The Battle is in the Ceasefire

What the War of Gog and Magog is Really All About:

"Moshe ben Amram! Why do you keep letting up and giving the Egyptians one respite after another? That just hardens their hearts and emboldens them even more. Don't you understand that? Just finish them off already! Enough is enough. Haven't we been in galut long enough? Why does this have to drag on so long?"

It's not that difficult to hear them, is it? Their voices continue to echo all the way down to our day. Many in Klal Yisrael just couldn't understand what Moshe was doing. So what was he actually doing? Or better yet, what was Hashem doing?

We first need to understand the timeline of the ten plagues. The Mishnah in Eduyot 2:10 states: מִשְׁפַּט הַמִּצְרִיִּים, שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר חֹדֶשׁ (The judgment of the Egyptians, [lasted for] twelve months). However, on his comment to Shemot 7:25, Rashi reveals an important detail about the timing of each plague that challenges the accuracy of this Mishnah: שֶׁהָיְתָה הַמַּכָּה מְשַׁמֶּשֶׁת רְבִיעַ חֹדֶשׁ, וג' חֲלָקִים הָיָה מֵעִיד וּמַתְרֶה בָהֶם (The plague lasted one-quarter of a month [i.e. one week], and [for] three quarters [of the month] he forewarned and cautioned them). That would seem to imply that the judgment upon Egypt lasted for only ten months, not twelve months. How can we reconcile these two statements?

Let's work our way backward in time from the only date that is explicitly mentioned in the Chumash, the date for the final plague, the death of the firstborn. We know that took place during the Pesach Seder, the night of the 15^th of Nisan. Then seven days later, the entire army of Pharaoh was wiped out at the Yam Suf. This being the case, if we allow one month for each plague – according to Rashi – that would mean that the first plague, the plague of blood, must have taken place in the 4^th month of the year, the month of Tammuz. But the Mishnah says that the whole process of judgment lasted twelve months. That means that some aspect of that judgment must have began three months earlier than that, in the month of Nisan. What could that have been?

It seems to us that it could correspond to the return of Moshe to Mitzraim. This would have allowed Moshe one month to have gathered the people together and allow plenty of time afterward for the news to spread throughout the nation that the time of their redemption had arrived (Shemot 4:29-31). After a month had elapsed, sometime in the middle of Iyar, Moshe could have made his first appearance to Pharaoh (Shemot 5:1-9). The meeting didn't go exactly as Moshe had expected because Pharaoh dismissed him out of hand and made their slavery worse. As a result, the Jews got upset with Moshe. This situation could have gone on for about a month, and then in the middle of Sivan, Moshe was told by Hashem to go back to Pharaoh and show him that he could turn a staff into a serpent (Shemot 7:7-13). That didn't make much of an impression on Pharaoh either, and he refused to pay any attention to Moshe. Finally, after another month, which would bring us to Tammuz, Hashem told Moshe to go out in the morning and meet Pharaoh at the river warning him that if he didn't let the people go Egypt would experience a plague of blood (Shemot 7:15-18). And so began the ten plagues, each one lasting one week and being followed by a three-week respite.

From the account of the aftermath of the second plague, the plague of frogs, we learn what happened as a result of the three-week respite (Shemot 8:11): וַיּרְא פַּרְעֹה כִּי הָיְתָה הָרְוָחָה וְהַכְבֵּד אֶת־לִבּוֹ וְלֹא שָׁמַע אֲלֵהֶם כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְיָ (When Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart and didn't listen to them, just as Hashem had said). This was the pattern that repeated itself over and over again, month after month. A plague would descend upon Egypt for a period of one week, the Egyptians would suffer tremendously, and then Moshe would lift the plague, essentially putting a 'ceasefire' into effect, which then led to a further hardening of Pharaoh's heart.

Needless to say, this pattern irritated many Jews. They just wanted to get out of Egypt as quick as possible and couldn't understand what Moshe was doing. Of course, Moshe wasn't acting on his own accord, but many had difficultly accepting this fact. He was simply following instructions from the Ribono shel Olam. Be that as it may, many of the Jews were quite annoyed. They rightly held that the three-week respite was just making Pharaoh more and more belligerent, giving him more time, over and over again, to restock his supplies, rearm and reequip his men, and recuperate to prepare for the next wave. Very frustrating, indeed!

It was so frustrating to many Jews that at least 80% of them never made it out of Egypt alive. Most of them died during the plague of darkness (see Rashi on Shemot 10:22 and on 13:18). How come they didn't get to leave? According to Rashi: שֶׁהָיוּ בְיִשְׂרָאֵל בְּאוֹתוֹ הַדּוֹר רְשָׁעִים וְלֹא הָיוּ רוֹצִים לָצֵאת (There were wicked people among Yisrael in that generation who didn't want to leave). As hard as that may be to believe, it's true. And how come they didn't want to leave? They had no emunah, for without emunah it is impossible to leave galut, as we learn from a teaching of R' Nachman in Likutei Moharan 7:1: דַּע כִּי עִקַּר הַגָּלוּת אֵינוֹ אֶלָּא בִּשְׁבִיל חֶסְרוֹן אֱמוּנָה (Know that the main reason for galut is nothing other than a lack of emunah). Clearly, if a lack of emunah put us into galut, then it follows that there's no way out except through emunah. So unlike those who left Egypt and made it to the Yam Suf, those who perished in the plague of darkness just didn't believe in Hashem or in Moshe His servant (Shemot 14:31).

Therefore, as far as they were concerned, Moshe was the one who lacked emunah. He just didn't have the wherewithal to fight a proper war against Egypt. He kept on betraying his nation, giving Pharaoh and the Egyptians more and more opportunities to recover. From a 'logical point of view,' you'd have to admit that these 'wicked individuals' in Yisrael had a valid point. After all, if you're going to fight a war, then fight a war. "What's with all these ceasefires, Moshe? Have you lost your mind?"

The deep secret of what Hashem was doing through Moshe His prophet, went right over their heads. And what was that deep secret? Maybe it's the same secret that is going over most of our heads today. Let's see.

The war that was being waged against Egypt wasn't the real war. The real war was the war that each and every Jew should have been fighting within himself, the war between the Yetzer Ra and the Yetzer Tov. In reality, the open war, the revealed war, the one that everybody focused on, was just the side show. And those who focused on that war had no emunah in Hashem or in Moshe. All they could do was criticize and complain. However, for the 20% who made it out alive, they understood the importance of these three-week ceasefires. They understood that each three-week ceasefire was the time for the real war, the war that each one of them needed to fight, to focus on their relationship with Hashem, to focus on their need to do teshuvah, to focus on their level of simchah, and to focus on their kavanah during tefillah, etc. The 80%, however, wanted an external victory. They held by their slogan, ביחד ננצח (Together, we'll win!), and marched up and down the streets of Goshen waving flags proudly displaying their slogan. But that wasn't Moshe's goal. Moshe's goal was merely to do what Hashem wanted him to do. And the primary goal was to build emunah and simchah in Klal Yisrael; and therefore, that was the true purpose of the three-week ceasefires. Moshe wasn't selling out the people. On the contrary, those who only saw the physical war were the ones who sold out the people. And because of their limited vision, they fell into complete despair [יֵאוּשׁ, ye'ush] when things didn't go the way they had expected.

Now this was the huge tactical win for the Sitra Achra, to get the people to fall into ye'ush, because where there is ye'ush there cannot be teshuvah. And this is why R' Nachman, looking down to our generation, screamed out, over and over again אֵין שׁוּם יֵאוּשׁ בָּעוֹלָם כְּלָל (There is no despair in the world at all!). "Don't fall into despair like so many Jews did when they were in Egypt, for because of that despair, they couldn't get out of galut! Don't make that same mistake." R' Nachman saw with ruach ha-kodesh. He understood. He knew exactly what the main challenge would be in our generation, and he made every effort possible to leave a legacy of teachings behind that would help us on this very point.

For this is the war of Gog and Magog – not the war against Hamas or Hezbollah or the Iranians or the Houtis, or anyone else. Rather, the war of Gog and Magog is between all the forces of tumah and Hashem and His anointed, as David ha-Melech explained (Tehillim 2:1-2): לָמָּה רָגְשׁוּ גוֹיִם וּלְאֻמִּים יֶהְגּוּ־רִיק׃ יִתְיַצְּבוּ  מַלְכֵי־אֶרֶץ וְרוֹזְנִים נוֹסְדוּ־יָחַד עַל־יְיָ וְעַל־מְשִׁיחוֹ׃ (Why do the goyim make such a ruckus, and the nations imagine emptiness? The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers take counsel together – against Hashem and against His Mashiach!). That's the war of Gog and Magog. And what is the purpose of that war? What are they trying to accomplish with their war against Hashem? David ha-Melech explains that they actually have two goals (v.3): נְנַתְּקָה אֶת־מוֹסְרוֹתֵימוֹ וְנַשְׁלִיכָה מִמֶּנּוּ עֲבֹתֵימוֹ (Let us break their bonds and toss their ropes from us). The two parts of this pasuk are not two ways of describing the same thing. They are mamash different objectives. The first is to break the bond that connects the Jewish People to Hashem, to sever that cord. And the second goal is to break away from any obligation that they themselves have toward Hashem and His ways. But let's focus on the first goal. According to the Sh'nei Luchot ha-Brit (Hakdamah to Sefer Shemot), the reason the nations want to break the bond that connects the Jewish People to Hashem is to prevent Am Yisrael from doing teshuvah. And if, chas v'shalom, the Jews won't do teshuvah, then the nations, the enemies of truth and righteousness, will finally be able to defeat them, chas v'shalom. That which Pharaoh failed to accomplish, that which Esav failed to accomplish, that which Haman failed to accomplish, that which the Greeks failed to accomplish, etc. etc., they will have finally accomplished! That's their plan – to get the Jewish People to such a state of ye'ush that they won't even bother with teshuvah.

If the ancient Yisraelim didn't do teshuvah during the one week of the plague, then why would they bother doing teshuvah doing the three-week ceasefire? That's the challenge, for that's when the war really takes place. The war is in the ceasefire. Everything else is mere distraction and manipulation to try to break our spirit. But let's not allow Gog and Magog to win the war. We need to understand where and what the war really is, and to gird our loins, take up our weapons (Torah, tefillah, teshuvah, and tzedakah – the 4 Ts) and fight that war like a faithful soldier who does not abandon his post because of the foolishness going on all around him. Hashem is in charge. Ignore everything else. Hashem is orchestrating everything for our good. Whether we can see it or not is beside the point. Emunah is needed specifically when it's dark – when it's night time – when nothing seems to make any sense. Our job is not to make sense out of it. Our job is to remain at our post, fight the battles that come to us, and be victorious in those battles.

And even after nine separate three-week ceasefires, Hashem still had to give the people two mitzvot to do in order to give them sufficient merit to leave Egypt – brit milah and the korban pesach. What does that tell us? It seems like perhaps, just perhaps, we weren't all that successful at achieving the purpose of those ceasefires. We still needed more merit.

Many in our nation are discouraged, fed up and downright angry. This is clear. There's no secret in that. But what should be our position? We need to be committed, to gain ground, to do what's right, to stay focused and to strengthen our emunah. If we do these things, it will be impossible to hide our courage. Others will see, and they will be strengthened. We don't have to say anything. Soldiers are not men of words. They are men of action.