In a message dated 11/2/2007 12:04:21 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, Shafran@agudathisrael.org writes:
Thank you for your e-mail. Attached is an essay that might be of interest. Shabbat Shalom,
AS
Dear Rabbi Shafran, avm"sh
Shavua Tov! Thank you for responding. What I understand from this article, see below, is that you are saying that the decision of Silence by the chosen Zekainim, elders, of Agudath Yisroel of America might be the right plan of action and that we in our limited understanding think we understand the best solution but in reality the solution that seems the most illogical is truly the best solution. Therefore, let us follow our Zekainim who are the real experts and know best and not second guess their direction even if it doesn't seem logical. The Moshol (analogy) was a lesson from Smokey, see below. If this analysis is incorrect please correct me.
The following scenarios will present situations when following the Zekainim or those considered the most wise led to disaster.
I will tell you a true story. A Chassidic Rebbe's granddaughter, (1 or 2 year old) finger got hurt badly. A cabinet fell on it or something. They went to their doctor who bandaged it and told the parents not to take off the bandage and to come back in a week. After a few days the child was crying and the mother called the doctor. The doctor told her I told you to come back in a week. She asked him maybe you should check it out. He told her it's not necessary. Again, she called and the doctor got annoyed that she was questioning his expertise. The next day or so was Yom Tov and the father and grandfather saw that the child was in terrible pain. The Rebbe asked one of his baalebatim who was a dentist what he would suggest. He suggested sending the child to his friend who was a PA in emergency medicine. The Pa took one look at the finger and sent her to the ER. Apparently the doctor bandaged the wound too tightly and the baby was in danger of losing the finger. B"h they just in time managed to save almost all of the finger.
Was it ok to second guess the first doctor? The doctor should be grateful that he won't be sued for malpractice.
I hear you saying that this is not a good analogy since our Zakeinim (elders) are not arrogant like that doctor was.
Still, are we allowed to put our complete faith in human beings. Do we disregard the words of the Torah and put all of our faith in the Zakeinim? What's with the Torah Commandment "Lo Yehiyeh Lachem Elokim Acharim Al Panei". We are not allowed to have other Gods. Do we follow the halacha, rulings of a Zakein, elder, even if it seems to contradict Torah Shebichtav, the written Torah? Isn't it possible to have halacha, Torah Shebaal Peh, oral law, not be based unfortunately, on Torah Shebichtav, the written law?
History has shown that Zekainim, elders have been wrong. The root of this is the Chait Miraglim which is the root cause of Lashon Hara. slander. The Meraglim, spies, were the elder and wise leaders of their generation. They discouraged going into Eretz Yisroel, the Land of Israel. Is it coincidence that Gush Katif fell out on Tisha Baav the yahrzeit of the Chait Hamiraglim, sin of the Spies.
I have heard many say that today is once again 1938 Germany. In 1937, Moetzes Gedoilei Yisroel, the rabbinic sages, met in Merianbad. There was one person they did not allow to speak. That was Zev Jabotinsky who tried to warn them of Hitler Y"M. The Gedoilim, Sages, chose to stay in Europe rather than go to E"Y and deal with the secular Zionists. Rather than be proactive and proclaim that after 2,000 years Hashem is giving us back Eretz Yisroel, and we want a Torah State, they instead said Moshiach hasn't come and the secular Zionists aren't Torah Jews. It's not the time to go to Israel. After all, the Secular Zionist believe that Eretz Yisroel is the whole Emes. truth, and the rest of Torah is not necessary. The anti Zionist Chareidi Jews apparently convinced themselves that Torah can be observed Mehadrin without Eretz Yisroel. So rather than returning to Eretz Yisroel now that they have the opportunity to actualize their daily prayers and supplications, they said that Eretz Yisroel is a Treif. not Kosher, State, and the loyal followers of these Zekainim , elders, instead went to Aushwitz etc. Millions of them perished in the Holocaust. P.S. I am a child of Holocaust survivors,
Again how can we ignore the Torah that says if we keep the Mitzvah of Shemittah then there will be peace and prosperity. Hashem is true to keep His promises. Apparently the way we keep Shemittah isn't good enough. The Torah is eternal and relevant. If you answer that Shemittah is only D'Rabbanan, then the question is even so, we are experiencing great security threats. Let's try harder to reexamine how we keep Shemittah. Are the halachos of Shemittah consistent with the spirit of Shabbos? Isn't Shemittah a year of eating the food of Davka, especially, Eretz Yisroel, Kedushat Shviit, sanctity of the seventh year? Why is the Halacha of Chareidim to buy from Arabs, empowering those that wish to destroy us? Why is there a plastic separating the earth of Eretz Yisroel and imported earth? How is there now access to the earth of Eretz Yisroel with Kedushat Shviis? Why is there the loophole of Pruzbul(regarding release of loans)? Why do our Sages not allow all wild grown vegetables or flowers based on the fact that we can't trust our fellow Jew because he is weak in faith (Sefichin)? Were is the spirit of Shabbos and sharing. Why are prices outrageous when it should all be free? Aren't all these halachic takanot, corrections a result of weakness and not of strength? Aren't they the result of Galus and were the solutions in a society that were unworthy of being in Eretz Yisroel? Doesn't our generation seem to be the generation of Gog and Magog? Apparently, we must strive to be even greater than the generation of the Midbar, the desert. We must yearn to conquer Eretz Yisroel and yearn to keep all the Mitzvoth in Eretz Yisroel.
When the government of Israel clearly come out with policies that are against the Torah, the Sages have been silent. They say unfortunately, Moshiach hasn't come and in the meanwhile let's all say Tehillim. They say that it's not our place to speak out. We must not anger the Goyim.
My question to the Zekainim is where is the yearning and desire to keep Mitzvoth in Eretz Yisroel? Why is it necessary for Moshiach to be revealed in order to have a Land based on Torah? When the Jews went into E"Y they were first led by Yehoshua of Shevet Efraim, the tribe of Efraim, and then by the Shoftim, judges of different Shevatim, tribes, and then by Shmuel. In fact they demanded a king prematurely. They lived in E"Y with Hashem's approval w/o a leader from Malchus Beis Dovid, the kingdom of Dovid. Their main sin was not to rid the Land of Avoda Zara, idol worship and successfully conquer the Canaanite Nations. Those parts of Eretz Yisroel left unconquered became thorns in our sides and they in turn persecuted Am Yisroel. Instead of subjugating them and eliminating them from the Land they instead showed us how we were supposed to effectively deal with them. That is Torah even if it sounds racist. Ahmadinajad brings G-d into the picture unabashedly. When we are afraid to bring G-d into the picture, we are forced to fight an evil force by confronting our religion in order to fight this foreign religion. This is a war of religions. (See Economist, this past issue early November) It has forced us to bring Torah and G-d into the picture since that is the only way we can destroy this evil force sent by G-d.
It is possible to envision a working Torah Authority (as opposed to a Palestinian Authority) with Moshiach not yet being revealed. Maybe Moshiach will come when Hashem sees that we desire and yearn to keep the Mitzvoth so strongly and realize that without Moshiach we are at an impasse. For example, Moshiash will tell us which tribe we belong to and which is our personal inheritance apportioned to us. . Then we will be able to keep Yoveil. Every 50 years we will disengage from our homes and return to our chelek, our portion, our nachala, our inheritance that Hashem has allotted to us. Yet even without Moshiach with a government based on Torah we still can keep many more Mitzvoth In Eretz Yisroel than we could have without a government based on Torah.
How can the Gedoilim, leaders, of our generation ignore the Nissim Gelutim, open miracles, of the establishment of Eretz Yisroel and of the Six Day War and daily miracles in Gush Katif and today in Sederot. Each day there are Nissim Geluyim, open miracles. Kassam Rockets are being fired and relatively few casualties. Why have the Zekainim of Agudath Yisroel and their followers joined with the Gov't by their Silence instead of taking a leadership role proclaiming that Eretz Yisroel is our Biblical Inheritance and only we can keep the Mitzvoth Teluyot Baaret, commandments dependant on the land.
Let me be so dare as to suggest the folowing:
Let our Sages put out a Kol Korei (Public Outcry)
* The Torah clearly says the Land belongs to G-d and
* In the Torah, G-d has chosen the Nation of Israel to inherit the Land and
* The Nation of Israel in turn must keep the Commandments such as Shemittah, and
* There is no way in the world we are willing to forfeit this mitzva by giving the Land to even a nice Democratic Palestinian Authority,
This definitely would make a difference. Even if no one would listen, it's words of Torah. It's Daas Torah. Silence, on the other hand, is just politics.
There has been the reestablishment of the Sanhedrin. Yet they have barely received any recognition and they have been ridiculed or treated as being irrelevant. Yet the Sanhedrin came out against the expulsion of Gush Katif and giving away any piece of Eretz Yisroel. So has the Lubavitch Rebbe. The Sanhedrin members are also Zekainim. Why does Agudath Yisroel davka chose as their Zakeinim, elders Poskim, leaders who provide rabbinic rulings, such as Rav Shteinman that said about Gush Katif that it's "nisht inzere sugia".
In your article you did not address any of the points in the letter "Need Breed Greed". You imply that we must follow our Zekainim irregardless. That is true when their rulings are " Al Pi Hatorah". But when the Zekainim have failed to respond when their are obvious violations in Mitzvoth DOrayta, Torah Comnandments, and have only seem to speak out when it's a matter of Tzniyut, modesty chumras, chumra over chumra even to the point of violating a Mitzvath Aseh of VeSamachta BeChagecha, even the Bochurim lose respect. Isn't it hypocritical to come out against Heter Mechira which is a symbolic selling of the Land and yet be quiet regarding the Annapolis Summit which is actually giving away of the Land.
I just spoke to a Bochur and asked him to ask his Rebbe in Chaim Berlin how come the Gedoilim are Silent regarding the establishment of a State of Palestine ( chas vechalila )and the Bachur responded he and all see the Emes but no one is saying the Emes.
The intensity of the fires of California is not because of Smokey the Bear. It is because Hashem has allowed the forces of Nature to exert their control. We may think that Nature is out of control. Hashem has sent heaven and earth with winds and heat to create the fires of California. Haazinu Hashamayim VeHaaretz.., Listen Heaven and Earth, See next to last Torah reading in the 5 Books of Moses. ....Next time you see a fire chas vechalila would you allow it to let it burn out of control when you have the ability to stop it?
Hitler Yemach Shemo was a fire that was uncontained by appeasers. The way we quench the fires is by keeping Torah and Mitzvoth. Fighting Ahmadinejad directly is as ineffective as putting out raging fires with the forces of Nature working against us. By proclaiming our desires to keep the Torah and Mitzvos the fires on their own will dissipate. That is why we are urging and begging our Torah Leaders to lead us in the paths of Torah and Mitzvoth. The Halachos must be in the spirit of Torah and will be recognized as such. The Halachos that clearly seem ridiculous like only buying from Arabs, will be met with much opposition.
A LESSON FROM SMOKEY
Rabbi Avi Shafran
On their surface, the e-mails had nothing to do with the uncontrolled wildfires then devastating southern California. Yet the confluence of the messages and the maelstrom held a truth worth contemplating.
The topic of the e-mails is of no matter. The writers were urging Agudath Israel of America to take a certain stance on a political issue. It was their tone that stood out. The correspondents had taken for granted that their own judgment on the matter was right, and were writing to insist that the organization come on board, or "get with it," as one put it. Or as another wrote: "Your Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah [Council of Torah Sages – Agudath Israel's highest rabbinical body] needs to take a strong stand here…"
Agudath Israel is unique among Jewish groups. Its administration does not set policy; that role resides among the venerable rabbinic elders at our helm. The organization's officers and executive staff are sometimes asked to provide the Council members with information, even to lay out various approaches to an issue. But we do not tell our religious leaders what we think they should think. One might say that we report, they decide.
It is an approach that rankles some, especially those who might not appreciate the humor in a sign I have that reads: "People who think they know everything are particularly aggravating to those of us who do."
But the fact remains: Judaism teaches humility, and special respect for the judgment of those most experienced and knowledgeable. The letters of the Hebrew word for "elderly" – zaken – are parsed by the Talmud to yield the phrase "this one has acquired wisdom."
And so, particularly in matters of Jewish communal welfare, we believe that Jews are exhorted to heed the direction provided by the community's most Torah-learned elders, those who have internalized a large degree of the perfection of values and refinement of character that the Torah idealizes. Even when those elders' judgment differs from our own. Actually, especially then.
Commenting on the decision made by the Judean King Rechavam (King Solomon's son) to shun the advice of the elders of his father's court and heed instead the advice of younger advisors (Kings I:12), the Talmud remarks: "[What might seem] constructive on the part of the young [can in fact be] destructive; and [what might seem] destructive on the part of elders [can in fact be] constructive" (Nedarim, 40a). Rechavam's wrong choice brought schism to the Jewish kingdom, fanning the flames of rebellion.
Which brings us back to more recent flames, those of the unprecedented California fires – which fire-management experts have dubbed "mega-fires," since they are ten times larger and more intense than wildfires of a mere decade or two ago. More than eight million acres of American forest have burned this year already.
The reasons suggested for the unprecedented infernos include, of course, the "usual suspect" for all natural disasters these days, global warming. But the fact that Baja Mexico has evidenced only smaller fires than adjacent San Diego County suggests strongly that something else is at work. That something, experts say, is a decades-old misguided conservation policy in the United States. Put simply, the longtime American approach to fire suppression – extinguishing small fires as soon as they appear, rather than allowing them to run their natural courses and create undergrowth-free zones – has created huge swaths of unburned brush that, when fire does break out, serve as rich and abundant fuel for infernos of exceptional scope and intensity. "When," asked University of California professor of earth sciences and fire-management expert Richard A. Minnich, quoted in The New York Times, "do we declare the policy a failure?"
So the culprit, so to speak, is Smokey the Bear. He seemed like a fine enough, if furry, fellow all those years, delivering his ursine, eminently common-sense message that putting out small fires was the obvious way to prevent larger ones. But he was wrong. precisely wrong,entirely wrong. Nothing personal (or specie-ist), but, in the end, only smarts can prevent mega- fires.
Now, with hindsight, we are wiser. Imagine, though, how the suggestion that forest fires be permitted to burn uncontrolled, would have been received had it been offered fifty years ago. It is not hard to imagine the e-mails (well, telegrams) chiding forest rangers to tell the Forest Service policymakers to "get with it" and "take a strong stand" against the obvious illogic of – goodness! – letting fires just burn!
It's not only the so-called "Law of Unintended Consequences" that can figure into weighty decisions. A host of factors can make the right decision seem the wrong one, puzzling observers, even outraging them. To be sure, we all have a right to our opinion, and much can be gained by sharing our perspectives with others.
But two vital commodities in all-too-short supply these days are humility and respect for elders. We do well to consider that our confidence – "evidence" and all – that we know what is best no more qualifies us to make the right decision than putting a ranger's hat on a bear's head and a shovel in his hand makes him an expert on forest conservation.
© 2007 AM ECHAD RESOURCES
[Rabbi Shafran is director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America.]
