, yet inside burned the neshoma of “es haElokim ani
yarei.” The war against Amalek on the
surface looked like any other war, but below the surface it was a “michama l’Hashem”
involving hashgacha/nes. According to
the Netziv, the entire objective of Amalek is to blind us to the hasgachas Hashem,
to prevent us from seeing the many miracles that surround us every day. Yosef’s message is to look below the surface. Even if you don’t see a thunderbolt shoot
down from the sky or the sea split, Hashem is still there working miracles behind the scenes. Finding those hidden miracles is how we defeat Amalek.
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