Milchemes Gidon: The Miracle of Three Hundred Men and Hashem’s Love for Klal Yisrael

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Today, be'ezras Hashem yisbarach, I'd like to discuss Milchemes Gidon, Milchama of Gidon. Now, I use the words Milchemes Gidon because people don't realize the importance and the chashivus and the significance of this milchama with a hei hayediah, Milchemes Gidon. I walked over to any bachur in yeshiva, tell him Milchemes Gidon, he'll say, I'm not so baki in Tanach, you know, which is normal. But, rabosai, if you look at the importance and the significance of this milchama, already in the Torah there was a nevuah about this milchama. Sa'yankev Avinu mentions it. Sai Moshe Rabbeinu mentions it. If you look at Parshas Vayechi. In posuk yud tes, we know that Yankev Avinu switches his hands. He puts his hands on the koten, Ephraim, and not on Menashe. Says the posuk, true, Yadati, beni, yadati, shehu habechor; gam hu yihyeh l'am. Big things are going to come out of Menashe. What's going to come out? Here, the big things that are going to come from Menashe: she'osid Gidon latzeis mimenu, sheHaKadosh Baruch Hu oseh nes al yado. And it's this milchamah that he's referring to, this big milchamah, this big nes. Yankev Avinu already talks about this great nes, what's going to be, la'asid. ... loses ... half of a fellow. How many will not ... all over Tanach, me'ever ... Where's the Yontif l'cheireh by zeh? It's interesting. I mean, we know Chanukah, ... All the nisim that we celebrate, ... milchemes Gidon, it's imetzaves milchemes Gidon. Interesting, it's already singled out as one of the great futures of Klal Yisroel. Yigdal l'am, ... Where does Moshe Rabbeinu talk about it? Bechor sheirai hadar loi, v'ekan ere'em karno, bahem yenagach amim yachdav, afsei aretz, v'hem ribvos Ephraim. That's going on Yehoshua's milchamos. The hei malfei menasheh is of Rashi. That's the alafim that we're going to learn in this perek, that gidon was kum for Menasheh to reiskahalt. So already, bechoir shorei, hoda loi. The chayim is masbir, what's the hoda loi? The Rabbeinu Shleilam's shenkeit. Is a ois in der milchamah, you hear? Hoda loi. Says up the Chaim, yeah? Kukt ayn in the Chaim hakadosh. Bechoir shorei, hodar loi. The Rabbeinu Shleilam's shenkeit. Shenkeit, hoda loi. But one thing we see, az me lernt pashte Chumash Rashi, that this milchamah that we're going to learn in perek zayin, Rabbeisai, needs stop. Azoi zogt min Yiddish, needs stop. It's unbelievable milchamah. It's one of the important, maybe one of the most important milchamos and nissim that happened to Klal Yisrael, to the point that nevuos already were said by Yankev Avinu and Moshe Rabbeinu about this.

Upcoming milchama. And I show you that the Chaim calls this hoda'ah loi. The Ribono Shel Olam's hidur, shinkeit for the Ribono Shel Olam, ... milchama. Vos meint the Derech Chaim? So if you read the pesukim, it's pretty clear. Let's read the pesukim, rabosai. Pasuk tells us hapeledike ma'asim, as the Ribono Shel Olam discusses with Gideon the plans of the milchama, the outline and farvos, the way I want the milchama and why, and that is, Vayashkem Yerubaal hu Gideon, pasuk aleph. They're standing on the machaneh Midyan, and they're ready to go to war. Vayomer Hashem el Gideon, zokt der bashefer tzu Gideon, rav ha'am asher itach. Too many people. Your army is too big. It's too big mi'titis Midyan b'yadam. I can't give Midyan over. It's too many people you're going to war with. Pen yispa'er alai Yisrael leimor... Ah, I've thanked gevaldik, Derech Chaim. That's what Derech Chaim says. Ah. What's the problem? Ah, Klal Yisrael is going to walk around... yispa'er. Un meveistach, right? ... ha'derech ve'emunah l'chaylamim, ... ha'bracha, hoyveh adam. All Yisroel's gonna walk around saying, Ha, it's me. Mei, I can't send them like this l'milchamah. And that's what Derech Chaim says it means, B'choire shorai hadar loi. The Ribono Shel Olam was makpid in this milchamah that the tiferes, the credit, should go to the Ribono Shel Olam. What does it mean? Vilimanda... I'll ask you the kasha simpler. Who cares who gets the credit? Abi is velt l'maaseh. You know what the Eibishter planned over here? A meiredike zach. What are we gonna do? We're gonna cut away three quarters of the army. First of all, as the pesukim read on, whoever was afraid, zai gezunt, tzei zich l'shalom. Next war maybe we'll cut back to you. Toisen tuz a navek. The pasuk says, Vayater krona baznei ha'am leimor, mi yarei v'chared yashov v'yitzpor mei Har Gilad. How many came back? Esrim u'shnayim elef. Twenty-two thousand. But ten were left. Twenty went home, ten were left. Zogt the Ribono Shel Olam, still too many. It's nit gut. I gotta cut it down more. How are we gonna do that? Take them down to the water, and we'll see how they drink. Whoever drinks kneeling on his knees, shikta mahein, zogt Rashi, farוואס? Stam, ones that avodah zarah. That was the way they used to do. I tell you to drink. Stam, it's in the genes... Yiddisher kinderlach, ... makpid, nit tzu legen tzu zamen di hent. They were so careful that any subliminal sign that you show, echit, shaketz teshaktzenu, v'sa'ev t'sa'evenu, stay away from it. So the Ribbono Shel Olam is saying, anyone who bows down on his knees, אפס אפס, it's a sign of some—send him home too. Those that are going to lick, which is an interesting lashon, asher yolik bilshonim and hamayim, ka'asher yolik hakelev. The... that itself needs a shiur just to explain. ... kelev, oto tevilich, down, down, down, menshvilich. That's why I want to fight. ... The maaseh, and the seif in the perek, ... milchama, ... millions ... kechol asher al sfas hayam. The amounts were not to be even described in numbers. ... gevaldige nes, and Gideon is matzliach.

Haveisa, vos iz del nafka mina? Yispa'er alai, this yispa'er alai. What's the difference who gets the credit? Oyb Klal Yisroel, dafka from the yeshuah, shekah yeshuah. Nu, you like the kasha. The heilige Lev Eliyahu, mekabel in lo piyan fregt el kasha in Shmois. He has a whole maamar of that inyan, v'havosa der Ribono Shel Olam makpid geven, that it should be clearly I should be the one to get the credit, yispa'er alai, u'nisht az Klal Yisroel az derarum gein azei trachten az em dos geton. So I would have said pashut, the Ribono Shel Olam vil nisht az Klal Yisroel should walk around thinking kochi v'otzem yadi. The Ribono Shel Olam darf nisht geben a heichi timtzeh, a heichi timtzeh, that a Yid should walk around thinking kochi. So to take care, the Ribono Shel Olam cares about our ruchniyus. Azoi volt ich gezogt pashut, the Ribono Shel Olam cares for the ruchniyus of Klal Yisroel. So He's not going to make a nes which is a stumbling block, mazaltrachten kochi v'otzem yadi. I don't want to discuss the events of the nisim of '48, Yennes, Nishias, v'yeh kochi v'otzem yadi. It has a lot to do with what I'm talking about, and I don't want to go into it in more detail, but there's a lot of this nekudah there. The Ribono Shel Olam is not going to make nisim in an oifen that Klal Yisroel can walk away and think, kochi v'otzem yadi. So it does this. Linyaneinu, az dos al bazat. The Ribono Shel Olam zogt az ich vil machen a milchama gegen azah midyan. Un zen kendach toye zayn, b'daas, even in the slightest form, that it's hispa'er alai, vil ich dos nisht. That's not what the rebel Yelop and the heilige Rebbe doesn't say that. That's not what he answers. Yichvolt azoi gezogt. Mistama yich zog nit azoi gut vi rebbel. Rebbel yitoch gevender, mashgiach, alle mashgichim in Eretz Yisroel. Rebbel Yelopian, taka Yelaliyo, as he states in hakdamah from the sefer. Rebbel Yelopian says in yesod, Rabbeisai, the Rebbeinu shel olam can't do a nes unless Klal Yisroel will be makir it. Can't be. The nes can't be chal unless there's going to be a Klal Yisroel who's going to be makir. Says, Zogt, if Klal Yisroel is not going to identify and recognize the nes, nitshayech az der nes zol geven. It should happen. Oh, you hear? If Klal Yisroel is not going to identify and recognize the nes, needshayech az der nes zol geven. It should happen. קוקסט אף מיר, a favor? Why? You hear? A nes must be that there's got to be a Klal Ponim, a nation, a Klal Yisroel, vos vet zayn a makir b'nisoi, that he's makir in the nes. Maybazei muz der Ribono Shel Olam machen a fenoyfen that it should be clear that they shouldn't walk around thinking a mokom hispa'er alai, that it's not that way. Vos meint? Vos meint? Vos is der pshat in der yesod? You know, Rabbeisai, let's go into the story itself a little, to the details. And see the really, the heart of the union. How many people went? Twenty-two went home. They were left with ten. Zogt Tmim, mit zen is nisht gemeyn kenes b'nei chanesh. Why did we have to go down to 300, even if we didn't have the 300? Even if it was ten tois to mention. It's 10,000 compared to... So anyway you have the nes. Vos meint di pesukim do? Vos meint? Tzispor la? You just want to make sure that it's niker. No, it's niker. ... The pasuk says clearly. You know how many people were there? We read in the pesukim. Here, the pesukim say clearly how many people. U'midyan. Here, look at pasuk yud-beis, yud-beis. U'midyan va'amalek v'chol bnei kedem, noflim ba'emek ka'arבה larov, u'k'maleiam ein mispar, k'chol shafas hayam larov. So here, if you have ... with Yidalach, ... nes. You cut away twenty-two.

You believe in sin? No, no, not enough. Gotta cut it down to more. Gotta have 300 people that drink water like a camel. Huh? That's what came to... They were wiped out by the... There's only about a hundred years later, 70, 80 years later. So how did they get so many people? I'll tell you the truth. The numbers are not... Midian was wiped out. The numbers are... Listen, shteit a Chiddush, these were the numbers, mistama, they were there. I don't know. Can't argue with what the pasuk says. Akal panim, akal panim, yeah, that kasha. Is that good, the kasha? Is that good, the kasha? I'll ask you even a bigger kasha. Tell me, did they go with weaponry to the army? Did they go mitgegangen mit gever? Yiddish... those gever. Did they go with bigsin, with guns? Shteit doch klar in pasuk, habeisei. They went with shofros. Shteit doch klar in the pasuk. Vayachatz es shlosh pasuk tezayin, vayachatz es shlosh me'os ish, shlosha roshim, vayiten shofros b'yad kulam, v'chadim reikim, v'lapidim toch hakadim. There were no guns. There was nothing. There was shofros mit kadim, and then the kadim burst, and then the shofar sounded. You know how they all got killed? With each other's swords. The pasuk says clearly that each one... Was doiker their friend, meaning the goyim, the midyonim themselves killed each other out. Why? V'al siyevan nisei nisim, fregt min doch do a gameirdige kasha, Rabosai. So you had a havamina it was you? Chaztik, you plan on what, winning a war without a gun, and then you still think it's you? So I had to cut out toisafos mention, and on top of that, nacha po toisafos and the drayhundert mention. You anyway, if you were saying, couldn't have believed in a second that you won this war. Azei, l'chaira kumt ois a cheshbon. What? It was before, at the outset, cut it down. Now I get the heads in the right place, then. Not bad. I like it. Reb Chatzkel Levenstein says a chaina livracha, Reb Chatzkel, in Emunah, in the sefer Emunah, he has different volumes, el fregt der kasha. Fregt der kasha. I like your teretz. It's a nice glatta teretz. But Reb Chatzkel says another yesod: a teda is der meshugene koiches. I mention, I'm meshugene. When a person doesn't want to believe, the littlest thing, oh, no, no. You could see open nisim and niflaos. No, it's mustama, it's hatzatan mitichmeiz vos. Az evidently meshugoyim haynt in trachten that Kriyas Yam Suf, it was winds, it was a phenomenon based on science. Az me vil nisht, a mensch vil nisht glauben. So he says the numbers make it, so we went with 30,000 people. You ever feel like what it feels like, 30,000 people? So the Beis Yosef says, listen, you're going with nothing, nothing. No guns and no ammunition and no people guard, no people, to take out any form of, you know how I would say, Reb Chatzkel probably meant to say, of security. Normally you go with lots of people, you feel you're among, chas v'shalom, completely exposed. No people, no guns. V'al azei vil der Ribono Shel Olam, zol mishtachtin kekochi v'otzem yadi. Azei zogt Reb Chatzkel, lemashal. Adei sai, efsher b'eizeh Hashem yisbarach, kan men zogt an ander pshat. U'mit dem vet men tzurik gein tzu farshtein. We'll go back to understand the greatness from dem milchamah, milchemes Midyan, un dem hodaah loi, dem hodaah loi. Vos iz dem hodaah loi? Adei sai, sifan haMeiri de'Ramban, that I think we must discuss, because it contradicts the entire yesod that we said and the entire perek that we're learning, and that is: the Ramban asks a kasha at the beginning of Parshas Noach, vifel, how many animals were in the teivah? Unbelievable, the animals, the amounts, the sizes. Tell me, you believe for one minute that the teivah was able to hold...

Two elephants, two elephants mit tzvei giraffes? Tachnish ken a malared בכלל. It doesn't—it's impossible, zogt the Ramban. Zei zogt. Zogt der Ramban, eino chanami, sie geven a gevaldige, gevaldige nes. Fragt der Ramban, oyb azoi, mach a gressere nes. Mach a teva one by one, one inch by one inch, and get everybody into that. You're right, it wasn't big enough to hold the Bronx Zoo, good. It was big enough to hold achvei, agantze chamulya for menchen. You know what? Make a bigger nes. Fragt der Ramban, a kashe! Mach a gressere nes. Answer the Ramban straight terutz. Teretz number one: he wanted they should build a big teivah for the people. They should be busy with it, and they should ask—you know, as we learned the cheder—they should ask, What about the teivah? ... So therefore he had to build a big teivah. Tzvei, der Ramban, the Ribono Shel Olam tries to be mema'et in nisim. The Ribono Shel Olam, when He makes a nes, He tries to cut it down as much as possible. ... A little talmid chacham fragt ... ... Here the Ribono Shel Olam is saying, I want to minimize the miracle more and more and more and more and more, to the point— That there should be no makom l'adam bichlal. There was no human intervention. And the Ramban says, ... that it must be that there's some human intervention, and the more, better; the more, the better. So what's the pshat, haPesach? What do you say? Say it. So it depends on the time. ... Depends on for who. I'm fixing one word, not on when, not for who. ... The Ribono Shel Olam took nissim in the briah. The Ribono Shel Olam is master. The Ribono Shel Olam is anav, it's humility. ... The Ribono ... goes all out. Oh no. When it comes to my protecting my kingdom, the nissim ... We're going to get to Pesach, the nissim. ... Oh, the nissim is peledik, peledik. Und der pshat is, Hashem yilachem lachem, v'atem tachrishun. It comes to Klal Yisrael, it's a different hanhagah. Like a little kid, you stay out of it. Kid, I do it all. Just sit, watch, cook. ... Malchuscha ra'u vanecha, bokea yam lifnei Moshe. Vikum mitamo bonecho. It's interesting, we say it every day in davening, and we pay attention. Why by Kriyas Yam Suf, mitamor bmalchuscha, rov bonecho? What's the bonecho? The teretz haveis, ay is, the malchus of the Ribono Shel Olam is revealed. It could be behester. Hashem, lishkein bArafel, the Ribono Shel Olam does it behind the scenes. Aval veniskum tzu zayne kinder, bmalchuscha, rov bonecho. It's open, it's clear, it's yusid on the side. Michel als ton far dir, malchuscha, rov bonecho. The Melech, when He protects His child, it's a whole different thing. What about Purim? Well, Purim was a special type of a nes, and the truth, we spoke about it last week, and if you want, maybe at the end I'll get back to Purim. With this, rabosai, give me two, three more minutes. I'll be here to answer all your kashas. Let's get the yesoid klal, and let's get back to the pesukim, and you'll see what I want. Gabel yifrech doch a kashe, yeah? And azovt az es muz zayn a nes af an oifen that we're makir the nes. What's the pshat? Now I understand the pshat. Why does the Ribono Shel Olam do such...

It's to show the bonecho, that we're bonecho. It's to show chibah to Klal Yisrael. U'meimeila, the only way the Eibishter could do such a nes, if we're the bonecho that are makir the nes. Nisim, and that's what the Ramban is saying when the Ribono Shel Olam took nisim in the briyah, He does it that the more the person involved is better. HaMashem lishkon b'Arafel, the Ribono Shel Olam is anav. It's anaveh. Ovel v'nechumtza Klal Yisrael, tzukdei vaizen, in order to show us that v'atem tachrishun, Hashem yilachem lachem. He does unbelievable mofsim, muze zayn a faza oifen, that the Ribono Shel Olam is showing, and we're makir, otherwise He can't do it. Then He goes to the laws of other nisim, to the rules of other nisim. Habeis, let me give you a mashal, a story. Recently, I went to a dinner from the yeshiva. Baruch Hashem, they're almost every night these dinners, Baruch Hashem, kein yirbu. More yeshivas the better. I came into this dinner, and I sat down. The person asked me to come. He's a rosh yeshiva, yeshiva. I came. I figured, you know, it's not easy running a yeshiva. It meant so much to him that I came, you know, like he stopped the speaker and he put me up front to sit with the honorees on the dais. I was so embarrassed. I'm not an honoree. I have no shaychus to it. I felt extremely uncomfortable sitting there. Something comfortable. Maiseh, as I'm singing, I'm thinking to myself, you know, tavoz davs trachten zich. Don't think, you're right. For you, you don't belong there. You don't. Why did you think that it's for the other person? Obviously it means something to him that you came. So therefore, sit there comfortably that you're being mechabed the other person. And I reminded myself of a big yesod that I learned from my father. My father was once honored by a dinner, and I remember the first thing, you know, they come with the video, that you got to give the speech. So I remember what my father told me. He said to me, Ich kum nisht nemen kavod. Ich kum geben kavod. It's not about me getting kavod; it's about me giving the kavod. When a person thinks in that light, then it doesn't feel uncomfortable for character. You go and you, the person feels honored by having you, so don't think it's your kavod. It's that person's kavod. Der Ribono Shel Olam, when er git kavod, un er vil kavod, kigoyl, because nor az mir zoln farshteyn vifel der Ribono Shel Olam iz mechabed uns, az mir zenen zayne kinder un kup vos er tut far uns. Think about it, rabosai. You know, and again, I really ask of you, you see, time constrains me to tell you the entire thought that goes through my mind. Take this with you a little, but think about it. Vifel der Ribono Shel Olam is greis, un vifel der Ribono Shel Olam tracht mir zayn in greis. Un vifl er hot uns lieb, shtelt zikh af vi greysn zenen. It's extremely important to realize the Ribono Shel Olam's greatness in context that we are great, because look, the Ribono Shel Olam shtelt zikh op ton things, this and this, by Himself. I'll tell you where I got this from, and then we'll go back to the limud here. Ki mi goy gadol asher lo Elokim krovim eilav. Mi goy gadol — we're great — asher lo Elokim krovim eilav. KaShem Elokeinu b'chol koreinu eilav. What's the kaShem Elokeinu? Always thought about it. Ki mi goy gadol asher lo Elokim krovim eilav, b'chol koreinu eilav. He's close to us when we call Him. It's not enough to recognize that we're close to the Ribono Shel Olam, but recognize who it is. It's KaShem Elokeinu. You got to understand that chelek of it also. It's not stam a bin nant, ober tzu vemen bin ich nant? KaShem Elokeinu. So the Ribono Shel Olam tut nisim, of azoi oifen ki goy gadol. Sus v'reichbei, Rama bayam. Where is that gaivah? It's all to show me.

Malchuscha, that we are bonecha. What did we answer the Rabbeinu Shloilam when He showed us Kriyas Yam Suf? Ze Keili v'anveihu. What is v'anveihu? That the kavod, if there is kavod here, of the kavod blind to the Rabbeinu Shloilam. The Rabbeinu Shloilam saying, I do tremendous things in the briah, aber dolgantsa zach is nofal v'hemen, hahoid v'hadar l'chai olam. It's all about the Eibishter. This is hispo'er alai, pen yispo'er. See, don't have a nekudah for yispo'er. The Rabbeinu Shloilam wants that there should be bechoir shoiroi, hadar. Thank you so much. You made my day. You don't know how you just made my day. You understand what I want now? The bechoir shoiroi, the hadar, is life. It's bechoir shoiroi, it's Klal Yisroel, aber mir farshtein az the hadar is life. This milchamah, it's very important who gets the credit, because the Rabbeinu Shloilam tut of meiredike zachin that we should understand. I make anavah, do things in a way that it's hidden. No, it has to be out in the open, that we should understand. Ze Keili. And meileh we say v'anveihu. I return that, because look what you were trying. You were trying to be mehader me. You were trying to show me I'm going to make a Kriyas Yam Suf az evi bonecha. In return, I'm going to give you back to understand that that's the kavod. This is what it is, pshat. Avada the nes could have been with twenty, with thirty thousand people, but that would be a big nes. The Rabbeinu Shloilam wants to say more. The Rabbeinu Shloilam wants us to know that it's yispo'er. And notice the loshon. I thought it was an interesting loshon: pen yispo'er Yisroel, yisroel lai yispo'er. Here's the yisroel. Vos meint er? Er meint, az mizol takeh hobn yispo'er. It's takkeh we should be proud of such a milchamah. Aber mir zol farshtein why it was such a milchamah? V'haRabbeinu Shloilam tut uf azelche zach, k'dei mizol farshtein vos is bechah Yisroel asher espo'er. The tiferes is the Rabbeinu Shloilam's tiferes Klal Yisroel when we get such nes. You've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.