[Avodah] [Areivim] Binfol oyvekha al tismach?

[Michael Makovi]

:
> Did we ever come to a decision on this one after Arafat died?
>
> 'Cause with George Habash dead, I'm finding myself grinning...
>
> Tir'u baTov!
> -Micha

Well, we see that we definitely sang Shirat haYam. So apparently, we
are allowed to sin over mamash enemies.

But maybe it's not a matter of their being mamash enemies; maybe we
can sing over *anyone* who isn't a Jew, whether he murdered or merely
cut in line at the bank. As we see in the Midrash of Mordechai and
Haman, Haman's being a gentile nullified this prohibition of dancing
over the fall of your enemy.

But then why do we take ten drops of wine out on Pesach, and sing only
half-Hallel on the last day of Pesach? If we are allowed to rejoice
over the death of a gentile oiyev, why do we mourn on this last day?
We ought to have unmitigated joy!

The best answer I've seen (admitting that I haven't been on the search
for additional answers) is that of Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, who
suggests that while the immediate survivors of their *evil mamash*
enemies may rejoice (unmitigated joy) without any mourning whatsoever,
bystanders ( = the angels who sang) and the descendants of the
survivors ( = we, at the Seder) must mourn the death of a human (even
an evil one) even while we rejoice over our own salvation. So it's a
balance: celebrate what's good and mourn over what's bad, even as we
hate the sin but love the sinner. But for the immediate survivor, they
are allowed completely joy. The Holocaust survivors themselves need
not try to see the good in Hitler. Of course, for their descendants,
this is very difficult. I myself don't know how to celebrate Hitler's
defeat and yet acknowledge that he was after all a human b'tzalmo.

As for that Midrash of Mordechai and Haman, I don't have a good
answer. One must notice that Haman was not a stam gentile oiyev like
the guy who ticked you off by cutting in line, but rather he was a
real mamash rodef rasha etc. Mordechai says the pasuk applies to only
a Jewish oiyev, suggesting that one may rejoice over a gentile mamash
oiyev but not over a Jewish one. But can one imagine being magnamimous
to a Jewish rasha comparable to Haman? Adarabba, we pray for their
destruction in v'la'malshinim! So what comparison is Mordechai making
between a Jewish oiyev (who is apparently NOT a rodef like in the
Shemonei Esrei) and Haman? The two cannot be compared! Maybe the
reason for permission to rejoice over Haman's fall is not because he's
a gentile, but simply because he's not a mere everyday jerk!

Mikha'el Makovi