Star Power

Shabbos Parshas Beshalach is almost universally known as Shabbos Shira. It is unsurprising, then, that the Haftorah selected by Chazal features a Shira of its own. While the connection between the Sedra and Hafotrah are therefore readily understood, there are still opportunities to examine the Pessukim in an effort to gain new insight, and deeper understanding.

The Haftorah for Parshas Beshalach is taken from the Pessukim in Sefer Shoftim that include Shiras Devroah, which is counted among the Eser Shiros, the ten Shiros sung by Klal Yisroel. These are not mere songs, but Shiros, akin to the Shira sung by Malachim. These Pessukim are clearly appropriate to Shabbos Shira, but they are not the entirety of the Haftorah; a significant portion is given to the story that precipitated Devorah’s song. The Navi tells us that when Devorah assumed leadership, Bnei Yisroel had been living under the oppressive rule of Yavin Melech Cannan for twenty years. The Pessukim tell us that Devorah summoned Barak ben Avinoam, and instructed him to raise up an army to battle the army of Yavin, led by Sisra. Barak and his army experienced Nissim Geluyim and Sisra and his army were vanquished, with the general being slaughtered by Yehudis while on the run. It was in the aftermath of this unlikely victory that Devorah and Barak sang a Shira to HKBH—a poetic song celebrating the Yad Hachazaka that they had seen.

Seeing as the central connection between the Parsha and the Haftorah is the Shira itself, it is somewhat interesting that the Pessukim telling the story of the war are included. While we may assume that Chazal wished there to be context to the Shira, there are other instances in which just the relevant Pessukim are Lained. Why would Chazal specifically want us to learn the Pessukim that speak about the events leading to the Shira?

In fact, as we learn these Pessukim it can be noted that little mention is made of Devorah and Barak. Most of the Pessukim in the first half of the Haftorah speak about their enemy, Sisra. It would therefore seem that Chazal wished us to learn something from Sisra, and to they included these Pessukim in the Takana. What might this have been?

Sisra is not only spoken about in the Pessukim that tell the story—he is mentioned in Shiras Devorah as well. This itself is not surprising, as Devorah is singing about the Nissim in which Sisra was obviously involved, akin to the various mentions of Pharoah in the Shiras HaYam. It is important, however, to understand what is said about him in these stanzas.

Devorah sings: “Min HaShamayim Nilchamu HaKochavim M’Misilasam Nilchamu Im Sisra”. As with most of the Shira, it is hard to decipher even the simplest Pshat in the words without the help of the Meforshim, but here an interesting phenomenon unfolds: the most literal translation of the Passuk is not the most Pashut way to understand it.

Metzudos, in keeping with his mission of explaining Pshat, explains that Devorah uses these words to declare the incidental nature of her involvement in the victory: Sisra would have been defeated even without the intervention of humans as it was destined Min Hashamayim. “HaKochavim M’Misilasam Nilchamu Im “HaKochavim M’Misilasam Nilchamu Im , it was as if the stars had aligned to his downfall, so to speak.

The Gemara in Pesachim offers a more literal explanation for the words, in the Derech of Drush.

When Sisra came to fight Klal Yisroel, his weapon of choice was iron spears. The Gemara relates that HKBH took the Kochvei Hashamauim out of their orbits, and they fell upon the army of Sisra, heating the spears. The soldiers went into Nachal Kidron to cool their weapons in the waters at which point Hashem told the Kishon to sweep them into the sea and there they perished.

According to the Gemarah, the words “Min HaShamayim Nilchamu HaKochavim M’Misilasam Nilchamu” are to be taken literally: the stars left their orbits and played a role in the demise of Sisra. We must of course try to understand this Gemara to the best of our abilities. To do so, there are a number of questions that beg answers.

First, why would HKBH use the stars specifically against Sisra? Based on the way the Gemara tells the story, it wasn’t even the stars that defeated him, they were merely a precipitating factor—it was through the river Kishon that they ultimately met their demise. Certainly HKBH could have made the spears hot through another means, or lured them to Nachal Kishon in another way, why was it necessary to create such a suspension of Teva—removing the Kochavim from their Mesilah—just to heat the iron?

These questions are compounded by the fact that Sisra did not perish there—he survived only to be killed by Yael later on. The Passuk, however, tells us “Min HaShamayim Nilchamu Im Sisra”. These words can be easily understood in line with Metzudos, but they are more difficult to resolve with the approach of the Gemarah. Sisra was not directly affected by the appearance of the stars, though his army certainly was, why is he named particularly in this Passuk?

The notion that the use of the Kochavim was directed against Sisra himself is bolstered by a Medrash in Vayikra Rabba which tells us that Sisra was “Nidon B’Esh”, and brings the words “HaKochavim M’Misilasam Nilchamu Im Sisra”. The implication of the Medrash is that the heat conducted by the stars was the Esh by which Sisra was himself defeated. How can we understand this? What was the message of the “HaKochavim M’Misilasam Nilchamu”, and how did it apply to Sisra?

In order to answer these questions, it would be helpful to better understand the symbolism of the Kochavim and what message their use might be sending.

Besides any light they may provide, we know that the stars form the Mazalos, which are inaccurately translated as constellations. These Mazalos have deep and mystical meaning, but the Medrash Rabba in Parshas Beraishis makes a statement about them that very easily understood: “Ain Lecha Kol Esev V’Esev She’Ain Lo Mazel B’Rakiah SheMakeh Oso V’omer Lo Gedal”. There is no blade of grass which grows without its specific Mazel—a star—telling it to. Based on this Medrash we can understand that the Kochavim are not mere celestial bodies, but are in fact involved in everything that happens in the world on a very granular level.

The Shefa Chaim of Sanz-Klausenberg, in a Shiur on Parshas Shemos, explains this concept with a deeper insight. The Passuk in Tehillim says “Moneh Mispar LaKochavim L’Kulam Shemos Yikrah”. Although there are millions of stars, HKBh gives each of them a name. Just as the names of Malachim are related to their mission, the names of the stars are related to their particular Tafkid. No two stars have the same Tafkid, because each is assigned to another part of Teva, as the Medrash teaches us, and therefore each must have its own name.

Because we understand that every being is related to a Kochav, and functions based on that connection, we can understand that no two beings, or people, have the same Tafkid. Each person was placed on this world for a particular purpose, and it is up to him to fill that role. In a startling charge, the Shefa Chaim proclaims that a person is tasked with determining, with certainty, what this Tafkid is, what his specific and particular role in the world might be.

If we think about it, the message of the Kochavim is therefore one of personal responsibility: because each of us has his own Kochav and Mazel, and a separate Tafkid, we cannot place blame for our shortcomings at the feed of others. We must each bear responsibility for our actions, for the success in filling our Tafkid, or the failure to do so. Perhaps this was the message to Sisra, and to us, that came via the Kochavim.

Just prior to speaking about the role Shamayim played in Sisra’s downfall, the Passuk tells us: “Ba’u Malachim Nilchamu…Betza Kesef Lo Lakachu”. Rashi explains that the various kings that participated in Sisra’s attacked did not ask for renumeration, they came to fight on their own. There are various Medrashim that explain why this was the case, but there is perhaps one that can help us understand the mindset of Sisra.

The Tanchuma in Parshas Masei tells us that the Malachei Cannan, who had been expelled at the time of Yehoshua, desperately wished to drink from the waters of Eretz Yisroel. So much so, that they came to Sisra of their own volition and begged to join his campaign. The Malachim saw the battle as their ticket into Eretz Yisroel, and they came running, and even induced others to join them.

It emerges that not only did Sisra not employ mercenaries to fight on his behalf, but he did not even seek the help of others. Those who joined him did so of their own volition, and their own desire to drink from the waters of Eretz Yisroel. We can imagine that Sisra would have used these facts to rationalize his role: he did not build a coalition of allies to attack Bnei Yisroel, he was a bit player, a mere functionary, surely he could not be held accountable for the actions of these Malachim.

It was for this reason that the Kochavim were removed from their Mesilos, in a unique suspension of Teva, and used to attack his army. Sisra saw all those who had joined him destroyed through the stars so that he would understand that each person is held accountable for their own actions, he no less so. No matter that others chose to join him of their own volition—the fact that he instigated the attack was his to bear alone. The Kochavim, which signify the individual and his Tafkid, were used to punish the army of Sisra, sending him a message about his own responsibility.

When Sisra saw what happened to his army, the Passuk tells us: “V’Yared Sisra M’Al HaMerkava V’Yanas B’Raglav.” Metzudos explains that he did so in order to escape notice, and avoid capture. Clearly Sisra did not get the message: he still thought he could blend into the background and somehow avoid punishment. He neglected to learn from the Kochavim that each person has their own responsibility and will ultimately be taken to task, and so he ran away on foot. As we know, he soon met his match, suffering a most ignoble death.

It is perhaps for this reason that the Tekios on Rosh Hashana are tied to the cries of Em Sisra, as the Gemara in Rosh Hashana tells us. What better lesson can we recall on the Yom HaDin than one of personal responsibility for our actions and for our Tafkid in this world.

We need not wait for the call of the Shofar, however. As the Shefa Chaim suggests, these thoughts must occupy our minds throughout the year, as we consider our place in the world, and the individual responsibility we bear.