World Mizrachi Movement - World Mizrachi Weekly Parsha -

In the Talmud we find in a number of instances that even though circumstances may have changed or that the halacha has apparently overruled a practice in one direction or another, the rabbis nevertheless did not change the original practice because "perhaps the matter will revert back to its original unacceptable state."

Thus even though the present does not exactly mirror the past any longer, nevertheless the problems and dangers of the past must be taken into account in formulating present behavior and halachic decision.

The concept in Judaism is that even though we may have computers and cell phones today and our ancestors were not so equipped, nevertheless the lessons of our ancestors and their safeguards in Jewish and general life should not be easily dismissed today.

The Gaon of Vilna, Rabbi Eliyahu Kramer, taught us that for every apparent reason used to explain why a rabbinic decree was originally legislated and enforced there are many hidden and subtle reasons that also exist that justify the existence of that decree.

Therefore, merely stating that circumstances have changed and that the stated reason for the decree no longer applies, in no way invalidates the decree itself since all of these unknown and almost prophetic reasons for the decree still exist.

One of these reasons is the idea mentioned earlier - perhaps the situation that exists today will somehow revert back to the same one that existed at the time of the original formulation of the decree.

The circumstances surrounding the Jewish people changed drastically sixty years ago after the Holocaust and the establishment of the state of Israel. Jews had a sense that the world would never allow another such Holocaust to recur. Israel and the Israelis were seen as brave, progressive, heroic and justified in defense of their lives and their land.

The state was granted legitimacy by the United Nations and by much of the world. It was a fairly heady time for Jews. Open anti-Semitism was no longer socially and academically acceptable and individual Jews rose in growing numbers to power, wealth and influence undreamt of a century earlier.

Jews in the United States felt so much a part of American society that they no longer classified themselves as belonging to a minority group. Thus forty million Hispanics and thirty million African-Americans are officially characterized as belonging to minority groups while five million American Jews are not!

The state of Israel grew and developed and was seemingly the strongest power, militarily and economically, in its area and amongst its immediate neighbors.

All of this allowed for a weakening of faith in ourselves and for complacency that minimized outside threats and internal betrayals of purpose and policy. People, especially in the media and academia, Jews and non-Jews, began to enter the "post" period of thought.

Post-Zionism, post-Jewish solidarity, post-anti-Semitism but present supposedly legitimate anti-Israel complaints, post-Torah observances, post Jewish uniqueness and choseness, in short - the past was gone and we now live in a new world where we don’t fear the pogroms, bigotry and dangers that once were our daily lot.

But a strange thing occurred in our brave new world. The old world, about which the rabbis of the Talmud warned us somehow returned. Existential danger to the Jewish state from Moslem fundamentalism, anti-Semitic verbal, physical and media attacks, have returned all over Europe.

It has again become fashionable in many circles to blame the Jews for all of the world’s ills. The rhetoric against Israel and Jews today has returned to the levels of the 1920’s just prior to Hitler’s rise to power in Germany.

There are many, including those in powerful governing positions in the Jewish world, who somehow still prefer whistling past the graveyard. But the rabbis of the Talmud in their wisdom always warned us that the old can and oftentimes does return again to haunt and confound us.

History has a bite and a sting to it, especially Jewish history. In this season of remembrance of the Holocaust and of commemoration of the restoration of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel sixty years ago we should view our current Jewish world through the prism of that past Jewish world.

Circumstances are never the same from one generation to the next. But problems, dangers and weaknesses have a tendency to be consistent and repetitive.

The wise and prudent will always heed the advice of the Talmud and remember that the past situations may yet occur again and we should therefore be prepared somehow to deal with such possibilities.

Parshat Acharei Mot – Kedoshim

The National Tongue

Rabbi Yosef Carmel, Eretz Hemdah

We can be proud that one of our era’s "more popular" mitzvot is the matter of lashon hara, not speaking negatively about one’s friend. Of the many references to this mitzva, which the Chafetz Chayim compiled in his seforim, the most direct is in Parashat Kedoshim: "Lo telech rachil b’amecha" (Vayikra 19:16). The commentaries hammer out exactly what telech rachil means. Rashi connects rachil to the similar root for spying. Indeed, one who tells lashon hara first goes around accumulating information to spread. The Ramban explains rachil from its own root, which means a peddler. According to him, the movement implied by telech refers to the movement of the information between people rather than going to gather information.

Although the commentaries put most effort into explaining telech rachil, much can be learned from the word, b’amecha, which translates, in your nation. The Netziv claims that it delineates to whom the commandment applies, to our nation. This explanation gives the word a technical function, providing information about the commandment’s parameters, but not defining its essence. We may note that when the Torah wants to teach that limitation, it usually uses reacha or amitecha, your friend or compatriot. Two p’sukim after this one the Torah refers to the commandment applying to "b’nei amecha," the people of your nation, which seems to be a more precise usage.

A lot can be learned from the Ramban’s understanding of b’amecha. First, let us see a little background. The gemara (Arachin 16a), in a related context within the laws of lashon hara, coins a phrase, "chavrach chavra it lei," your friend has a friend. This illustrates that the "juicy information" that a handful of people are told makes it through the grapevine to many friends and acquaintances. The Ramban explains, along these lines, that the gossip one tells his friend about a third person will likely be known by the nation, or at least a sizable part of it.

This concept of the word spreading can be understood to warn of lashon hara’s severity from a quantitative perspective. Not only will a couple people know the potentially damaging information, but the masses will. However, it can also highlight the unique element of the aveira of lashon hara. Sins between man and his Maker usually involve one person, the sinner. Sins between man and man generally involve a minimum of two people, the oppressor and the oppressed. Lashon hara is a unique sin in that it directly involves at least three people, the gossiper, the recipient of the information, and the subject of the gossip. As the Ramban points out, this is the tip of the iceberg, as the word may spread to others. The point, though, is that it is a public sin, almost by definition. Indeed lashon hara creates negative terms of engagement for the interaction of society on all levels.

Let us pray and strive to have a nation that interacts in a manner of looking for what is good in each other.

News & Events

SIGN UP NOW - Halacha Yomit program

Our latest program – World Mizrachi's Halacha Yomit program. Join us in this worldwide learning initiative. To sign up and view previous sessions, visit www.mizrachi.org/kitzur

Personals

Please advise us of all good news and sad news that you care to share with others, else we cannot post it – email mizrachi@worldmizrachi.org .

Sefer Torah Dedication

World Mizrachi is writing a Sefer Torah to honor its long-time World Chairman Mr. Kurt Rothschild, who has dedicated his life to Eretz Yisrael, Am Yisrael & Torat Yisrael. We invite you to join us in this endeavor. Full details available at: www.mizrachi.org

Book of the Month

NEW from the Book of the Month club – proudly brought to you by World Mizrachi & Urim Publications:

Nechama Leibowitz: Teacher and Bible Scholar

Exodus and Emancipation: Biblical and African-American Slavery

World Mizrachi - Since 1902