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Every Jew a Butterfly
Only a few weeks following their exodus from Egypt
with the Ten Plagues that literally wiped out the Egyptian empire, the
capital of progress; only a few weeks following the total demise of the
Egyptian armed forces having drowned in the Red Sea; the civilized world
heard what had happened and recognized that these people that HaShem
declared His Own were a people to be feared. "The nations have
heard and shiver, travailing fear has gripped the inhabitants of Philishtim... Fear and dread fall upon them..."
In spite of the intense awe that gripped the world there was nevertheless
one small nation, the nation of Amalek, stood up against us and
challenged us just one month after the splitting of the Red Sea! Who is
Amalek, what did they want to accomplish and what is our relationship
with them.
After Yehoshua, Moshe's most dedicated disciple,
overtook Amalek HaShem instructed Moshe "Write this for a
memorial in the book and repeat it also in the ears of Yehoshua that I
will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens...
and Moshe said: 'For the hand is on the throne of HaShem; HaShem maintains
a war against Amalek from generation to generation."
HaShem maintains a war against the nation of
Amalek!? Why must HaShem maintain a war? If He sees
Amalek as the enemy ought He not eliminate it? Is there anything
stopping HaShem from overpowering any nation? Egypt was the world power
in its day and HaShem does not maintain a war with them; he simply
overpowered them and they are now history. Furthermore, what does HaShem
have against Amalek, what did they do so wrong? While it is true they
attacked HaShem's people without any apparent reason but for that HaShem
must maintain a war against them for generation to generation? Is not
history filled with such nations and HaShem does not maintain war with
them from generation to generation?
The Torah teaches us that every thing in this
material world receives it energy and existence from a corresponding
entity in the spiritual world. Just as this is the case with every blade
of grass it is equally so with nations. In other words, every nation has
an entity in the spiritual world which is called a saar
from where it receives its energy. The economic situation, the political
situation, the security situation and so on is all influenced by what
happens to its saar. Before a nation can
be destroyed its saar must be
eliminated. So long as the welfare of its saar
is in good shape nothing can happen to its nation. Naturally, it is
HaShem who deals with the saar in the
spiritual sphere and then the physical form of destruction takes its
course. This might be war or perhaps a natural disaster or maybe some
other form of demise.
The nation of Amalek is unique in that its saar is the Satan. In dealing with the Satan HaShem
has limited His involvement because the destiny of world is tied up in
Satan's continued existence. The only power that can weaken the Satan is
Man himself, not HaShem! Let us break a moment to discuss exactly who is Satan and why his existence is critical for the
world to achieve its destiny.
The destiny of the world:
HaShem created a material world and placed Man in it
to give Man the opportunity to integrate the spiritual realm into the
physical plane. When Man will accomplish this great feat the world in its
entirety, both sides of existence will be completely unified into one
magnificent universe which will reflect HaShem's incredible Unity. This
is the destiny of the world. The critical point is that this integration
should Man's accomplishment; an achievement that Man accomplished using
his own moral strength. This is where Satan's role becomes so critical. (I must
interject at this point one important point; we understand that Satan is
a creation of HaShem who carries out HaShem's command. Everything Satan
does is HaShem's expressed Will.) Satan is the force that influences Man to make bad moral
choices. Without Satan, Man would not have free choice. The choice to do
evil would be as attractive as placing one's hand into fire. Although one
might argue that we do have free choice to place our hand in fire,
nevertheless, we recognize that for all practical purposes no achievement
can be ascribed to one who refrains from placing his hand into fire.
Having clarified the Satan's integral role in world
destiny we can appreciate why HaShem will not eliminate him. The only one
who can eliminate Satan is Man. In fact, that is the very destiny of the
world - The world will achieve its destiny when Man's moral strength
reaches a point that Satan can no longer exist. Hence, it is Man and only
Man who must eliminate Satan! Once Satan is eliminated then the war
against Amalek will end. Until that time; from generation to generation
HaShem is instructing us remember that His Own Throne is incomplete,
there is a hand against it. Hence, the war against Amalek is against the saar of Amalek. The method of warfare against Amalek
is only by exercising and developing our moral strength.
So as we began our march to nationhood, and in short
time we were to receive HaShem's Torah, we were introduced to our
nemesis, Amalek. Amalek will be our constant counterforce. Our constant
focus must be on Amalek. Never can we allow ourselves to slacken our
readiness to wage war against Amalek.
At this point we arrive at a most difficult
question. How can I, Paysach Diskind, or you, my dear reader, make a dent
in Amalek? The force of Satan is a universal force that applies his
influence in every corner of the world. Is this perhaps a mitzvah given
to the entire nation of Israel and was not intended to be carried out by
the individual? While there are such mitzvos such as the mitzvah to
establish a King or to build a Temple, nevertheless, the mitzvah of
remembering the war against Amalek and carrying out this war is the
responsibility of every individual Jew. How then can one person weaken
this mighty power?
To appreciate the answer we must introduce the Chaos
Theory otherwise known as the Butterfly Theory. I encourage you to spend
some time familiarizing yourself with this notion for the sake of
appreciating the intense and profound influence one individual can have
in opening up the physical world and enabling it to integrate the
spiritual world into itself. When one person exercises his own moral
strength he contributes tremendous strength to the entire world, thereby
weakening Satan grip.
This intense influence that any individual has on
the world is built upon the following principle. Every single Jew is
responsible for every other Jew. In other words, every Jew is connected
to every other Jew in such a way that when one Jew commits a crime every
other Jew is affected. We can use our physical body as a parallel. When
one cell becomes infected the entire body will suffer. The reverse is
also true; just as one healthy antibody can cure the entire body so too
when one Jew exercises moral strength and develops his own moral
fortitude, the entire people of Israel have been strengthened and hence,
our nemesis has been weakened.
If HaShem designed the world to reach its destiny
then we know that it will be accomplished. We may therefore have the
confidence to know that every action of moral strength that we practice
plays a critical role in achieving that goal.
Have a wonderful Shabbos.
Paysach Diskind
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