Ever since the Hamas attacks of Shemini Atzeres—October 7th—we may all be suffering from PTSD. We are not “post” anything, since we are still suffering along with our brethren, enduring the actual stress of not knowing. As of this writing, we have no idea how many hostages are still alive, let alone their condition. Even President Trump, a tough and resilient man, was appalled at the Holocaust-like suffering of the most recently released prisoners. Although most of us are not directly related to the hostages—those still in captivity, those already murdered, and those finally released—all decent hearts have been shattered over and over again during these past five hundred-plus horrific days.
Leaving aside the political, strategic, and military issues involved in deciding how to proceed, we must take a moment to examine what has been happening to all of us over the past year and a half. Those who have been learning Daf Yomi, especially recently in Sanhedrin, have explored the halacha of the Ihr Hanidachas. This refers to an entire city that has committed idolatry and must be destroyed completely. The posuk tells us, “You shall surely smite the inhabitants of that city … lay it waste and everything that is in it” (Devorim 13:16). After this act of punishment, the Torah promises, “[Hashem] will give you mercy and be merciful to you” (13:18).
What exactly is this new mercy and how will it manifest itself? The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh on this posuk explains that when Klal Yisroel must institute a seemingly merciless punishment, especially upon an entire city, there is a danger that we will be influenced negatively, becoming cruel and brutal people. He warns that the specific moral danger is that “we will become like the murderous Arabs who take pleasure in their bloodthirsty ways.” The Torah therefore promises that if we fulfill the mandate to eradicate idolatry from our midst, Hashem will imbue us with an extra dose of mercy and compassion so that we do not become like our enemies.
There is an incredible double lesson here. First, it is not in the Jewish nature to be ruthless and barbaric. As we have noted recently, those who accuse us of attempted or real genocide are simply projecting their own actions and intentions onto us. The Gemara (Yevamos 79a), followed by the Shulchan Aruch (Even Ha’ezer 2:4), rules that Jews are by their very nature compassionate, modest, and kind. When someone exhibits the trait of cruelty, even if he is presented as being Jewish, we must be suspicious of his true roots.
Although we are all angry and righteously furious at our tormentors who attacked innocent civilians and committed unspeakable acts against them, we simply want this terrible episode to be over. We want only to be safe so that this will never happen again. The evil New York Times narrative of moral equivalence, which has once again been thrown at us, is one of the worst lies in history.
However, as the Ohr Hachaim taught us, there is a danger that we will fall into the trap of imitating our enemies. Rav Gedaliah Schorr (Ohr Gedalyahu, Pinchos, p. 156) adds that Chazal (Shabbos 151b) promise that “if we are properly compassionate to those who deserve it, we will be rewarded with heavenly compassion as well.” He quotes Rav Tzadok Hakohein of Lublin (Resisei Laylah 6), who explains that in the case of the city that became idolatrous and was punished, we are given (venosan) the trait of rachamim (pity) without any effort at all. In other words, not only is there no reason to fear becoming as murderous as our enemies and tormentors, but Hashem will ensure that we are immune to the spiritual maladies they attribute to us and attempt to foist upon us.
Interestingly, since we have just read Parshas Mishpotim, the Rambam (Hilchos Avadim 9:8) notes that while the rest of the world was always cruel and inhumane to their slaves, Klal Yisroel never even raised their voices to a servant, let alone acted cruelly. We ensured that the slave got the only pillow in the house and received the same food as the family. We learned this from the Creator Himself, Who is kind to all His subjects.
It is at times like these that the true Jewish soul emerges, longing only for those suffering to be released—even to the extent of freeing hundreds and even thousands of murderers so that a few of our own can return to their families. The pain inflicted by Hamas upon the Bibas family, and indeed upon all the hostages and their families, is something no Jew would ever aspire to cause. When we are forced into a situation where civilians or children are harmed, we recoil and seek to end the pain for all. The world has perhaps not heard enough of our plight and our aversion to inflicting pain, except in self-defense.
The Chofetz Chaim (al haTorah, p. 256) quotes the epigram that “hergel naaseh teva—things done by rote become second nature.” The Torah must therefore promise the soldiers and enforcers that they will not become malevolent and callous simply because they have been forced to destroy our enemies. The Vilna Gaon (commentary on the Siddur Avnei Eliyahu on Shemoneh Esrei, Hashiveinu) explains that when Mordechai banged upon the gates of heaven, he was granted mercy because he found it in his heart to be compassionate to others. The Gaon concludes that there are two gates, one in heaven and one in our hearts. When we open our hearts to others from within, Hashem opens the heavenly gates of rachamim as well. Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman often advised people who required heavenly mercy to first open their hearts to others, as elucidated by the Vilna Gaon.
This echoes the idea that even as our enemies inflict cruelties beyond anything imaginable by civilized human beings, we must maintain our moral equilibrium—toward everyone except those who have tormented and murdered our innocent brethren.
One very practical thing that we can all do daily is mentioned in the Gemara (Bava Basra 10a): “Rav Eliezer would give a perutah to a pauper and then daven.” This seems to be the source of the minhag to give tzedakah before Krias Shema and Shemoneh Esrei in the morning. Rav Yehoshua Heschel of Monestritch (see Leket Yehoshua, p. 69) explained this custom as the embodiment of many of the above teachings. As soon as we indicate to Hashem that we care about others, our Father in heaven takes pity upon us as well.
Now is the time to ensure that we do not forget about Jews who are suffering, not even for a moment. At the very least, we must remember them daily. I recently davened in another shul on leil Shabbos due to a shul simcha. The rov began each Friday night tefillah by announcing the number of days the hostages had been incarcerated and how many had been released. Each shul and kehillah should follow its own rabbonim and minhagim, but the more rachamim we show to our beleaguered brethren, the more rachamim will descend upon us from Hashem.
Let us hope that we will no longer need these methods with the release of all the shvuyim and the geulah sheleimah bimeheirah beyomeinu.
