Opinion & Comment
The Lapse of a Hairsbreadth: A Shmuess

Part I

The Heart Knows

"And Timna was a concubine to Elifaz, son of Eisov and she bore Amolek to Elifaz . . . " (Bereishis 36:12)

The gemora (Sanhedrin 99) tells us more about Timna: "What is the meaning of, `And the sister of Loton was Timna' (posuk 22)? Timna was of royal birth, as the posuk (29) says, `Aluf Loton, Aluf Timna. . . ' the title Aluf signifies high rank but without a crown." Rashi explains that, "since Timna was sister to a king, she must have been the daughter of a king as well." The gemora tells us further, "She wanted to convert and she came to Avrohom, to Yitzchok and to Yaakov and they didn't accept her."

This is surprising. The medrash on the posuk (12:5), "And the souls that they made in Choron," tells us that Avrom would convert the men [to belief in Hashem] and Sorai the women, and of course Yitzchok and Yaakov continued this work. Why then, didn't they accept Timna, who wanted to convert?

The posuk (Shmuel I, 16:1,6) says, "And Hashem said to Shmuel. . . `Fill your horn with oil and go and I will send you to Yishai of Beis Lechem, for I have seen a king for Myself among his sons'. . . And when they arrived, he saw Eliyov, and said, `But before Hashem is His anointed one. . . '

And in posuk 7, "And Hashem said to Shmuel, `Don't gaze upon his appearance and upon his height, for I have rejected him.' " Rashi explains that this was because Eliyov had a temper, as the posuk (17:29) says, "And Eliyov became angry with Dovid and he said, `Why didn't you come down? And with whom did you leave the few sheep? . . . for you came to see the battle.' " Eliyov's outburst against Dovid took place approximately six months after Dovid had been anointed by Shmuel, when he came to fight Golyas the Philistine. This is why Hashem said to Shmuel (posuk 7), "For man sees into the eyes and Hashem sees into the heart." Rashi quotes Chazal who say that Hashem told Shmuel, "Even though you called yourself a seer, for you said to Shaul (9:19), `I am the seer,' [when Shaul drew near to Shmuel and said, `Tell me, which is the house of the seer?' (9:18)"] now I'll show you that you don't see."

The gemora (Pesochim 66) says, "What does `because I have rejected him' mean? This implies that he was regarded favorably until then, for he had no other shortcomings except for his temper which caused him to be rejected when Shmuel came to anoint a new king. In other words, Eliyov's anger which surfaced half a year later was within him all the time, even though it only showed when Dovid came to fight Golyas. The Alter of Slobodka, HaRav Nosson Tzvi Finkel zt'l, commented that this shows us to what degree a Jewish king has to be clean from even a single untoward trait that may be within him, even if it has not shown itself yet.

It is surprising though, because if so, how could Eliyov be held responsible? He wasn't aware himself that he had this trait so he couldn't work on it. Therefore, why wasn't he fit to be a king? It must be that a person is more aware of his own traits than a prophet like Shmuel is aware of them.

They Should Have Realized Themselves

Proof of this can be brought from the gemora (Avodoh Zora 5), "The Rabbonon learned, `Who will make this heart of theirs fear Me forever. . . ' (Devorim 5:26). "

Moshe said to Klal Yisroel, ["You are] ingrates, [and] sons of ingrates. When Hakodosh Boruch Hu said [at Har Sinai], `Who will make. . . ' you should have said, `You do it!' [and your failure to ask this of Hashem stems from the trait of ingratitude to Him, which you and your ancestor showed]. . . "

And even Moshe Rabbenu [who rebuked them] only alluded to it forty years later [on the plains of Mo'av] as it says (29:4), `And I led you in the desert for forty years,' and it says (posuk 3), `and Hashem did not give you a heart' [to recognize His kindness -- Rashi].

Rabboh said, `We can learn from here that a person does not fully understand his teacher's intentions until forty years have passed.' Tosafos quotes Rashi's explanation of this deduction, "Because even Moshe only remembered forty years later," and asks that if Moshe Rabbenu himself only remembered after all this time, what place was there to rebuke Klal Yisroel for the very same thing? Tosafos answers, "It was because he himself was not in need of such a tefilloh, that he only realized fully what his Teacher's intention had been after forty years. Yisroel however, who did need to pray for yiras Shomayim, should have thought about [the implications of Hashem's question] right away, for they had already sinned with the eigel and the spies."

We see that Moshe Rabbenu rebuked bnei Yisroel for their own and their fathers' ingratitude, for not asking Hashem for yiras Shomayim, because they should have had greater awareness of their own shortcoming, as we have explained.

Another Approach

The Maharal gives a different reason for Klal Yisroel's failure to ask Hashem to help them attain yiras Shomayim: they wanted to serve Him with their own power and abilities, and to be His faithful army through their own service, not through their prayers and requests.

Moshe Rabbenu was still angry with them, for they had sinned in the past and during all the forty years they had not been able to attain yiras Shomayim through their own efforts. They should therefore have realized this and have asked Hashem, "You do it!"

The chassidim relate a story about the Rebbe of Lachovitch zt'l, who sat at the Purim seudah and said, " `Whoever extends his hand out [on Purim] is given [charity].' Therefore, whoever extends his hand in prayer to Hakodosh Boruch Hu will be answered. . . " Each of the chassidim started to ask for a different good character trait, except for one, who sat at the side without asking for anything.

The Rebbe asked him, "Why aren't you asking for something?"

The man replied, "I want to serve like an ordinary soldier, who uses his own abilities. I don't want presents!"

From Tosafos at any rate, it seems that they were deserving of being rebuked for their ingratitude, for not having asked Hashem to ensure that they always retained their fear of Heaven.

Severe Punishments and Great Rewards

Chazal tells us (Sanhedrin 99), that Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov did not accept Timna as a convert, so she went and became a concubine to Eisov's son, Elifaz. Her logic was, "Better be a maidservant to this nation than mistress of another." As a result of her liaison with Elifaz, the gemora tells us, "She produced Amolek, who made Yisroel suffer. Why [did the oppressor emerge from the offspring of this woman in particular]? Because they shouldn't have distanced her."

The Ovos certainly rejected Timna on account of her corrupt character traits, yet Chazal's verdict is that they shouldn't have done so, and that the emergence of Amolek was the result. "Hakodosh Boruch Hu is extremely exacting with His pious servants" -- if they would have accepted Timna, there would be no Amolek in the world. This is something that is awesome to contemplate.

We find a similar situation in Yaakov Ovinu's meeting with Eisov. The posuk (32:23), tells us that Yaakov Ovinu crossed maa'var Yabok with his wives and "his eleven children." Rashi comments, "And where was Dinah? He put her in a box and locked her in so that Eisov wouldn't put his eyes on her. Yaakov was punished for this, for having withheld her from his brother -- she may have brought him back to the right path -- and she fell into the hands of Shechem." Chazal tell us that later Dinah didn't want to leave the city of Shechem until Shimon married her.

At any rate, as a consequence of Yaakov Ovinu's not wanting Dinah to be married [to Eisov] in the correct way, she was married in a way that is forbidden.

It's amazing how Yaakov was punished so severely for such a slight shortcoming, while all the dukes of Eisov whom the posuk enumerates in detail, led peaceful and tranquil lives. I found on the words, "the duke of Magdiel," (posuk 36:43), the Ramban quotes from Pirkei DeRebbi Eliezer where it says that as a reward for having taken himself away when Yaakov came -- "And Eisov took his wives, his sons and his daughters. . . and he went to a[nother] place because of his brother Yaakov," (36:6) -- Eisov was given a hundred countries between Sei'ir and Magdiel (which Rashi tells us is Rome). Even though Eisov was so wicked, he was rewarded because of a good thing that he did, in going away when Yaakov came, with a hundred countries. Why?

End of Part I

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