Summary

It appears that sometimes we ourselves empower our adversaries to harm us more than is decreed by Heaven. Why was Egypt, the nation that oppressed Abraham's descendants, punished for fulfilling what G'd Himself had decreed and orchestrated? Complacent nations will also be held responsible on the Day of Judgment for "they added to the evil." Why were the Egyptians any different than Bilam who was only allowed to travel to Moab, but when he wanted to curse the Jewish people G'd stopped him? How could G'd allow an innocent person to be killed at the hands of his own brothers? G'd realized that the world would not last with such strict conduct. He therefore joined it with the conduct of mercy. According to the concept of prophecy, the sinner loses his right to live, as he abuses G'd's gift of life, when he sins and goes against G'd's will. G'd accepted Moses' prayers and taught him G'd's thirteen attributes of mercy. When a person sins, he is in great danger, for according to the strict letter of the law this person deserves a punishment, and he may even have lost the right to live. If the nature of the danger is direct from G'd, through an animal or other natural cause, we are more likely to be protected by G'd's mercy, than when the danger is through humans who can use their free will to do evil. "Let us fall into G'd's hand for His mercies are abundant, and let me not fall into the hand of a human." Joseph had made a mistake when he slandered his brothers to their father. He was therefore in danger to be killed by them. "Therefore, so says G'd, I will return to Jerusalem in mercy, I shall build my house in it."

Empower adversaries

Last week we discussed how we have the ability to change a Heavenly decree through prayer, and thus better our situation. However, it appears that sometimes we ourselves empower our adversaries to harm us more than is decreed by Heaven.

Egypt added to the evil

In Parashas Lech Lecha (Bereishis 15:13-14), G'd revealed to Abraham how his descendants would be exiled to a strange country, and that their oppressors would be punished for their atrocities. Many of the early commentaries deal with the obvious question, why was Egypt, the nation that oppressed Abraham's descendants, punished for fulfilling what G'd Himself had decreed and orchestrated?

Complacent nations held responsible

To answer this question the Ramban (ibid) quotes a verse from the Prophet Zechariah (1:15) that deals with the punishment that G'd is going to give those nations that have afflicted and oppressed the Jewish people throughout our present exile, when Mashiach comes at the time of the final redemption. The prophet says in the name of G'd: "And I will be very angry with the complacent nations, for I was just angry a little [at the Jewish people] and they added to the evil." This verse does not just refer to the nations that themselves afflicted their Jewish population with inquisitions, pogroms and the Holocaust. It also addresses the other nations who watched the atrocities and did nothing meaningful to stop them. These complacent nations will also be held responsible on the Day of Judgment for, as the prophet says "they added to the evil." They could have spoken up at the time, or made other efforts to stop the evil.

G'd stopped Bilam

Says the Ramban, the Egyptians also did much more evil than G'd had decreed, such as throwing the Jewish male babies into the Nile. That is why they deserved their punishment. But how could G'd allow the Egyptians to do more than He decreed? Why was that any different than Bilam who was only allowed to travel to Moab, but when he wanted to curse the Jewish people, G'd stopped him?

Joseph and his brothers

The Ohr HaChaim (Bereishis 37:21) explains that there are instances where people can utilize their free will and choose to harm others, even if it was not Heavenly decreed. The Zohar (Bereishis 185b) states that Reuven told his brothers to throw Joseph into the pit rather than kill him themselves. For although the pit was full of snakes and scorpions, G'd would make a miracle to save him, if he was worthy. But Joseph would need a lot more merits to be saved from the hands of his brothers who had free will and could choose to kill him. Here again the obvious question arises, how could G'd allow an innocent person to be killed at the hands of his own brothers? If Bilam was not permitted to curse the Jewish people, how could such a manslaughter be allowed?

Judgement

In order to answer these questions, we must go back to the time of Creation. Rashi (Bereishis 1:1) explains that originally G'd planned to create and run the world only according to a conduct based on the strict letter of the law. However, G'd realized that the world would not last with such a strict conduct. He therefore joined it with the conduct of mercy. The Vilna Gaon explains that obviously G'd did not change His mind. Rather, our sages here teach us that the purpose of the world is that everything should be according to the conduct of judgment, but due to man's weakness, G'd introduced the conduct of mercy.

Mercy

The fact that man could not survive in a world based on judgment alone, is evident from the following quotation from the Jerusalem Talmud (Makkos 2:6). The Talmud explains that according to conventional wisdom a person who sins and transgresses a law should be punished. According to the concept of prophecy (that sees the cosmic ramifications of man's actions) the sinner loses his right to live, as he abuses G'd's gift of life by going against His will. But G'd instructs the sinner to repent and do teshuvah, and G'd will forgive. This is mercy par excellence.

Thirteen attributes of mercy

After the sin of the golden calf, Moses prayed to G'd to appease Him and asked for mercy for the Jewish people. G'd accepted Moses' prayers and taught him G'd's thirteen attributes of mercy (see Shemos 34:6-7).

Great danger of sinning

With this insight we can understand that when a person sins, he is in great danger since according to the strict letter of the law this person deserves a punishment, and he may even have lost the right to live. Only through the conduct of mercy can one hope and pray for forgiveness. At such a time of danger, G'd's mercy will protect the sinner from being harmed or killed by animals, or other natural causes. But in order to be protected from humans, who have free will to choose what they want to do, one needs a lot more merits.

Saved by G'd's mercy

King Solomon states (Koheles 7:20): "For there is no righteous person on earth who does only good and does not sin." No human being is totally innocent. We all make mistakes and our mission in life is to perfect ourselves to the best of our ability. Our mistakes and transgressions put us somewhat in danger, and only by Divine mercy can we hope to survive. We do not realize how often we are saved from dangers by the mercy of G'd. Based on the above, it is clear that if the nature of the danger is direct from G'd, such as an animal or another natural cause, we are more likely to be protected by G'd's mercy, than when the danger is through humans who can use their free will to do evil.

Fall into G'd's hands

This is what we say every day before Tachanun, when we quote what King David said to the Prophet Gad (Samuel II 24:14): "Let us fall into G'd's hand for His mercies are abundant, and let me not fall into the hand of a human."

Egypt and Reuven

The Jewish people in Egypt sinned and served idols. This enabled the Egyptians to oppress them more than G'd had decreed. G'd, in His great mercy, wanted to minimize their suffering, but the Egyptians used their free will to add to it. Likewise Joseph had made a mistake when he slandered his brothers to their father. He was therefore in danger to be killed by them. But Reuven knew that, in His great mercy, G'd would not let him die by the snakes and scorpions and therefore told the brothers to throw him into the pit.

G'd will build His house in Jerusalem

The harshness of the Egyptian oppression shortened the exile from 400 years to 210 years. So even in their misery the Jewish people benefitted from G'd's mercy. Similarly, the fact that our exile has many times been so harsh will in the end benefit us, for even if we are not worthy of being redeemed, G'd will still send Mashiach. As the Prophet Zechariah concludes (1:16): "'Therefore', [because the nations added to the evil]' so says G'd, 'I will return to Jerusalem in mercy, I shall build my house in it.'" May these three weeks of mourning be turned into days of celebration with the fulfillment of this prophecy. Amen.

These words were based on a talk given by Rabbi Avraham Kahn, the Rosh Yeshiva and Founder of Yeshivas Keser Torah in Toronto.

These words were based on a talk given by Rabbi Avraham Kahn, the Rosh Yeshiva and Founder of Yeshivas Keser Torah in Toronto.

Shalom. Michael Deverett