WHAT CONVINCED YITRO MAY SWAY THE ANTI-ISRAEL TOO | Rabbi Ari Shvat | Beit Midrash

Beit Midrash

Torah Portion and Tanach
Shmot
Yitro

קטגוריה משנית

Female Lesson Parashat Hashavua Series'Library Piskei Din (Hebrew)Test Yourself Shorts Area

We find that Yitro was convinced to follow the G-d of Israel for "Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the deities, for (precisely) with the thing that they plotted, [G-d brought] upon them(selves) (18, 11)." Rashi explains that the Egyptians drowned the boys of Israel, so in the end, G-d drowned their men as well (his source in Yalkut Shimoni, Yirmiyahu 319, cites many other examples from Tanach, that G-d punished our enemies precisely with that which they did to Israel).
Why was this "Midah k'negged mida" (literally: "a measure for a measure)- so convincing for Yitro, even convincing him to actually change his life & join Israel? Similarly, this can help us understand why this theme of "V'Nahafoch hu…" (literally: "it was reversed", that the Megila flips everything Haman planned to do Israel, 180 degrees and brings upon Haman himself (Esther 9, 1 and 22) is so central also to Megilat Esther & the forthcoming holiday of Purim? (see Maharal, Or Chadash, p. 196)
The obvious answer is that this way of JUSTICE is clearly SELF-EVIDENT & FAIR. One cannot claim that it's immoral to drown Pharoh and the Egyptians who drowned our male babies, or that it's wrong to do to Haman and his henchman, exactly what they planned to do to Mordechai and Israel. Not only did we have no choice, but no one can come and complain of the "immorality" of the retribution of G-d & Israel, which is not just ironic but totally JUSTLY DESERVED.
Even anti-Semites can't argue the point for what they actually did to us, is in fact much worse than what they received in return. Anti-Israel accusers have been faulting us for "over-reacting", but check the facts: how many Gazan children did Israel behead, how many of their women did we rape, and how many of their civilians have we kidnapped, starved and tortured?
We cannot speak to them in western English, when they only understand eastern "Arabic". In the entire Middle-East, and even in Israel, Arabs often avenge their own family's blood by spilling blood from the rival Hamula clan.
This is precisely how Rav Kook (Ma'amarei HaReiya, p. 507) explains some of the more "immoral" sounding wars of King David, and Amalek, that one has no choice but to deter the enemy in the "language" which he seems to understand in each respective generation. For every act of terror, we should build a new Jewish yishuv on that spot.
Similarly, Rav Kook explained that Jewish law punishes a thief precisely in the field which he wanted to gain. For the thief, money is more dear than his life, for he's willing to risk his life by breaking into the home of his victims who may kill him in self-defense, but by paying double (=keffel, 200%), he loses out in the topic he really cares about.
Not only in this part of the world, but even in Europe, the naive democracies are exploited by the Moslems because of their wishful thinking. We don't "stoop down to their level", but justly and realistically fight fire with even more fire. If they threaten to nuke us, the only way to deter them is by instilling fear that we can nuke them even more. That's "where they're at", and Judaism believes in being morally realistic, and not being naïve at the expense of our children. The innocent side's children should not have to live in fear or sleep in shelters, just because our enemies wish to take that initiative.
The Rambam (hil. Chovel u'Mazik 1, 3) explains why the Torah writes an "Eye for an eye" (Shmot 21, 24), despite the fact that the Oral Law teaches the punishment is monetary, because the Torah wants to clarify, that's what the aggressor really deserves. Adds the Shadal, that if there is a sadistic millionaire who isn't deterred by monetary payment, the Beit Din would actually take an "eye for an eye". The main point is to deter in their own language, or in the words of Samson: "As they did to me, I did to them" (Shoftim 15, 11).
I don't think that speaking such logic to anti-Semites would help, if they would side with the Arabs even on the question of "is the world flat". If in every war in modern history, the democracies side with the victims except here where they anti-Semetically side with the totalitarian aggressors and terrorists, there's nothing we can do,
But hopefully at least Jewish students who side with our enemies or are in doubt, should be objectively open to that which convinced the gentile Yitro, and surely convinced Haman and his cronies. Don't do X to us, and we won't do it to you. Worded simply: if the Arabs lay down their guns everybody knows there will be peace, but if Israel lays down ours, everybody knows we won't be around to check the outcome! Our enemies say so explicitly, so why should Jewish students not believe them?! Shabbat Shalom! Rav Ari Shvat (Chwat)

Yitro