Parshas Beshalach - Yehoshua's Destiny

By BJLife/Reb Eliezer Bulka
Posted on 01/14/22

The Weekly Shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmas my father, Reuven Pinchas ben Chaim Yaakov, a"h.

The Weekly Shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmas my Oma, Chaya Sara bas Zecharia Chaim, a"h.

On that note, a very special Weekly Shtikle mazal tov to my cousins, the Newmarks of Toronto on the recent birth of their daughter, Chaya Sara, the first great granddaughter to bear by Oma's name as we approach the first yahrtzeit. Mazal Tov to the extended Perlman and Jakobovits mishpachos.

At the end of the parsha, B'nei Yisrael defeat Amaleik in a battle, though the war is still not won. Following the victory, Moshe is told to instruct Yehoshua about the eventual destruction of Amaleik. Rashi (17:14) comments that here it was hinted to Moshe that he would not bring B'nei Yisrael into Eretz Yisrael but rather Yehoshua would bring them in. However, the passage does not appear to contain anything pertaining to the entrance into Eretz Yisrael. Is it not possible that Moshe is just instructing Yehoshua because he is the general? Where exactly is the hint?

I suggest that when HaShem told Moshe "K'sov zos zikaron baseifer, vesim be'oznei Yehoshua," it is not simply referring to the words that followed but he was also told to relay to him the parsha of Amalek that we find at the end of Ki Seitzei, the text of Parshas Zachor. There it speaks specifically about the events following the entrance into Eretz Yisrael, (Devarim 25:19) "It shall be that when HaShem, your God, gives you rest from all your enemies..." Perhaps, there was the hint, that Yehoshua alone will witness those events and not Moshe.

This approach (that Moshe gave over the parsha of "zachor" at this time) is supported by Kol Eliyahu on this pasuk. He writes that Moshe was told to "place in the ears of Yehoshua" the proper pronunciation - zeicher Amaleik, as opposed to Yoav's erroneous mesorahzachar Amaleik. [As a side point, it was deciphered in Peninim MiShulchan HaGR"A that the GR"A himself is not the actual source of this piece but rather, it came from R' Chaim of Volozhin.]

Have a good Shabbos.