Parshas Beshalach 5777
QUESTION:
How should one react to the death of a rosho? Isn't he a tzelem Elokim, he's also in the image of Hashem? And doesn't it say, binfol ouyvecha al tismach, when your enemy falls do not rejoice? And he also asks, don't we say only half Hallel on the last days of Pesach?
ANSWER:
When an enemy is your private, personal enemy, and he falls, don't rejoice. If he's an enemy of Hashem, then rejoice and say Hallel. Like oz yoshir Moshe u'bnei Yisroel, Moshe sang when Pharaoh and his army were drowned; certainly we rejoice. And so when we see the enemies of Hashem everywhere are perishing from AIDs, they're all atheists, they ridicule us. I once went into a store, there was a young man with an earring and looked at me as if I was dirt. He was wearing an earring, he was an important person, and so...they're our enemies.
So when we read in The York Times obituary, so and so at the age of forty two died, we smile, we're happy, certainly, we're not ashamed to say so. Rejoice at the downfall of the enemies of Hashem.
So binfol ouyvecha means, you have a store and another Jew has a store, he's your competitor, maybe sometimes you spoke against him, maybe he spoke against you; al tismach, when something happens, don't rejoice. Pen yireh Hashem, Hashem might see and not like the idea, v'ra be'einav, and not good in His eyes, v'shov mei'alav apo.
But suppose it's a person like Haman, or Hitler, or Pharaoh, certainly we rejoice. And by rejoicing in the downfall of the reshoim, Hashem is elevated.
Good Shabbos To All
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures.
To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
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Important Numbers
