At first glance, Moshe’s role in the war against Amalek appears to be merely symbolic. The story at the end of Parashat Beshalah relates that it was Yehoshua who was sent to lead the troops in battle, while Moshe retreated to the top of the hill, with God’s staff in his hands. Still, the Torah describes that “whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; but whenever he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed” (Shemot 17:11). The shift of the pendulum between victory and defeat, between small successes and momentary failures, does not depend on what is happening on the battlefield but on the weakness or strength of Moshe Rabbeinu, with his persistence in raising up his hands towards heaven.
Regarding this, the Mishnah in Massechet Rosh HaShana (3:8) writes: “Did the hands of Moses wage war or break Israel’s ability to wage war? Rather this teaches that as long as Israel would look upwards and subject their hearts to their Father in heaven they prevailed, and if not, they fell.”
The rabbinic interpretation notwithstanding, the biblical verses do not indicate that the nation of Israel was involved in any way in Moshe’s exertions. Still, based on the approach suggested by the Mishnah, it appears that the people’s eyes were focused on the top of the hill, and that when Moshe’s hands were raised they turned their hearts towards heaven, and when he faltered, the people faltered, as well. Thus, the leader’s hands had a profound impact on the nation’s abilities.
But Moshe's hands became heavy. It is not easy to hold one’s hands aloft for a prolonged, uninterrupted, period of time. This would be a challenge for a young person. For an elderly man like Moshe, this task seems almost impossible.
According to the commentaries, the heaviness of Moshe’s hands was not physical. Pesikta Rabbati brings a number of opinions explaining the source of this heaviness:
“But Moshe’s hands grew heavy -
R. Yehoshua said: Moshe’s hands grew heavy from the sins of Israel, when they said, “Is the LORD present among us or not?”
R. Abahu said: Moshe’s hands grew heavy as if two jugs of water that were hanging on them.
R. Berechia the priest said in the house of Rebbe: The Holy One blessed be He said: Moshe’s hands are heavy upon me. They received the Torah; they received the Tablets of the Covenant; they received the Ten Commandments; they brought upon Pharaoh the ten plagues; they split the sea and led Israel across it.”
R. Yehoshua explains that Moshe’s hands are heavy because they must lift the entire nation with them, and Israel weighs them down because of its numerous sins. The doubts expressed by the people regarding God’s existence as their savior (“Is the LORD present among us or not?”) drag down Moshe’s hands and keep them from reaching skyward. Those who doubt God’s presence will not turn their heads up to Him, but will look directly at the enemy facing them. Moshe is carrying this weight. Raising up his hands is not so much the physical effort but the inner conviction and deep certainty that he must impart with his gaze, by holding up his hands, steadily, with conviction.
According to R. Abahu, it is as though Moshe is balancing two jugs of water on his hands. It is not just the weight, the gravity pulling down. The image of the water is important here. Water will spill out of the jugs is they are not perfectly balanced. Moshe’s job cannot be summed up as leading the people in the true faith in the midst of a mundane reality. His great challenge is how to find the correct mix – how to combine lifting one’s eyes to heaven while looking at the physical world. He must direct the people so that they successfully locate the exact point of equilibrium between seeking the divine and functioning in the vanity of everyday life.
Finally, according to R. Berechia, the weight of his hands did not affect Moshe so much as it affected God. When Moshe raises his hands, God does not perceive them as being the hands of an ordinary human being, but the hands that received the Torah, the Tablets, the Commandments. These hands are the ones that led the nation of Israel out of Egypt and brought them safely across the Sea of Reeds. Moshe’s hands are a type of “unconventional weapon” when they are turned up towards heaven. Moshe’s hands serve as an ultimatum that Israel can turn against God, obligating Him to act to protect them.
According to all three of these approaches, the description of Moshe’s hands as “steady hands” points to a powerful use of hidden dialogue, where mere hints – eye movements and hand movements – carry deep significance. Anyone who has seen how Hassidic leaders can express serious messages with a simple twist of the wrist understands how such things can be done with little physical exertion. R. Yehoshua suggests that Moshe’s hands create a storm of faith and emotion, given the ability to discern the hidden worlds. According to R. Abahu, the hands create an exact balance of emotional alignment. We are not moving from a state of apostasy to faith, we are simply recalibrating to a point of precision – a slight movement that does not produce turmoil and storms but a delicate and easy movement of the soul. According to R. Berechia, Moshe’s hands represent a silent prayer, beseeching God for life itself, with the people of Israel partnering in silent support, transferring the prayer from a personal appeal to a general, public plea.
These wars have never ceased and continue until today. The three-part struggle to maintain faith, balance and unity is the war against Amalek for all generations.