Bereishis/Noah - Why God Hates Hamas (חמס and حماس)

I may have taken liberties, cut corners, strayed into next week's parashah, and almost missed my deadline, but once I thought this up, I had to write it. Sadly, it will still be relevant next week.

Oct 13, 2023

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This week's Torah content has been sponsored by Ann in honor of her son, Shmuel, who is currently serving in the IDF. May Hashem protect Shmuel Rachamim ben Alter Chaim, along with all the other members of the IDF and Am Yisrael.

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Bereishis/Noah - Why God Hates Hamas (חמס and حماس)

Parashas Bereishis (Bereishis 6:1-8) ends with a description of the “descent of man.” Parashas Noach (ibid. 6:11-13) continues with God’s decision to destroy mankind:

The land had become corrupt before God, and the earth had become filled with chamas. God saw the land and behold, it was corrupted, for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the land. God said to Noach, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the land is filled with chamas through them; and behold, I am about to destroy them from the land.”

The Torah identifies two crimes for which the Generation of the Flood was culpable: hashchasah (lit. “corruption”) and chamas. Rashi (ibid. 6:11), based on textual evidence here and elsewhere, explains that hashchasah denotes gilui arayos (sexual immorality) and avodah zarah (idolatry). He defines chamas as “robbery.” Ibn Ezra (ibid.) broadens this definition to “robbery, oppression, and taking women by force.”

The question is: If the Generation of the Flood was guilty of gilui arayos, avodah zarah, and chamas, then why, in His statement to Noach, did Hashem only mention chamas? Rashi (ibid. 6:13) answers: “the verdict was only sealed because of chamas.” The original statement of Chazal (Sanhedrin 108a) paraphrased here by Rashi reads:

R’ Yochanan said: Come and see how great is the power of chamas, for the Generation of the Flood transgressed everything but the verdict wasn’t sealed for them until they extended their hand into robbery, as it is stated: “for the land has become filled with chamas before them, and behold – I shall destroy the land.”

The question is: Why was the verdict sealed on account of chamas? After all, according to Jewish law, avodah zarah and gilui arayos are liable for the death penalty and fall into the category of yehareig ve’al yaavor (mitzvos for which one must forfeit’s one’s life rather than violate). Robbery isn’t nearly that severe of a transgression!

This question is addressed by the Ramban (ibid. 6:12):

[God] gave Noach chamas as the reason for the Flood but didn’t mention the “corruption of the way,” because chamas is a sin which is obvious and well-known. Our Sages said that the verdict was sealed because of it. The reason is because it is a common-sense mitzvah and doesn’t require a prophet to warn about. Furthermore, it is evil vis a vis heaven and mankind. For this reason, He made known to Noach that it was for this sin that the end would come.

The Ramban differentiates chamas from avodah zarah and gilui arayos by saying that it is a common-sense mitzvah, but he doesn’t elaborate on why the verdict was sealed on its account. I read an explanation of this Ramban from my high school principal, Rabbi Bernie Fox, and because his write-up (Thoughts on the Parashah: Noach 5769) is so clear – and because I’m short on time! – I’ll quote it in full here, with my emphasis in bold:

Perhaps, Nachmanides’ point is not that the severity of this sin decided the generation’s fate.  He acknowledges that the other sins in which the generation engaged were at least as serious as violent theft.  However, the significance of this sin was that it demonstrated that humanity had degenerated to an extent that virtually precluded its rehabilitation.  In other words, although humanity was engaged in a variety of other depraved behaviors, these activities allowed for the possibility that humanity might realize its failings and reform itself.  Why did humanity’s involvement in violent theft indicate that repentance was no longer likely?
Repentance often depends upon a person’s ability to pursue enlightened self-interest.  In turn, this pursuit requires two steps.  First, one must recognize that sinful practices are detrimental.  Second, the person must have adequate self-control to act on this recognition and make a change in his behavior.  If a person cannot exercise this self-control even when he is aware that his sinful behavior is self-destructive, then the person will not be able to alter his behavior and repent.
Nachmanides’ premise is that although the generation of the Deluge engaged in many very serious sins, their fate was only decided when it became clear that the people were incapable of repentance and change.  This level of degeneration became evident from the people’s engagement in behaviors that were clearly self-destructive and yet, the people could not restrain themselves.  Violent theft is a self-destructive behavior of this type.  It is obvious that this behavior is self-destructive.  Once society becomes lawless and its members forcibly seize other’s property, everyone’s livelihood, security, and happiness is compromised.  No one can insulate him or herself from harm in a pervasively violent society.   Those who contribute to creating an environment of violence will, eventually, become a victim of others’ violence.  In other words, an individual’s relationship with the Creator and personal sexual behavior may be subject to theological debate, but controlling violent tendencies and working towards an orderly society involves only an appreciation of the practical necessities of society and the exercise of self-control.  Therefore, Nachmanides explains that violent theft sealed humanity’s fate.

In short, it’s not that chamas is more severe than avodah zarah and gilui arayos. Rather, chamas “sealed the verdict” because it represented a point of no return. Avodah zarah and gilui arayos are bad, but their detrimental consequences are not obvious. In contrast, chamas is evidently self-destructive, and if a society is incapable of recognizing its overt self-destructive behavior, then teshuvah is impossible and annihilation is warranted.

I have a confession to make. This is one of those instances in which the title of the article came to me before I knew what I was going to write about. Granted, “Hamas” the organization isn’t named after the Hebrew word. According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamas), the Arabic acronym is a happy accident:

Hamas is an acronym of the Arabic phrase حركة المقاومة الإسلامية or Ḥarakah al-Muqāwamah al-ʾIslāmiyyah, meaning "Islamic Resistance Movement". This acronym, HMS, was later glossed in the Hamas Covenant by the Arabic word ḥamās (حماس) which itself means "zeal", "strength", or "bravery." In Hebrew, there is a similar-sounding word, ḥāmās (חמס) connoting "violence", a phonetic resemblance that possibly helped further Israeli negative perceptions of the movement.

The situation in Israel is complex, to be sure, but at least one fact has emerged from the acts of atrocity committed on October 7, 2023 which ought to be undeniable to any sane human being: Hamas is violent beyond comprehension. These terrorists slaughtered, raped, tortured, burned, and mutilated hundreds of innocent Jews, from Holocaust survivors in their wheelchairs to babies in their cribs. In this sense, Hamas follows in the long line of antisemitic groups that have victimized Jews for millennia: the Nazis with their death camps, the Cossacks with their pogroms, the Romans, Greeks, Babylonians, and many, many more.

But in another sense, Hamas is far worse than these other groups. To my knowledge, Nazi ideology would not dictate turning against the people of Germany – but with Hamas, this is not the case. Hamas’s violence is not limited to Jews but extends to the Palestinian Arabs it allegedly serves. Hamas has no problem using Palestinian civilians as shields and pawns and depriving them of basic resources for their own political ends. Jews have known this for a long time, and have witnessed countless of examples of this since Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007 (see Stand With Us for extensive documentation). This is a different level of sickness. This is true evil.

As Rabbi Fox wrote, “Those who contribute to creating an environment of violence will, eventually, become a victim of others’ violence.” And as David ha’Melech said: “the path of the wicked will perish” (Tehilim 1:6). May Hashem swiftly and utterly annihilate Hamas and all forms of chamas from Israel and mankind.

I found three other answers for the main question in this article, but didn’t have time or space to write about them. Curious to hear if you have any other answers or thoughts!

The Rabbi Schneeweiss Substack

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