{"id":89499,"date":"2021-02-27T22:46:49","date_gmt":"2021-02-27T20:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=89499"},"modified":"2021-03-01T16:37:45","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T14:37:45","slug":"learning-from-our-enemies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/learning-from-our-enemies\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning From Our Enemies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u05de\u05b5\u05d0\u05b9\u05d9\u05b0\u05d1\u05b7\u05d9 \u05ea\u05bc\u05b0\u05d7\u05b7\u05db\u05bc\u05b0\u05de\u05b5\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9 \u05de\u05b4\u05e6\u05b0\u05d5\u05ba\u05ea\u05b6\u05da\u05b8 \u05db\u05bc\u05b4\u05d9 \u05dc\u05b0\u05e2\u05d5\u05b9\u05dc\u05b8\u05dd \u05d4\u05b4\u05d9\u05d0\u05be\u05dc\u05b4\u05d9\u05c3<\/span><\/p>\n

Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies; they always stand by me<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span>This verse is often translated as: \u201c<\/span>Your commandments have made me wiser than my enemies; for they are always with me<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

However, its better-known partner, verse 99, is taken out of its usual translation \u201c<\/span>I have more understanding than all my teachers<\/span>\u201d to famously mean instead \u201c<\/span>I have learned from all of my teachers<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTeachers\u201d is expanded to mean anyone. See Ben Zoma, Pirkei Avot 4:1, <\/span>Who is wise<\/span>? One who learns from all, citing Psalm 119:99 \u201c<\/span>mikol melamdai hiskalti<\/span><\/em>\u201d <\/span><\/i>as prooftext.<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, verse 98\u2019s beginning \u201c<\/span>me-oyvai tehakmeni mitzvotecha<\/span><\/em>\u201d may be rendered instead as \u201c<\/span>Teach me the wisdom of your commandments from my enemies<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To learn wisdom from one\u2019s enemies? A challenging proposition indeed. Congresswoman Mary Miller recently stirred controversy by stating that Hitler was right about one thing: that \u201cwhoever has the youth has the future\u201d. Orthodox Rabbi Moshe Parnes<\/span> backed her position<\/span><\/a>, arguing \u201cit is common in Jewish thought to learn lessons from our enemies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, we do find one interesting example of this on Rosh Hashanah. The Talmud informs us that we learn the types of shofar blasts to blow on this awe-filled holy day from none other than the mother of Sisera \u2013 an enemy general in the book of Judges! This becomes even more astonishing when we realize we could have learned it from Sarah instead. For my article on this puzzle, see<\/span> here<\/span><\/a>. We learn how to serve God from an enemy; and, I suggest there, not just the technical side of things but even the spiritual side.<\/span><\/p>\n

Are there other examples? As the rabbis say, <\/span>for the rest, go and study<\/span>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","image":false,"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"\u05de","main_caption":"Learning From Our Enemies","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"98. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies; they always stand by me","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":false,"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89499"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89499"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89683,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89499\/revisions\/89683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}