You all know the
allegory about the boat for “kol Yisroel areivim zeh l’zeh,” right? We have to
worry about what other people are doing for the same reason we have to worry if
we’re in a boat and someone is drilling a hole under their seat. If water comes
into the boat through their hole, the boat sinks and we all drown. And so too,
if another person is doing aveiros, we’ll all suffer.
During WWI Germany
invaded Belgium as part of the Schlieffen Plan, which called for the German
army to quickly reach the sea and then swing through France like a closing
door. The German government told the Belgians that they had no interest in
Belgium itself. All they wanted was to pass through the country. If the
Belgians let them pass, they would leave the Belgians unmolested. Belgium
refused. Germany crushed the Belgian army in a month, and occupied the country.
But Belgian resistance didn’t end. Belgian civilians took potshots at German
soldiers as they walked through the streets of towns and cities. The situation
was untenable for the Germans, so they imposed harsh measures. For every German
soldier who was shot, they would round up ten Belgians at random from that town
or neighborhood –men, women, and children - and execute them.
After all, if one Belgian
drills a hole under their seat, the boat sinks and they all drown.
The world called
the German’s draconian measures “The rape of Belgium,” and it inspired
propaganda posters like these.
Were the Germans wrong for subjecting the Belgians to collective punishment for individual's actions? If you think they were - as most people did and do - then so too, God subjecting Klal Yisroel to collective punishment for individual's aveiros.
