KJ Leichman

In davening almost every weekday, we read the triumphant observation of King David vis-à-vis the Jewish method of war: "They with chariots, and they with horses, but we call out in the name of Hashem" (Tehillim 20). However reassuring this message may be, though, the reality is that the Jewish formula for success in pivotal confrontations is not quite so simple.

The first one to utilize this formula in a situation of duress is none other than Yaakov. Faced with the prospect of being annihilated by Esav and his armed cavalry, Yaakov immediately prepares for war by dividing his camp into two. Then, he prays for mercy from Hashem, and finally, he prepares a large gift to offer to Esav.

It is interesting, though seemingly not accidental, that when Rashi spells out this modus operandi, he goes out of his way to list them out of order: whereas Yaakov prepared for war, prayed, and then prepared his gift, Rashi says, "He prepared himself for three things: doron [gift], tefilla, and war" (Bereishit 32:8 s.v. "v'Haya ha'Mahane").

The easiest one to explain is war, which moves from first in the text to last in Rashi. While war may be an instinctive reaction to a physical threat, it is never the ideal, particularly not in Judaism and halacha. So much so, in fact, that any and every battle must be preceded by a peace offer, as the Rambam says, "One does not make war upon any man until he calls for peace, whether in a milchemet rishut or milchemet mitzvah" (Hilchot Melachim 6:1). This even holds true for the Seven Nations that Bnai Yisrael fought upon entering the Land of Israel as well. Thus, Rashi lists this as the last resort that it is.

Explaining the first two, however, is more difficult. Clearly, there is a precarious balance coming into play, namely, the conflict of praying to and trusting in Hashem versus the celebrated rule of ein somchin al ha'neis. By moving doron from last to first, Rashi is apparently stressing the need to exert tangible influence on the situation via diplomatic/political channels even before praying to Hashem, the One who ultimately decides the outcome of the conflict.

This, however, leaves us with a question. From an empirical standpoint, it seems that the Jews in the generations after Yaakov reversed the order of doron and tefilla.

The most notable example is that of the Purim story. When the Jewish community in the kingdom of Achashverosh learns of its planned destruction, the Jews immediately don sackcloth and declare a day of fast. It is only after this that Esther attempts to play the diplomacy game, and, of course, the preparations for the successful war are reserved for the end, when it becomes an absolute necessity.

The other less obvious example is that of Pesach itself. The first signs of change come in the form of tefilla (see Shmot 2:23), and it is only after this cry that Hashem enlists Moshe as the one to deal with Paraoh (the diplomatic front). In fact, Hashem's initial speech to Moshe establishes this direct link explicitly (Shmot 3:9), implying that prayer was the requisite initial step in order to get the redemption under way. It seems reasonable to resolve this apparent contradiction between these two accounts and the order Rashi gives by answering that in an ideal situation, or, better yet, in a situation where one has at least some control, the ideal is to try to save one's self through diplomacy, and then afterwards to enlist the help of Hashem. This is of course not to say that Hashem becomes the "second resort," but rather that one must help one's self initially.

It seems reasonable to resolve this apparent contradiction between these two accounts and the order Rashi gives by answering that in an ideal situation, or, better yet, in a situation where one has at least some control, the ideal is to try to save one's self through diplomacy, and then afterwards to enlist the help of Hashem. This is of course not to say that Hashem becomes the "second resort," but rather that one must help one's self initially.

However, when one lacks to means to help one's self, then Hashem becomes the first priority. In Egypt, the Jews were slaves deeply entrenched in the mentality of subordination. (Incidentally, this "slave mentality" theme is apparent throughout the rest of Sefer Shmot, plus Sefer Vayikra and a large portion of Bimidbar, and helps to understand many oddities in these parts of the Chumash.) For them, insubordination was not only a lethal impossibility, but, it did not even occur to them. Thus, they had to begin with prayer.

Likewise with the Purim story, the prayer is presented as a means to diplomacy, as Esther asked the Jews to fast so that she could approach the king and plead for mercy. So too here, the gift is seen as the ideal first step, with prayer being a prerequisite only because of the context.

A dominant theme in the hagaddah is that the Jews, for whatever divinely-ordained reason, will always have an enemy who wishes to destroy them. Despite what halacha and Jewish moral codes say about imminent threats on one's life ("One who comes to kill you, rise up and kill him"), history has proven that our continuous victories are neither coincidental nor free. In order to continue to emerge victorious, the formula for Jewish victory is prayer (which by its nature contains an element of Teshuva), diplomatic influence on the tangible level, and, only when necessary, all-out war until victory.

In these trying times of today, the only hope for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel lies within this formula. While not particularly lacking in the way of diplomacy and self-help, we are obligated to step up our efforts in the field of prayer and teshuva before we even approach the final last resort of war.

KJ Leichman is a senior at TABC