Toras Kohanim delineates between chut and tbua in that the soneih is an enemy from within, while the oyeiv is an external enemy. We will fall prey to the bitter hatred of our internal enemies, those who despise the Torah way of life, who blame our nation’s sorry state of affairs upon those faithful to the Torah, rather than upon those who have totally defected from the Torah way of life. The schism created by these misguided Jews grows to the point that our external enemies use it as an opportunity for increased antagonism. It is hard to accept the fact that one’s affliction has been internally catalyzed. What greater persecution can there be than one which is the product of a brother’s hatred?
From the beginning of our history, the enmity of brother to brother, of Jew to fellow Jew, has been our most serious problem. The Torah Shelimah cites a striking Yalkut which addresses the dialogue that ensued when Yosef took Shimon prisoner. When Yosef was about to arrest Shimon, the other brothers wanted to intervene. Shimon told them to retreat; he would be able to handle the problem alone. Yosef dispatched seventy Egyptian soldiers to take Shimon into custody. Shimon gave forth a loud scream which overpowered the soldiers and knocked out their teeth. Yosef thereupon sent his son Menashe with instructions to place a steel chain around Shimon’s neck. Menashe struck Shimon once, afterwards placing the chain on Shimon. Menashe’s action seemed effective. As Shimon submitted to his incarceration, he exclaimed, “This blow is from my father’s home.” Simply, Shimon was attributing his punishment to his father’s home, a reference to his lack of respect for his father. Horav Chaim Pardes, Shlita, suggests that Shimon was intimating that Menashe’s blow was greater and more penetrating because it came from his “father’s” home – a member of his own family. The pain incurred by a brother is more devastating than that brought on by seventy Egyptians. The pain inflicted by a Jew, a brother, is harder to swallow than the blows of gentiles.
In Sefer Shemos (2:11), Moshe saw an Egyptian striking a Jew. The Torah says, “And he (Moshe) saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man, of his brethren.” The word uhjtn of his brethren, seems redundant. Would it not have sufficed to say “a Hebrew man;” obviously he was one of his brethren. The Mahril Diskin, zl, offers a penetrating response. Moshe was concerned not as much by the single Egyptian striking the Jew, as much as the fact that Jew was among his brethren. He was surrounded by Jews all around, and no one seemed to notice that an Egyptian was beating him! This is what hurt Moshe. How can Jews look on complacently while a gentile is humiliating and beating one of their own? Is this considered Jewish sensitivity, or is it blatant indifference to the plight of our fellow man? How often do we turn aside and pretend to be ignorant while our brethren are being vilified and scorned by gentiles and — even worse — other Jews? Iyov turned away and remained silent when Pharaoh made his decree to enslave the Jews. Hashem punished him with terrible afflictions for his silence. Perhaps we should ponder this idea. Do we sit idly while Torah leadership is disparaged publicly by those who refuse to accept their criticism? Must we suffer pain and sorrow before we wake up and realize that silence is not always golden? Let us learn to cry out at the appropriate time.
