God will fight for you, but you
must remain silent. God said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to Me?
Speak to the Israelites, and let them start moving." Exodus
14:14-15
God's words to Moses: "Why are you crying out to Me?
Speak to the Israelites, and let them start moving" can be understood to
contradict the approach of the Master of all prophets. Moses informed the
Israelites that they need do nothing, save await God's salvation, as Midrash
Tanḥuma states:
Moses said to the Israelites:
"Have I not told you 'You must remain silent?' You have naught to do except stand quietly
and God will fight your battle."
However,
God's response was that, indeed it is incumbent upon Israel to act. The people
may not merely stand inactively awaiting Divine salvation. Essentially, God
informed Moses that the Israelites' salvation was dependent upon their own
actions, in the phrase of Zohar, "the lower arousal" (of human
beings, which Malbim defines as being the result of actions and deeds)
influences the "upper (Divine) arousal." Indeed, Rabbeinu Beḥayye comments that God's message was
"it is not dependent upon Me, but upon the Israelites." Following
Rabbeinu Beḥayye, Rabbi
Shimshon Raphael Hirsch wrote: "salvation still depends upon the nation,
who must take the first step."
The
Divine approach is reflected by the Sweet Singer of Israel:
Some trust in chariots, and some in
horses; but we will make mention of the name of the Lord our God. Psalms 20:8
which Radak and Metzudat
David explain to mean that Israel may not rely on God without acting,
rather, the combination of Israel's endeavors and their belief in Divine
assistance will effect Israel's victory, even if they have few chariots and
horses, and even if they are on foot, they will defeat the chariots and horses
of their enemies. [Metzudat David] With all due respect to the value of
prayer, it alone cannot guarantee Israel's victory, but Israel must pray and
fight. This combination will bring the Chosen People's victory over its
enemies. [Radak]
Based upon the above elucidation of the verse in Psalms,
Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook wrote:
Many assume the verse's intent is
that the nations of the world will fight against Israel with tanks and planes,
while we gather in the study halls to engage in Torah study and recitation of
Psalms. Clearly, this approach does not fit the laws of wars as formulated by
Maimonides, nor many Torah portions. Rather, the understanding is this: we too
have tanks and planes, but we "make mention of the name of the Lord our
God" in connection with our tanks and planes, remembering Who gives us
strength to succeed.
Rabbi Mordechai Greenberg, Rosh Yeshiva of my alma mater,
Kerem b'Yavne, comments that Moshe Dayan's statement following the Six Day War
that "we helped God defeat our enemies" aroused anger in religious
circles, with many seeing it as a violation of the Torah's warning "(be
careful that you not) say to yourself ‘It was my own strength and personal
power that brought me this victory.’" [Deuteronomy 8:17] However, Rabbi
Zvi Yehuda Kook not only was not offended by Dayan's comment, but quoted a
supporting Midrash. Our Sages commented on the verse [Numbers 23:23]
"now is it said of Jacob and of Israel: 'What hath God wrought!'":
"The Divine voice is destined to blast from the hill tops and declare 'let
whoever has worked with God come and take his reward'." [vaYikra Rabba
27:12] Rabbi Zvi Yehuda explained the Midrash to mean that we have an
obligation to help God to realize His plan, and that, indeed, this is what He
expects of us, and we will be rewarding for doing our share.
Just as we cannot rely solely on our own strength, we
cannot rely on God's salvation without doing our part and acting in accordance
with our abilities.
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