New Article - Introspection - Honesty

This past weeks article on the parsha, here. This week the topic was - War in Halacha in our day and age.

An interesting highlight: After Rav Hutner's plane was kidnapped in 1970 by Arab terrorists [Arab terrorists?? Noooo!!!!!] on his way back from Israel to the U.S., his talmidim wanted to ransom him for a huge amount of money. Some rabbonim held that since the prohibition against ransoming captives for excessive amounts of money doesn't apply to gedolei Torah, it would be correct to ransom Rav Hutner.

Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky argued that since we are war with the Arabs, we can't give them money. One doesn't fund the enemy..... His chiddush is that he defined Israel as being in a perpetual state of war and this stance was adopted by Rav Schachter [see B'ikvei Hatzon 42].

I also cite sources discussing the permissibility of killing innocent civilians at war and other germane issues.

The post script to the article [which is printed and distributed here in the neighborhood] is that I received a phone call from a talmid chochom explaining to me that the article should not have been written. For us Charedi Yidden, there is no Army or State. They are rebelling against Hashem and his Torah and thus we cannot discuss what the halacha says about these institutions which we wish didn't exist. I shouldn't write about such things and in the future I must consult with other people as to what I may write about.

I argued that, for example, Rav X, an acknowledged gadol, was extensively quoted in the article and actually wrote three sefarim on how a Jewish state and Army should be run according to halacha. He explained to me that this gadol was in fact ignored for decades because he wrote those books. One may not discuss army and State in Halacha. This gadol just didn't get it [in this person's opinion] and was off!

I should have also asked him about the other rabbonim I quoted: Rav Ovadiah Yosef, Rav Asher Weiss, Rav Zevin [editor of the Encyclopedia Talmudit], Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky and others. Are they ALSO not Charedi enough and have incorrect hashkafos??

In fact, the person who called me was expressing the position of the Brisker Rov. As Rav Soloveitchik said in his famous eulogy [Bi-sod Hayachid Viha-echad P. 241], his uncle wasn't against the State. He just found no halachic category to place it in, so therefore it wasn't relevant for him. However, many other gedolim differed and did talk about the State and Army from a halachic perspective. Rav Moshe Feinstein ruled that one need not rip kriyah when he sees Yerushalayim [not Har Habayis] because it is under Jewish [albeit secular] rule. This person [whom I like very much and is a huge talmid chochom] was sure that his position was the only true Torah position. I am at a loss as to how he can disregard the approach of so many others.

My experience is that people, especially in hashakafic matters, are never wrong. They have their minds made up and there is nothing else to discuss. They just need an audience to proclaim true dvar Hashem.

This attitude of being so sure of yourself is one I encounter in all walks of life and it causes me no small amount of anguish. People just KNOW.

Feminists are SURE that you must change halacha and allow women to take a more active Mahariti type role.

Modern Orthodox people are SURE that Charedim are a bunch of close minded fanatics who don't keep the Torah properly because they don't attend college and the men don't go to work [from their perspective].

Charedim are SURE that the entire non-Charedi world is just filled with wayward Jews who have no concept of what it means to be Jewish. The entire Dati Leumi world in Israel and YU world in America are at best tinokos she-nishbu, misguided non-believers, and at worst, purposeful rebels against the Torah.

Even within the Charedi world so many groups are SURE that their way is THE way and everyone else is just living a mistake. For Chabad-niks - you HAVE to be Chabad. That is the emes. The Rebbe is Moshiach and until you understand that they will learn Tanya with you .... A litvack thinks that a chossid is a nebuch am ha-aretz while a chossid looks at the clean shaven litvishe boy and thinks that he is modern [not a good word...].

The EMES as I see it is that EVERY GROUP has something we can all learn from and that the true ems is not with one particular group. Some have more emes and less sheker, while other have more sheker and less emes but there is something positive everywhere. It is very hard for people to see that. The rhetoric is so harsh at all ends of the spectrum that it is rare to meet a person who just wants the pure unadulterated truth and is not interested in proving how correct his lifestyle is.

Bloggers, are sure of themselves. They speak oceanfuls of lashon hara and say "We are just protecting abused people". Maybe, maybe not. Maybe you just love gossip? Maybe you get pleasure from publicly humiliating people? Others cover up for abusers and say "Lashon hara. One may not speak". Really?? When people are destroying countless lives of innocent people?

People express opinions that are so uneducated. I have been learning for over 25 years quite seriously. I hear young people who don't know ONE MASECHTA properly, who have little background in the classics of our tradition and haven't even heard of many of our important sfarim who are suddenly big meivinim when it comes to a popular halachic issue or hashkafic question. Don't you know, an 18 year old boy will explain, the correct Torah way is to serve in Hesder! Ahhhh, you understand what the Chazon Ish, an incredible mind who invested decades in a relentless quest for truth and indefatigable Torah study didn't understand. HUMILITY!

Hallel!! If one doesn't say Hallel on Yom Ha-atzmaut he is not grateful to Hashem. Rav Shach didn't get it. If he would have listened to me then I would have set him on the straight path.
 Rav Shach - almost 100 year of intense Torah study under the most trying conditions but a 21 year old kid who has never gone hungry a day in his life is the true purveyor of Torah values.

Sweetest friends!! Let us open our minds to our fallibility, to our smallness, to our narrow horizens and let us connect to those true tzadikim who saw vast worlds of light before them.

The same applies in relationships. People are SURE that they are right. It is my wife's fault, my kids, my employer etc. etc. Don't you know how imperfect you are? Don't you know that you quite possibly unknowingly [and maybe knowingly] inflict a great deal of pain on others. How often do you take account of who you really are, what your strength's and weaknesses are and how you are making a tikkun on your neshama? We love to feel positive about ourselves and are thus afraid to engage in some HEALTHY introspection. How much do we really think about other people? How devoted are we to our friends or do we just have friends for our own benefit? How often do we ignore phone calls , emails or texts even though we know that the other person is waiting for an answer? How often do we say things that we don't mean ["I'll be in touch", "I will send a check"]? How much effort do we expend trying to make impressions on others while we remain empty inside? How much time do we waste? How much is Hashem an active presence in our daily lives?

Tough questions. But there is no better time to ask them than in Elul....:-)