Must We Hate Evil?

Rabbi Reuven Mann

The Cry for Justice: Av HaRachamim and Jewish Martyrdom

It might at first seem strange, but one of my favorite prayers is that which is recited on Shabbat at Mussaf, known as Av HaRachamim (Father of Mercy). It was composed in the Middle Ages in response to the terrible pogroms initiated by the Church, in which vast numbers of innocent Jews were excruciatingly tortured and executed for the unforgivable crime of being Jews and of refusing to exchange their belief in Hashem for faith in that man.

Of course, the merciful Christians would spare any Jews who would convert to their religion, but few accepted that offer. In general, Jews throughout history favored death over apostasy and sacrificed themselves rather than relinquish their Emunah (faith) in Hakadosh Baruch Hu (The Holy One Blessed is He).

According to HaGaon Rav Yosef Soloveitchik many Jews fearing they would not, under the pain of unspeakable torture, be able to withstand the offer of conversion, preemptively killed their wives and children and, ultimately themselves.

The Rav comments:

“Tosafot (Sanhedrin 74b s.v. ‘vehah’) raises the question of whether it is in fact necessary to give up one’s life rather than submit to a forced baptism. The answer is that there is indeed no obligation to do so, but that those who did so, acted stringently. [These martyrs] considered any gesture to idolatry, even involuntary, as requiring them to incur death rather than engage in it.” (Koren Masoret HaRav Siddur, pg. 561)

These martyred Jews and so many others throughout our unique history are the holy ones who sanctified Hashem’s Name in a manner we can barely contemplate.

And what is it that we pray for in this heart-rending composition?

“Father of compassion, Who dwells on high, in His powerful compassion may He recall with compassion the devout, the upright, and the perfect ones; the holy congregations who gave their lives for the Sanctification of the Name… May our G-d remember them for good with the other righteous of the world. May He exact retribution for the spilled blood of His servants, as is written in the Torah of Moshe, the man of G-d:   ‘O nations, sing the praise of His people for He will avenge the blood of His servants and He will bring retribution upon His foes; and He will appease His land and His people’.” (Devarim 32:43)…  

And in the Holy Writings it is said:

“Why should the nations say ‘Where is their G-d?’ Let there be known among the nations, before our eyes; revenge for Your servants’ spilled blood” Tehilim 79:10).

In my opinion, this prayer goes contrary to the religious impulses of most people, who automatically and mindlessly associate religion with unconditional compassion. The Talmud, however, teaches that in the proper context, vengeance against evil can be a virtuous and necessary response.

Pinchas: The Zeal of Ahavat (love of) Hashem

This week’s Parsha, Pinchas, illustrates this idea. It teaches us that Nekama (revenge) which is generally frowned upon is occasionally a very vital commodity which is necessary to counter the harmful effects of extreme and irrational tolerance. Evil succeeds in this world only because it is unopposed by the so-called “good guys”. It is not infrequent that weakness and moral confusion masquerade under the banner of “tolerance”.

It is essential for those who are committed to truly righteous ideals to cultivate an attitude of contempt for corrupt values. The Kabbalat Shabbat (Initiation of Shabbat) prayers include this verse,

“Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for He protects the lives of his devoted ones, delivering them from the hands of the wicked”. (Tehilim 97:10).

Love of Hashem and Hatred of Evil

A person who claims to love Hashem but is indifferent to those who desecrate His Name and flaunt His commandments is fooling himself. True love carries with it a concomitant hatred of those whose goal is to destroy everything associated with the object of that love. A willingness to accept evil bespeaks a dearth of true love for the good.

Enter Pinchas. He was a genuine lover of Hashem and did not subscribe to the philosophy of, “live and let live”. He was a spiritual warrior who would not sit back and allow licentiousness to parade unchallenged in the Jewish camp. When the leader of the tribe of Shimon publicly consorted with an idol-worshipping princess of Moab, he intuitively realized that this was not simply a matter of lustful behavior.

Had the illicit lovers bothered to secure a private getaway, out of the public’s view, their transgression, while serious, might not have warranted such an extreme reaction. However, they chose to flaunt their liaison publicly. In this regard, we must consider the words of the Rambam at the conclusion of Hilchot Shabbat (30:15);

“The observance of the Sabbath and the prohibition against idol worship are each equivalent to the observance of all the commandments of the Torah. And the Sabbath is the eternal sign between the Holy One Blessed is He and us. Therefore, whoever transgresses the other Mitzvot is considered to be one of the sinners of Israel, but one who publicly violates the Sabbath is considered to be an idolater”.

We should note that the status of “idolater” is not conferred upon someone who exclusively transgresses Shabbat in private. That constitutes a serious infraction, but it is possible to assert that the violator acted because of compelling personal desires and not to demonstrate a disparagement of Torah. Therefore, he maintains a certain reluctance to act publicly out of respect for Hashem, the Sabbath, and his fellow Jews. But when sinners go out of their way to flaunt their rebelliousness and to degrade that which is most holy, it is incumbent upon the defenders of Torah to take decisive action.

Balancing Zeal and Compassion in Modern Israel

The story of Pinchas has great relevance to contemporary Jewish life, especially in Israel. The majority of Israelis while they assert belief in Hashem are nevertheless not fully observant of Torah law. This is not because of disrespect but because they were raised in an entirely secular culture and were taught a set of values that are different from those of Torah Judaism.

It is the task of those of us who observe the Mitzvot to relate to all our brothers and sisters with chords of love and friendship. This is a situation in which we must display a great deal of Savlanut (patience) and not feel personally insulted by blatant disregard of the Shabbat. 

It goes without saying that we should not throw rocks at those who drive their cars on Shabbat. We must control our rage and impulse to retaliate as such behavior will push people further away from Torah and will also constitute a Chillul Hashem (Desecration of Hashem’s Name). However, this does not mean that we should be indifferent to the public flaunting of Jewish law. We must be committed to the goal of reaching out to all our fellow Jews and communicating to them, with great sensitivity, the profound depth and beauty of a genuine Torah life.

The “righteous zealousness” of Pinchas was deeply rooted in his powerful and pure Ahavat Hashem. His act of vengeance was appropriate to the context in which the sin he opposed took place.

We must cultivate in our souls a very meaningful Love of Hashem. This will prevent us from looking with equanimity upon the overt trampling of Torah ideals. In our context, we should be motivated to refrain from mindless acts out of revenge, but rather to engage in activities that express and cultivate our love and deep concern for all our fellow Jews.

May Hashem assist us in this noble endeavor.

Shabbat Shalom.