For the source text click/tap here: Sanhedrin 103
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Of the things that the bad Jewish kings used to do, Menasheh scratched out the names of God from Torah scrolls and replaced them with different pagan deities, he also tore down the altar in the Temple; Amon burned the Torah and prohibited the bringing of sacrifice. Menasheh had relations with his sister, but Amon had relations with his mother, as it states, “Amon did ever eviller.” His mother asked him, “Can you have any pleasure from the source from which you issued?” He answered, “Am I doing this for any purpose other than to vex my Creator?”
We explore the death of Avner by yoav as well as notions of divine compassion vs justice issuing from these pages in Chelek and finally an essay on the yahrzeit of my father and father in law as to whether Rashi chose midrashim with a theological intent to explain the long suffering of Am Yisrael in galut.