HaRav Shmuel Eliahu is Chief Rabbi of Tzfat.
In the Torah portion of Shemot we enter the period known as Shovavim, during which we read in the Torah about the Redemption of Israel. During this time we remind ourselves that the Exodus from exile is not only history; a person must see himself as if he personally left Egypt. Redemption from tyrants is also happening now.
I am referring first to the tyrant Nicolás Maduro, who was taken to the United States and can no longer cause harm as he did before. Maduro ruled over thirty million residents through deception. Because of his greed, the population suffered from malnutrition. More than five million of them fled the country, all this despite the fact that God gave them oil treasures as great as any other country in the world. Instead of saying thank you and doing good, they flooded the United States with drugs and harmed its citizens.
Maduro and Khamenei - Among Our Greatest Enemies
Every tyrant who oppresses his citizens and does evil is also an enemy of Israel. This anti-Semite was allied with the regime in Iran and with all the ayatollahs there. He fueled anti-Semitic gangs around the world with money, gangs that persecute Jews. His downfall is good news for all decent people and especially for Israel. Around the globe people see that the wicked in the world continue to fall one after another.
Maduro’s fall demoralizes the wicked as well; they too see that the evildoers are being eliminated. It tells everyone that the fall of the tyrant Khamenei in Iran is only a matter of time. He too sits atop enormous oil and gas reserves, and he too oppresses his people, who are rising up at this very time. The Iranians are also engaged in spreading evil throughout the world, and Khamenei too is an avid anti-Semite. One must pray for the success of the rebels in Iran who seek to overthrow this wickedness and evil government.
A Tyrant Even Toward the Egyptians
The greatest tyrant of all generations was Pharaoh. Because of him Egypt was called “the house of slaves." The Talmud relates that the command to throw living children into the Nile to be devoured by crocodiles applied also to the Egyptian children, as it is said: “And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying: Every son that is born you shall cast into the Nile, and every daughter you shall keep alive" (Exodus 1:22. (Sotah 12a). He also forced his own people to build enormous statues and to increase his own honor he ordered the construction of huge pyramids with no benefit whatsoever. The largest structures in the world, built by the labor of tens of thousands of slaves who carried stones weighing tons from great distances. More than a hundred pyramids. For what purpose?
“He Loves Righteousness and Justice"
“He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is filled with the kindness of the Lord" (Psalms 33). The Holy One, blessed be He, wants goodness, justice, and light in His world. Therefore, one of the seven Noahide commandments is to establish courts of law everywhere: “And how are they commanded regarding laws? They are obligated to appoint judges and magistrates in every district to judge concerning these commandments and to warn the people." It adds: “And because of this, all the inhabitants of Shechem were liable to death, for Shechem committed robbery and they saw and knew and did not judge him" (Rambam, Laws of Kings 9:14).
Weapons Are Not Sold to Gentiles
The Mishnah in Avodah Zarah (1:7) states regarding non-Jews that “one does not sell them bears or lions or anything that can cause harm to the public," and among other things, one does not build them stadiums in which living people are slaughtered, nor gallows and the like, nor sell them weapons. Rashi there implies that the concern is lest they harm Israel. Rambam, in his commentary on the Mishnah, wrote: “So as not to assist destroyers of the world in destroying," implying also concern lest they kill non-Jews. The Shulchan Aruch does not distinguish between these reasons.
The Role of the King Messiah: To Bring Peace to the World
Because God wants peace and justice to exist among the nations as well, He will send the King Mashiach, whose role is to establish justice throughout the world: “He shall judge between the nations and arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore" (Isaiah 2). May it be soon.