This week we begin Sefer Devarim, the
final section of the Torah. It mostly consists of Moshe giving direction and
advice to the entire nation before he passes on while they continue to Eretz
Yisrael. In each parsha in this Sefer, Moshe discusses a point that he feels is
important for future generations to know and understand in order to act
properly as Jews. (See below for a link to an essay which points out the theme
found in each parsha.)
The end of the parsha discusses the wars
fought by the Bnei Yisrael against the various nations surrounding Eretz
Yisrael. These wars were important as they were the beginning of the process of
settling Eretz Yisrael. The most important of these wars was the one fought
against Sichon, the King of Emori, who joined with Moab to fight against Bnei Yisrael.
When Moshe tells over the story of Hashem commanding him to go to war, Rashi
adds in an interesting fact.
“הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֗ה
אָחֵל֙ תֵּ֤ת פַּחְדְּךָ֙ וְיִרְאָ֣תְךָ֔ עַל־פְּנֵי֙ הָֽעַמִּ֔ים תַּ֖חַת כָּל־הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם” “Today
I will begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you upon the nations that
are under the entire heaven” (Devarim 2:25). Rashi explains that the
nations of the world are described as being “under the entire heaven”, because during
the battle with Sichon, the sun stood still and didn’t set until the fight was
over in order to allow Bnei Yisrael to finish the fight during the day.
Consequently, by observing the change in the sun’s pattern, the entire world
realized that Hashem had done a tremendous miracle for the Jews.
This wasn’t the only time Hashem stopped
the sun for the Jews. In the times of Yehoshua, Hashem stopped the sun during
one of the battles he fought while conquering Eretz Yisrael (See Yehoshua 10). However,
by Yehoshua, the pasuk tells us explicitly that the sun stopped. How do we know
that the sun stopped by Moshe if it’s not written out in the pasuk? By using a
method known as Gezeira Shava, finding a common word between the two
stories, Chazal make a connection between Yehoshua and Moshe and learn that the
sun stopped for Moshe as well. The word used to make this connection is “אָחֵל”, which
comes from the root “to begin”.
The Kli Yakar points
out an interesting idea based off this connection. The battle with Sichon is
referred to by the pasuk as when the Nations began to fear Bnei Yisrael.
According to Chazal, this was a result of witnessing the unbelievable occurrence
of the sun stopping its course. What is the significance of this particular
miracle being used to commence the settling of Eretz Yisrael?
One way Chazal explain
the order of the Ten Plagues is that they were designed in a way that Hashem would
show unequivocally that He was the Ruler of the World. The first step to that
was to remove any and all significance of the gods of Egypt. By attacking the
gods of the Egyptians, Hashem was striking at the core of their existence and
beliefs. Therefore, He first attacked the Nile River, the primary form of
worship in Egypt, by turning it into blood. He performed a similar idea with
the nations surrounding Eretz Yisrael.
Many of these nations
worshipped the sun; therefore, Hashem decided to “attack” the sun. By changing
the normal pattern of the sun, He showed that the gods of these nations were
powerless and ultimately false and meaningless. After removing the “power” of
their gods, He then told Bnei Yisrael to attack them and destroy them
physically. So stopping the sun really was the beginning of the end for these
nations, just like the pasuk explains.
Shabbat Shalom!
Click here for last year's Dvar Torah for Parshas Devarim
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