Weekly Davar - Celebrate Death (Emor)

(Leviticus 21-24:24)

 

5th May 2011

1st Iyar 5771 - (Rosh Chodesh)

 

Good Morning!! I feel that this week, I should take a break from the Torah portion and give a perspective on the killing of Bin Laden as there is an important point I’d like to make.

 

A reminder that we have a wonderful seminar on 'How to make a good Marraige Great' this Sunday at Tikun at 7.30pm. The speaker is Rabbi Aryeh Pamensky. He is an old friend and a real expert on relationships - a very sought after international speaker. I could not recommend it more highly. Click here for more details. 

 

 

This portion talks of more purity laws for both priests and offerings. It ends with a discussion of the festivals.

 

 

I recognise that the issue of Osama Bin Laden is a sensitive one – especially as I have many American readers. However, I feel that a difficult issue is not something to shy away from simply because it’s difficult. Obviously, I present my own perspective, but I do believe, as with all that I write, that it is true to the Torah’s point of view. I am aware, however, that there are those who would disagree and I always welcome debate and discussion!

 

I believe this is a question of balance and let’s start with one side of that balance. Judaism does not believe in pacifism. It believes that evil must be opposed and fought against. It is almost as wrong not to take a stand against evil as it is to support it. When we do not take a stand, we allow it to flourish. Printed in one of the barracks at Auschwitz is this telling poem by Pastor Martin Neimoller

 

Sometimes taking a stand might even require us to kill. The 6th of the 10 Commandments has often been translated as, ‘thou shalt not kill’. This is not correct. The word tirtzach means ‘murder’, not ‘kill’. There are times when killing is necessary – and Osama Bin Laden would be a case in point. He was an evil and dangerous man and we should be happy that he is gone.

 

But then there is the other side of the balance. The appropriate response is not celebration. King Solomon says in Proverbs, ‘do not be joyous when your enemy falls and do not be happy when he stumbles’.

 

The footage that we saw of people in certain Muslim countries rejoicing at the destruction of ‘evildoers’ when the Twin Towers came down should have sobered us beyond rejoicing at the death of our own evildoers. Bin Laden was an evildoer; that’s unequivocal. He is responsible for the murder of thousands of innocents. But his death is a time for gratitude, not arrogance and gloating, singing and dancing. It is a time for humble appreciation to God that there is one less person in the world who wishes to murder us and our families. And gratitude to those who fight to protect us from murderers like Bin Laden.

 

The Prophet Ezekiel tells us very clearly, ‘I do not desire the death of the evildoer, says the Almighty, only that he will turn from his evil ways and truly live.’ Osama Bin Laden’s death is not God’s ideal. Had he turned himself in and begged for forgiveness, it would have been a time to celebrate. But a human being dying a brutal death is not something to celebrate.

 

At the Seder we take a drop of wine out of our cup for each of the 10 Plagues in recognition of the fact that people suffered during these plagues; people who caused Jewish suffering albeit, but human beings nevertheless. When the angels wished to sing as the Egyptians drowned, God said to them, ‘my creations are suffering and you wish to sing a song of praise?!’

 

Rejoicing is not appropriate. The deed was necessary and we should be happy that it was done. But underlying it all we should feel a sense of sadness – sadness that souls created in God’s image can turn to such evil and sadness that the taking of life should ever be necessary. This is not what God had in mind when He created His world. But He gave and continues to give human beings freewill and human beings continue to abuse it. Until such a time as Bin Ladens have no desire to kill and hence Obamas have no need to kill, our world is not as it should be. Let us redouble our commitment to working towards a time when ‘they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks; nation will not take up sword against nation’. Let us pray that it is soon.