Torah Power

The Or Hachaim asks why the splitting of the sea is considered such a great miracle if a river split for a single tzaddik, Rav Chanena ben Dosa (Chulin 7a?)  The midrash says that Hashem made a condition at the time of creation that the sea should split before Klal Yisroel.  If the river split before Rav Chanina, why was a condition from the beginning of time necessary to make the sea split before Klal Yisroel? The Or Hachaim differentiates between pre and post mattan Torah.  It’s not a great wonder for a Talmud chochem who has the power of the Torah to split the water in his path.  The power of Torah is greater than that of the natural order of the world and therefore it must bend before it.  However, before the giving of the Torah it was a great wonder for the sea to split.  Without the power of Torah there was no reason for the sea to split.

 What is the difference before and after mattan Torah?  Why did it matter that mattan Torah hadn’t occurred; Torah was being learnt since the times of Noach?  Before mattan Torah even though Torah was learnt it had no ability to permeate through the world.  The Torah couldn’t bring kedusha into the world.  Only after mattan Torah was a connection formed between the Torah and the world.  At mattan Torah physical mitzvot were given to bring kedusha to the physical world.  Therefore, before mattan Torah the Torah had no rule over the world.  Only after the giving of the Torah does the world have to bend before the Torah.  Since Klal Yisroel didn’t have the power of the Torah to split the sea, there had to be a condition integrated into the very fabric of the world’s makeup. (See Macshovos Hachasiddus pg.201 for the explanation of the difference of the Torah before and after mattan Torah.)

At the end of the parsha, there is the battle against Amalek.  It is specifically Yehoshua who is chosen to lead the war.  The Ramban says that Moshe couldn’t lead the war because he had to pray for the success of army.  However, why is Yehoshua the one chosen to lead the war?  Normally the booty of a conquered nation is permitted, however in regard to Amalek the navi (Shmuel Ch. 15) is clear that this was not the case.  Why is Amalek different than other nations? The difference between the fight against the seven nations in Eretz Yisroel and the fight against Amalek is that the seven nations were fighting to save their land.  Amalek on the other hand fought for no reason.  Their fight against Hashem was just for the sake of going against Hashem.  The Beis Halevi explains that’s why there is a need to destroy all the booty of Amalek.  Just like Amalek fought against us for no reason so to we destroy all their property even though there is no gain from such actions.  Rav Elchonan Wasserman writes in Kovetz Maamarim that the only way to fight against Amalek is via learning Torah.  That’s why specifically Yehoshua, who was the one who would give over Torah to Klal Yisroel after Moshe, had to lead the war. 

Why is the antidote to Amalek the learning of Torah?  It made no sense to attack Klal Yisroel, they clearly were protected by G-d, yet Amalek attacked anyway.  Their evil is above sechal, it is an evil that is so great, it can even defy sense.  The only way to combat that is via a kedusha above sechal.  That is only found in the Torah, which is a wisdom way above human intellect.  That’s why after the defeat of Haman, Amalek there was a new kabbalas hatorah, kiemu vekeblu, for it’s that power of Torah which destroys Amalek.

If it’s the power of Torah which defeats Amalek, why was there a need for Moshe to stand and pray for the victory of Klal Yisroel in this war?  Why was it necessary to evoke the power of prayer?  Possibly this wasn’t a prayer in the ordinary sense of prayer, rather a prayer as part of learning.  The Gemorah in Niddah (70b) says that success in Torah only comes in tandem with prayer.  The prayer of Moshe was part of the power of Torah which is necessary to defeat Amalek.  Learning without davening is an incomplete learning.