Torah Teaches: NEVER Celebrate the Downfall of Your Enemies
(יז) בִּנְפֹ֣ל אויביך [אֽ֭וֹיִבְךָ] אַל־תִּשְׂמָ֑ח וּ֝בִכָּשְׁל֗וֹ אַל־יָגֵ֥ל לִבֶּֽךָ׃ (יח) פֶּן־יִרְאֶ֣ה יְ֭הוָה וְרַ֣ע בְּעֵינָ֑יו וְהֵשִׁ֖יב מֵעָלָ֣יו אַפּֽוֹ׃
(17) If your enemy falls, do not exult; If he trips, let your heart not rejoice, (18) Lest the LORD see it and be displeased, And avert His wrath from him.
(ד) כל הימים של ח"ה וב' ימים אחרונים של י"ט קורין ההלל ואין גומרין אותו כך מפור' בערכין פ"ב (י.) והתם יהבא טעמא מ"ש בחג דאמרינן כל יומא ומ"ש בפסח דלא אמרינן כל יומא ושבלי הלקט כתב בשם מדרש הרנינו פ' סוכה שהטעם שאין גומרין ההלל כל ימי הפסח הוא לפי שנטבעו המצריים וכתיב בנפול אויבך אל תשמח
We thus find that all seven days of Succot we say Full Hallel, whereas on Pesach we only say Full Hallel on the first day and its night. Why? Because that is when the Egyptians drowned in the sea.
(יט) שְׁמוּאֵל הַקָּטָן אוֹמֵר, (משלי כד) בִּנְפֹל אוֹיִבְךָ אַל תִּשְׂמָח וּבִכָּשְׁלוֹ אַל יָגֵל לִבֶּךָ, פֶּן יִרְאֶה ה' וְרַע בְּעֵינָיו וְהֵשִׁיב מֵעָלָיו אַפּוֹ:
(19) Shmuel the Younger says: (Proverbs 24:17-18) "When your enemy falls, do not be happy, and when he stumbles, let your heart not rejoice. Lest God see and it be bad in His eyes and He turn from him [the enemy] His anger."
א"ר אחא בר חנינא (משלי יא, י) באבוד רשעים רנה באבוד אחאב בן עמרי רנה ומי חדי קודשא בריך הוא במפלתן של רשעים הכתיב (דברי הימים ב כ, כא) בצאת לפני החלוץ ואומרים הודו לה' כי לעולם חסדו ואמר רבי יונתן מפני מה לא נאמר בהודאה זו כי טוב לפי שאין הקדוש ברוך הוא שמח במפלתן של רשעים דאמר ר' שמואל בר נחמן אמר ר' יונתן מאי דכתיב (שמות יד, כ) ולא קרב זה אל זה כל הלילה באותה שעה בקשו מלאכי השרת לומר שירה לפני הקב"ה אמר להן הקב"ה מעשה ידי טובעין בים ואתם אומרים שירה לפני
Rav Acha bar Chanina said: “When the wicked perish, there is song;” [thus] when Ahab ben Omri perished here was ‘song’. But does the Holy One, blessed be He, rejoice over the downfall of the wicked? Is it not written, [That they should praise] as they went out before the army, and say, “Give thanks unto the Lord for His mercy endures forever;” concerning which R. Yonatan asked: Why are the words, “He is good” mitted from this expression of thanks? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, does not rejoice in the downfall of the wicked. For R. Shmuel bar Nahman said in R. Yonatan‘s name: What is meant by, “And one did not come near the other all night?” In that hour the ministering angels wished to utter the song [of praise] before the Holy One, blessed be He, but He rebuked them, saying: My handiwork [the Egyptians] is drowning in the sea; and you recite a song before me!
Torah Teaches : DEFINITELY Celebrate the Downfall of Your Enemies!
and the wicked be no more.
Bless the LORD, O my soul.
Hallelujah.
דאמר ר' יהודה בריה דרבי שמעון בן פזי ק"ג פרשיות אמר דוד ולא אמר הללויה עד שראה במפלתן של רשעים שנאמר (תהלים קד, לה) יתמו חטאים מן הארץ ורשעים עוד אינם ברכי נפשי את ה' הללויה.
As Rabbi Yehuda, son of Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi, said: David said one hundred and three chapters, and he did not say Halleluya in any of them until he saw the downfall of the wicked. Only then could David could say Halleluya wholeheartedly. As it is stated: “Let sinners cease from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, my soul, Halleluya” (Psalms 104:35).
בתר דשקלינהו למזייה לבשינהו למאניה אמר ליה סק ורכב אמר ליה לא יכילנא דכחישא חילאי מימי תעניתא גחין וסליק כי סליק בעט ביה אמר ליה לא כתיב לכו (משלי כד, יז) בנפל אויבך אל תשמח אמר ליה הני מילי בישראל אבל בדידכו כתיב (דברים לג, כט) ואתה על במותימו תדרוך (אסתר ו, יא)
After Haman trimmed his hair, Haman dressed Mordecai in the royal garments. Haman then said to him: Mount the horse and ride. Mordecai said to him: I am unable, as my strength has waned from the days of fasting that I observed. Haman then stooped down before him and Mordecai ascended on him. As he was ascending the horse, Mordecai gave Haman a kick. Haman said to him: Is it not written for you: “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls” (Proverbs 24:17)? Mordecai said to him: This statement applies only to Jews, but with regard to you it is written: “And you shall tread upon their high places” (Deuteronomy 33:29).
Finding some middle ground
תורה תמימה הערות שמות פרק יד וקצת צ"ע איך אמרו אז משה וישראל שירה וגם איך קורין אנו בשביעי של פסח פרשת השירה אחרי דטביעת מצרים היתה באותו יום, וצ"ל כיון דהטביעה היתה בלילה נכון שלא לאמר בלילה אבל ביום שלמחרתו שרי, ומדויק לפי' לשון הגמרא בענין זה בסנהדרין ל"ט ב' באותה שעה בקשו מלאכי השרת לומר שירה וכו', והיינו רק באותה שעה לבד לא הניחם הקב"ה, מפני שאז היתה הטביעה ממש
Torah Temimah Exodus Chapter 14
It requires a bit of further study to understand how Moshe then sang the song, and why we read the parsha of the shira on the seventh day of Pesach, since the drowning of the Egyptians was on that day. We must say that since they drowned at night, it is thus improper to say it at night, whereas the next day it would be permitted. If we look at the precise wording of the Talmud in Sanhedrin 39b on this topic “In that hour the ministering angels wished to utter the song” it is only “at that hour” that God did not allow them to sing, for at that moment the actual drowning was occurring…
- So it may be improper to celebrate one’s enemies’destruction while they are suffering, but after the fact one may express joy that they are gone.
הנהו בריוני דהוו בשבבותיה דר"מ והוו קא מצערו ליה טובא הוה קא בעי ר' מאיר רחמי עלויהו כי היכי דלימותו אמרה לי' ברוריא דביתהו מאי דעתך משום דכתיב (תהלים קד, לה) יתמו חטאים מי כתיב חוטאים חטאים כתיב ועוד שפיל לסיפיה דקרא ורשעים עוד אינם כיון דיתמו חטאים ורשעים עוד אינם אלא בעי רחמי עלויהו דלהדרו בתשובה ורשעים עוד אינם בעא רחמי עלויהו והדרו בתשובה:
There were these hooligans in Rabbi Meir’s neighborhood who caused him a great deal of anguish. Rabbi Meir prayed for God to have mercy on them, that they should die. Rabbi Meir’s wife, Berurya, said to him: What is your thinking? On what basis do you pray for the death of these hooligans? Do you base yourself on the verse, as it is written: “Let sins cease from the land” (Psalms 104:35), which you interpret to mean that the world would be better if the wicked were destroyed? But is it written, let sinners cease?” Let sins cease, is written. One should pray for an end to their transgressions, not for the demise of the transgressors themselves. Moreover, go to the end of the verse, where it says: “And the wicked will be no more.” If, as you suggest, transgressions shall cease refers to the demise of the evildoers, how is it possible that the wicked will be no more, i.e., that they will no longer be evil? Rather, pray for God to have mercy on them, that they should repent, as if they repent, then the wicked will be no more, as they will have repented. Rabbi Meir saw that Berurya was correct and he prayed for God to have mercy on them, and they repented.
Where does this custom come from?
דם ואש ותמרות עשן, דם צפרדע כנים ערוב דבר שחין ברד ארבה חשך מכת בכורות, דצ"ך עד"ש באח"ב י"ו תיבות. על כל תיבה [נותנים][6] אצבע ידם בכוס היין ומטיפין לחוץ.
Blood, fire, and pillars of smoke; blood, frogs, lice, swarms, pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, death of the firstborn; detzakh, ʿadash, beʾḥabh—16 terms. For each of these terms, . people put their finger in the wineglass and sprinkle a drop out.
This is the custom of our fathers. And thus did R. Eleazar HaGadol (the great) habituate his whole household. So too was the practice of [his grandson] our Rabbi Kalonymos and his whole family. So too was the practice of our Rabbi Elazar [the] Ḥazzan, and our Rabbi Samuel [HeChasid], and his son, our Rabbi Abraham, and his son our Rabbi Yehudah HeChasid (Judah the Pious, d. 1217), the father of wisdom. And so did my father and teacher, R. Judah ben Kalonymus.
I will set portents in the sky and on earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke;
[A drop of wine] is sprinkled out 16 times, corresponding to the sword of the Holy One, blessed by he, which has 16 edges.
Midrash Shochar Tov,[16] a midrash on the book of Psalms:
Isaac ben (Teradyon) [Maryon][17] said: “The sword of the Holy One, blessed by he, has 16 edges, as it says (Ezek 21:21): ‘Be united, go to the right, turn left; whither are you bound?’ [The number 16] is the gematria of the word “whither” (איה, 1+10+5).
וכשיטיף עם אצבעו בכל פעם מעט לחוץ, ואמר שנ"ל שהטעם כלומר מכל אלה יצילנו השם, והטעם כי הד' כוסות להצלה לישראל ולתקלה לאומות העולם, ולכך זורק לחוץ באצבע כלומר שנהיה ניצולין מן אילו המכות ויבואו על ראשם.
When he would sprinkle with his finger, each time [it would be only] a little bit out [of the cup]. And he said that the reason appeared to him, that it was implying that God should save us from all these, for the four cups [represent] the saving of the Jews and the downfall of the gentiles, and therefore, he sprinkles some out with his finger, implying that we will be saved from these plagues, which will fall upon their (=the gentiles’) heads.
https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-original-reason-for-spilling-wine-protection-from-the-plagues
The very mention of plagues is dangerous, and doing so over a cup of wine that one is about to drink can give a person the impression that they are drinking the plagues, since spells are often recited over a potion. It can be thought of as a kind of reverse kiddush ritual:[30] Instead of imbuing the cup with holiness, the cup is filled with the plagues just recited. Thus, each time a plague is mentioned, a drop of wine is removed which effectively ensures that the power of the plague does not inhere in the wine one is to drink.
As Ben Ezra notes, numerous customs support the notion that the wine removed from our cups represents a dangerous substance. In various places the spilt wine was secretly poured on the doorstep of a soneh Yisrael, “one who hates Israel,” as it was believed that contact with the wine would result in the death of a member of one’s household.
However there are some words we don’t want to ingest. The Ten Plagues, describing the affliction of the Egyptians, represent negative energy that we would rather not bring into our system. So after reading each plague we spill wine from the cup, banishing the forces of punishment and its curses, and leaving the cup with only blessings. The spilled wine should then be discarded, for drinking it would be drinking in the plagues
By spilling a drop of wine from the Pesach cup for each plague, we acknowledge that our own joy is lessened and incomplete, for our redemption had to come by means of the punishment of other human beings. Even though these are just punishments for evil acts, it says, “Do not rejoice at the fall of your enemy” (Proverbs 24:17)
Here the ten plagues will be enumerated, and it is a widespread—though not particularly old—custom to remove a drop of wine from the cup for each plague.
This strange practice was explained to me, when I was still a boy, that wine is a symbol of joy, and because each plague caused our tormentors to suffer on our account, the joy over our own liberation is diminished...
Whether this explanation may make claim to historical truth may remain unanswered, but one must recognize the poetic truth in it, because it breathes the spirit of Judaism.
Nearly every haggadah gives this ethical explanation. Though this is most certainly not an origin story for the ritual, we always have a choice how we interpret. This ethical message gives an old tradition important meaning... and that is what should prevail!