
קראו שם פרעה מלך מצרים שאון העביר המועד ... (ירמי'מו-יז)
Continuing the theme of last week’s Haftorah, Yirmiyahu HaNavi discusses the fall of Egypt mentioned in the Torah as well as Egypt’s downfall at the hands of Nevuchadnezzar, king of Bavel. The Navi tells us that in the heat of the battle, the Babylonians called out mockingly that Pharaoh king of Egypt was nothing but bluster, much noise and no substance. The reason being that “He passed the appointed time for the battle.” But why was that the reason to mock Pharaoh?
R’ Yonason Eibschutz zt”l explains that wars back in those days required battle tactics, but they did not involve any overall strategy. In fact, the date on which a decisive battle would be held was often fixed ahead of time. The reason being that Pharaoh and all the great kings of the time would employ their sorcerers to determine the best possible outcome. The sorcerers would invariably relay to their king the most opportune time for them to wage war. Then, and only then, would military strategies be devised.
Here, Pharaoh was mocked relentlessly because even after his sorcerers determined the best time to wage war against the Babylonians, he was still unable to arrive at the battlefield at the designated time - proving to all that his incompetence knew no bounds, and the Egyptians were doomed.
Mazel and time play a major role in Jewish life, and while we obviously do not ascribe to sorcery or claim to know the future, we are still quite cognizant of the predations of doing something not in its proper time.