The Ultimate Arms Race

Nations competing with each other to develop deadlier methods to destroy people and property is a nightmare for humanity. Often when peace seeking nations engage in these arms races it is primarily to gain supremacy at the negotiating table rather than the battlefield. Or so we would hope.

In this week’s parsha we read a fascinating diplomatic exchange where each side presented their secret weapon as a negotiating tactic. As they neared the Promised Land after a forty-year sojourn in the desert, the Israelites sent the following message to the kingdom of Edom, descendants of Yaakov’s brother Eisav.

"You know of all the hardship that has befallen us. Our fathers went down to Egypt, and we sojourned in Egypt for a long time. And the Egyptians mistreated us and our forefathers. We cried out to the L-rd and He heard our voice. He sent an angel, and he took us out of Egypt… Please let us pass through your land… we will turn neither to the right nor to the left until we have passed through your territory.”

Edom replied to him, "You shall not pass through me, lest I go out towards you with the sword!"

On the surface it seems like a reasonable request and a rude response, but according to tradition an intense exchange was going on here. Each side was brandishing the respective powers they inherited from their ancestors Yaakov and Eisav. Yitzchok (Issac) had blessed Yaakov with the power of prayer and Eisav with the power of the sword.

The Jews emphasized that their salvation from Egypt happened because they “cried out to the L-rd,” reminding the Edomites that they had the secret power of prayer on their side. The Edomites in turn warned them that they would obstruct their progress with their hereditary power of the sword.

G-d instructed the Israelites at the time to avoid the confrontation, but the diplomatic exchange characterizes our long history of religious persecution. Our enemies always seek to destroy Judaism with brute force, and we consistently outlived them with the power of prayer.

This Shabbat marks the ninth Yahrtzeit (anniversary of passing) of my grandfather Rabbi Moshe Greenberg. Born in the Soviet Union in 1927 he sacrificed everything to study Torah in the underground Chabad schools and was sentenced to 25 years of harsh labor in the Siberian gulags at age 20. The communists tried to break him with brute force, but he stubbornly kept to his principles of Shabbat and Kosher observance under the worst circumstances. Miraculously, he was released early, married and raised a family, and immigrated to Israel in 1967.

This photo is so illustrative of his character and life story. Here he is sitting at his dining room table reciting Tehillim (psalms) against the backdrop of a clock with a photo of his children and clocks for the seven different time zones in which they serve as Jewish leaders and activists. While his enemies sought to rob him of his Judaism by the sword, he outmaneuvered them with his prayers and raised a tribe of committed Jews making their mark around the globe.

History proves that in this arms race, the winners are a foregone conclusion.

Rabbi Mendy & Mussy

p.s. As always, we would love to chat with you over coffee or drinks, about Judaism, or just life - simply reply to this email.

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