Folk Story – Jewish

Nationality: Jewish
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Houston, TX
Performance Date: April 27, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Japanese

“After the Exodus when the Red Sea folds in on itself and restores itself to normal; the Hebrew people who have just been saved and are celebrating on the banks of the river. And, it said that in heaven, the angels joined in and celebrated and danced and sang, until god asks them how they can be rejoicing when they have seen the slaughter of thousands of his creations, his beloved Egyptians.”

Andrew said that he heard this story from his rabbi, but doesn’t recall there being any special context or reason for why the story was told. To Andrew, the story means that God loves all his creations. He said that just because someone has done wrong or you don’t like them, it doesn’t mean their life isn’t valuable. Andrew said that he would sum up the meaning of the story with, “Love thine enemy and life is precious.” I agree with Andrew as to the meaning of the story. But, while I do think one message is that all life is precious and that just because someone has done something wrong doesn’t mean their life isn’t valuable, I do think there is another message. According to the story, God questioned the Angels as to why they were rejoicing when they had seen people being slaughtered. I feel like the story is also saying that we shouldn’t take pleasure in anyone’s pain, or in anyone’s demise.