We are all familiar with the policy of eliminating terrorists, especially the big ones, the arch-terrorists, those who orchestrated the terrible events of October 7th. It is done quietly, without telling anybody. It does not need to be announced who was behind the job. This is how Israel normally conducts its operations: whenever such people are eliminated, it is usually done without a word, kept in the dark, kept secret.
Moshe Looks to the Right and to the Left
We find this in our Parashat Shemot. Moshe Rabbeinu sees a murderer, somebody who has just killed a Jew. He goes out to the field and finds him. Moshe Rabbeinu looks to the right, looks to the left, sees that there is nobody there, and then he takes care of him and eliminates him: וַיִּפֶן כֹּה וָכֹה וַיַּרְא כִּי אֵין אִישׁ וַיַּךְ אֶת הַמִּצְרִי וַיִּטְמְנֵהוּ בַּחוֹל (Shemot 2:12). Nobody needs to know about it. In the end it became known that it was Moshe Rabbeinu, but he took every precaution to make sure that nobody would know it was him. And this is the way Israel conducts its operations against those arch-terrorists.
Pinchas Does the Opposite
But when it comes to a chilul Hashem, we find another way of doing things, and that is Pinchas. When Pinchas kills Kozbi bat Tzur and Zimri ben Salu while they are in the middle of the aveira, he takes them up on his spear and shows them to everybody (Bamidbar 25:7–8). Why? Because when we are dealing with an aveira that caused a chilul Hashem, you have to do the opposite: show everybody that it is not worthwhile to commit such an aveira. The act of Pinchas was an act of kiddush Hashem, done openly and deliberately, to wipe away and erase the chilul Hashem that had just taken place.
When you eliminate a terrorist as part of the conduct of war, however, you do it without telling anybody. This is how things are done today, and it is good that this is the way it is done.
Based on Rabbi Shay Tahan’s class “Shemot. The Policy Of Eliminating Terrorists & Keeping It Under The Radar” (Parashat Shemot): watch the class.
