How Do We Celebrate Victory Without Reveling in Our Enemy’s Suffering?

Dear Jew In the City,

Israel seems to have hit Hezbollah hard this week with blowing up their technology. How do we balance celebrating defeating our enemies with not taking too much joy in the death and destruction of human beings?

Sincerely,

Jonathan

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Hi Jonathan,

Thanks for your question. We have addressed questions about morality in war several times before. We demonstrated there that the Torah actually has a very high standard for behavior even during war. Among the rules we discussed, an offer of peace had to be extended before carrying out a siege, only adult males were considered combatants (women and children were not to be targeted, though collateral damage is unavoidable in war), and an escape route had to be left for the enemy to flee. We’re not even allowed to wantonly destroy fruit trees in a siege! And it should go without saying that no, the Torah does not advocate genocide. Even the nation of Amalek, whom the Torah ostensibly commands us to destroy, had the option of renouncing their evil ways. (We even see this principle in practice. There’s an Amalekite convert to Judaism in the book of Samuel, and the Talmud in Gittin tells us that Haman had descendants who studied Torah in B’nei Brak.)

Despite the lies that our terrorist nemeses may tell about Israel, projecting their crimes onto the Jews, the IDF is actually known to be the most moral military on the planet. Hamas implants their operations in civilian areas, including hospitals, schools and mosques, endangering their own people in order to impede Israeli encroachment and to make Israel lose the war of public opinion when they must ultimately take action. Nevertheless, Israel has always taken steps to minimize civilian casualties, dropping leaflets, sending texts and “knocking” on roofs in an attempt to get civilians to evacuate. (Hamas, on the other hand, tells them to stay put.) And despite claims in the current conflict accusing Israeli forces of rape (particularly ironic considering the source), a decade or so ago Hamas complained that Israel didn’t rape their women, presumably because the Jews must have considered them subhuman. In truth, Israel has far lower rates of both civilian casualties and military rape than your average army.

So, both the Torah and contemporary practice reflect a reality of compassion in war. Nevertheless, the objective is to win. So, the question is, do we then gloat over our enemies’ defeat?

Of course we don’t.

We all saw videos of Hamas celebrating over the corpses of their victims on October 7. We found that absolutely sickening, and not just because our people were the victims that day. We found it abhorrent because it was something we would never even contemplate doing.

Our position in this matter is predicated on a straightforward Bible verse. King Solomon, in Proverbs (24:17), teaches us, “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls and do not let your heart gloat when he stumbles.”

“But,” I hear you ask, “what about the song that the Jews sang at the Red Sea?” Good question! Obviously, people are permitted to celebrate their salvation from mortal peril. But the Talmud tells us (Megillah 10b and Sanhedrin 39b) that the angels also wanted to sing God’s praises on this event. He did not permit this, saying, “My children (meaning the Egyptian soldiers) are drowning in the sea and you want to sing?” So even while we celebrate our own salvation, we recognize the unfortunate, if necessary, loss of life that war entails.

In a comment on an earlier article, Rabbi Micha Berger cites the Meshech Chochmah (Shemos 12:16), who makes an observation that beautifully illustrates this concept. Citing the verse in Proverbs, he notes that Passover doesn’t celebrate the death of the Egyptians, it celebrates our exodus from servitude. Similarly, Chanukah isn’t observed based on the date we defeated the Greeks, but on the date we reclaimed the Temple. Finally, Purim was established to reflect the day the Jews rested from their enemies (as per Esther 9:22), not the date of the battle itself.

In short, it’s wholly appropriate to celebrate and to thank God for saving us from the enemy. That’s not the same as celebrating the death of our opponents. To us, enemy casualties are a sadly necessary byproduct of war. They’re not the goal and certainly not something we should (or do) celebrate.

Sincerely,
Rabbi Jack Abramowitz
Educational Correspondent
Follow Ask Rabbi Jack on YouTube

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