Most of the mitzvos that we have are actions. Very few of them are intended solely for our minds. In this weeks Parsha we have two out of the seven Mitzvos we fulfill by remembering something in our mind.
The first Zechirah (remembrance), is to, "Remember that which Hashem, your Lord did to Miriam Baderech (on the way) in your exodus from Egypt. (Dev. 24:9)
The second Zechirah, is to, "Remember that which Amalek did to you Baderech (on the way) in your exodus from Egypt. (Dev. 25:17)
There are two things about these two Zechiros that need to be examined:
First, out of all seven Zechiros, these are the only two that appear in the same Parsha.
Second, they both use the same language, "On the way in your exodus from Egypt." Most of the other Zechiros also happened, "On the way," out of Egypt, why are only these two worded this way? What is the significance of the word, "Baderech (on the way)," and why are these two Zechiros worded this way, but no others?
These two details imply an inherent connection between these two Zechiros. Unlike any of the other Zechiros, they are both in the same Parsha, and they are worded exactly the same. What is the connection?
On the surface, these two seem to have nothing to do with each other. We are commanded to remember that G-d "punished" Miriam with Tzeraas (usually mistranslated as leprosy) for saying Loshon Hora (true slander) about Moshe on the way out of Egypt, and to remember that Amalek attacked our ancestors on the way out of Egypt. What two concepts could be more distant?
Let's begin by trying to understand the significance of the word Baderech in the Zechirah about Amalek. A central theme of Amalek, is coincidence. Rashi says that Amalek saw life as "just happening." In Dev. 25:18, the Pasuk says, "Asher Karcha Baderech." Rashi says this means that they "happened" upon you on the way. It was just chance that the Jews ran into Amalek. It was coincidence. I mean, these things happen.
Rav Blachman always referred to Agag (the King of Amalek at the time of Shaul) as the perfect example of what Amalek represents. In the Haftorah of Pashas Zachor, we read about Agag who was captured and awaiting his death. It says he pranced in his shackles. He danced around while on his death march. How could anyone do that? There was a guy who knew his death was imminent, dancing around on his way to "the chair!"
Amalek's philosophy is that everything just happens; nothing has meaning, there is no such thing as purpose. Amalek says that the whole world is just an accident. Life is meaningless, so of course death is! Everything is Baderech, on the way, it's not important. Every experience you have is only a coincidence, it could have happened to anyone.
That is a reason why it says Bederech in reference to Amalek, but why does it say that by Miriam?
Rav Tatz once quoted the famous Rashi which asks the question, "Why is the story of the spies juxtaposed with the punishment of Miriam?" Rashi answers that the spies should have learned from her mistake, but instead they repeated it. Miriam spoke Loshon Hora about Moshe, and the spies spoke Loshon Hora about the land of Israel.
This is an unbelievable statement. Rashi is saying that by Miriam being punished the spies were given a message. Our initial reaction to punishment is sometimes, "But you never told me NOT to!" It is only fair to punish someone if they have a just warning first. Here the spies had no warning. Granted they knew it was wrong to speak slander about someone, but they weren't warned about it! Rashi tells us that in fact they were warned through Miriam. She had to go outside the camp until her disease went away, the entire nation had to wait until she was healed before they could continue traveling. It is safe to say that everyone knew what was going on, after all, she was one of the leaders of the Jewish people.
The story of the spies is juxtaposed to the sin of Miriam because they failed to learn their lesson from her. Instead, the spies chose to treat it simply as an occurrence. They said, "These things happen, everyone makes mistakes, even prophets. But we can't learn anything from it. it's just chance that it was in our experience, it could have happened to anyone, it's just coincidence." The spies said that Miriam's sin was just Baderech, something that happens "on the way."
The Midrash says that when the spies died, their tongues swelled out their mouths for all to see. The question is why? It obviously wasn't a punishment, because the spies weren't alive to experience it! So what was the point? Rav Chaim Shmulevitz explains that it wasn't a punishment, it was a message. It was the same message that the Jews were supposed to get from Miriam. This time, you can be sure they got the point. This time it wasn't just an occurrence Baderech, this time it was an experience that happened to someone else, that taught them a message.
There is a clear connection between these two Zechiros. Amalek viewed life as a short coincidence and devoid of meaning. The spies mistake was treating Miriam's punishment this way. We have to realize that there are no coincidences in life. Everything in our experience can be learned from, nothing happens Baderech.
Perhaps we can read the famous Mishna in Pirkei Avos this way: (4:1)"Who is wise? One who leans from everyone." Even those he never actually spoke to.
The Baal Shem Tov once said that every leaf falls for a reason. We may not know exactly what the message is, but everything in our experience is to teach us something. We can't treat it like an accident, like it happened Baderech, we have to ask, "Why?" We will understand the message eventually.
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