חנניה ווייסמאן Chananya Weissman

Dvar Torah on Vayeira: Know what to answer

Historical Lessons from Yirmiya – Part 2

Eved Melech the Cushi is an obscure figure. It is uncertain that this was even his name. Metzudas David writes that his actual name was indeed Eved Melech, and he was dark-skinned like an Ethiopian (Cushi). Targum Yonasan ben Uziel and Radak translate the words literally as “an Ethiopian servant of the king”, who remains unnamed.

Rashi cites the Midrashic interpretation that identifies Eved Melech as Baruch ben Nerya, the main disciple of Yirmiya. However, this is extremely unlikely, being that Baruch was mentioned by name in many other places, and there is no reason for his identity to be masked in the incident that we will soon discuss. (It is common for the Midrash to identify two different people as one and the same to metaphorically compare them. The most famous examples are Hagar/Ketura and Lavan/Bilam. The latter lived centuries apart.)

In Chapter 38 of Yirmiya, the fall of Jerusalem is imminent. The city has been under siege by the Babylonians for years, and there is hardly any bread left. Many of the residents have fled to neighboring countries (where the sword ultimately followed them) or surrendered to the Babylonians. Yirmiya had been imploring them to do the latter, prophesying that if they surrender, the city and their lives will be spared. At this time he was languishing in a pit, submerged in tar and left to die. The king’s officers, who wanted to hold out until the bitter end, had cast him there.

Tzidkiyahu, the final king of this era, was a complicated character in his own right (more on him later). He displayed sympathy for Yirmiya, but he was a puppet leader, and he expressed powerlessness before his own officers (verse 5).

This is where Eved Melech comes in. He heard that Yirmiya had been removed from his previous, relatively safe imprisonment in one of the palace courtyards and thrown into the pit. The king had gone to the gate of Binyamin, and Eved Melech left the palace to go after him. When Eved Melech found Tzidkiyahu, he said as follows in verse 9: “My lord the king, these men have done evil with all they have done to Yirmiyahu the prophet, that they cast him into the pit. Had they left him in his place he would have died from the famine, for there is no more bread in the city.”

In other words, Yirmiya was going to die of starvation anyway, because everyone was starving, and the officers should not have actively hastened his death by casting him into the pit.

The king accepted these words. He commanded Eved Melech to take thirty men and raise Yirmiya from the pit before he died. Chazal explain that normally only three men would have been needed, but because they were all weak from hunger, they needed ten times that number.

Yirmiya’s life was saved by an anonymous black servant who went out of his way during a dire famine to intercede on his behalf before an impotent king with much more on his mind.

Hashem later gave Yirmiya the following message:

“Go say to Eved Melech the Ethiopian as follows. So says Hashem the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold I am bringing My words to this city for harm and not for good, and you will see it before you on that day. And you will be saved on that day, says Hashem, and you will not be given into the hands of those before whom you fear. For I will surely rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword, and your life will be like spoils for you, because you trusted in Me. So says Hashem.” (39:15-18)

While Hashem was bringing cataclysmic destruction upon Jerusalem and its people, He made a point to single out an obscure person who was low on the social ladder to receive special divine protection.

Notice that Hashem did not reward Eved Melech specifically for saving Yirmiya’s life, but for trusting in Him. It was not the result that earned Eved Melech the divine protection – something that was beyond his control – but the moral courage to try.

Do you feel insignificant? Do you feel as if you are being swept along by the massive upheavals in our time, and it doesn’t matter what you do? Do you believe you are powerless to make a difference when rotten people control everything?

Eved Melech proves that you are very significant, and Hashem is keeping track of everything you do. Your efforts to save someone might seem far-fetched, but they matter. Some of these efforts might even be successful; you might save a life!

Either way, you might just save your own.

To be continued…

__________________________

https://chananyaweissman.com/

Real Rabbis Balance with a Careful Measure

One of the 613 mitzvos is to follow the gezeiros and takanos of Chazal (rabbinic prohibitions and enactments), the purpose of which are to safeguard the other 612 mitzvos. This is not to be confused with the declarations of so-called “leading rabbis” reported in the media, which carry no halachic weight. Contemporary rabbis are authorized only to clarify the Torah of ancient times, not to turn traditional norms on their head or establish new gezeiros and takanos that would carry biblical force.

Chazal distinguished themselves in many ways from contemporary rabbis who presume to follow in their footsteps. Chazal were paragons of integrity, who were concerned with getting it right, not winning an argument. The Gemara has many examples of Talmudic sages retracting their opinion in light of a strong proof to the contrary. Teachers would defer to superior arguments from their students, and even ordinary people who were not scholars are recorded for posterity for making a valuable argument in the presence of the greatest sages.

In fact, our Talmudic sages would resolve challenges against their opponent in a disagreement. They were not really on different sides, after all; they were all pious, God-fearing people on the side of truth.

This is why their words will forever be studied and revered by all Torah-observant Jews. This is why the rulings of these saintly rabbis guide every aspect of our lives thousands of years later, while the decrees of mighty kings and governments are gone and forgotten with the changing of the guard. As Chazal themselves taught in Pirkei Avos (5:17), only a disagreement that is for the sake of heaven (not one’s ego or an ulterior motive) will endure with respect for both sides.

One of the main hallmarks of these true rabbis, in contrast to contemporary scholars who carry the title, is careful consideration of all the ramifications of a “rabbinic intervention”. While learning a digest of the laws of Shemitta in preparation for the new year I came across a teaching from the Chazon Ish (12:9) that illustrates this wonderfully.

Chazal prohibited lending a farm instrument to an am ha’aretz (a person who is unschooled or careless about halacha) during Shemitta, since he would certainly use it for forbidden work. This would violate the Torah commandment of lifnei iver, placing an obstacle before a blind person.

However, if the instrument is normally used for permitted work as well, in which case it is not certain that the am ha’aretz intends to use it for forbidden work, one is allowed to lend it to him. This is despite the fact that it is still likely that he will use it for forbidden work; as long as there is a reasonable doubt, one can lend it to him.

As the Chazon Ish writes, this is because if one is stringent in this case, there will be an “obstacle” of taking away chesed and darchei shalom (kindness and the ways of peace). In addition, it would certainly cause an increase in hatred and strife, and many other prohibitions, which are not lighter than the prohibition we are seeking to prevent. Chazal weighed the pros and cons, and prohibited lending an instrument only when it would lead to a definite sin, but did not penalize an am ha’aretz more than that. (He cites another example from Mo’ed Katan 17A, where Chazal prohibited a parent to strike a grown child because the risk of the child striking the parent in return – a potentially capital crime – is not worth the disciplinary benefits.) This is the straight and balanced way.

Compare this painstaking calculation of benefits versus risks with the wild pronouncements of “rabbis” and other pundits in our time. They have decided (or, to be precise, had it decided for them) that most everyone must become a pin cushion for pharmaceutical companies, and that people must be tortured in increasingly cruel ways until they “voluntarily” surrender. The collateral damage of these policies is occasionally mentioned as an afterthought, only to pretend that these ramifications were anything more than a public relations nuisance for those making the policies.

In simple terms, they don’t care. At all.

This bulldozer approach has filtered into the minds of those who acquiesced to their tormentors and became little tormentors as well. First they accepted that the injections were worth the risk. Then they accepted that the risks are not even consequential. Then they accepted that anyone who disagrees is evil, the cause of all our suffering, and no punishment is too great for them. There are no brakes, no boundaries, no limits. It is a game of can-you-top-this, and we’re fast reaching the point of anything goes.

It is no surprise that much of the world population has bought into this, because much of the world has no objective standard of good and evil, no clear boundaries and limits for anything they believe to be “good”. What is most tragic is that so many Jews who appear to be devoted to the Torah have completely lost their bearings. They are egged on by anti-Torah political figures (some of whom pretend to be “religious”) and phony rabbis who work for the establishment and make increasingly unhinged proclamations with each passing day.

Shemitta is a very serious mitzvah. According to Chazal, one of the primary reasons the Jews were first exiled is because they did not observe Shemitta. It would be entirely understandable for Chazal to forbid lending anything to an am ha’aretz that could conceivably be used for prohibited work, in order to be most stringent with Shemitta. Instead, they prohibited only that which would definitely be used for sin, and chose to be stringent about fostering kindness and peace between relatives, friends, and neighbors.

It would be natural for one to be concerned about his am ha’aretz neighbor working the land during Shemitta, increasing the sins of the nation, and potentially causing great harm to society. It would be easy to justify ostracizing such people, or forcing them to live under constant surveillance, or locking them down in their homes for the entire year, or taking them away to camps to make absolutely sure they didn’t violate Shemitta. It would be for the greater good, to protect them and us from violating Shemitta and incurring God’s wrath.

Unlike the phony rabbis of today, Chazal were not unhinged maniacs. They intervened to prevent abetting someone in a definite prohibition, and otherwise encouraged people to continue to be good friends and neighbors. They recognized that intervening more than that would create strife, jeopardize the fragile foundations of society, lead to more and greater sins, and cause far more harm than good.

This is the Torah way. Every Jew who has even a marginal Torah education knows this. It is incumbent upon every such Jew to separate himself from the poisonous, anti-God approach of the hysterical envelope-pushers and recalibrate his mind with true Torah. Step back, take a deep breath, and look at what people have become. This is not the Torah way, and it needs to stop now.

Better we all die from a virus than we live as hyperemotional savages.

As we approach Rosh Hashana and Shemitta, let us clear our minds of the noise, the fear, the propaganda, and the wild declarations from people without boundaries or limits. They do not speak in the name of Torah, and we should not let them poison our minds. Let every Jew reconnect to the Torah, reconnect to Hashem, banish the fear, and foster only friendly relations with those around us. Let us set a proper example to the rest of the world, through the carefully balanced ways of Chazal, and become deserving of the redemption this coming Shemitta.

__________________________

https://chananyaweissman.com/

Is your rabbi driving under the influence?

Many people believe that rabbis should never be suspected of being corrupted by money, prestige, or other external pressures. They believe that ironclad trust in the integrity of rabbis is praiseworthy, even a religious obligation. Just the opposite is true; such a belief is not only naive, but antithetical to the Torah.

Indeed, the Torah devotes many mitzvos to warning rabbinic judges against bribery, malpractice, bias, and other forms of corruption. After commanding us to appoint judges, the Torah warns that bribery of any kind “will blind the eyes of the wise and corrupt righteous words” (Devarim 16:19). Chazal add that even a great chacham who takes a bribe will not depart the world without blindness of the heart, and even a total tzaddik who takes a bribe will not depart the world without a confused mind (Kesubos 105A).

A judge does not even need to accept a bribe to be corrupted. Even thinking about a potential bribe is enough to incapacitate a rabbi from judging truthfully (Tanhuma 8, Rash on the Parsha).

This is not a hypothetical mitzvah like ben sorer u’moreh. Open up a book of navi to a random page and there is a good chance you will find a prophecy about the corruption of judges in ancient times (or you can just see the first chapter of Yeshaya).

Those who believe it wouldn’t happen today are willfully blind or mentally ill. Why wouldn’t it happen? What makes them believe the rabbis of today are more pious and impervious to corruption than their predecessors? Those who injected themselves with who-knows-what at the behest of such rabbis have taken a very foolish, un-Torah gamble with their lives, and will have to give an accounting for it in the next world. The rabbis who misled them will not be able to help; they will be judged separately.

How can we know whether or not a rabbi is “driving under the influence”? We cannot always know with certainty, but the Torah warns us that corruption comes with the territory. It is our responsibility to be cautious and look for the warning signs.

Yisro advised Moshe to look for judges who would have the following characteristics: men of valor, God-fearing, men of truth, who hate profit. Yisro did not focus on scholarship and “expertise”, but on character (Shemos 18:21). The former can be acquired, but poor character combined with authority is an incurable cancer.

(Chazal teach us that Yisro included the three characteristics mentioned in Devarim 1:13 – wise, understanding, and known to their tribes – but the Torah emphasized character over intellectual traits. See Chizkuni to Devarim 1:15 and Devarim Rabba 1:7, which he cites.)

The most interesting trait that Yisro mentioned is hating profit. Who in the world hates to profit? We cannot survive without profiting in some way in business or through our labor. There is nothing wrong with turning a profit, or even with becoming wealthy, but a person of character is not obsessed with “increasing his growth”, or “maximizing his profits”. The blessing of Hashem is what makes one wealthy (Mishlei 10:22), not turning the curse of Adam into the purpose of one’s life. A person of character wishes he could devote all his time to loftier things, and has no interest in vain indulgences. He recognizes that an opportunity to make money is also a burden, one which may cast him adrift from his true purpose, not enable it.

Such a profit is something he hates.

Such a person is worthy to be a judge.

According to many commentaries, Moshe was unable to find enough men of such sterling character to fill the many courts, and had to settle for the other three traits. Again, if even Moshe was unable to find sufficient men of character and truth, who would not be lured by profits, why would anyone believe the rabbis of today are on a higher level? It is not even wishful thinking; it is recklessly delusional.

If a rabbi is drawn after money, it is almost certain that he will drive under the influence sooner or later. I’m not talking about rabbis who live a flamboyant lifestyle – they are a disgrace in any case – but about rabbis who have an appetite for profit.

Nowadays becoming a rabbi is not so much a calling as a profession. Kiruv is an industry. Positions in smaller communities are viewed as stepping stones to land more prestigious and prosperous opportunities. For most rabbis, Torah is a career; a crown to boost one’s ego and a spade with which to dig (against Avos 4:5). Such people are beholden to their materialistic aspirations. They know that one misstep can derail their career, and they will always play it safe. The more Torah they know, the better they will be able to cover for it.

In better times our sages were generally independent, creating natural separation between their finances and their expressed opinions on Torah matters. This separation gradually eroded, to the extent that most rabbis today are up to their noses in conflicts of interest. Those who maintain their objectivity in spite of that are superhuman, not the norm.

Indeed, this is why so few rabbis will say a provocative word about perverse “lifestyles”, the murder of unborn children, fighting our enemies, or anything else that might disturb the establishment. They are beholden to the establishment! In many cases they are salaried employees of the establishment. If they do not receive a paycheck directly from the government, their institution depends on the government, not to mention wealthy patrons who own the buildings and all those who preside within. Rabbis in prestigious positions are expendable and easily replaced, and they know it every second of every day.

In the times of Chazal this dynamic was unacceptable for any rabbi who wished to be taken seriously. A rabbi is forbidden to take money for judging or performing most other religious functions. Chazal instituted a special dispensation for judges to receive payment for their time, and only in such a manner that it will have no bearing on their objectivity (see Bechoros 29A).

In those days the people lived under a feudal system, and the king would appoint tax collectors to oversee various regions. The tax collector was granted autonomy in how he divided the regional tax burden among the individual citizens. Naturally, they showed favoritism to their inner circle, often absolving them of taxes entirely, and placed a heavy burden on those who crossed them, with the force of the government behind them.

Tax collectors were legalized gangsters who abused their positions, and Chazal viewed them accordingly. A Jew who became a tax collector was no longer regarded as a chaver; essentially, those who were scrupulous about halacha would stay away from him.

The great rabbis needed Rav Huna bar Chiya to clarify halachos for them, and sent Rabba, Rav Yosef, and eight hundred rabbinic emissaries to meet with him. Upon learning that Rav Huna had become a tax collector, they sent him the following message: “Go to your prestige, go to your former status.” As Rashi explains, “Let him go to the prestige that he chose for himself as a tax collector; we will not go to him.”

Rav Huna immediately sent them word that he resigned the position. Rav Yosef still refused to meet with him, but Rabba accepted Rav Huna back into the rabbinic society, in accordance with a later, more magnanimous ruling (Bechoros 31A).

We see that Chazal had zero tolerance for people who strayed after prestige and inappropriate ties with the government. Even if it was the greatest sage, whose wisdom they depended upon, he would be banished from the Talmudic discourse and his rulings rendered moot. One way or another they would get along without him. Torah must be pure.

Chazal epitomized the integrity that we lack in our times. Here are just two of countless examples.

When the Jews made aliya in the times of Ezra, the Leviim did not join him. Ezra penalized them by instituting that maaser rishon would be given to the Kohanim instead of the Leviim. Centuries later, the sages wanted to gather a large enough group of rabbis to abolish this takana and return maaser rishon to the Leviim. They sought out the great Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, whose opinion would surely sway people, assuming he would support the initiative because he was a Levi and stood to gain from it.

Of course, he ruled the other way and upheld the takana (Maaser Sheni 31A).

Akavia ben Mahallel was known for outstanding wisdom and fear of sin. He ruled in four areas against the consensus of the other sages and stuck to his guns even after the halacha was established. His colleagues urged him to retract his opinion, for the sake of unity, after which they would make him the head judge.

Akavia replied: “Better for me to be called a fool all my days, rather than be wicked before God for an hour. They should not say that he retracted for the sake of a position of authority.” (See Ediyos 5:6.)

Woe to our society, in which most people would rather be wicked before God all their days than be called a name. Woe to our society, in which rabbis look the other way or say what is expected of them to keep their positions.

Indeed, if they look the other way in small matters, they will look the other way in big matters (Vayikra 20:4, Rashi from Toras Kohanim). This is Torah, and one who does not believe this does not believe the Torah.

Chazal foretold that in the days before Moshiach comes, the gathering place of sages will turn into a whorehouse (last Mishna of Sotah). These provocative words are theirs, not mine, and one who has a problem with them does not follow Chazal.

The vast majority of rabbis today are deeply under the influence of money, prestige, and ties to the establishment. Their ability to rule objectively has been hopelessly corrupted, and no amount of scholarship can compensate for this. On the contrary, the greater the scholarship, the greater their ability to fool themselves and others.

We are a generation of orphans, lacking gedolim we can trust in dark and confusing times. We have no choice but to take greater responsibility for our welfare than we might believe we are capable of, and turn to Hashem for clarity.

At the same time, we must take a critical look at our entire educational system and rabbinic establishment. We cannot wait for Moshiach to do all the work. If our society is churning out rabbis who behave like whores, who sell out the truth for profit and prestige, then we bear responsibility for changing this system from the ground up.

The first step is accepting the uncomfortable truth.

The second step is valuing integrity over “expertise”. Many people who favored the latter and got injected with who-knows-what have jeopardized everything with this mistake. May God clear their minds and save them.

The third step is stripping all the corrupt rabbis from their positions and prestige.

The fourth step is returning to the ways of old. We must establish a system in which rabbis can drive under the influence only of the Torah and their conscience.

We can do this. And we must.

__________________________

https://chananyaweissman.com/

From Chananya Weissman:

Mari bar Issak was a wealthy, powerful man who was known to intimidate people. One time a long-lost brother showed up from another land and requested half of their father’s inheritance. Mari said he did not know him. They came before Rav Chisda, who instructed the claimant to produce witnesses that he was Mari’s brother.

“I have witnesses,” said the man, “but they are afraid of him, for he is a tough guy.”

Rav Chisda turned to Mari. “You go and bring witnesses that he is not your brother.”

“Is that the law?” retorted Mari. “One who claims money from his fellow must bring the proof.”

“That is how I judge you and your fellow gangsters,” replied Rav Chisda. Ultimately witnesses came forward and testified that the man was indeed his brother. (See Bava Metzia 39B.)

This source is codified in Jewish law.

The Zera Shimshon finds an allusion to it in the first pasuk of this week’s parsha. The Torah states “ושפטו את העם משפט צדק” – “and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment” (Devarim 16:18). The words “את העם” appear superfluous.

The Zera Shimshon cites the incident with Mari bar Issak, when Rav Chisda went against the usual law precisely so a righteous judgment could come to light. He adds that “העם” typically refers to gangsters and lowlifes. The Torah is hinting that they are judged differently than other people. The burden of proof is always on them; even if they are the defendant in monetary matters, they are guilty until proven innocent.

One doesn’t need to be a Talmudic sage to apply this law to our current situation. Those who are trying to force us to take toxic injections and engage in other forms of self-harm are gangsters. The politicians, bureaucrats, media, and “social influencers” are all unsavory, untrustworthy people – often far worse. The powerful companies who pull their strings have a long history of corruption, racketeering, and every crime against humanity under the sun. Their trail of blood is staggering beyond comprehension.

We’re supposed to believe their numbers, and their studies, and their assurances? We’re supposed to accept their testimony about anything at all?

Not according to the Torah.

If they want us to believe anything they say, they must produce incontrovertible evidence. Studies they pay for, which are conducted by people they own, published in journals they sponsor, broadcast in media they control, “fact-checked” by liars they employ, promoted by bureaucrats in their pocket, have zero value as evidence.

In addition, known liars and lowlifes are ineligible to testify according to Jewish law, not to mention anyone with a vested interest. Anyone who is connected to the world’s largest organized crime syndicate – otherwise known as the government, pharmaceutical industry, and global companies – is ineligible to testify that their products are “safe and effective”. Not surprisingly, those pushing the injections and supporting tyranny are almost invariably connected to the syndicate in some way (or wish to be, or admire it).

The burden of evidence is squarely on them, and the normal rules do not apply; they are guilty until proven innocent, and we must be leery of everything they say.

As Rav Chisda said, that is how we judge them and their fellow gangsters.

(From the email newsletter)