Rashi brings a parable to illustrate why Amalek attacked Am Yisrael: A young boy is sitting on his father’s shoulders and the boy is constantly asking his father for different things. “Daddy, may I please have something to drink?” The father buys him a soda. “Daddy, I am hungry!” The father buys him a sandwich. “Daddy, I am cold!” The father takes the boy’s coat and hands it to him.
Later, they are met by another man. The boy asks the man, “Excuse me, have you seen my Daddy?” The father angrily says to his son “I have been carrying you all this time and taking care of your every need and you ask where I am?” The father takes his son off his shoulders and a dog comes along and bites the boy.
This is what happened with Am Yisrael. After all the miracles Hashem performed for them, in Refidim they had the gall to ask, “Is G-d amongst us?” (Shemot 17:7), so Hashem sent Amalek. How is possible that Am Yisrael fell to such a low level?
Before the Red Sea, Am Yisrael camped at Mara. Our Sages say (Sanhedrin 56b), that in Mara Hashem gave them part of the Oral Law – the halachot of judges, Shabbat and respecting parents – in preparation for Har Sinai. Unlike Har Sinai, where Hashem had to threateningly “dangle the mountain over their heads” so that they would accept the Oral Law, in Mara, they accepted these halachot willingly, of their own volition.
Then we have the Splitting of the Red Sea. The Sages say the level of prophecy that a lowly maidservant experienced at the Red Sea was greater than the greatest prophecy of the prophet Yechezkel; they could clearly see Hashem face to face! Am Yisrael were at their pinnacle of spirituality thus far.
Immediately following the drowning of the Egyptians in the Red Sea, all the Egyptian gold and valuables floated to the surface, and each one of Am Yisrael added another level to their 90 Libyan donkeys laden with loot from Egypt (Bechorot 5b) – so much so that Moshe had to force them to leave. When an ATM machine is spitting out free bills, people want to hang around and collect as much as they can. At the Red Sea, Hashem instilled in Am Yisrael an insatiable thirst for money, which they would then redirect to an insatiable thirst for studying Torah (Rashi, Kohelet 5:9).
The matzos that Am Yisrael took with them from Egypt ran out on the 31st day after leaving Egypt and there was no food. So, on 17 Iyar (Seder Olam Raba) in Alush, Hashem gave them mann, heavenly food. Finally, one week later (23 Iyar), in Refidim, there was no water, and Am Yisrael complained, “Is G-d amongst us?” Hashem then gave them the Well of Miriam.
So, what happened between the high point at the Red Sea and the low point in Refidim?
The Gemara (Bechorot 5b) says that the reason it is called Refidim is that Am Yisrael’s hands, rafu, became “weak” in Torah observance; they were lax in performing the halachot that they had been given in Mara.
Pirkei Avot (1:6) says, “Give every man the benefit of the doubt.” Let us give Am Yisrael the benefit of the doubt and try to analyze what really happened at Refidim. At Mara, Am Yisrael had their first real taste of Torah study – the Oral Law and halachot – and they were satisfied until they crossed the Red Sea and it started spitting out all the gold and riches.
At this point, Am Yisrael developed an insatiable thirst for Torah, as Hashem intended, in preparation for Har Sinai. When they reached Refidim on the 23rd of Iyar, two weeks before Matan Torah, they could not wait for Har Sinai to learn more Torah. In Refidim there was “no water to drink,” a metaphor for Torah, which is likened to water. Am Yisrael complained to Hashem: “We want the Torah, now!” The mechanism acquired at the Red Sea was working too well. However, on its own it was insufficient.
Hashem had everything planned – the required sequence for receiving the Torah on Har Sinai. First, they had to eat mann, food of the angels, to elevate them to the required spiritual level. They had to drink water from the Well of Miriam. Finally, they required the lesson of Amalek.
The Vilna Gaon says that in the battle with Amalek, when Moshe raised his hands, Am Yisrael were victorious, and when he lowered them, Amalek was victorious. When someone raises their hands above their ears, in doing so they are declaring “Na’aseh ve’Nishma,” first we will obey and then we will learn more. The hands reflect action/obedience; the ears reflect hearing/learning.
At Refidim, Am Yisrael wanted the Torah – immediately; they wanted to hear/learn more. But this had to be preceded by blind obedience and acceptance. An insatiable thirst for Torah, if not preceded by blind obedience to Hashem, can deteriorate even to the denial of the existence of G-d, as happened in Refidim.
This was the lesson Hashem wanted to instill in Am Yisrael before to giving them the Torah on Har Sinai.
Parshat HaShavua Trivia Question: From where is the halacha of making a blessing on two challos at Shabbat meals derived?
Answer to Last Week’s Trivia Question: Why does the Torah, which is a book of mitzvot, not begin with the first mitzvah, blessing the new month, rather than with the story of Creation? The first Rashi in the Torah (Bereishit 1:1) says that Hashem preceded the first mitzvah with the Creation to consolidate Am Yisrael’s claim to Eretz Yisrael. By first clarifying that all the world belongs to Hashem, including the Land of Israel, Hashem only gives the Land of Israel to those who are worthy – Am Yisrael – when they follow the Torah. Eretz Yisrael, Am Yisrael and the Torah are intricately linked and cannot exist exclusive of each other.
