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| | Parashat Beshalach (B)
IV
A FINAL QUESTION
When Yehoshua leads the people into the Yarden, he is commanded by God to appoint a representative from each tribe to take a boulder from the dried-up river bed and to set it up in the lodging where they sleep that night (4:2-3). Along with fulfilling this command, Yehoshua sets up another 12 rocks in the Yarden itself (4:9). He then orchestrates the Milah of Yisra'el - using sharpened flintrocks (5:2). Rocks (or boulders) continue to appear in the narrative - including the stone walls of Yericho which fall (6:20), the rocks used to bury various enemies (e.g. 7:26, 8:29, 19:27), the near-civil war caused by the construction of the Giladite altar (22:10) and the "rock-witness" to B'nei Yisra'el's acceptance of the B'rit (24:26). This, of course, in addition to the Avanim Gedolot cast down by God as the army chased its enemiy down the slopes of Beit Horon.
Our final question:
5) Why do rocks play such a central role in the Yehoshua narrative?
V
YEHOSHUA MESHARET MOSHEH
The opening lines of Sefer Yehoshua reveal a difficulty in the transition of leadership which will occupy the first third of the Sefer - at least as a subtext:
And it was after the death of Mosheh the servant of Hashem that Hashem spoke to Yehoshua bin-Nun, Mosheh’ minister, saying, Mosheh My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross over the Yarden, you, and all this people, to the land which I give to them, to the people of Yisra'el. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that I have given to you, as I said to Mosheh. From the wilderness and this L'vanon to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Mosheh, so I will be with you; I will not fail you, nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land, which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the Torah, which Mosheh My servant commanded you; turn not f rom it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. (Yehoshua 1:1-7)
Yehoshua is asked to fill the void left by Mosheh - to step into the shoes of the greatest teacher and leader ever known. The powerful distinction between the two is adumbrated in the opening line - Mosheh is Eved Hashem (the servant of God), whereas Yehoshua is Mesharet Mosheh - the "minister" of Mosheh. In addition, Mosheh's name is mentioned 6 times in this brief section - establishing the challenge which Yehoshua will face as he steps into the role of leader.
It seems both reasonable and implicit in the text that Yehoshua was concerned with his ability to lead the people. God reassures him that:
as I was with Mosheh, so I will be with you; (1:5, 3;7);
The text tells us that
On that day Hashem magnified Yehoshua in the sight of all Yisra'el; and they feared him, as they feared Mosheh, all the days of his life. (4:14)
And the members of Gad, Re'uven and Menasheh swear allegiance to Yehoshua:
As we listened to Mosheh in all things, so will we listen to you; only Hashem your God be with you, as he was with Mosheh. (1:17)
As proof of the great concern which God has for Yehoshua's confidence in the face of this great challenge, we see Divine interaction (via command or incident) which serves to "mimic" Mosheh's life:
i) The crossing of the Yarden is not only evocative of the crossing of Yam Suf, the former is also used as a reminder of the latter (4:23).
ii) Both the celebration of the Pesach and the immediate cessation of the Mahn (5:10-12) serve as direct associations with Mosheh's great career.
iii) Most telling, however, is the enigmatic interaction between Yehoshua and a Divine emissary in the outskirts of Yericho, just prior to the conquest of that city:
And it came to pass, when Yehoshua was by Yericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man before him with his sword drawn in his hand; and Yehoshua went to him, and said to him, Are you for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, No; but as captain of the army of Hashem I am now come. And Yehoshua fell on his face to the earth, and worshipped, and said to him, What does my lord say to his servant? And the captain of Hashem's host said to Yehoshua, Take your shoe from off your foot; for the place on which you stand is holy. And Yehoshua did so. (5:13-15)
It is abundantly clear that this final command deliberately and pointedly evokes the beginning of Mosheh's great career:
And Mosheh kept the flock of Yitro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock far away into the desert, and came to the mountain of God, to Horev. And the angel of Hashem appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Mosheh said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when Hashem saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Mosheh, Mosheh. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Do not come any closer; take off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground. (Sh'mot 3:1-5)
As as been demonstrated, a significant concern which occupies the text through the first 8 chapters of Sefer Yehoshua is the transition of leadership to Yehoshua - who, justifiably and understandably, is hesitant to step into the hallowed and powerful position held by his master, Mosheh Rabbenu. It is this relationship which is so beautifully illustrated by Haza"l:
The face of Mosheh is the face of the sun and the face of Yehoshua is the face of the moon. (BT Bava Batra 75a).
It is only after the crossing of the Yarden (a Mosaic miracle), the successful conquest of Yericho (the onset of his career as leader of the conquest) and the "recovery" at Ha'Ai that Yehoshua's position is affirmed - both in his eyes and the eyes of his flock (see Bamidbar 27:17). Once Yehoshua has shown that he can not only lead the people in war, but plead their case to God (7:7-9) and chastise the people to bring about their better character (the identification and excision of Achan) that his place as leader is assured.
With this understanding of the development of Yehoshua Mesharet Mosheh in hand, we can revisit our questions and provide reasoned responses.
VI
AVNEI YEHOSHUA
Let us begin where we left off - why rocks play such a significant role in the career of Yehoshua. Since Yehoshua's entire term of leadership was marked by his success in following Mosheh, it stands to reason that he would utilize a "Mosaic-reminder" - both for himself and for his nation - at every significant turn.
At the beginning of this shiur, we noted the first time that Yehoshua is introduced to us (at the end of this week's Parashah). During that war, as Yehoshua was leading the people against Amalek, we learn of what Mosheh, his Master, was doing atop the mountain:
But Mosheh’s hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it;
The text goes out of its way to identify an Even (boulder), provided for Mosheh during the war. Although rocks and boulders are ubiquitous in the mountainous desert of Rephidim, the narrative mentions it nonetheless, as if to mark this event as having an association with this rock. Furthermore, upon the successful conclusion of the war, Mosheh builds an altar (out of rocks), calling it "Hashem-Nissi" (God is my banner).
We can now answer our final question: Rocks are used in every major story of Yehoshua because that is Yehoshua's "trademark" - as a reminder of the rock upon which Mosheh sat when Yehoshua fought his first war.
We can also understand the anachronous presentation of the ceremony at Har Eval. Whether or not the event took place on the day of the crossing or several weeks later, the text deliberately places it after Yehoshua had completed his transition to leader. This clearly distinguishes the wars fought beforehand (Yericho and Ha'Ai) from those fought later. These first two wars were not wars of conquest, as much as opportunities for Yehoshua to establish himself as Mosheh's worthy successor. It was only after this event took place, that the full realization of "the day that you cross the Yarden" was achieved, at which point the ceremony was undertaken.
We can finally return to our point of departure and explain the curious events (and description) at the slope of Beit Horon.
Yehoshua had been using rocks during the development of his career - as a way of maintaining a Mosaic presence throughout. He had buried his enemies under piles of rocks, created commemorative steles using piles of rocks and his first victory in Eretz K'na'an was achieved when the stone walls of Yericho fell.
Although some of these acts were the responses to direct commands from God, the use of rocks was, by and large, initiated by Yehoshua himself. As he moved into the secure position of leader, he had been consistently using boulders and stones to mark every step of the conquest.
We can now answer questions 1 and 2 above. Although Divine intervention in Israelite wars is usually through the confusion of the enemy camp, God demonstrated Divine validation of Yehoshua's veneration for his teacher by burying the enemy under rocks - much as Yehoshua had been doing himself. That is also why the text first refers to these Heavenly weapons as Avanim, even though it immediately clarifies that it was really Avnei haBarad (hailstones).
We also understand the enigmatic passage in Berakhot, which identifies these hailstones:
which remained suspended for the sake of a man [Mosheh] and came down for the sake of a man [Yehoshua].
These hailstones served to cement Yehoshua's place as the rightful successor and the leader of the B'nei Yisra'el, by virture of his constant commitment to remembering his master and teacher, Mosheh Rabbenu, who years ago and far away, sat upon a rock while the young general fought his first war.
Yehoshua led the B’nei Yisra’el during his entire life, satisfied to continue in the role of van ,ran; it was only in his death that he was granted the greatest accolade possible:
And Yehoshua bin-Nun, the servant of Hashem, died..
Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the Torah, which Mosheh My servant commanded you; turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.
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| Mikra, Copyright © 2012 by Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom and Torah.org. The author is Educational Coordinator of the Jewish Studies Institute of the Yeshiva of Los Angeles. |
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