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‘In Those Days There Was No King in Israel’ – Rabbi Avi Grossman Explains

More On Returning Our Judges

This entry was posted on December 28, 2020

A colleague claimed that the ideal Jewish government was that of the time of the Judges; I agree with that view.

The Maimonidean viewpoint: although the Talmud says that Israel was commanded to both appoint a king and build the Temple, Maimonides’s formulations of these halachoth show that the kingdom does not have to be led by a hereditary king, but rather that the role of the king can also be filled by a prophet or judge, and thus we have Talmudic statements that Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Jephtah, and Samuel all counted as kings, and explains why Samuel himself felt that the arrangement that had existed until then should remain. Further, the Tabernacle at Shilo was considered a Temple for all intents and purposes, even if it was eventually relocated. Thus, the situation as described at the end of the Book of Joshua was an ideal and optimistic situation. The nation had a king and a Temple, and they had a golden opportunity to complete the conquest of the land.

As for the book of Judges and how it describes periods of backsliding into paganism, the book also makes clear that is was the judges themselves who brought about the return to proper worship, and the backsliding only happened once a judge was dead. If anything, the prophetic voice might be implicitly criticizing the leaders for not ensuring that they would be succeeded by other suitable leaders. Moses himself made sure he would be succeeded, but we do not find that Joshua or any others sought to do likewise. Samuel himself was the first to set the stage for his own succession, but it was his unpopular choices that partially led the people to request the appointment of an established hereditary monarch. The last chapters of Judges, which describe two catastrophies shortly after Joshua’s death, also have a refrain, almost like a chorus, that “in those days, there was no king in israel.” One could be excused if he were to understand this to mean that the people had an established idolatrous shrine and a disastrous civil war because they had no hereditary king to enforce Torah law. However, a closer look at the text indicates as the Redak and the other mideival commentators understood it: these tragedies happened because there was no “king” then. I.e., Joshua had died, and no judge had yet arisen, but had Joshua or one of the judges been around, it would not and could not have happened.

…

As we prepare for yet more elections here in Israel, and as we see America reeling in the midst of a sweeping regime change, I wonder what people honestly expect from government. Too many people I know voted against Trump because they blamed him for Covid and all of its repercussions, that he should have done something, but they have yet to consider that had he done any of those somethings that they suggest, they would have hated him even more for restricting their freedoms. Trump is and was far from perfect, but at least he realized that certain things can and should not be in the hands of government, because not only can it not succeed, it will cause even more harm. Here is Israel, we should be held to a higher standard, and we will only have a proper government when, as a people we realize what government’s role should be: absolutely nothing except national security and the enforcement of the rule of law.

From Rabbi Avi Grossman, here.

Corona Insanity Will Probably Decrease SLOWLY…

“Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.”

Charles Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841)

The ‘Maaleh Amos’ Atmosphere

Home Country

Eli B., Ma’aleh Amos

When I first came as a young bochur to Eretz Yisroel, I thought, no chance I would stay to live here. I was in a typical state of denial, convincing myself that back in “my” home country everything is better; there’s nothing like America. I had two married brothers learning in Eretz Yisroel at the time, and I just came here to grow in learning in a different setting.

From mid-high school in my hometown of Baltimore, I skipped to a post-high school Israeli yeshivah gedolah – Yeshivas Kol Torah in the Yerushalayim neighborhood of Bayit Vegan. It took a little bit of time to acclimate to the people, language, and culture, and to being away from home. There were a lot of ups and downs, but B”H I was able to push past the hard parts and make it through yeshivah.

During this time, as I got a bit out of being defensive for my “home country,” I advanced to “I’m too young now; I’m not going to think about living here now.” It was only later, a year and a half before I got married, that I thought about it again and realized that I didn’t have much more anywhere else. My friends were here, I had some family here as well, and my rebbeim were here. I sort of just realized that I’m here, too – it’s Eretz Yisroel that is my real home country. Of course, I had some family back in the U.S., but I was sure they would also love to come to Eretz Yisroel, so why shouldn’t I stay?

It wasn’t that I was only here out of default; there were positive things I appreciated about living here. There is a high level of Torah and yiras Shomayim, and of course the ma’alah and kedushah of Eretz Yisroel that I wouldn’t have back in America.

I started shidduchim here in Eretz Yisroel, and got married to someone from an American-Israeli family that we knew from Beitar. Her two brothers learned with me in Kol Torah, and my parents were acquainted with her parents. This made things a lot easier.

After getting married in Eretz Yisroel, we moved into a really small apartment (called here yechidat diur, lit. housing unit) in the Geulah neighborhood of Yerushalayim. It is very common here for young couples to start out for a short time in a yechidat diur – they are often too small for even just the first baby! I then started learning in Yeshivas Brisk of R’ Avrohom Yehoshua Soloveitchik shlita, and my wife worked in the neighborhood of Har Nof. The bus ride to Har Nof every morning, going through all of Geulah traffic, could take a full hour.

We moved several months ago to the Chareidi yishuv of Ma’aleh Amos. Although some might have a feeling that it’s a bit “out-of-the center,” it actually takes my wife less time to get to work in Har Nof than when she had to go through all of Geulah traffic! Some friends were wary of moving to Ma’aleh Amos, as it is supposedly in an Arab area. We do drive through some Arab areas a bit, but I don’t find it to be a real issue; in some ways it is actually better than in Yerushalayim.

As for me, since moving I switched to a kollel in Yerushalayim, joining another three avreichim from the yishuv attending the same kollel. Traveling by car, it is a short commute – I get a ride every day with someone from the yishuv who works in Yerushalayim.

When we had started our search for more affordable housing, we were concerned we would have to leave our family and friends behind and venture into unfamiliar territory. Most of the financially realistic options for us were a long commute away to the north or south, where Yerushalayim could no longer realistically remain the center of life. We were relieved to find that Ma’aleh Amos would allow us to enjoy affordable housing while maintaining our connection with Yerushalayim. In a sense, I feel as if we never really left Yerushalayim.

The atmosphere here in Ma’aleh Amos is relaxing, and there is beautiful achdus among the residents. It’s a small place where people are helpful and friendly while not being intruding and judging. People are accepted for who they are, avreichim and working people alike. People mostly know each other. Everyone helps in their own way, such as arranging meals for families after birth, etc. Local drivers stop by the yishuv gate to offer people rides. All in all, we’ve been very happy here.

In general, people here are from yeshivah backgrounds, though a Chassidish community is starting, as the Biala Rebbe is sending his Chassidim to live here. They opened a shul here in addition to the central Litvish shul. In this small place, it’s nice to have another minyan with additional times for Shacharis, Mincha and Maariv.

Aside from myself and my wife, there are several Americans and children of American immigrants who are English speakers from home living here. For anyone who would want to live here but is not yet integrated into the Israeli community, I’m sure we’d all be happy to help.

On HaShem’s Schedule

There were recently several new developments here in Ma’aleh Amos which make it even easier to live here.

A new shuttle service between Ma’aleh Amos and Beitar means more commuting options; to Yerushalayim, there are a few buses a day. A popular countrywide once-a-week “neighborhood goods sale” opened a local branch, where we order supplies and groceries to be delivered to the yishuv. A major supermarket from a nearby city started offering home delivery for our yishuv, albeit for a small fee. We are no longer dependent on the small local makolet (grocery), which isn’t open all day.

All of these developments happened about the time we moved to the yishuv, half a year after we were originally scheduled to move. While waiting, we were a bit frustrated about the delay, but afterwards realized how HaShem cared for us – making sure we’d come only when it would be even easier for us here.

Vicious Black American Slaveowners

A Brief History of Nonwhite Slave Owners in America

By Lipton Matthews
Mises.org

November 10, 2020

The study of slavery is one of the most contentious issues in contemporary America. But frequently this history is abused by thinkers across the spectrum to score political points. To understand the complexity of such an institution, we must desist from underestimating the role of minorities such as African Americans and Native Americans in it. For much of history, slavery was the norm, and by downplaying nonwhites’ involvement, we diminish their humanity. Pursuing one’s self-interest to acquire profit or power is consistent with human nature. Depicting minorities as innately virtuous relegates them to the status of infants. Instead, we should aim to highlight their autonomy as rational agents who sought to fulfill specific objectives in the context of a slave economy. Blacks and American Indians possessed the capacity to be just as calculating as white slave owners, and it is patronizing to suggest that they failed to perform as self-interested actors.

One of the earliest reports on black slave owners was pioneered by historian and activist Carter G. Woodson. Woodson advanced what is widely known as the theory of “benevolent slaveholding.” According to this view, black slaveholders primarily purchased relatives and friends from white masters to provide them with a better quality of life. To curtail the growth of the free black population, restrictive laws were instituted, thus making it difficult for black slave owners to manumit slaves without approval from the state. In South Carolina, for example, after 1820 free blacks who bought relatives, spouses, or friends had to receive permission from the state prior to manumitting enslaved Americans. Hence, purchasing black slaves from white owners was a strategy used by free blacks to secure a greater degree of freedom for their loved ones. Indeed Woodson’s thesis remains popular among academics, as adumbrated by Philip J. Schwarz: “Increasingly restrictive legislation, stringent economic conditions, the choice of many free blacks to own other blacks only temporarily, and perhaps the aversion of other Afro-Americans to human bondage guaranteed, that free black possession of human property would be significant only as an anomaly, not as a typical experience.” Though Woodson’s theory is still influential, many have charged that he minimized the materialistic tendencies of African American slave owners.

Larry Koger in his groundbreaking text Black Slaveowners: Free Black Masters in South Carolina, 1790–1860 disputes the dominant narrative propagated by disciples of Woodson:

When Carter G. Woodson asserted that free blacks purchased slave relatives and friends, he was quite correct. However, free blacks who held loved ones bought other slaves to be exploited for profit. To classify these transactions as benevolent would be a mistake. Even though these slaveowners usually demonstrated benevolent behavior towards their slave relations and friends, a commercial and materialistic exchange existed between them and their slaves purchased as investments. In fact, the free blacks who maintained a dual relationship with their slaves had no universal commitment against slavery. To them, slavery was an oppressive institution when it affected a beloved relative or a trusted friend, but beyond that realm, slavery was viewed as a profit-making institution to be exploited.

Other scholars implore us to not be shocked that blacks in America expressed an interest in owning slaves, as summarized by Calvin Wilson: “The Negroes brought with them from their native land African ideas and customs. Many of those brought thence to America had been slaves in their own lands. Others had been owners of slaves in Africa. In both cases, they were used to slavery. It did not, therefore, seemed unnatural for a Negro in America to hold his brethren in bondage when he had become free and able to buy his fellows.”

Also, like their white peers, some black slave owners were notorious for their brutality. Ronald E. Hall in his landmark publication An Historical Analysis of Skin Colour Discrimination: Victimism among Victim Group Populations challenges the assumption that black owners were always humane using the example of William Ellison: “William Ellison is prominent for both his wealth and the cruelty toward his black slaves, for which he was known among Southern blacks and whites. Historians for whatever reasons have attempted to justify his version of victim-group discrimination perhaps as a matter of political correctness.”

Yet if you assume that Hall’s commentary on Ellison is an anomalous case, then maybe this condemnation of black slave owners by a Louisiana slave featured in Frederick Law Olmstead’s Journeys and Explorations in the Cotton Kingdom will alter your perspective: “You might think, master, dat dey would be good to dar own nation; but dey is not. I will tell you de truth, massa; I know I’se got to answer; and it’s a fact, dey is very bad masters, sar. I’d rather be a servant to any man in de world, dan to a brack man. If I was sold to a brack man, I’d drown myself. I would dat—I’d drown myself! Dough I shouldn’t like to do dat nudder; but I wouldn’t be sold to a coloured master for anything.” Clearly, Woodson’s thesis is untenable.

With greater potency than most writers Hall discredits the position that black slaveholders were mainly motivated by humanitarian concerns:

In most instances of black slave ownership, the records suggest that blacks who owned black slaves did so for the same reasons as whites: profit….Astonishingly, in 1860 there existed at least six Negroes—likely light-skinned—living in Louisiana who owned 65 or more slaves. Among them C. Richards and P.C. Richards who owned 152 of their black brethren as slaves to work their sugarcane plantation. A similarly impressive Louisiana free Negro Antoine Dubuclet owned in excess of 100 dark-skinned black slaves. He was also in the sugar business and boasted an estate estimated to be worth in (1860 dollars) $264,000. To put Dubuclet’s wealth in context, the mean calculation of wealth for Southern white men at the time averaged $3,978.

Similarly, Native Americans were also players in slavery, and it must be noted that the institution existed before the arrival of Europeans. According to the scholar Joyce Ann Kievit: “Many North American Indian tribes practiced some form of slavery before Europeans arrived in North America. The status of slaves varied from tribe to tribe. Some slaves were exploited for labor, others were used for ritual sacrifice, a few provided for the needs of women whose husbands had been slain in war, and many were adopted into the tribes.” However, with the introduction of plantation slavery by European settlers, Native Americans became alert to the financial opportunities that could be gained from this venture.

Barbara Krauthamer shrewdly dispels the notion that Native Americans had less interest in exploiting black slaves for monetary benefit:

From the late eighteenth century through the end of the U.S. Civil War, Choctaw and Chickasaw men and women held people of African descent in slavery. Like their white Southern counterparts, Indians bought, sold, owned, and exploited black people’s labor and reproduction for social and economic gain. Choctaws and Chickasaws purchased slaves—men, women, and children—to work on their Mississippi farms and plantations and to serve in their homes…Choctaws and Chickasaws understood that slavery allowed for the accumulation of personal wealth.

Neither should we entertain the fable that Indian slave owners were universally generous. R. Halliburton in an intriguing book, Red over Black: Black Slavery among the Cherokee Indians, argued that the treatment meted out to black slaves ranged from kind to excessively atrocious, indicating that generalizations about slave masters are often inaccurate.

To imply that only white people have a vicious ability to calculatingly pursue their interests at the expense of others is insulting to blacks and American Indians. Inherent in humans is the passion to achieve distinct objectives even when they are inconsistent with the goals of the wider group. Romanticizing the history of minorities to portray them as saints is quite dehumanizing. The racist subtext is that white people are uniquely human because they possess the fortitude to outwit competitors.

Note: The views expressed on Mises.org are not necessarily those of the Mises Institute.

From Mises.org, here.

A Chazon Ish Family Living In Eretz Yisrael

Stepping Stones

Bracha Toporowitch CHT, Zichron Yaakov

In my professional practice of Mind-Body Healing, I often tell people that difficulties can be looked at as stones. It is up to them to decide if they view these stones as stumbling blocks or stepping stones. Aside from the “sunny side” of living in Eretz Yisroel, my own experiences here included such challenges – stumbling blocks that were really stepping stones – as well.

My husband is Israeli, but we met in America and settled in Lakewood. Although I was never exposed to life in Eretz Yisroel, nor had any of my own close family members living there, I knew I wanted to live there. As a Jew, being drawn to Eretz Yisroel was just an integral part of my neshamah. When we already had four children, I told my husband that if we wouldn’t make the move now, we would never. So on Zos Chanukah 1970 we moved to Bnei Brak.

We lived there with our four little children in a third-floor apartment with no elevator. There was no home delivery back then, so there was a lot of shlepping to do. In the winter the apartment could get really cold. I had my fifth child when my oldest was all of seven years old, with none of my family around to help.

As followers of the Chazon Ish, we would not use the locally-generated electricity on Shabbos, or the water pumped on Shabbos into our pipelines. We would use kerosene lamps which would sometimes blow out before the end of Shabbos, leaving us in the dark till Motza’ei Shabbos. We didn’t have our own water tank on the roof like some others had, so I would fill the bathtub with water before Shabbos and make sure the bathroom door was locked to keep the kids out!

I remember having to manage our first Shmitta year in 1972. There was almost no produce. A truck would come, and people would come and share a sack of potatoes, some onions, and some carrots. We’d have to manage with whatever we got.

There were difficulties and challenges. There were things I had to adjust to. There were changes I had to make. Though in spite of it all, I still always just wanted to stay and live here, where áveera d’Eretz Yisrael machkim – the air (atmosphere) of Eretz Yisroel makes one wise. I believe this atmosphere greatly influenced our family’s spiritual growth. We were close to many gedolei Yisrael of the Litvish world living in Bnei Brak; my husband was a ben bayis (like a member of the family) by some of them. We were upstairs neighbors of Rav Chaim Greineman ztz”l, a nephew and adherent of the Chazon Ish ztz”l. I very often discussed issues, such as child rearing and cooking, with his wife Rabbanit Chana z”l. My children gained tremendously in their spiritual lives from growing up friends with their children.

A bit after the Yom Kippur War (1973), we ended up leaving Eretz Yisroel to England, and shortly thereafter to Monsey, where we lived for the next few years. We were destined to undergo quite a bit of moving, with all the challenges that entailed. We did return to Eretz Yisroel in 1980 and remained for ten years. Then we did another ten year stint in Monsey.

Finally, when we had our sights on moving back to Eretz Yisroel in 1999, we decided it wasn’t going to be to Bnei Brak. We were looking for a place that would be a bit more spacey and quieter. We moved to the Chareidi kehillah in Zichron Yaakov, on the northwest coast of Eretz Yisroel, where we built our own house. Like Monsey, it was in a pastoral setting, with small private houses and a lot of greenery. We were very happy with the calm and quiet atmosphere.

At the time we came we didn’t really know anyone living there. Over time I got to know the local Americans more and felt comfortable with them, and I eventually gave shiurei Torah in both Hebrew and English. Although there may always be political or hashkafic “stress” anytime and anywhere, amongst the women I didn’t feel it at all.

There was a yeshivah gedolah down the street from our house where two sons-in-law of Rav Chaim Greineman ztz”l were the roshei yeshivah. Though many mosdos were local, for Beis Yaakov high school the girls would have to travel, about a half an hour commute, to nearby Chadera. My boys went to the local yeshivah gedolah, though one did go to learn in Bnei Brak.

Living far from the center of Eretz Yisroel had its own set of challenges. I would rarely go to a wedding in Yerushalayim, as travelling with public transportation could take about 1 ½ hours in each direction. Friends coming from America would just never get out to Zichron (as Zichron Yaakov is called in short). I would travel once a week to the center where I operated a clinic, for many years in Bnei Brak, and more recently in Ramat Beit Shemesh – a two-and-a-half-hour commute by train and bus – where I would stay over for one night. B”H my therapy sessions and evening “Joy & Vitality” workshops in Beit Shemesh, Bnai Brak and Zichron were very popular. I worked to create awareness of the connection between mind and body. I wanted to make people healthy by positive thinking, talking, and emotions, utilizing the various modalities of Mind-Body Healing.

Our choice is what we do, physically, emotionally and spiritually, with the situation HaShem gives us. We can go shlepping and complaining through hard times, or we can learn to cope and become so much stronger. Being spoiled will just be to our detriment. This applies to everything in life, including the challenges of living in Eretz Yisroel – the place where we all belong.

Sparks of Radiance

My most recent book, “Sparks of Radiance” (Mosaica Press 2020), includes a fictionalized account of a terror bombing attack. I wrote it to help people understand the mindset of victims of terror, and how steadfast faith and an intense desire to create kiddush HaShem turn these darkest moments – which have effects for years and years – into brilliant radiance.

My daughter, her husband and three little children were on the Egged #2 bus bombing seventeen years ago; my 3-year-old granddaughter was killed, Hy”d, and all others were injured. There were a lot of interviews in the media. I remember saying to one reporter, “People are afraid there’s no peace here in Israel, but it’s we who have to make peace. Peace will come when we make peace with each other.”

It doesn’t matter where you live, for you are not necessarily safe in any place on earth. The recent Covid-19 virus proves this. Therefore, I believe that lack of safety is not a valid reason for not living here. No one can escape what HaShem plans for him. Let us realize that we all belong here and make the best of it. With a positive mindset we can turn our greatest stumbling blocks into powerful stepping stones of elevation.