Brotherly love - true brotherly love - is not just a snappy phrase, but something that sometimes comes at a price.
"It happened in those days that Moses grew up and went out to his brethren and observed their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man of his brethren."
The greatness of a Moshe Rabbenu is in the fact that he had everything going for him in
The words "his brethren" are written twice.
Egypt. He was so different from his Jewish brothers that he could have easily blended into Egyptian society, forgetting all about his Jewish roots.
The words "his brethren" are written twice.
Egypt. He was so different from his Jewish brothers that he could have easily blended into Egyptian society, forgetting all about his Jewish roots.
All of Egypt was in his hands, as well as wealth and power second only to King Pharaoh himself, but still, Moshe went out to see his brothers. This sentence in the Torah is meant to be in praise of Moshe, for the words "his brethren" are written twice. It was not enough for Moshe to know that they were his brothers, but he acted upon this knowledge. True love of Israel is not just a nice motto, but, as Moshe proves in our parsha, it entails great self-sacrifice. Just moments before, Moshe was feared in the land, but by striking the Egyptian and killing him, he lost everything and became a fugitive.
This is the way of the Jewish people: to feel the pain of another. The Talmud teaches us: "In a time of distress to the Jewish people, if one should leave the community and say, I will go home, eat, drink - what do I care about what is going on, the angels say about him that whoever acts in this fashion will not see the relief and comfort of his people."
We also find that this is the case with Abraham, when he heard that his nephew Lot was taken prisoner: "And Abraham heard that his brother was taken prisoner." He did not hesitate for a moment, but immediately went out to do battle against the mighty four kings, in spite of the personal danger to himself. So, too, with Joseph: "And Joseph went after his brothers," notwithstanding the fact that his brothers hated him.
This, though, is not true with brothers other than the Jewish people, as we find with Cain and Abel: "Am I my brother’s keeper?" Or in the case of Ishmael and Isaac: "And they went out to the field and Ishmael would shoot arrows at Isaac to kill him, saying, we are just playing." Regarding Jacob and Esau, our rabbis teach us that it is a law that Esau hates Jacob.
Kept within the confines of the Jewish people, this brotherly love is a wonderful thing - true love of Israel, with a willingness to back up the nice words with deeds. But misused
Within the confines of the Jewish people, this brotherly love is a wonderful thing.
with the nations of the world, this love can have disastrous results. Take, for example, the case of Ahab, king of Israel, when he was attacked by Ben-Hadad, king of Assyria, who had threatened to wipe out Israel. After a miraculous victory, Ben-Hadad is captured and brought before King Ahab. But instead of putting him to a well-deserved death, Ahab cries out: "Is he still alive? He is my brother." Justly so, the prophet informed King Ahab: "Because you released him, your life shall be in place of his life and your people instead of his people."
Within the confines of the Jewish people, this brotherly love is a wonderful thing.
with the nations of the world, this love can have disastrous results. Take, for example, the case of Ahab, king of Israel, when he was attacked by Ben-Hadad, king of Assyria, who had threatened to wipe out Israel. After a miraculous victory, Ben-Hadad is captured and brought before King Ahab. But instead of putting him to a well-deserved death, Ahab cries out: "Is he still alive? He is my brother." Justly so, the prophet informed King Ahab: "Because you released him, your life shall be in place of his life and your people instead of his people."
It is so unfortunate, then, that today our leaders have mixed up brotherly love, reserved for the Jewish people, and have gone in the way of King Ahab, spreading love to people who only want to see our destruction. For this reason, the kohen of war would address the people before they went out to war, saying: "Hear, O Israel, you are going out to war against your enemy - against your enemy, and not your brothers, not Yehuda against Shimon, and not Shimon against Binyamin. For if you fall into their hands, they will take pity on you, but you are battling your enemies - if you fall into their hands, they will not have mercy on you."
So, let us learn the lesson of brotherly love - giving it to whom it should be given. And to our enemies: no love, only blood - theirs.