In Pirkei Ovos (4:19), Shmuel Hakoton quotes the
posuk, "When your enemy falls, do not be happy. And
when he falters, your heart should not be filled with
happiness: for the Ribono Shel Olom may look into your
heart and see how happy you are over the fall of your enemy.
And He will not like what He sees in your heart. And then
Hashem will withdraw His anger from your enemy"
(Mishlei 24:17,18).
With a surprising chiddush, Rashi explains that not
only will Hashem take away His anger from the enemy but also,
the enemy will be forgiven of all his sins. Remarkably, the
Ribono Shel Olom reverses the verdict of someone who
rightfully deserves punishment simply because people are
happy over his demise. Furthermore, those who are happy over
their enemy's downfall will incur the wrath of Hashem.
In his commentary on Pirkei Ovos, Rabbeinu Yonah adds
an even bigger chiddush: This process occurs even when
the enemy is a rosho, meaning that Hashem considers
him a rosho because he is predominantly a baal
aveiroh! He has very few mitzvos to counterbalance those
aveiros and therefore receives his punishment.
Nonetheless, Shmuel Hakoton teaches us not to be elated over
his suffering. Since, as Rabbeinu Yonah puts it, "A person
should only be happy because of the kiddush Sheim
Shomayim that is occurring for the benefit of the Name of
Hashem Yisborach."
When a rosho suffers because of all the pain he has
caused, this sanctifies the Name of the Ribono Shel
Olom. Therefore, we should be happy because the
rosho receives his due punishment. When people witness
a rosho running rampant by treading upon the feelings,
sensitivities, and lives of others, the rosho
feels— and his victims believe—that he is
master of his and their destiny. Then, when his punishment
comes and he falls, this sanctifies Hashem's Name.
Therefore, it is very good if we are happy because of the
kiddush Sheim Shomayim. Nevertheless, Rabbeinu Yonah
warns us: Even a tzaddik should not experience
personal happiness over the fall of the reshoim.
Through the demise of reshoim, people see how Hashem
has revealed His complete control over all events. Therefore,
the focus of our joy is kvod Shomayim. We are happy
because the world realizes that the Ribono Shel Olom
is always in control. Hashem has brought about the enemy's
demise.
We must not harbor a personal hatred for the rosho nor
seek personal revenge. This is so even if this rosho
has caused us great personal aggravation and suffering. Even
if we have many good reasons to pray and seek his downfall,
nevertheless if we will be happy because we hate him for what
he did to us, to our families, and to others, then Rabbeinu
Yonah says, "The Ribono Shel Olom will cleanse and
forgive all this rosho's aveiros."
It is important to realize that we are referring to a
rosho who does not have the slightest inclination
towards teshuvoh. He is still the same rosho he
was — from the beginning to the end. He has already
fallen. He has been punished for his crimes. Victims, who had
been suffering because of him, suddenly see their enemy
crushed. Everyone is extremely ecstatic over the victory.
Justice has been done! Under such circumstances, we can
experience a very natural sweet feeling of revenge.
Therefore, according to Rabbeinu Yonah, Shmuel Hakoton is
warning us, based on the posuk, that having a feeling
of sweet revenge is the worst thing that we can do. If we do
that, we will bring relief to the enemy because, as Rabbeinu
Yonah writes, after Hashem forgives the enemy, Hashem
"uplifts him and this is a punishment for he who was happy."
Victory and revenge are snatched away, and the rosho
is allowed to come back to his former position of power.
After being so elated over the enemy's downfall, the worst
punishment possible for someone is to see that his enemy
suddenly recovers. Those who were just now happy will have to
swallow their pride and look on, without any ability to help
those that they love from the renewed activities of the
enemy. The letdown and the feeling of helplessness is awful,
and despair can overwhelm even the great
tzaddik—all because he was once so elated for
the wrong reasons.
*
However, we still have not discovered the reason why our joy
— even a tzaddik's joy — over the fall of
a rosho causes the tables to be so radically turned.
Why should the rosho be allowed to again take control,
and why must the tzaddik again be humiliated and have
to suffer?
The answer is that we must believe that Hashem
Yisborach completely controls everything that occurs in
this world, from the greatest earth-shattering events to the
most private intimate distress that an individual may suffer
in the smallest way. Everything comes from Hakodosh Boruch
Hu — the sweet and the not-so-sweet.
Thus, when a hate-filled person brings havoc to the lives of
those around him, those who have emunah and
bitochon in Hakodosh Boruch Hu are supposed to
realize that this weak mortal is not bringing about all the
suffering. He is simply the agent of Hashem's will. The
Ribono Shel Olom wants it to happen. Hashem uses this
crazed individual as His stick to bring suffering upon those
who require a stiff reprimand for their ultimate benefit, to
cause sorrow to those for whom sorrow will be beneficial.
Suffering is an expression of Hashem's will.
It is very regrettable if the situation requires such drastic
measures. However, under such circumstances, we must not
direct our hate towards that individual and his followers. We
must realize that good occurs by means of those who are good;
the good are agents of the Ribono Shel Olom to bring
happiness to people. In contrast, the bad are the agents of
the Ribono Shel Olom to bring unhappiness to
people.
Therefore, Shmuel Hakoton is teaching us that we cannot
direct our hate towards the agent of the Ribono Shel
Olom, nor should we be personally pleased when Hashem
sees fit to depose him.
To believe and behave otherwise is as foolish and senseless
as the dog who has received a blow from a stone that someone
threw. The dog attacks the stone because he is not
intelligent enough to direct his attention to the source of
his pain. Instead of attacking the person, he takes the stone
into his jaws and tries to bite into it. When that does not
help, he just flings the stone away in complete anger.
In contrast, a wise person realizes that a stone has no
inherent power to hurt him. The one who has thrown the stone
is the one who has caused pain.
If so, we have made a terrible mistake. We have directed our
hate towards the means and manifestation of Hashem's will. We
have not thought about the real reason for all our suffering:
that Hashem is unhappy with us. Therefore, when the Ribono
Shel Olom sends us the pain and suffering in order to
help us in some way, even though we do not always understand
we must still behave in ways that show that we know and
believe that Hashem directs the world.
However, if we are personally thrilled when we witness
Hashgochoh protis — the direct intervention of
Hashem Yisborach — in bringing about the
downfall of our enemy, then we have misunderstood the way the
Ribono Shel Olom deals with His world. We have
misunderstood the message and meaning of what has
occurred.
We have mistakenly believed that simple mortals control their
own destiny and that they control destiny of others, when in
fact they do not control the destiny of others or their own
destiny. Everything is completely in the hands of the
Ribono Shel Olom.
Thus, when we have feelings of delight and relish our
victory, this is an indication that we do not have true
emunah in Hakodosh Boruch Hu.
*
At the end of masechtos Makkos (24a) we are taught
that the essence of all Taryag Mitzvos is best
expressed by the posuk, "The tzaddik shall live
through his emunoh" (Chabakuk 2:4). Likewise, based on
the posuk in Mishlei (22:19), the Vilna Gaon
explains, "The fundamental reason for giving the Torah to
Klal Yisroel was so they would place their trust in
Hashem . . . [and] the foundation of everything is the
perfection of trust, and it encompasses all the mitzvos."
Belief that nothing occurs unless Hashem desires that it be
so, is vital to our success in life. If we do not have that
foundation, then all our Torah and mitzvos rest upon
falsehood and cannot continue. The Ribono Shel Olom
therefore reinstates the rosho as His means of
bringing us to teshuvoh.
Therefore, even though someone may look and behave like a
tzaddik, meaning that he does all the mitzvos and
keeps away from all the aveiros, it is a facade.
Eventually the truth will come out. We must have enough
emunah in Hashem to know, to feel, and to live in ways
that reflect a clear knowledge that nothing happens unless
Hashem wants it to.
The rosho is not the person who is hurting others. He
is simply an instrument in the hands of the Ribono Shel
Olom. If the tzaddik lacks this understanding,
then he does not have the foundation of emunah. He is
not really a tzaddik. He has the potential to become
just like that rosho whom he is so happy to see
vanquished.
Many times have we seen that after a person's personal
desires have been thwarted, someone who once was a
tzaddik becomes a vicious rosho simply because
he does not have the true belief in Hashem Yisborach.
His life, everything he has been doing for many years, is the
result of many wrong reasons: a matter of habit, a matter of
finding faith in other people's eyes, to receive reward or
avoid punishment. He lacks a true belief in the Ribono
Shel Olom and this makes him into a rosho.
Potentially he has within him all the aveiros that the
human mind can conceive. He is a man without any
emunah and bitochon. He is empty.
At any moment, he may burst out in vicious anger and do worse
than that rosho has done before. Therefore, Shmuel
Hakoton warns us, "When your enemy falls, do not be happy,
and when he falters, your heart should not be filled with
happiness"—in order that we not suffer the dire
consequences of having false beliefs and misdirected emotions
about how this world functions.
In his sefer Mesillas Yeshorim (Chapter 11) the
Ramchal explains the difficulty of overcoming our
susceptibility for hate and revenge—especially when
someone has wronged us: "Because a person is very sensitive
to insult [and physical pain even more so]; suffering so much
anguish that his taking revenge is sweeter than honey and
thus is his only consolation. Therefore, if he is able to
refrain from what his nature urges him to do and excuse the
offense; not to hate the one who aroused his hatred, not be
vengeful when he has an opportunity to take revenge and not
hold a grudge against him. Rather, [if he] forgets everything
and removes it from his heart as if nothing ever happened, he
is mighty and heroic, for such behavior is easy only for
mal'ochim . . . "
Granted, we are not mal'ochim. We have human feelings
and human frailties. Hashem created us human. However, Hashem
expects us to change, to move forward from our beginnings. If
we respond unknowingly, immaturely and naturally — we
run the very high risk of facing the situation that Shmuel
Hakoton warned us about when he taught us how to respond to
victory. It may be a hard lesson, but learning the lesson is
easier than living with the consequences of a mistake.
Whenever we hear about a rosho, famous or not, we can
test ourselves. Also each Purim we have an opportunity to
practice. We can test our response and perfect our reaction
every time we hear the mention of Haman's name.
This effort will bring the Geulah closer. No doubt,
the better prepared we are for the great and final victory,
the faster it will come.
