Rabbi Howard Morrison

Two particular narratives in today's Parsha speak volumes to our situation today. At the very end of the Parsha, we read how Amalek initiated an evil unprovoked attack on the innocent people of Israel who stood at the end of the Exodus line. The evil was so great that the Torah commanded the wiping out of Amalek. In subsequent Biblical history, King Saul lost his kingdom when he spared the King and others of Amalek. Our next major holiday, Purim, centers around Haman, a descendant of Amalek. The Torah's command was ultimately applied to him as well.

I am very concerned when people apply Amalek to other despotic nations. The actual people of Amalek are long gone, but the evil represented by Amalek is still strong. Consider Hitler and the Nazis of two generations ago; or Hamas, Hezbollah, and others right now. The Passover Haggadah teaches us that in every generation there are those who rise up to exterminate the Jewish people. We have the right to defend ourselves and remove the threat of an enemy which predicates its existence on wiping out the Jewish people.

While the physical nation of Amalek is no more, one can associate what Amalek did to our people soon after the Exodus to what Hamas did to our people on October 7. Both were evil unprovoked attacks levied against the innocent civilians of our people.

Another narrative also deserves our attention at this time of year. When the Israelites safely crossed the Reed Sea, they sang a song of faith and deliverance which is recited to this day every morning seven days a week. While the Song of the Sea affirms our faith in God who sanctifies freedom, the ancient Midrash raises a concern: "The Egyptians were drowning in the sea. At the same time, the angels wanted to sing before God. The Lord, God, said to them, 'My creations are drowning, and you are singing before me?'"

In a commentary on this teaching, it is understandable that the people of Israel sang and praised God for their deliverance, but angels were held to a different standard for us to internalize. Alternatively, it is correct for us to celebrate our freedom, but as taught in the book of Proverbs, "Do not rejoice at the downfall of your enemy." From this, we are saddened at the deaths of others even when they are necessary for our own survival and liberation. Thus, at the Passover Seder, we diminish our cup of joy during the recitation of the Ten plagues. Similarly, after the first two Yom Tov days of Pesach, we recite a partial Hallel and not a complete Hallel for the duration of the Festival. 

With these Torah lessons in mind, it is understandable if not obligatory for Israel to eliminate the threat of Hamas. It is not the fault or responsibility of Israel when Hamas hides itself within the civilian population. Yet, we are saddened and should be when non-Hamas civilians lose their lives - comparable to Egyptian soldiers drowning in the sea. Sadly, this is the cost of war.

Today is called Shabbat Shira - the Sabbath of Song. Let us sing appropriately and remember appropriately at the same time. There is a time to be strict and a time to be merciful.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison