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The Great Smite of the Assyrian Army Besieging Yerushalayim

It is one of the greatest miracles recorded in the Tanach that occurred in the wake of one of our people’s most perilous moments. The Assyrian empire especially under Sancheirev was unmatched in its power and effectiveness. They were simply unstoppable, not to mention brutal and savage against their enemies. The Lachish reliefs (presently displayed at the British Museum) graphically display the vicious and effective nature of the Assyrian war machine.

Am Yisrael was not spared from the Assyrian juggernaut. The Assyrians ended and exiled Malchut Yisrael,

the Northern Kingdom. Sancheirev led the charge to the Southern Kingdom (where the great Chizkiyahu served as king) where he vanquished no less than 46 Arei Yehuda! He then set his sights on Jerusalem where he led 185,000 of his soldiers in a siege of our capital. Remarkably, the water tunnel and wide wall Chizkiyahu HaMelech built to stave off the Assyrians, remain from this momentous event and are visible even today in Jerusalem’s Old City.

No less than the future of Am Yisrael was at stake at this terrifying time. If we lost to the Assyrians we would have been savagely slaughtered. If we surrendered we would be exiled and dispersed in a manner that would obliterate our national identity per Sancheirev’s policy towards the nations he conquered.

At this most critical juncture, Yeshayahu HaNavi instructed Chizkiyahu HaMelech to hold fast and have Bitachon (trust) Hashem would save us. And then the great miracle occurred. Hashem made an extraordinary miracle, one not seen since the time of Moshe Rabbeinu and Yehoshua, by smiting the 185,000 Assyrian soldiers on the first night of Pesach to save Yerushalayim from the Assyrians’ vicious conquest (Melachim II 19:35).

The First Night of Pesach

Both Rashi (Melachim II 20:1 s.v. Chalah Chizkiyahu) and Radak (Melachim II 19:35) cite Chazal’s assertion that the great miracle of the fall of Sancheirev’s army occurred on the first night of Pesach. Ashkenazic Jews mention this miracle at the first night’s Seder in the poem “VaYehi BaChatzi HaLayla.” This poem lists all the miracles that, according to Chazal, occurred on the first night of Pesach. What might the deeper meaning be behind the connection of the great miracle of the fall of Sancheirev’s army and the first night of Pesach?

Four Connections between Pesach and the Great Smite

We suggest four connections. First, the great smite was a grand miracle on the scale of the great Nissim that occurred in the events surrounding Yetzi’at Mitzrayim. TABC Talmid Yosi Gold notes the obvious parallel of the great smite and Makkat Bechorot, which of course occurred on the first night of Pesach.

Second, this miracle saved our people from destruction at the hands of the Assyrians. It was a Yetzi’at Ashur not so different than Yetzi’at Mitzrayim, for we were saved from enslavement to the Assyrians. Third, it expresses the idea we state each evening at Arvit, “UGe’alo MiYad Chazak MiMenu,” where we thank Hashem for redeeming us from the clutches of a vastly most powerful entity.

Finally, in both cases our people had the courage not to capitulate to the superior power. In Mitzrayim right before we left at great risk we very publicly offered the Korban Pesach, which involved slaughtering and fire roasting a lamb, regarded as a god by the Egyptians. In regard to the Assyrians, we steadfastly heeded the exhortation of Yishayahu HaNavi and refused to shed our Jewish identity even in the face of the fearsome and previously undefeated Assyrians.

Conclusion

In the merit of our Emunah and Bitachon both against the superpowers of the time – the Egyptians and the Assyrians – we merited a miracle on a grand scale. May we follow in the footsteps of our ancestors and fully abide by the Torah with Emunah and Bitachon and merit grand miracles on the scale merited by our ancestors in Mitzrayim and Yerushalayim!