It is customary, when hearing of a death or bad news, to say the curtailed berakhah, "Barukh dayan ha-emet" (Blessed is the Judge of truth). For better or for worse, we understand this statement as one of condolence, i.e. "I'm sorry for your loss." However, the plain meaning is more about our submission to divine will in giving life and taking it away than our human need for comfort.
It's not a statement with which I am entirely comfortable. Usually.
In the case of the (not necessarily planned) execution of Osama bin Laden at the hands of American troops in Pakistan I can only say, Barukh dayan ha-emet. Would I have rather seen a trial of a live bin Laden at the hands of American jurisprudence? Surely. But let's go with this: God's verdict has already been made.
Rather than celebrate the death of the most notoriously successful sponsor of international terrorism, let's instead acknowledge the true Judge.
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