“Following the Israelites’ escape from Egypt at the Sea of Reeds, the ministering angels began to sing, but the Holy One interrupted them, stating, ‘My Creations [the Egyptians] are drowning in the sea, and you want to sing?’”
— BT Megillah 10B
This midrash, recited each year during the reading of the Passover Haggadah, reminds us of the immeasurable value that Judaism places upon human life. According to the sages, even the most infamous oppressors of the Israelites deserve human dignity in defeat.
Unfortunately, in a world prone to casting every action as a moral referendum, it becomes too easy to dehumanize our adversaries. After all, if we consider our cause morally just (which we typically do!), then anyone who opposes our cause must, therefore, be morally unjust.
However, this is a blatant and, often pernicious, misrepresentation. People and civilizations remain incalculably complex. Disagreement on a certain topic, even one of grave significance, typically does not render someone morally unjust. Furthermore, based solely upon their alleged moral inferiority, people are routinely denied basic human dignity, resulting in tragic atrocities, such as the Hamas attacks of October 7. Ironically, our moral certitude often leads directly to morally bankrupt choices.
If we are to honor the teachings of our tradition, then we cannot imitate those who would deny us basic human dignity. Rather, we must acknowledge the humanity we share with our ideological and even martial adversaries.
Acknowledging the humanity of our opponents does not preclude us from advancing the causes we deem morally just, even when that means waging war on behalf of those causes. However, it prohibits us from trivializing the suffering borne by those who oppose us or celebrating their demise.
— Rabbi Josh Knobel