Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
Describing Amalek’s attack on Benei Yisrael, the Torah talks about both Amalek and Benei Yisrael:
אֲשֶׁ֨ר קָֽרְךָ֜ בַּדֶּ֗רֶךְ וַיְזַנֵּ֤ב בְּךָ֙ כׇּל־הַנֶּחֱשָׁלִ֣ים אַֽחֲרֶ֔יךָ וְאַתָּ֖ה עָיֵ֣ף וְיָגֵ֑עַ וְלֹ֥א יָרֵ֖א אֱלֹהִֽים׃
He came upon you on the road, and attacked your tail, all of the ones falling behind you, and you were tired and weary, and didn’t fear God.
The last few words of the pasuk are unclear. Who is being talked about—Amalek or Benei Yisrael? Which of these “didn’t fear God”?
וְלֹא יָרֵא - עֲמָלֵק
אֱלֹקִים - מִלְּהָרַע לְךָ:
Amalek didn’t fear God enough to not do this evil to you.
אֵלּוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁהָיוּ בָּהֶם מִצְווֹת וְלֹא קִיְּמוּם. אֲבָל אִם הֱיִיתֶם יִרְאֵי אֱלוֹקִים לֹא הָיָה יָכוֹל לְךָ.
These are Israelites who had been given mitzvot but didn’t keep them. “But if,” the Torah says, “you had feared God, Amalek wouldn’t have been able to do this you.”
- What evidence can you give for each side of the debate?
- Does it make more sense to describe Amalek or Benei Yisrael as people who “didn’t fear God”?
- What about the order of the sentence—who was just being talked about before this difficult phrase?
- If it applies to Amalek, what is it teaching us about Amalek? And if it applies to Beni Yisrael, what is it teaching us about them?
- What does fearing God mean? How are we supposed to do that?
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