When the Jews left Egypt, they were stymied by the Red Sea, which God directed Moshe to part. The People of Israel passed through the parted water, but when the Egyptian army tried to pass, God let the water return and killed all of the Egyptians. The Jewish people broke into song, and sang “The Song of the Sea.” Miriam, with musical instruments, took the Jewish women aside and danced and sang in praise of God. To this day, we celebrate the defeat of Egypt and our liberation every Passover.
The midrash (definition below) teaches that while the Jews celebrated, the angels also broke into song. But God chastised then angels, singing “how can you sing when my people are dying”? It was expected that the Jews would be happy, but God reminded the angels that the Egyptians, too, were God’s people.
It is God’s place to judge bin Laden (although I have to say I have mixed feelings that the U.S. Special Forces arranged the meeting).
With deep respect to my Quaker family whom I love very much, I have to disagree with the premise that war is never the answer. It is not an easy answer, it certainly is not always the answer, and it frequently is the wrong answer. But it is not always the wrong answer. We need to remember that there are evil persons in the world that mean us harm, and we need to be able to defend ourselves.
Frequently one hears that what we need is more communication and understanding. Amen. Many, many of the world’s problems would move towards solutions if there was more negotiation and diplomacy. But we have also found that productive negotiation is sometimes not possible. Great Britain tried to negotiate with Germany prior to World War II, as did the Soviet Union and France. People intent on mass slaughter (Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Ahmadinejad) need to be stopped. It is horribly callous of us to try to negotiate with those that intend us ill and ignore the suffering those negotiations cause innocent people.
There are nations and people whose stated purpose is to do whatever possible to destroy Jews and Israel (Osama Ben Laden to be among them). One of the biggest reasons why there has been so little improvement in Jewish/Palestinian relationships is that Hamas’s stated position is an uncompromising goal to destroy Israel. It is not responsible to negotiate with someone who wishes you were wiped off the face of the earth. The nation of Israel can never forget, and never will forget, that there are nations with ill intent. (My likely guess is Israel will launch a strike on Iran’s nuclear capabilities at some point if the West cannot broker a settlement, for instance).
The fact that we have been in wars for the wrong reason (and I would put Viet Nam, the second Gulf War, and the war in Afghanistan in that group) does not mean force is never warranted. I see Libya as a place where our force is justified: We have a tyrant who is killing his own citizens, and we are trying to stop that as a limited partner in a U.N. backed event.
I believe there are times that we (the world community) need to take harsh action. When it occurs, even if we see it as a necessary thing, we need to remember that God is saddened to see the results, whatever they are, when any of his children turn to evil.
Midrash is a tool of interpretation which assumes that every word, letter, and even stroke of the pen in the Torah has meaning. Midrash Aggadah focuses on biblical narratives, Midrash Halakhah interprets legal passages. In modern times, midrash can include any retellings, additions, or twists on Torah stories.
Some good thoughts Jeffrey. It seems that the "purist" position often entangles itself with illogical fallacy at its edges. I have discussed this often with my father and cogent arguments can be made on all sides. He felt personally, "reliance on the God he worshiped would put him in the right place to make such a difficult decision..." I have to say that in his case it seemed to have worked. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and perspective.
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