"When you go out to war against your enemy...." So opens our parsha this week. Our rabbis teach us the following parallel.
Once there was a shepherd who found a baby fox. Now, this little fox was just the cutest little thing that he had ever seen. So, he took this little fox and placed it in his flock, and it grew up with the sheep. A wise friend of the shepherd came by one day and said to him: Don't you know that when this fox grows up, he will eat all the sheep? For that is what foxes do (or, in the words of Eric Clapton: "You've got to kill it before it grows. Yes, kill it before it grows.").
Still, the shepherd would not hear of it and went on raising the little fox together with his flock. And, lo and behold, the little fox grew up to be a big fox, and, shocking as it seems, one hungry day, our little fox killed the entire flock. Not to be believed, right?
So, too, our rabbis warned us not to take a liking to our enemies, not to make friends out of them, for if you fall into their hands, they will not have mercy on you. The best example of this is brought down in the Book of Kings, the story of Achav, king of Israel. In a miraculous battle against the overwhelming forces of Ben-Adad, Achav came out victorious. As the battle turned sour for Ben-Adad, the enemy king ran for his life and hid in a cave with Achav, king of Israel, in hot pursuit.
Well, the advisors to King Ben-Adad told the king that the Jews love to turn their enemies into friends. They have this sickness, they do not know how to win. So, Ben-Adad and his men came out with a white flag to surrender and next thing - wouldn't you know it? - we have King Achav of Israel going around and calling to his arch-enemy of just moments ago (who would not have hesitated to have Achav killed in a second): Is that you, my brother Ben-Adad? Needless to say, King Achav released Ben-Adad to go back to his country.
But the story does not end there. Some three years later, after Ben-Adad regained his army and strength, he once again came to fight against Israel, and as every normal person acts in a time of war against enemies, this time Ben-Adad had the upper hand and his good ol' friend Achav was killed on the battlefield. So much for "enemies who are my friends."
Enemies Into Friends: A Week in the Holy Land
Even as the last convoy of the retreating IDF was leaving the Gaza Strip, the missiles were already falling on Sederot and Yad Mordechai, just some 20 kilometers from Ashkelon. And the IDF, that do-nothing army, did exactly that - nothing. Just a taste of things to come. Shocking as it seems, that the Arabs would continue to bomb us after we gave them Gaza. What more could they want?
The 35 synagogues left in Gush Katif were set ablaze just moments after the IDF left the area. The ones that were not burned were used as a mosque for the bloodthirsty Arabs' prayers to give thanks for their victory over the Jews. Shocking as it seems, even after Israel gave the Arabs the Gaza Strip, the head of the Hamas vowed to continue to fight until all the Jews are gone. What could he mean?
And, as independence fever grows, an Arab town in the Galilee ("our Arabs") demands independence, claiming that their rich culture of hundreds of years was not able to express itself properly in the present State. A trend of the future? Oh, how we have made our enemies into friends!
Oh, and of course, one cannot forget that this week we gave over our border security to the Egyptians. Ah, I can now finally get a good night's sleep, knowing that our security is in good hands.
Only by treating an enemy as an enemy (I know this is a new concept of warfare) can we finally do what must be done and take care of business. The time has come for us to know that a friend is a friend, and an enemy is - and always will be - an enemy.
Once there was a shepherd who found a baby fox. Now, this little fox was just the cutest little thing that he had ever seen. So, he took this little fox and placed it in his flock, and it grew up with the sheep. A wise friend of the shepherd came by one day and said to him: Don't you know that when this fox grows up, he will eat all the sheep? For that is what foxes do (or, in the words of Eric Clapton: "You've got to kill it before it grows. Yes, kill it before it grows.").
Still, the shepherd would not hear of it and went on raising the little fox together with his flock. And, lo and behold, the little fox grew up to be a big fox, and, shocking as it seems, one hungry day, our little fox killed the entire flock. Not to be believed, right?
So, too, our rabbis warned us not to take a liking to our enemies, not to make friends out of them, for if you fall into their hands, they will not have mercy on you. The best example of this is brought down in the Book of Kings, the story of Achav, king of Israel. In a miraculous battle against the overwhelming forces of Ben-Adad, Achav came out victorious. As the battle turned sour for Ben-Adad, the enemy king ran for his life and hid in a cave with Achav, king of Israel, in hot pursuit.
Well, the advisors to King Ben-Adad told the king that the Jews love to turn their enemies into friends. They have this sickness, they do not know how to win. So, Ben-Adad and his men came out with a white flag to surrender and next thing - wouldn't you know it? - we have King Achav of Israel going around and calling to his arch-enemy of just moments ago (who would not have hesitated to have Achav killed in a second): Is that you, my brother Ben-Adad? Needless to say, King Achav released Ben-Adad to go back to his country.
But the story does not end there. Some three years later, after Ben-Adad regained his army and strength, he once again came to fight against Israel, and as every normal person acts in a time of war against enemies, this time Ben-Adad had the upper hand and his good ol' friend Achav was killed on the battlefield. So much for "enemies who are my friends."
Enemies Into Friends: A Week in the Holy Land
Even as the last convoy of the retreating IDF was leaving the Gaza Strip, the missiles were already falling on Sederot and Yad Mordechai, just some 20 kilometers from Ashkelon. And the IDF, that do-nothing army, did exactly that - nothing. Just a taste of things to come. Shocking as it seems, that the Arabs would continue to bomb us after we gave them Gaza. What more could they want?
The 35 synagogues left in Gush Katif were set ablaze just moments after the IDF left the area. The ones that were not burned were used as a mosque for the bloodthirsty Arabs' prayers to give thanks for their victory over the Jews. Shocking as it seems, even after Israel gave the Arabs the Gaza Strip, the head of the Hamas vowed to continue to fight until all the Jews are gone. What could he mean?
And, as independence fever grows, an Arab town in the Galilee ("our Arabs") demands independence, claiming that their rich culture of hundreds of years was not able to express itself properly in the present State. A trend of the future? Oh, how we have made our enemies into friends!
Oh, and of course, one cannot forget that this week we gave over our border security to the Egyptians. Ah, I can now finally get a good night's sleep, knowing that our security is in good hands.
Only by treating an enemy as an enemy (I know this is a new concept of warfare) can we finally do what must be done and take care of business. The time has come for us to know that a friend is a friend, and an enemy is - and always will be - an enemy.