A Balanced Approach: “When the Wicked Perish There is Joyous Song”
Dear Nissim,
In your recent article, “Rejoice Not When Your Enemy Falls,” you expressed your distaste for celebrating the deaths of Hassan Nasrallah and Yahya Sinwar. You claimed that although their deaths were deserved and present new opportunities for peace, the deaths themselves should not be celebrated. You correctly noted that it is our enemies who glorify death and argued that, as a people committed to life, we should stay clear of any practices which resemble our enemies in this regard.
I believe your fundamental persuasion is correct. We are a people who cherish life, and in the choice between life and death the Torah makes clear that we are to “choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19). That being said, there are instances when we can, or even should, celebrate the elimination of certain individuals. You quoted several Torah sources to bolster your claim that this is never the case, that death may never be accompanied by celebration. However, I believe the Torah’s position on this issue is much more nuanced, for despite the concerns, there is value in celebrating the death of individuals like Sinwar, a point which should not be overlooked.
On the first day of Sukkot, I was eating at a family friend’s sukkah when their neighbor broke the good news: “They got Sinwar.” The whole table broke into applause. Joy instantly spread across my friend’s face. “Really? They got Sinwar?” I felt a sense of relief from the burden I had been carrying these past 12 months and a sense of gratitude to Hashem. To myself, I recited Psalm 100, Mizmor L’Todah. My sense of relief was twofold: First, the physical threat that Sinwar posed was eliminated. Hamas had just lost its ferocious leader, the mastermind behind the heinous massacres of Oct. 7, who could now do no more harm.
Second, after all he had done, Sinwar’s very existence constituted an emotional wound, a pain which was finally alleviated with his death. As long as Sinwar could walk out of this war unharmed, we could not feel as though we had won the war, but after his elimination, Hamas can no longer credibly declare victory. Following Nasrallah’s elimination in September, Yossi Klein Halevi observed, “We really needed this. We needed this to believe in ourselves, to believe that we’re able to protect ourselves … Deterrence in a way is self-directed, to deter despair.” We were broken, torn apart and we need to heal. That is only possible when men like Sinwar are gone. It was for these reasons we rejoiced upon hearing of Sinwar’s death.
You might say that although these outcomes of Sinwar’s death are cause for rejoice, the death itself is not, as illustrated by the Torah sources you presented. However, this is not so. The sources you quoted do not paint the full picture, as the Torah does, in fact, make room for celebrating the downfall of the wicked. For example, the verse in Proverbs (24:17) from which your article draws its title says, “When your enemies fall, do not rejoice.” Yet, you neglected to cite a different verse from Proverbs (11:10) which directly contradicts it, “When the wicked perish there is joyous song.”
You also cited the Midrash in which Hashem discourages the angels from singing at K’riat Yam Suf [splitting of the Red Sea]. However, “the Torah was not given to the ministering angels” (Berachot 25b). While the angels were told not to sing, B’nei Yisrael did burst out in song, and there is no indication this was problematic. In fact, Az Yashir has been incorporated into our daily prayers, and it very clearly celebrates the destruction of the Egyptians (Exodus 15:1-21). Similarly, throughout Psalms, David Hamelech rejoices and praises Hashem for destroying the wicked, and he also describes the merit in witnessing their downfall.
These sources cannot be ignored as part of our inherited tradition. There is value in the downfall of the wicked and cause for joy in their destruction. Just as Sinwar’s survival constituted a chilul Hashem [desecration of God’s Name] and an assault upon the sanctity of life, his elimination constitutes a kiddush Hashem [sanctification of God’s Name], especially when it is at the hands of the Israeli Defense Forces. His death is a testament to God’s justice and a reaffirmation of life’s sanctity; the man responsible for the horrors of Oct. 7 could not be allowed to walk free.
It is insufficient to present a handful of one-sided Torah sources while ignoring opposing ones. This is a nuanced issue that requires an approach which accounts for conflicting sources. The two verses in Proverbs can be reconciled as follows: While the death of “the wicked” should be celebrated, the downfall of “your enemies” should not. In other words, Hashem disapproves of joy in the downfall of one’s personal enemies, but the death of someone objectively evil should be celebrated. Rav Aryeh Lebowitz, in a thorough overview of this topic raises this very distinction, noting that the verse you quoted from Proverbs is only employed regarding unjust hatred.
I understand that the optics seem to parallel those who glorify death, but the key distinction is the exact point you raised: Whose death is being celebrated and under what circumstances?
The Midrash prohibiting the angels from singing at the downfall of the Egyptians indeed reflects the tragic aspect of any death, as you described. However, Rav Lebowitz points out that the very next line of the Gemara — “God does not rejoice [over the downfall of the wicked], but He causes others to rejoice” — permits our singing even as God and the angels remain silent. In trying to uphold our humanity, you unintentionally discarded an aspect of that which makes us human. The feelings of joy and relief we felt upon hearing of Sinwar’s death are validated by the Torah. We are not meant to repress them.
Please do not misunderstand me; I do not seek to glorify death. I share your concern about the risks of celebrating death, which is why it must be done only under select circumstances and with the proper perspective: not to revel in death and destruction, but with the same sensitivity to the value of life you expressed in your article. The solution is not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Rather, the Torah demands that we uphold and balance conflicting values.
There is one more issue I’d like to discuss from your article. You wrote that “I do not presume to criticize the reactions of individuals directly suffering at the hands of Hamas, but I do refer to those cheering from the sidelines.” In essence, you categorized us, the Jewish people, as those “cheering from the sidelines.” But this is not the case. It is true that we were not the ones literally attacked on Oct. 7 or taken hostage or fighting on the front lines. But we are certainly not on the sidelines. We are one people, one body. We were attacked on Oct. 7. We have been suffering this entire year. The soldiers, the victims and the hostages: They are our brothers and sisters. They are our friends and family. They are us.
Every Rosh Chodesh we conclude our prayers with the following verse (Psalms 104:35), “May sinners cease from the earth, and the wicked be no more. My soul blesses Hashem, halleluyah!” There are two ways the sinners will cease. Either they will repent or be destroyed. I hope and pray that we will see the day when, “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4). But when that does not happen, I will rejoice and thank Hashem for eliminating those who seek our destruction.
Sincerely,
Ruben Prawer
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Photo Caption: Former Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the Oct. 7 attacks
Photo Credit: Dee Soulza \ Wikimedia Commons
