לזכות רפואת יוכבד פייגע בת מיכל יהודית בתיה בתוך שח"י!!!!
My neighborhood is 100 percent "Charedi". Where I went for Shabbos - it was a mix of "Charedi" and "Modern" ["MO"]. Here was the breakdown. In the "Charedi" shuls - it was freestyle. Masks or no masks, vaccinated or unvaccinated. Everyone was invited. In the MO shul [where I davened Friday night] there was a sign saying that if you have not been vaccinated and don't have Covid antibodies - please don't enter. Once you were in - EVERYONE had to wear a mask.
This is something I have been trying to wrap my head around for the last year and a half: Why is it that in the more modern places people are more careful while in the frummer places less so if at all? [It goes w/o saying that this is in general. There are PLENTY of Charedim who are very careful and plenty of MO people who are not. On Shabbos in shul I saw an older Charedi man give a mask to a very modern looking young fellow - who refused to don it...]. Since guarding one's health is a RELIGIOUS precept, shouldn't people who are stricter abt. religion be more vigilant? Rav Chaim Brisker explained that his extreme Halachic leniences in life threatening cases were not b/c he takes Shabbos lightly but b/c he takes Pikuach Nefesh seriously!!! HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS of frum Jews have died from this [not to mention the countless thousands who got sick]. A large number of them either ignored health regulations themselves or the people around them did. Corona is not lightening. It doesn't fall down magically from the sky. One human being ALWAYS infects another one [barring the first china-man who either got it from eating a bat, in the Wuhan lab - or from eating spoiled pizza with chopsticks]. It is axiomatic that if people were more careful, some of these people would still be alive. So who killed the Novominsker Rebbe [who was very careful about keeping the health regulations]? Who killed Rav Dovid Soloveitchik? Who caused Rabbi Yudi Dukes indescribable suffering for months until he left his young wife a widow and his children orphans? SOMEONE DID and Hashem knows who the culprit is. I wouldn't want to be him.
In this weeks Parsha ["Shoftim" - for those who don't know b/c they are honored members of the Kiddush club😀😅] we read numerous times about the value of human life.
1] In order to give a person capital punishment there must be at least two kosher witnesses [and forewarning - התראה - and acceptance of the death penalty within seconds before committing the crime]. A Beis Din that killed once in 70 years is called a killer Beis Din!!! Too many preconditions before executing someone - sinful and evil as he may be.
2] We set up cities of refuge for ACCIDENTAL murderers "so that innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land which Hashem your God, gives you for an inheritance which would deem you guilty of [having shed this] blood". If someone PURPOSELY kills, he is killed.
3] When entering EY we first call out to our enemies with PEACE. We would prefer not to kill.... [This is a broad topic maybe for another time].
4] We also read about the corpse found in between two cities where we don't know who killed him - the Parsha of Eglah Arufah. There it says: And they shall announce and say, "Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see [this crime]. Atone for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, Hashem, and lay not [the guilt of] innocent blood among your people Israel." And [so] the blood shall be atoned for them. And you shall abolish the [shedding of] innocent blood from among you, for you shall do what is proper in the eyes of the Hashem."
The Mishna famously says that saving ONE LIFE [of any human being as is clear from the context of the Mishna talking about אדם הראשון who apparently was not Jewish....] is like saving an entire world!!!
So why is it often the frummest who are the most lax - especially given the fact that when frum people get sick w/ other illnesses רח"ל לא עלינו they get the BEST doctors anywhere in the world?? An unsolved almost inexplicable conundrum!!!
One note: Rav Yisrael Salanter and in his footsteps many of the Baalei Mussar decried the emphasis on ritual matters vs. the ignoring of non-ritual matters. So if you want to make sure your food is kosher then eat at the house of someone Charedi. We are very strict abt. Hechsherim. Mehudar arba minnim - Charedim are the people who are most careful. Many of them spend hours and hours looking for that PERFECT Esrog!!
But when it comes to honesty - are Charedim more honest than MO? Sometimes yes - sometimes no. Do people say "He keeps zman Rabbeinu Tam - he would NEVER cheat in business". We don't really see a connection between the two. There are PLENTY of people who are makpid on zman Rabbeinu Tam [and wear an extra pair of his tfillin as well] who cheat. Are Charedim warmer people that non-Charedi Jews? Some yes, some not. But nobody connects wearing a black hat with being an especially nice guy. I have met Gentiles who were much better human beings than some yeshiva graduates I know. Sadly, we all know this to be true. [Of course there are many yeshiva graduates who are much better human beings than any Gentiles].
In the magical words of the Rav ztz"l that I am fond of quoting:
So to be a good Jew is not JUST about having a perfect square tefillin boxes, wearing [or not wearing] tcheiles on your tzitzis and having a mechitza higher than the ceiling of the shul. Being a good Jew means smiling and saying good morning to everyone you pass by [it is a Mishna in Avos, twice - הוי מקדים שלום לכל אדם and הוי מקבל כל אדם בסבר פנים יפות], being honest in business and guarding one's health. Same Torah. Every Goy must honor his parents [as we see from the end of the first perek of Kiddushin] b/c to refrain from doing so makes one a subhuman ingrate. To be a Torah Jew means that one should be even MORE careful [sometimes even at the expense of other mitzvos like learning Torah and Tfillah Bi-tzibbur when necessary].
Somehow there is a disconnect between the ritual and non-ritual aspects of the Torah. And that is yet ANOTHER reason why we need to learn mussar and hear mussar shmuessen from people whom we respect in order to CONSTANTLY be mindful of our behavior in all areas of life.MISHLEI [4-13]:
