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As long as we're on this topic, I have a better question -- aren't we hypocrites for crying that the Egyptians killed us, but yet we have a Mitzvah to kill the entire nation of Amalek! That's the same as what Hitler wanted to do to us. So we have n right to complain about murders of jews if we murder other nations in cold blood as well.
When Hashem created the world, He knew that one day some time in the future, Goy so-and-so will be in danger, and that Yid so-and-so will be able to save him, and still He said not to save him because it is Shabbos.
Everyone has a “time” when his or her time in this world is up. Hashem was the one Who put that person in danger. He could have put him in danger on a weekday, or he could have arranged a way to save him without being mechalel Shabbos. Or He could have arranged for a Goy to be able to save him, instead of a Yid. If Hashem arranged a situation that someone is dying and the only way to save him is against the Halachah, that means that that person’s time in this world is up. It’s his turn to leave the world, according to Hashem’s plan.
Hashem has a plan for the world. Mostly, Hashem controls the plan Himself, making things happen the way He wants. But only “mostly”. He also gave us, human beings who posses bechirah, the privilege of being partners with Him in the running of His world. He said to us, “The world has a destiny. Every blade of grass, every human being, every snow capped mountain. And you and I, hand-in-hand, are going to make this destiny happen. I will do my part, and for you, here is the Halachah – that’s your part. This is how I want My world to run. You have the ability to help me fulfill My plan, as well as the ability to thwart My plan. As human beings created in the Image of G-d, that is your privilege. And your responsibility.”
If the Halachah says that your hamburger must be thrown out because it was cooked in a milchig broiler, then the will of Hashem is that that hamburger not be eaten by you. It is as if Hashem said to you explicitly, “Racheleah, that Hamburger is not meant for you.”
And it’s not merely “as if”. That is precisely what the Halachah is. The Halachah is a revelation of the will of G-d as He planned for each generation. And not just for each generation. For each individual in each generation, every day and under every single circumstance of his life. All wrapped up in this marvelous document called the Shulchan Aruch. Only Hashem could do that: create one set of rules that will apply everywhere, every time, every place, each according to an individual set of circumstances He always knows what he wants done in any given situation – because He created both the Law and the situation.
Imagine if you were in Shamayim with Hashem, and you witnessed a car accident. The car and its occupants are teetering over the edge of a bridge. The family in the car is scared stiff, trying not to move even a drop, lest they disrupt the delicate balance of the vehicle and plunge downward to certain death. You instinctively reach out to save them, but Hashem stops you. “No,” he says. “Their time has come to die.” Only a fool would defy G-d’s plan and save them anyway.
And that is exactly what is happening when you want to save someone and the Halachah says “no.” Hashem is saying “No. Don’t save them. Their time is up.” And if you rebel against Hashem, if you save them anyway, you are interfering with His will, with His very plan for the world.
It could be, that maybe a thousand years ago a little Yiddele went up to Shamayim after120 years, and on judgement day Hashem shows him all the horrors of Hitler’s holocaust. An accusatory voice bellows: “You did this! You killed six million Jews!”.
“What?! It’s not true!” the defendant says. “You’re lying. I couldn’t do that. Hitler doesn’t even exist for another thousand years. What does this have to do with me?”
Then they show him a recording of himself one Shabbos, years ago, where a Goy was in danger, maybe a close friend of his, and, against the Halachah, he was mechalel Shabbos to save him.
“Did you save this man?” he is asked.
“Yes, I am guilty of that, but what does that have to do with the holocaust?”
“That man was supposed to die there and then,” the tribunal answers. Because of you, he lived. That man was the great-grandfather of Adolph Hitler. Hitler was never supposed to have been born. Six million Jews were never supposed to die. Had you listened to Hashem, none of this would have happened.”
And this was the story of how Haman was born – because King Shaul refused to kill Agag, King of Amalek.
Imagine: Hashem tells the water, “Create a flood. In this-and-this place. These four people are to die. These six others are to be injured. That is part of the destiny of the world.”
But the wind answers: “No. I refuse. I don’t want those people dead.”
Of course, that cannot happen. Nothing can rebel against Hashem.
Or rather, almost nothing. The Shulchan Aruch, Racheleah, Sammy, is a Force of Nature. We, the Jews, were given the job to make the Shulchan Aruch work. The only difference between us and the Angel of Water, is that we do have the ability to be stupid enough to thwart Hashem’s plan.
People die every day. Entire nations go extinct. Nobody has a problem with that, because they know that’s nature, that’s the world, that’s destiny. What you need to understand is that Hashem runs the world through the Shulchan Aruch as well, and we Jews are guardians of His plan. Hashem could destroy Amalek with a flood, with an earthquake, or with a volcano. But He chose a different way. It’s up to us to carry it out.
There was once a Maskil (a bozo from the so-called "Enlightenment" movement) who approached Rav Yitzchok Elchonon Spector ZT"L with the following question:
A non-Jewish sailor who just came home after a year at sea, with one small bag of gold coins to support his family, accidently drops the coins. The wealthiest Jew in town finds them. Since they were lost by a Goy, the Jew is allowed to keep them. In fact, unless there is a Kiddush Hashem invovled, he may not return the coins!
The coins then all from the wealthy Jew's pocket, and in turn are found by a homeless, destitute Jew. The poor man is obligated to return the coins to the wealthy Jewish landowner!
"How is this fair????" the maskil asked.
Rav Yitzchok Elchonon answered, "What would you say if you saw a giant hand come out of the sky, and take that bag of coins from the Goy and give them to the wealthy Jew. Would you have a problem with that?"
His point was obvious. The Halachah represents the Will of Hashem. We just make it happen.
The difference between what Hitler did to us vs. what we do to Amalek is, is that they are opposites. Hashem’s message to Hitler, through the seven Mitzvos of Bnei Noach was, “The Jews’ time is not up yet. I want them to live.” Hitler ruined Hashem’s plan. Hashem’s message to us is, “Amalek’s time is up. That’s the way the way the world works. If you don’t do My work here, it won’t get done.”
