Kahane on the Parsha
Rabbi Meir Kahane- Parshat BeShalach
REJOICE WHEN THE WICKED DIE
"Then
Moses and the Children of Israel sang this song..."--Exodus 15:1
Avraham
Tirosh, a member of the Mafdal party (מפד"ל- מפלגת
פועלי דתי לאומי) or the NRP (National Religious Party), recently wrote an
article whose basic theme is love of all people, even enemies; equality of all
people; and the sin of rejoicing over the death of our enemies. He begins, of
course, with the usual partial quote from the Talmud (Megillah 10b) that when
the angels sought to sing a song of praise as the Egyptians were drowning in
the Red Sea, G-d said: "The work of My hands is drowning in the sea and
you want to sing?"
Says
Tirosh: "All who are created in the image of G-d, even the Egyptian, are
G-d's work and thus we must relate to them. When a disaster occurs to ANYONE,
EVEN if he is your ENEMY, EVEN if he seeks to DESTROY YOU--do not sing praise.
Or, in the words of King Solomon (Proverbs 24:17), 'When your enemy falls, do
not rejoice, and when he stumbles, let your heart not be glad.'"
As
always, the Tiroshes of the world selectively and very partially quote the
Talmud. The selection he cites really begins with R. Yehoshua Ben Levi starting
his lecture on Megillat Esther with the verse, "As the L-rd rejoiced over
you to do you good, so the L-rd will rejoice over you to cause you to
perish" (Deuteronomy 28:63). And the Talmud asks: Does the Almighty then
rejoice over the fall of the wicked? And to prove that He does not rejoice, the
story of the angels asking to sing praise is cited. And this is where Tirosh
stops. BUT THERE IS MORE!
The
Talmud continues as follows: "Rabbi Elazar said: It is true that HE does
not rejoice, but He causes OTHERS TO REJOICE."
Ah,
WHAT A DIFFERENCE! And a clear answer to the obvious question: If G-d does not
want us to rejoice and praise Him when our enemy falls, why in the world does
it say: "Then Moses and the Children of Israel sang this song to the
L-rd..."? And a clear answer to why the Rabbis say (Mechilta, Beshalach
2:6): "Moses asked Israel: Will you stand and do NOTHING while the L-rd
performs miracles and glories for you? Said Israel to Moses: What should we do?
Said he to them: You will glorify and praise and give song and glory and
greatness to the One to whom wars belong."
Of
course, the Almighty, the totality of compassion, the father of all, grieves
for His children--all of them. HE does not sing. His angels, who are not of
this world, do not sing. but the JEWS DO! Not only are they ALLOWED TO, THEY
ARE COMMANDED TO...Why? For the very same reason that the Almighty, though He
does not sing, DOES destroy the work of His hands when it turns evil.
Yes,
of course He grieves. He grieves at those who were made in His image have so
perverted and destroyed the greatness of that image. But in His grief He does
not have pity. He destroys. He knows that evil and He cannot share the same
world, as our Rabbis say: "As long as the wicked rule in the world, the
Holy One Blessed Be He, so to speak, cannot sit on His throne" (Yalkut,
Tehillim 47).
And
thus do the Rabbis declare (Shemot Rabba 23:1): "This is the meaning of
the verse 'Your throne was firm from then (az אז)'
(Psalms 93:2). Although You exist from time immemorial, Your throne was not
made firm and You were not renowned in Your world until Your children
sang...[W]hen we sang before You 'Az Yashir,' then (az אז
) Your kingdom and throne were made firm."
And
that is why King David sings (Psalms 58:11-12): "The righteous one shall
rejoice when he sees vengeance; he shall wash his feet in the blood of the
wicked." Why? Because only when we see the wicked punished, only when we
see vengeance for their sins, do we have proof that G-d really exists and
rules. And David continues by saying: "So that people shall say: There is,
indeed, a reward for the righteous; there is, indeed, a G-d who judges on the
earth."
And
that is why the Rabbis tell us that "Moses yearned to see vengeance
against the Midianites" (Bamidbar Rabba 22:5). Moses. Yearned. To see
vengeance on the wicked. What shall we do with the fanatic Moses...?
The
incredible perversion of Judaism by confused and guilt-ridden Jews, ignoramuses
and learned alike! Our Rabbis tell us (Yalkut, Beshalach 241): "'And
Israel saw the great hand of G-d' (Exodus 14:31). When the Almighty wished to
drown the Egyptians, the Archangel of Egypt (Uza) said, 'Sovereign of the
Universe! You are called just and righteous...why do You wish to drown the
Egyptians?'...At that moment Gabriel rose, took a brick, and said, 'Sovereign
of the Universe! These who enslaved Your children in such a terrible slavery as
this, shall You have mercy on them?' Immediately, the Almighty drowned
them."
And
allow me to introduce two other Talmudic sayings: "The generation was one
of tiny faith, saying, 'Just as we rose from the sea on this side, perhaps the
Egyptians rose from the other side.' The Almighty ordered that the bodies be
washed up and Israel saw them" (Pesachim 118b). And Midrash Tehillim
(22:1) adds, "Each Jew took his dog and put his foot on the throat of a
dead Egyptian and said to his dog, 'Eat of the hand that slaved me, eat of the
heart that showed me no pity.'"
Poor
Tirosh
As
for the tiresome perversion of the verse, "When your enemy falls, do not
rejoice" (Proverbs 24:17), it is time that Tirosh went beyond a Biblical
verse and learned that G-d gave us an Oral Law, a Talmud, that explains verses.
Let him open the Talmud (Megillah 16a) which tells of Mordechai kicking Haman
as the latter bent over to help him climb on his horse. Haman, too, in a
startling echo of Tirosh, wails: "Does it not say in your Torah, 'When
your enemy falls...'?" And Mordechai answers Haman, and Tirosh: "That
applies to a Jew but concerning you the Torah states: 'And you shall trample
upon their high places' (Deuteronomy 33:29)."
The
Jewish Press, 1986
Shabbat
Shalom!
If
you are interested in reading more Divrei Torah from Rabbi Meir and Binyamin
Kahane HY"D, you can purchase the book at both of the following two links:
Anyone
reading this Rabbi Meir Kahane article and is not on my personal list to
receive the weekly articles written by Rabbi Kahane and would like to be,
please contact me at barbaraandchaim@gmail.com
To view articles written by Rabbi
Meir Kahane and Rabbi Binyamin Kahane go to blog: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com
To view Rabbi Meir Kahane site of You Tubes,
Videos. CDs posted by Michael Miller go to: Or Haraayon אור הרעיון
Jewish Idea הרעיון היהודי link: www.youtube.com/c/kahane22chai
Facebook Links: Michael ben-Ari- Jewish Strength:
Barbara Ginsberg –
www.facebook.com/barbara.ginsberg.78
p://www.amazon.com/Kahane-Parsha-Meir/dp/098867680X
