Avi K -“Health, maybe because we were weak in the will to fight.”
Sorry – the Torah doesn’t believe in Koach V’ozem Yodi!
From Rabbi Wiggins: “Why did the Jews deserve to be attacked by Amalek? The key to understanding this particular downfall is the name of the location where Amalek attacked us – Rephidim. Although on a simple level this name is merely a geographical location, the Midrash tells us that it is an acronym for rofu y’dayhem min hatorah – the hands of the Jewish people were weak in their support of Torah. What does this expression mean? The usual term for lack of Torah study is bitul Torah – neglecting the study of Torah. What then is the idea behind their hands being weak in their support of Torah?
Rabbi Hutner explains that this expression refers to a weakness in recognizing and appreciating the importance and relevance of the Torah in our lives. When we fail to realize how vital Torah is to our very existence and to the existence of the entire world, we are inviting Amalek into our midst.
Not only should we be concerned with how much Torah we learn, but also with how much value and importance we attribute to the Torah which we learn. Do we realize that Torah is Hashem’s wisdom? Do we realize that Torah sustains the entire world? Do we realize that the ultimate perfection of the world can only come through Torah? May Hashem help us to increase our time to study Torah and our appreciation of its greatness.”