Monday, March 18, 2024

חוזרים לעזה !!!

צרכי רבים

 


Talmudic Methodology: What Is The Crime Of Eidim Zommemin

 HERE!!!

National Brotherhood Week

Arba Amos

R' Moshe quoted the teaching of Chazal that since the Churban Beis Hamikdash, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is found only in the four amos of halachah. “Four amos,” Reb Moshe remarked to a talmid, “is the space occupied by a single person, mekomo shel adam. Hashem and His Torah and the person, alone. Otherwise, if it’s eight amos, זה כבר מפלגה, it’s already a political party.”

All The Answers??

One of the victims of the massacre at the Nova dance party was a boy who grew up Charedi [there were actually about 20 or so such people there]. His father explained that his son told him that he wants to do Teshuva and come back ..... after he finds ALL of the answers.

Sweet friends - if a person waits to keep mitzvos until he has all of the answers then he will never be religious. We will NEVER have all of the answers in this world. Only at the end of days. 

In the meantime we keep mitzvos knowing that there ARE answers to all of the questions. We just don't know them.   

There are ample reasons for a rational person to believe in Hashem and Torah w/o having to understand everything. Being מחלל שבת and contaminating and poisoning one's eyes, ears, mind and soul with Internet shmutz does not provide one answers. 

Confused/ Conscripting Yeshiva Bochrim

One of the popular Internet lecturers who is a strong Zionist likes to say that all Charedim have to enlist in the army b/c it is a מלחמת מצוה so הבא להרגך השכם להרגו - as if the obligation to fight in a מלחמת מצוה stems from the rule of השכם להרגו. 

He is confusing two completely separate issues. One issue is מלחמת מצוה. A completely separate issue is הבא להרגך השכם להרגו. The former is a Halacha that relates to the community as a whole. The latter relates to an individual. 

If there is such a concept as מלחמת מצוה in our days is questionable given that one needs a מלך [apparently - see רמב"ם הלכות מלכים ומלחמותיהם ה-א] in order to wage such a war. We don't have a מלך. That is a big question which is beyond the scope of this post. Thankfully, there is *someone* who has dozens and dozens of very very in depth shiurim on the Rambam Hilchos Melachim Umilchamoseihem which you can listen to. Most people are ignorant about the intricacies of these Halachos which sadly doesn't stop them from expressing opinions about it. Like Corona. So many opinions - so little knowledge.  

הבא להרגך השכם להרגו means that if someone is attacking you - kill him first. The average citizen is not being attacked so that would not apply. In all of the literature about the mitzva to wage wars, we don't see the poskim invoking the rule of השכם להרגו [or if they do it is rare]. [It is not clear that השכם להרגו is a mitzva as much as it is a רשות. The right to self defense]. 

There IS an issue of לא תעמוד על דם רעך which requires one to protect the lives of other Jews which would apply here. That is certainly a mitzva and a big one at that. 

This same lecturer also brought a definitive proof [in his biased mind] that Yeshiva students must serve b/c a מלאך was critical of Yehoshua for not learning during a break from battle [מגילה ג]. How does that prove that Yeshiva boys must leave Yeshiva and go to the army? Of course it doesn't. 

The Rambam at the end of שמיטה ויובל which is marshalled as a proof that Yeshiva boys need not serve in the army is also not a proof. If the Rambam held that way - why doesn't he tell us in the place where it belongs - הלכות מלכים? He also ends sections with Agada and not Halacha which is what he did here. [And for other reasons as well it is not a proof].

So should Yeshiva boys all leave Yeshiva and go serve? 

As I have written in the past - this is a question for Gedolei Olam and not for anyone who can click on a source sheet from Sefaria. The difficulty is not in accessing sources but in properly understanding them and applying them to our reality. וד"ל.