Don’t Forget to Look Upwards: Beshalach 5786
In quick succession, the Israelites find themselves on the winning side of two distinct battles. In the first conflict, the newly freed people weren’t even required to fight. Trapped between the approaching Egyptian army and the sea, Moses reassured the people that, “the Lord will fight for you, you only need to be silent.” That is to say, you need not do anything, God will come to the rescue.
However, shortly after crossing the sea and watching the Egyptians drown, the Israelites were again attacked, this time by the cruel Amalekites. Unlike the last time, Moses didn’t reassure the people that God would swoop in and save the day, rather, he commanded Joshua to prepare the people for battle. The obvious question is, why must the people fight instead of having God ride to the rescue again.
Although God is not overtly mentioned in the narration of the battle, he is clearly still present. “Then, whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; but whenever he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands grew heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur, one on each side, supported his hands; thus his hands remained steady until the sun set.”
The Mishna raises the question, was the raising of Moses’ hands the deciding factor in the battle? It then rejects the idea that the simple raising of the hands was the decisive factor. Rather, the Mishna notes that the hands were simply a prop used to remind the Israelites that though God was not actively fighting the battle for them, he was still present. Like a child who is energized as he sees his parents cheering him as he competes during a sporting event, the knowledge that God was still among them, was enough to boost the morale of Israelites and carry them to victory.
As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks points out, Moses understood that a good leader does not continually do for his followers what they must learn to do for themselves rather, he must inspire his followers to learn to do for themselves. In the first instance, it was necessary for God to defeat the Egyptians in order to imbue the former slaves with confidence, however, if he had done all the work the second time around, he risked infantilizing the nascent nation. Though the Israelites were required to battle the Amalekites themselves, the lifting of the hands inspired people by reminding them that they had not been abandoned by their savior. Likewise, in the Haftorah, we see that Barak was only willing to take the people into battle if he was accompanied by the leader of the people, the judge, Devorah. Though he had tactical command of the army, Barak needed the judge’s presence to reassure him that he would be successful in his mission.
Even King David, a naturally born leader had to be reminded that leaders must inspire their followers. After his son Absalom was killed in a coup he led against his father, David was understandably distraught. Despite his understandable distress, his General, Joab, admonished him to publicly celebrate his victory over his slain son, for David’s supporters needed to celebrate the fact that they had saved their king. Joab reminded the king that his mournful posture was an insult to those who had fought on his behalf. David’s depression made it appear that the king would have preferred that he and his followers had been defeated by Absalom. To make sure that David understood the gravity of the situation Joab warned the king that if he did not celebrate his victory his supporters would abandon him. David, the ever-shrewd politician, realized that Joab was right and forced himself to publicly celebrate with his supporters, as difficult as it was for him to do so.
David’s episode teaches us that leaders must project confidence in order to inspire. And of course, it’s important for leaders to have those they can rely on, such as Joshua and Hur, who Moses relied on for the support of his hands.
If you are ever lacking confidence don’t forget to look up. In the 1870’s an amateur archaeologist, Marcelina de Sautuaola, began excavating a cave near the northern coast of Spain. One day he took his nine-year-old daughter, Maria to the cave. She lifted her eyes and looked towards the upper part of the wall and noticed something that her father had never noticed during the course of his excavations. What she discovered was a painting of a bison that was 25,000 to 35,000 years old, one of the greatest discoveries of prehistoric art. As Rabbi Sacks points out, the reason her father missed the painting was because he simply never looked up. In essence, Sautuola made the same mistake that the fly trapped in the open bottle makes. Instead of looking up and flying to freedom, he futility continues to fly into the walls of a container.
The famed fresco, “The School of Athens” painted by Raphael in the early 16th century, depicts Plato pointing upwards while his student, Aristotle at his side pointing forward. Though it may not have been Rafael’s intent, the work of art is analogous to the roles which Moses and Joshua assumed during the battle against the Amalekites. Plato, pointing upwards, plays the part of Moses and Aristotle, pointing forwards, plays the part of Joshua. Joshua was able to take the people forwards because Moses had reminded people that God, though not directly in the fight, remained right above them.
In times of crisis, it’s only natural to ask the same question that the Israelites asked after crossing the sea and finding provisions, “Is God among us or not.” Let us not make the mistake of the fly trapped in the open bottle, but rather, follow in the footsteps of Moses, Plato and Maria Sautuola who looked upwards and by doing so, helped others to move forward.