The Righteous Knows His Beast and the Cruel Counsel of the Tyrants

"And an ox or a sheep, it and its young" (Leviticus 22:28). Rabbi Berekhiah in the name of Rabbi Levi: It is written, "A righteous man knows the soul of his beast, but the mercies of the wicked are cruel" (Proverbs 12:10). "A righteous man knows the soul of his beast": this is the Holy One, blessed be He, who wrote in His Torah and said, "You shall not take the mother with the young" (Deuteronomy 22:6). "But the mercies of the wicked are cruel": this is Sennacherib the wicked, of whom it is written, "The mother was dashed in pieces upon her children" (Hosea 10:14). Another interpretation: "A righteous man knows the soul of his beast": this is the Holy One, blessed be He, who wrote in His Torah and said, "And an ox or a sheep, it and its young you shall not slaughter on one day" (Leviticus 22:28). "But the mercies of the wicked are cruel": this is Haman the wicked, of whom it is written, "to destroy, to slay, and to annihilate all the Jews, young and old, children and women, on one day" (Esther 3:13). Rabbi Levi said: Woe to the wicked who busy themselves with evil counsels against Israel, each one saying, My counsel is better than yours. Esau said: Cain was a fool, for he killed his brother in his father's lifetime, and did not know that his father would still be fruitful and multiply. I will not do so, but rather, "Let the days of mourning for my father draw near, and I will kill my brother Jacob" (Genesis 27:41). Pharaoh said: Esau was a fool for saying, "Let the days of mourning for my father draw near," and did not know that his brother was being fruitful and multiplying in his father's lifetime. I will not do so, but rather while they are little under their mothers' wombs I will strangle them, as it is written, "Every son that is born you shall cast into the river" (Exodus 1:22). Haman said: Pharaoh was a fool for saying, "Every son that is born you shall cast into the river, but every daughter you shall let live" (ibid.), and did not know that the daughters would marry men and be fruitful and multiply. I will not do so, but rather, "to destroy, to slay, and to annihilate all the Jews, young and old, children and women, on one day" (Esther 3:13). Rabbi Levi said: Even Gog in the future to come is destined to say so: The earlier ones were fools who busied themselves with evil counsels against Israel, and did not know that they have a Patron in heaven. I will not do so, but rather first I will engage their Patron in battle, and afterward I will engage them, as it is written, "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His anointed" (Psalms 2:2). The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: Wicked one, you have come to engage Me in battle? By your life, I will make war with you, as it is written, "The LORD goes forth like a warrior, He stirs up His zeal like a man of war" (Isaiah 42:13), and "Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations" (Zechariah 14:3).