Shalom Pollack – Mercy
Something I read today brought into clear focus the saying. “He who is merciful to the wicked will be wicked to the merciful”
The late rabbi-general, Avi Ronsky, former chief chaplain of the IDF. was a major authority on Jewish law and ethics.
In his book, “As arrows in the hands of heroes,” he discusses halacha and the military and ethical /Torah issues as they pertain to military service in a Jewish army.
In his book he publishes some correspondences with those who differ with some of his halachic decisions and world view.
One that caught my eye was a letter written to him by Yonatan Bassi.
When these letters were written, Bassi had just completed his service in Lebanon In the mid eighties as a battalion commander.
He illustrated his views on Jewish military ethics by the following examples:
He relates that just before his forces were to attack a hostile town a car appeared with a seriously wounded civilian.
If he were not rushed to the hospital immediately he would die. Bassi faced a dilemma.
He had only one military ambulance for his force which may very well need it in the coming hours of battle.
This same ambulance was needed immediately to save the life of the enemy civilian. Bassi instructed the ambulance to take the civilian in the hope that it would return and on time , to be used for his forces. In his opinion , he chose the moral choice and this was an example of Jewish values.
The second example he gave was when an enemy town was about to be attacked and aircraft were called in to “soften” the enemy’s defensive positions before the ground assault.
The civilians had already been instructed to leave the town and were gathered on the beach.
Then came information about a woman who had not yet evacuated.
His forces expected to face stiff opposition. The air support would save casualties but would probably kill the woman civilian. What to do?
The pilots were instructed at the last minute to abort the mission.
Bassi was proud of his Jewish morality even though his forces did sustain significant losses in the assault bereft of air support.
In an exchange of letters on the subject and these specific incidents, Rabbi Ronsky diametrically disagreed with Bassi’s interpretation of Jewish values and halacha in battle.
The rabbi said these are classic examples of the saying about those who are “merciful to the wicked..”
I would not have been so intrigued by the discussion had it not been with Yonatan Bassi.
The name immediately rang a bell.
Bassi some years after his merciful missions for the enemy in Lebanon volunteered to be Ariel Sharon’s ‘Manager of the Evacuation of Gush Katif and the Shomron” in 2005.
His job was to facilitate the expulsion of thousands of Jewish families from their homes and turn that part of Israel over to the terrorists. The heart-rending scenes of ten thousand Jews dragged from their homes fit neatly into Bassi’s world of Jewish morality and mercy. Handing our land to our sworn enemies was certainly an act of Jewish morality and mercy.
The expression, “He who is merciful to the wicked will be wicked to the merciful” is not just a biblical warning and prophecy .
Just ask Yonatan.
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