בס"ד
In parshas Beshalach Moshe rabenu leads Israel in song after they have been rescued by the Holy One blessed be He by the miraculous parting of the Red Sea. Correspondingly the haftorah is the song of Devora, the prophetess, over their enemy, Sisera (see Judges 5). The story begins that Israel did bad in the eyes of Hashem, therefore he turned them over to the Canaanite King Jabin of Hazor. He had a powerful general, Sisera, who then ruthlessly persecuted the Israelites. After 20 years they cried out to Hashem. Deborah then summoned Barak, son of Abinoam, saying that he should march against Jabin’s army commander because the God of Israel will make him victorious.
After Barak is successful, Devorah writes a ballad describing the war and celebrating the victory. She tells of how people were not safe in their cities, could not travel on the main roads and rather had to take a twisted path. She attributes this to Israel choosing new gods which resulted in them being militarily weak.
Salvation starts with the dedicated faithful leaders of Israel, who sing publicly of the just deeds of Hashem, which brings freedom to the nation. Devora praises the tribes that sent troops to the war and chides those that did not. The woman Yael is greatly blessed because she lured Sisera into her tent with promises of rest. When he fell asleep she hammered a tent peg into his head killing him. Devora then contemplates the thought of the mother of Sisera worrying about her son not returning from battle. She then says this should be the fate of the enemies of religion while the friends of the faith, "should be like the sun rising in its might", (Judges 5:31).
The description of the gruesome killing of Sisera with the related treachery and the thoughts, almost gloating, of the distress of his loved ones, present difficulties. Such cruelty does not seem to be in the spirit of religion, all the more so when it is part of a celebration. Such ideas, though, may cross a good person's mind after suffering decades of persecution. Jewish philosophy does pair hatred of evil with love of good as it says, "those that love Hashem hate evil", (Psalm 97:10). Also on Purim we are required to drink until we cannot distinguish between blessing Mordecai and cursing Haman. It seems that if a person is cruel to those that are evil then hatred of evil becomes stronger in their personality. Likewise if they suffer because of the good in themselves, that good becomes more dear to them.
לע"נ האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח
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