Let’s Get Topical
Reading through this week’s Torah portion, Chukat, I was struck by these verses:
“The Canaanite king of Arad, who dwelled in the south, heard that Israel had come by the route of the spies, and he warred against Israel and took a captive from it. Israel made a vow to G-d and said : “If He will deliver this people into my hand, I will consecrate their cities. G-d heard the voice of Israel, and He delivered the Canaanite, and it consecrated them and their cities…” (Numbers 21:1-3)
The Jewish commentator Rashi explains that the king was an Amalekite, but he ordered his soldiers to use the Canaanite language, so as to prevent the Jews from correctly identifying his people in their prayers for G-d’s assistance.
Amalek are mentioned elsewhere in the Torah, including the portion Ki Tetze:
Remember what Amalek did to you as you were leaving Egypt. He happened upon you, and struck the weakest people trailing behind, when you were exhausted. And he did not fear God. (Deut. 25:17-18)
The Hebrew word for “happened upon you” is karcha, which is related to the word kar (“cold”). The Talmud explains that Amalek “cooled the Jews off.” After we were taken out of Egypt by G-d, after the 10 plagues and splitting of the Red Sea, all the nations were afraid of us. But then along came Amalek and did battle with us. Although we defeated them, they paved the way for others. Here’s a nice analogy I found:
..it is as if the Jewish people were a boiling hot bath that nobody was able to enter. Then along came a stranger and jumped in. Even though he suffered bad burns, he cooled it off (“kar”) for others to follow.
If you think about it, this is what the palestinian terrorists have done. After the Six Day War, the other Arab nations were afraid of us after our decisive victory. But in the early 70s (before the Yom Kippur War), the PLO’s terror campaign really took off with some plane hijackings. And they haven’t stopped since. And while the palestinians have gotten burned in the process (especially in the case of suicide bombings), they have “cooled us off” in the eyes of the other Arab countries. The image of Israel is no longer as it was.
Now I am by no means comparing palestinians to Amalek, but I certainly am comparing their terrorists to Amalek.
So if you now read again the verses I cited above from Numbers, you will see that the Amalekites (palestinian terrorists?) in the South of Israel (Gaza?) took a captive (Gilad Shalit?). And Israel was victorious against them.
Here’s hoping history repeats itself.
About the Author
An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.Filed Under: General
A very, very nice analysis. It’s wonderful how we can derive contemporary relevance from such ancient holy writings!
Cool. Now, can you somehow work the karni crossing into that?
FYI, this post has been included in this week’s parsha blog roundup here.
nice job, dave. i really enjoyed that analysis of the portion. shows the torah is not some archaic history book, but a living, breathing word. just a question, since your little analysis sort of promted it for me. what do you think of isaiah 10 and 11? pretty…prophetic, don’t you think? and if you see the outcome, there’s very little need for “hope”. as g-d says in genesis 12:3 “i will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you”. very little room for failure for israel with a backing like that! anyway, just thought i’d throw that out there. shabbat shalom, in the purest sense to you during this time.
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