Yeah, so I'm going to join the crowd of voices talking about Osama Bin Laden's death last night. I know, I know, you've already heard all there is to be said on the subject. I know my friends and I watched the live stream of Obama's campaign speech afterwards which is, I suppose, the official word on the matter.
Really, I don't want to talk about this event in particular. I think most people will agree that Osama was pretty high on the list of generally rotten characters, but then again, I tend to put myself pretty high on that list, too. (I have self-loathing issues. What can I say?) What I really want to take a minute to talk about is the disturbing, though understandable, reaction to his death that I saw a lot of people having. People were happy.
Like I said, I think this reaction is natural, but I also think that we can do better than what comes naturally. I think that is the whole point of being human: having the ability to overcome what comes naturally. The power to know what is instinctual and to choose not to do it is what separates between man and beast.
The sages tell a story about what happened after the Reed Sea crossing. According to this midrashic tale, when the angels saw the Egyptians drowning in the sea, they began to rejoice. HaShem promptly rebuked them, and reminded them of what Ezekiel would say, "As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?" Ezekiel 33:11 (RSV) If we read the Song of the Sea closely, in fact, the Israelites don't rejoice in the death of the Egyptians, they rejoice in the might of God.
It is not our job to rejoice when any person dies, no matter if they are our friend or our enemy. Remember what R. Yeshua taught, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matt. 5:44). God has revealed to us through His Torah that the thing He values most of all is life. This is why we have the law of "pikuakh nafesh," or "preserving life" which teaches us to violate every commandment except idolatry, blasphemy, and adultery in order to preserve a life.
On the other hand, I think that the midrash, in telling this story, intentionally puts the rejoicing in the mouths of the angels. It's not that angels are actually prone to this kind of sin, but that the sages told the story this way in order to make a point: this is an easy sin to fall into. Even the best among us, the "angels" if you will, are prone to it. That still doesn't make it okay.
Maybe it's a good thing that this all happened on Yom HaShoah. Since it is still the month of Nisan, the sages don't permit mourning in this month, however, the generally accepted date for mourning those who died in the Shoah (Holocaust) is the tenth of Tevet (this year, 5 January, 2012). I encourage everyone, next year on the tenth of Tevet, when you are mourning the victims of the Shoah, also pray for the soul of Osama Bin Laden.
Thumbs up.
ReplyDelete