Thursday, July 21, 2022

Two Roles Of Yehoshua

Rashi (27:23) says that Moshe was commanded to put only one hand on Yehosua's head but Moshe put two hands on his head.  What is the nature of the distinction between one hand or two? The Maharsha Bava Kammah (92b) explains that one hand symbolizes appointing Yehoshua to lead the people into battle as we find Moshe used one hand to ensure victory in battle, stretching ידו on the ym suf, כאשר ירים ידו.  However, Torah he accepted with two hands, שני לוחות הברית על שתי ידיו.  When Moshe put two hands on Yehoshua's head, he also gave him wisdom in Torah.  The Maharsha understands the original instruction is to make Yehoshua the war chief but Moshe gives him wisdom as well. 

The Megallah Amukot comments on the double terminology אֲשֶׁר־יֵצֵ֣א לִפְנֵיהֶ֗ם וַאֲשֶׁ֤ר יָבֹא֙ לִפְנֵיהֶ֔ם וַאֲשֶׁ֥ר יוֹצִיאֵ֖ם וַאֲשֶׁ֣ר יְבִיאֵ֑ם that Moshe asked for two leaders, one to lead the nation in battle and another to lead them in Torah.  Then it is understood why Moshe thought his sons could take over the job, for even though they were not qualified to be the Torah leaders, they could lead in battle.  However, the response was that Yehoshua would wear both hats for the victory in battle stems from the sucess in Torah (see Likutay Sichos volume 23.)  Either way, there is a הו"א that Moshe will appoint Yehoshua to lead the nation in battle but not occupy the role of the Torah leader and the conclusion is he had both roles.  What is the הו"א and what is the מסקנה?  

The Netziv in his introduction to Bamidbar explains how in this sefer there is a transition from the generation of open miracles to the generation which follows the rules of nature as they are on the cusp of entering Eretz Yisroel.  He says this is reflected in the counting of the people with which the sefer opens and the counting in this week's parsha. In the first count Epraim comes before Menashe because Efraim has more potential in learning (which is why Yaakov put his right hand on his head.)  However, in this week's parsha Menashe comes first because he has more potential for sucess in the rules of nature and everyday life.  That is why there is reason to say that in the Midbar, where things were governed by miracles, the leader of the nation had to be the Torah master.  However, when entering Eretz Yisroel when things run under the rubric of nature, one may say there is one leader who excels in knowing how to run a nation and a country and there is someone else to be the Torah leader.  However, the conclusion was that Yehoshua was able to have both roles.  (It is noteworthy that most of the times the roles were distinct, there was a אב ב"ד and a מלך/נשיא.  Mashiach will seem to have both roles like Moshe and Yehoshua, see Likutay Sichos ibid.)  [There are different ways to explain why the roles should be linked (depending on your view of Zionism, so I leave that to the reader to decide.]

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