If we can blow the shofar one less note because of our sympathy for Sisera's mother when she cried that he didn't return from his battle with us, even for one as loathsome as he, then we should remember that this is done to teach a lesson to us. How much more so should we remember to be sympathetic for our own leaders, even as we may disagree with them and their policies. Do we not give a blessing to our state every shabbat, and to its leaders? It is not our way to cheer the misfortune of others. This is a shame.

So Rabbi Schneier was infuriated over the outburst? Who cares? Where was his fury when Jews were slated to lose their homes and livelihoods? The expulsion was not only a gigantic chillul Hashem, which is a terrible sin, but it was also a victory for terror which will encourage and lead to more terror and demands for more of the Holy Land (it already has). As a result, more Jews as well as Arabs will die. Perhaps Rabbi Schneier should have paid more attention to the mitzvah of "do not sit idly by your brother's blood" if he wants to get up now on his pulpit and lecture those who did not ignore this mitzvah about what a mitzvah is. As for the final paragraph of this article, it is simply despicable that any parallel has been drawn between "right-wing Jewish extremists," who are few in number and on the fringe of Israeli society, with "gunmen in the PA," aka Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah, which are institutionalized terrorist groups with the full support of mainstream Palestinian Arabs and their leaders. There is simply no comparison between the two, and the attempt to create some sort of moral equivalency is just wrong. And for the record, as Moshe Feiglin said, "I wish Sharon health and many years to come, outside the realm of political leadership and influence."

We didn't feel bad for Sisera -- we felt bad for his mother, who had human compassion for her son. Sharon has demonstrated he has no compassion for the plight of his people -- he forced nearly 9,000 of them out of their own homes, and has left them without basic necessities. He does not have compassion for the Jews, so why should we have compassion for him? It is certainly our way to celebrate the downfall of evil people ("Baavod reshaim rinah" - mishlei), and while I am hesitant to label any Jew such a thing, I think the expulsion of Jews from their homes only to promote terrorism and create a Hamastan in Gaza qualifies as an evil act. As for the blessing that we give the state every Shabbat, many Jews are now reconsidering this prayer given the reality that the State of Israel has acted against the interests of the Jewish people and may not in fact be "reishit tzmichat geulateinu" but rather a state like all others where suppression and oppression of religious Jews is possible. Perhaps it is wrong to pray for the death of anyone, but your analysis of the situation is very simplistic and ignores the fact that what Sharon did was not merely a matter of disagreement with his policies, but a very personal issue of expelling and abandoning 9,000 Jews. These people's schaudenfreude with regards to Sharon's hospitalization is completely understandable, if not justified. It is a shame that people such as yourself can have such sympathy for Sharon, which is a nice sentiment, but at the same time lack Ahavat Yisrael when it comes to "the settlers" or "right-wing" Jews. When they were brutally forced from their homes, it was merely a matter of policy right?

While it is always PC to wish someone a full recovery, let us remember what this man has done to thousands of his fellow Jews - he has created a refugee crisis, a crisis of identity and has brought their enemies closer to destroying Israel. Ashkelon anyone?? Spare me the right wing epitaphs. I am a secular zionist and I applaud those who speak the truth. There is no moral equivalency between PA Arabs who want ALL Jews dead, and Jewish patriots cheering at their tormentors comeuppance. If the Rabbi at Lincoln Center wants to appear as if Sharon has done nothing wrong, let him live with his lieing conscience.

At a synagogue in Houston, Texas, of which I am a member, prayers for the sick are offered every Monday, Thursday, (and also on Shabbat) following the reading of the Torah. It does not matter what political movement the sick person belongs to, or, for that matter, if the sick person is behind on the synagogue dues or fees. Rabbi Schneier in New York is correctly following Jewish tradition.

Let's see these bastards cheer when their grandfather suffers a stroke. They are not one single iota better than the monstrous murdering scum on the other side. I hope they stay in America for good.

Al it takes are a few .It so good to read the message of a wise and righteous soul. There are do few in Israel today .Their minds have mostly been poisoned the enemies of God who hate those like the settlers who are obedient to His call to build up and inhabit every duma of His land given to the Jewish peole. The grasshoppers who infest Israel will be removed as they were on the first journey to Erez Yisrael.

"Perhaps" it's wrong? "understandable, if not justified"? C'mon. What difference do ANY of those observations make to my point? My point is that the lesson of Yom Kippur with Sisera teaches us something about compassion and nothing about Sisera or his mother. Nothing about my words could be interpreted otherwise. When we are advised to retain compassion such that we can feel the pain of Sisera's mom, something that is SO extreme to expect from us, we earn the right to expect that G-d be compassionate with us, irrespective of what we've done, too. The point is that COMPASSION is a good trait. It doesn't prevent us from doing the things we need to do even when they are difficult, if we retain a human face. Even when we so disagree with what Sharon has done, even when Sharon hasn't been compassionate with us, to cheer his misfortune is wrong irrespective of whether it's "understandable", because that's not who WE are.

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Ah, but both pale into insignificance when compared to the many millions of Christian "extremists" who collaborated with the Nazis to murder six million Jews while the Christian nations of Britain, Australia, the United States, Canada and New Zealand either turned their backs or actively prevented help.

to these folks if they're busy living it up in the big apple? Why didn't they move there 5 or 10 years ago?

Logic writes: "How important is Gush Katif to these folks if they're busy living it up in the big apple? Why didn't they move there 5 or 10 years ago?" Employing the same logic Diaspora Jews should not support Israel at all.

Please get your facts straight before printing. I was at the concert and only one, maybe two inapropraite people shouted out one line. The rest of the audience applauded in support of Sharons full recovery.

Note that these so-called Jews acted exactly like the Palestinians did when they heard of PM Sharon's stroke. What kind of Jewish ethics do they purport to believe in?

I hesitate, however, to say that these pepole actually cheered for Gush Katif. Many people who I heard argue against the disengagement seemed to care more about the fact that Israel was giving something to Arabs than the fact that it was taking something from Jews. For some people, hatred against Arabs is so strong that they wish for the death of a Jewish leader.

Everyone was relaxing and enjoying the concert. This dope had to bring in politics. There are many sick people that we should pray for why does the jerk have to mention a highly controvertial politician at a non political gethering of entertainment. He should save his politics over the cholent after davening.

These days? DO you? In the USA the media is owned by 10 huge conglomerates- they can print what ever they want- and manipulate the people.

One assumes that these individual do not spill the 10 drops of wine during the Seder since, if they cannot feel concern for Sharon's health situation, they must be totally at a loss to sympathise with the suffering of the Egyptians.

how many drops did Shron spill when he was kicking people out of their homes and away from their livelihoods

The drops of wine, contrary to the common misconception taught by most kindergarten teachers, are not spilled because we feel bad for the Egyptians. To say so is a nice idea reflecting on the compassion of the Jewish people, but the reality is that this explanation is incongruous with the rest of the Hagaddah. We are actually very happy about what happened to the Egyptians -- to the point where we read a whole discussion talking about how many afflictions God actually brought upon them (10? 50? etc.) The fact that we sang Az Yashir at the Red Sea after the Egyptians drowned, and somehow this has been incorporated into our daily liturgy also says something about how bad we're supposed to feel. In general we should have compassion for everyone, but for those evil people who oppress us, "baavod reshaim rinah" - when the wicked are lost, there is joyful celebration,

I am not convinced by the reference to kindergarten teachers since the Artscroll Hagadah gives precisely this explanation. And what of the Midrash that tells us that HaShem rebuked the angels for rejoicing when the Egyptians drowned? I wish total failure on the plans of our enemies but this does not require me to rejoice at their suffering. Surely, this is what the arabians do when they hand out sweets to celebrate the murder of innocent Jews.

I was also anti "disengagement" eg. driving Jews from their homes in Gaza but you won't catch me praying for Sharon's death just because I disagreed with his political decision. I do not know how much anguish this decision caused Sharon and neither do you but I do know that Jews fighting Jews is bad for Am Yisrael and bad for Medinat Yisrael.

Oh if artscroll said it, it must be true ;) I'm glad you brought up that midrash about God rebuking the angels for rejoicing, as it is also often misconstrued to offer evidence that we are supposed to feel bad for the Egyptians. However, upon closer examination, the conclusion you draw from the story is a non-sequitor. God stopped the ANGELS from rejoicing, but back on land He did not stop the PEOPLE from rejoicing. In fact, the shirat hayam, the Song of the Sea, is sung by Jews every morning, and according to one opinion in the gemarah, this was the first time Hallel was recited. In any case, this song is an important part of our liturgy and is one of only ten "shirot." To be intellectually honest, I must of course concede that your interpretation of this midrash follows the midrash harninu (of which there is no longer a existing copy but which is quoted in various sources such as the Beis Yosef), which cites it as the reason we only say half-hallel on Pesach. However, the gemarah (arachin 10) actually cites a very different reason having to do with the sacrifices brought each day. In any case, this is not the forum for a lengthy discussion on the matter. The fact remains that God did not stop the Jews on the land from rejoicing when the Egyptians drowned, though He did stop the angels. Perhaps the reason is because these Jews personally suffered at the hands of the Egyptians but those of us who did not should take a lesson from what happened to the angels and not rejoice. But this is irrelevant on Pesach since everyone is supposed to view himself as if he personally was redeemed from Egypt. So the wine custom still does not fit with artscroll's explanation. It should be noted by the way, that the verse in proverbs (11:10) about rejoicing when the wicked fall refers to Achav who was a wicked JEWISH king. We do not make distinctions between Jew and non-Jew when it comes to things like this; everyone has an equal ability to be either good or evil. That said, it is completely inappropriate to compare the Jews who felt schaudenfreude when they heard of Sharon's trip to the hospital to those Arabs handing out sweets on 9/11. The difference is that these Arabs are celebrating the murder of innocent people, whereas the Jews in question are expressing satisfaction that the man who expelled Jews from their homes was sent to the hospital by natural causes. The former are encouraging more terror, whereas the latter are not. There is no comparison.

I actually learned this explanation from a rather well educated (halachically) Jew. But then again, he was a compassionate soul, which doesn't go with your kind of Judaism.

All I am saying is that compassion has a time and a place, just like everything else. It is very presumptuous of you to assume I am not compassionate merely because I chose to refute a common misconception about a particular custom which was being misappropriated to delegitimize a group of Jews. Of course the Jews are "rachmanim bnei rachmanim," merciful people the children of merciful people, and this attribute manifests itself in innumerable ways (charity, acts of kindness, etc.). However, we are not obligated to adopt a victim mentality, whereby we must always feel pity for everyone else, even while that other person is oppressing or hurting us. These protesters' outrage is perfectly understandable if one considers that they truly empathize with those who were expelled forcefully from their homes by Ariel Sharon. To say that their reaction to the news is somehow "not Jewish" is simply wrong, and is itself the very antithesis of compassion (those who say such things do not share these people's obvious pain at the destruction of the Jewish communities in Gaza and northern Samaria).

point by point..... (A) Christian "Extremist," who "colaberated" to murder 6 000 000 Hmmmm Kate I dont know wether to laugh or cry..but I go for the Laff....lol Well now Kate you didnt mention the heathens like myself... and The Red army. ... who did much more to liberate prisoners of all religeons ...than the prissy Brits and their allies.... Well if you know something about Nazi collaberation with the Brits in order to kill Jews... maybe you should write about it...the numbers you give however are highly debateable as David Irving will soon tell all. If the Brits wanted to kill Jews they might have started with their Jewish imports like your self. Furthermore regarding us heathens who you fail to mention... maybe you can look up casualties for the Great Patriotic War and count out how many lives it took to Free those Prisoners.. MY DAD amongst them... I know every day of his life that passes... and he is now spending the last few days of his life in our Hospice at Kirkcaldy, he still gives thanks to the Red Army of Heathens that liberated his camp. But Have I ever once heard a jew give thanks for the aweful sacrificies of the Liberating armies, heathen or otherwise.... No... I am sorry , it pains me to say ..not once. All we ever get from people such as yourself is ... SHITE.

May I suggest an alternative explanation for the custom of dipping the finger in the wine at the Passover Seder? The Egyptians were very conceited. Their magicians would mimic the miracles Moses performed in the name of God (the first few plagues) and asserted that he was merely using magic like they were. However, their magic only has power over objects of a certain minimum size, unlike God's power which rules over everything; when Moses performed the Plague of Lice, the lice were too small for the Egyptian magicians to imitate the plague. They were therefore compelled to concede, "etzbah elokim hee," it is the finger of God. Even when faced with incontrovertible evidence of God's hand in their afflictions, they would not attribute more than a "finger" to Him. For this reason, we typically use our pinky finger, our smallest finger, for this custom. When we dip our finger at each Plague, it is as if to say, "You Egyptians were so arrogant that even when the evidence was right before your eyes you would only concede that it was "the finger of God." Well, even the little finger of God was enough to bring about your utter destruction and all the preceding afflictions." The custom is indeed very symbolic. However, its symbolism is quite the opposite of what the Artscroll Haggadah allegedly says it is. Sorry for ruining Pesach for all you politically-correct types out there

What, you mean that artscroll isn't min hashamayim? Seriously though, my point was that misconception or not, we are dealing with an interpretation that is a bit above kindergarten level. As far as your point about the difference between the implication for the angels and that for people, of HaShem's rebuke in the midrash, is concerned, if the injunction not to rejoice in the destruction of HaShem's creatures was only meant for the angels, what are we meant to learn from it? As to Shirat Hayam being in the liturgy, I paid particular attention when I was davening this morning and it's message seems to be the awesome power of HaShem and our appreciation at HaShem's intervention to rescue us from the Egyptians, along with that of the arrogance of man's plans being dealt with by HaShem. I am still not convinced that this means that we are at liberty to rejoice at our enemies' suffering. I accept your comment that there is no direct comparison with arabians handing out sweet when innocent Jews are murdered but I would suggest that it would be more appropraite to desire (and if it happens to rejoice in) Sharon's political defeat rather than in his physical suffering. Surely we are also required to consider the consequence of an impression that is given by our actions. For example, is this not why we would never enter a shop on Shabbat even if there is no question of our own motivation, in case someone less educated takes it as a sign that it is okay to go shopping on Shabbat. So, whilst I hope that you are correct in saying that the individuals at the concert are not encouraging terrorism, in view of the actions of Yigal Amir, it would probably have been better for them to contain any satisfaction that they felt at the news than to risk encouraging inappropriate behaviour by someone else. Anyway, it looks like we are about to drop off the bottom of the webpage. So, be well and Chanukah semeach.

Perhaps the lesson to be learned from the story of the angels is that God himself or His heavenly minions do not rejoice in the downfall of any of God's creatures. However, the fact remains that the human beings back on land were not all rebuked for their rejoicing (and in fact God was very pleased with their Shirah -- so much so that according to some opinions in Chazal (Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi), one who says az yashir in this world will merit to say it in the World to Come (Yalkut Shimoni, Psalms 888). This leads one to the conclusion that because the Jews were personally persecuted by the Egyptians, they were permitted to sing. However, the angels did not personally suffer at the Egyptians' hands and therefore were not permitted to do so. So basically, the victim is permitted to rejoice at the downfall of the victimizer, but nobody else is allowed to. This seems to be the simple meaning of the midrash which makes it clear that only the angels were stopped from rejoicing. In any case, there are alternate explanations - I recommend the Chanukat Hatorah, Parshat Beshalach, 71 (Rav Heschel Krakow), who offers a very compelling explanation of the midrash "Maasei yadai tovim bayam ve'atem omrim shirah?" - the work of my hands is drowning in the sea and you are singing praises? I will not go into his explanation here because it is beyond the scope of this talkback, but check it out if you get a chance. Also, Shemot Rabbah offers an alternate version of this midrash. Rather than "The work of my hands are drowning in the sea..." it quotes this midrash as "My legions are still in trouble, and you're singing praises?!" 'My legions' refers to Bnei Yisrael, the Jews, meaning God stopped the angels from singing because the Jews were not yet in the clear. I believe the Tanchuma, Buber edition quotes the line a little differently also: “Israel was suffering in the sea and you want to sing My praises?!” Bottom line is I think there are sufficient sources to counter the Artscroll explanation. You are correct in saying that Az Yashir is primarily focused on praising God. However, as with many of the other shirot in tanach, we are praising Him for something specific, namely victory in war or the downfall of our enemies. When we discuss the miraculous way the Egyptians die, we describe it at length-- to dismiss this obvious aspect of the shirat hayam would be intellectually dishonest. We like to focus on the positive, not the negative, so there's no reason to harp on this usually, except in this particular case to demonstrate that it is ok to be happy when evil falls -- as mishlei 11:10 says outright. As for the comment about marit ayin, you make a strong case - we do not want people to think there is a blanket heiter to rejoice in people's downfall, even while we must make it clear that there is no blanket issur, but rather there is a time and a place for everything. As for your reference to Yigal Amir, I am convinced that people will unfortunately ascribe his actions to religious Jews regardless of how much we disavow any connection to him or his philosophy. What is important is that we do not misuse the Torah to match our particular ideology, but rather we must be intellectually honest and acknowledge what the halacha is regardless of whether it is "right-wing" or "left-wing." I thank you for your well-reasoned arguments. Chanukah sameach