By Moshe Feiglin
17. We will pass through your land, we will not pass through the field or the vineyard and we will not drink the waters of the well. We will walk on the main road, we will not veer right nor left until we pass your borders.
18. And Edom said to him: You shall not pass through me, or I will come out with a sword to greet you.
19. And the Children of Israel said: We will traverse on the main highway and if we or our herds drink your water we will pay its price. It is no matter, we will just pass through on our feet.
20. And he said: You will not pass through. And Edom came out to meet them with a horde of people and a strong arm.
21. And Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through its borders, and Israel turned away from there. (From this week's Torah portion, Chukat, Numbers 20)
21. And Israel sent messengers to Sihon the king of the Amorites, saying:
22. I will pass through your land, we will not turn into the fields or the vineyards and we will not drink the waters of the well. On the main highway we will walk until we pass through your borders.
23. And Sihon did not allow Israel to pass through his borders and Sihon gathered all his nation and he went out to the desert to meet Israel and he came to Yahatz and he fought against Israel. (Numbers 21)
The entire world vs. Israel. Suddenly, we were completely alone. What happened? Why did they blacklist us? After all, the Israelites were offering the two kings a business opportunity that doesn't come up every day. They were even willing to buy their water. Why threaten war?
It is all because of Amalek. Some nations of the world are better and some are worse. For the most part, they are a mixture of good and bad. They acknowledge that G-d is King of the world while simultaneously rebelling against Him. Take England, for example. England was the first European country to expel the Jews from its land and the first to require them to attach a yellow badge to their clothing. It is also the breeding ground of Nazi racist philosophy (Houston Chamberlain). On the other hand, England is home to Zionist/Biblical romanticism, the Balfour Declaration and Orde Wingate. England also laid the physical foundation for the nascent Jewish state.
When the nations saw the miracles that G-d performed for Israel in Egypt, they remembered the King of the world and honored the children whom He chose to testify to His existence. Until Amalek came along and jumped into the boiling bathtub. Although he got burned, he cooled the water. Now the rest of the nations realized that it was possible to fight against Israel just as they would fight against any other nation. The magical aura had burst. Natural fear of G-d dissipated and in its place came anti-Semitism, pure and simple. If not for Amalek, the Edomites and Amorites would have been honored to allow Israel to pass through their territory.
Then as now, when the current Amalek announced his intention to destroy Israel, he got slightly burned. But the Israeli magical aura burst. The existence of the Nation of Israel is no longer a given and on the surface, it has no special connection to G-d to protect it. That is the point when all the nations of the world reject us. Their anti-Semitic nature surfaces and we are left "a nation that dwells alone."
When we will open our hearts and souls to make G-d our King, the next part of the verse will also come true: "And it does not reckon with the nations".
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