Parshas Bo 5786
- Monsey Mevaser
- 4 hours ago
- 1 min read
ונתתים ביד מבקשי נפשם וביד נבוכדראצר מלך בבל... (ירמי'מו-כו)
In the years leading up to the Jewish people’s exile to Bavel, the Nation of Egypt had ruled the world for centuries but as Nevuchadnetzar and his army rose to power, Yirmiyahu HaNavi predicted that Egypt’s demise was inevitable. Interestingly, the Babylonians were not clean of sin at all. In fact, Yirmiyahu even referred to Nevuchadnetzar derisively as “Nevuchadretzar” because of his eventual destruction of Israel. Thus, since both the Egyptians and Babylonians committed horrendous atrocities to the nations of the world, in what merit did the Babylonians “receive clearance” from Hashem to replace Egypt as the world power when they were no better than the Egyptians?
R’ Mordechai Gifter zt”l (Pirkei Torah) explains that the difference between the two nations lay in their beliefs. Egypt lacked the basic belief in Hashem’s power and abilities and sought to contest Hashem at every turn. Since obviously no one can hold a candle to Hashem, the Egyptians ultimately caused their own self-destruction which imploded their kingdom. However, Chazal explain that Babylon had a very different approach to the Master of The World. Although their conceit eventually led to their own destruction, Nevuchadnetzar and his people believed that their rise to fame and power was a result of a decision of a higher rule.
Though at first, they didn’t actually recognize Hashem as that higher authority, Nevuchadnetzar eventually came to that basic understanding and Hashem rewarded him for that.