​Parashat Beha’alotecha 5785, 2025: “May Those Who Hate You Flee From You”

 
Rabbi David Etengoff
 
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
Our parasha contains the only instance in the Torah with pasukim preceded and followed by an inverted letter “nun.” (Sefer Bamidbar 10:35-36) One of the better-known discussions with respect to this is found in Talmud Bavli, Shabbat 115b-116a:

Our Rabbis taught: “So it was, whenever the ark set out, Moshe would say, ‘Arise Hashem, may Your enemies be scattered and may those who hate You flee from You.’” “And when it came to rest, he would say, ‘Repose Hashem, among the myriads of thousands of Israel.’” (Sefer Bamidbar 10:35-36, these verses and all Tanach translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach) The Holy One, blessed be He, provided signs for this section above and below, to teach that it is not in its place. Rabbi [Yehudah HaNasi] said: “It is not on that account, but because it ranks as a separate Book.” (Translation, Soncino Talmud, with my brackets and emendations)
 
Although we find two opinions cited in this source, Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi’s position is the far more accepted one. Moreover, he opines that the Torah is comprised of seven, rather than five, separate books, as explained by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz zatzal (1937-2020) in his edition of the Talmud:
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According to whose opinion [are there seven books in the Torah?] It is according to the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, as by his count there are seven books of the Torah: Genesis; Exodus; Leviticus; Numbers until: “And when the Ark traveled”; the portion: “And when the Ark traveled,” which is considered its own book; the remainder of Numbers; and Deuteronomy. (Koren Talmud Bavli, Shabbat 115b-116a)
 
The essence of this section of our parasha centers on the concept of “those who hate You.” To whom does this phrase refer? Moreover, what does it mean “to hate Hashem?” Fortunately, these questions were addressed long ago in the Midrash Sifrei on our pasuk:
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“May those who hate You flee from You:” And are there really haters [that stand before] the One who spoke, and the world came into being? Rather, the text is teaching us that anyone who hates the Jewish people is as if he hates the One who spoke, and the world came into being. We find this idea, as well, in another verse, “And with Your great pride You tear down those who rise up against You; You send forth Your burning wrath; it devours them like straw.” (Sefer Shemot 15:7) And are there really those who rise up against the One who spoke, and the world came into being? Rather, the Torah is teaching us that anyone who rises up against the Jewish people is as if he has risen up against the Omnipresent One (HaMakom). (Pesikta 84, translation and brackets my own)
 
According to this midrash, any individual or nation, that has abject antipathy for our people and wreaks havoc against us is considered one of the sonei Hashem (haters of Hashem). A powerful interpretation of this midrash is offered by Professor Nechama Leibowitz zatzal (1905-1997), one of the previous generation’s greatest Torah teachers:
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Accordingly, the enemies of Israel are synonymous with the enemies of God. Whether we are worthy or not of this title; those bent on our destruction regard us as the standard-bearers of truth and justice and the representatives of the divine Law. And it is for this reason they persecute and hate us. (Studies in Bamidbar, page 91, translated and adapted from the Hebrew by Aryeh Newman)
 
In an effort to further clarify our Torah passage, Professor Leibowitz summarizes the interpretation of Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch zatzal (1808-188) in this manner:
 
Hirsch, commenting on this passage, remarks that Moshe was aware that enemies would rise up against the Torah from the moment that it was given. Its demands for justice and altruism were bound to antagonize aggressors and tyrants and stand in the way of their designs. The Torah’s call to holiness would not only arouse hatred, but active persecution.
 
Professor Leibowitz has provided us a clear path for understanding the underlying nature of anti-Semitism. As the Haggadah solemnly proclaims: “B’kol dor v’dor omdim aleinu l’kaloteinu— In each and every generation there are those who rise against us to completely destroy us.” Moreover, the Torah and the Jewish people stand in stark opposition to everything that the tyrants of the world represent. The Torah’s demands for justice and altruism, and the “call to holiness,” are ideals our enemies cannot accept. Therefore, as representatives of Hashem’s holy Torah, we have continued to be hated and persecuted until our own historical moment. 
 
With Hashem’s help and our fervent desire, may the time come soon and, in our days, when Zechariah’s prophecy will be echoed by all the nations of the world: “And Hashem shall become King over all the earth; on that day shall Hashem be one, and His Name one.” (14:9) For then, and only then, will the endless cycles of hatred and injustice against us cease and the stirring words of Yermiyahu finally fulfilled: “the sound of mirth and the sound of joy, the voice of a bridegroom and the voice of a bride, the sound of those saying, ‘Thank Hashem Tzivakot, for Hashem is good, for His loving-kindness endures forever…’” (33:11)
 
Shabbat Shalom
 
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