- Q. Many Jewish leaders, when relating to the deaths of Gazan civilian Arabs, make the statement that every life lost is tragic and painful. Now, on the emotional side, the merciful side of a Jew, who is aware of the potential of life in any human being, cannot help but feel that way.
However, the last two verses of Kapitel 137 in Tehilim seem to indicate otherwise. Those two verses are:
“O Daughter of Babylon, who is destined to be plundered, praiseworthy is he who repays you your recompense that you have done to us. Praiseworthy is he who will take and dash your infants against the rock.”
If the one who punishes the women of our enemy and kills the children of our enemy is "praiseworthy" then it must be that we are happy with him, that we are happy with his achievement. Never is "Ashrei" used to refer to Hashem, so the punisher and killer here must be human. How could the punishment and killing of civilian women and children of Gaza be tragic and painful, if those that punish and kill them are praiseworthy for doing just that?
A. There could be another meaning. It could signify only a wish of mental imagery and potential vision, for our enemies to picture in their minds how they would feel if the cruelty and crimes they committed would happen to them.
However, as Horav Dovid Pam Shloit’a pointed out most meforshim interpret the posuk literaly.
Horav Yaakov Hirschman Shlit”a maintains that the posuk is not
expressing any wish or holy want at all, it is just mentioning the
desire of the evildoers themselves.
Important Numbers
