חנניה ווייסמאן Chananya Weissman

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)

15 Questions to Ask Your Rabbi

Please answer the following questions, and provide relevant halachic sources and precedents.

1. Must a healthy child be injected with a pharmaceutical product – which always carries risks and unknowns – for the presumptive purpose of decreasing the chances of others becoming sick?

2. Is it even permissible to force definite risks and unknowns upon a healthy child for the entirely hypothetical benefit to other people?

3. Under what circumstances, if any, is it permissible for healthy Jews to submit to a medical experiment?

4. Is there any halachic precedent to allow doctors virtually unlimited control over all of Klal Yisrael, indefinitely?

5. On what basis can all of Klal Yisrael be instructed to surrender the power to decide when, if, and under what circumstances they may daven, learn Torah, educate their children, and otherwise live a normative Jewish life to any outside group? Even the Sanhedrin did not exercise such absolute control over the daily life of Klal Yisrael; why is a group of people who are overwhelmingly not Jewish, and even heretics, entitled to greater power over Jewish life than the Sanhedrin?

6. Under what circumstances may a minority of medical opinions be followed?

7. Even in cases where the majority of doctors are followed, shall the opinions of doctors who have not independently studied and demonstrated proficiency in the pertinent science be counted?

8. Similarly, must we count the “majority” opinions of doctors who have conflicts of interest, or risk serious repercussions if they express a view contrary to the establishment?

9. On what halachic basis are we obligated to assume that doctors, rabbis, or anyone else with a serious negi’us (vested interest) will not be influenced by this, especially in matters where we are assuming risks to our health and they bear no liability for anything that happens to us?

10. On what halachic basis must we assume that pharmaceutical companies with an unbroken history of satanic greed and disregard for human life shall be trusted, especially when they have nothing to fear from the law and they have tremendous leverage over the agencies that are supposed to oversee them?

11. On what halachic basis must we assume that government agencies, politicians, health officials, and other influencers of public opinion can be trusted when they have lied, made gross mistakes, engaged in deceit and manipulation, and receive funding from the pharmaceutical companies whose products and positions they endorse? At what point according to halacha does a doctor with a valid medical opinion become compromised?

12. If a rabbi has a position with an agency that has negi’us, or will otherwise suffer repercussions if he expresses a view against the “majority”, on what basis can we assume that his support of their position is not influenced by this?

13. On what basis can we be so sure that this negi’us has no influence over his support of their position that we may bank our physical and spiritual lives on it?

14. In the entire course of Jewish history, during which our nation endured many plagues, has there ever been a response so widespread, intrusive, authoritarian, and unlimited both in scope and duration? Why does this situation justify such a radical departure from everything in Torah and tradition? On what basis are so many rabbis urging this radical departure with total conviction and severe condemnations for those who don’t fall completely into line?

15. If a rabbi instructs a healthy person to submit to a medical experiment (even if – especially if – it is referred to in other terms), and that person is harmed in any way, is the rabbi liable in human courts or the Heavenly court?

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Three timely teachings from the Gemara in Shabbos

Poisonous Injections and Shidduch Résumés

I need to take a short break from fighting Amalek and the Erev Rav to share an Ohr HaChaim on this week’s parsha. Kedoshim 19:29 commands us as follows:

אל תחלל את בתך להזנותה ולא תזנה הארץ ומלאה הארץ זמה

Do not profane you daughter to lead her astray, so that the land should not be led astray and filled with sexual immorality

The Ohr HaChaim comments as follows:

אל תחלל את בתך וגו‘. פירוש יצו האל למי שיש לו בת שלא ינהג בה מנהג חולין להראותה לפני כל ולהתנאות לפניהם אלא כבודה בת מלך פנימה. והגם שיתכוין בה להנאת זיווגה כדי שיודע כי בת יפה ונעימה היא ותנשא להראוי לה, על כל זה יצו האל כי חילול הוא לה והיוצא מזה הוא להזנותה לא להשיאה כי יבער בה אש הטבעי ותחלל כבודה, ולא זו בלבד אלא שתהיה סיבה להבעיר אש בלב רואה וחומד ותזנה הארץ ולבסוף ומלאה הארץ זימה, ונמצא עון כל הרשע תלוי בצוארו, וצא ולמד מה שפירשתי בפרשת אחרי מות בפסוק (יח ב) כמעשה ארץ מצרים שחוש הראות יגדיל החפץ בדבר ויבטל כח הרצון במניעה ויטהו אל חפץ המעשה רחמנא ליצלן

God commands us that one who has a daughter should not conduct her in a profane manner to display her before everyone and to beautify her before them, but “the glory of a princess is inward”. Even if he intends this for the sake of marrying her off, in order that it should be known that she is a beautiful girl and pleasant, so that she should be married to one who is worthy of her, despite this God commands us that this is a profanation of her, and what will come of this is to lead her astray, not to marry her off, for the natural fire will burn inside her and her honor will be profaned. Not only this, but this will cause the fire to burn inside the heart of those who see and desire her, and the land will be led astray, and in the end the land will be full of immorality. It will turn out that the sin of all the evil will hang from his neck…

I have been railing against “shidduch résumés” since they became a thing, which seems to be only since 2004. Before then the idea of singles’ pictures and personal information being peddled around like baseball cards would have been considered outrageous. But then some people started to do it, ostensibly because it was convenient and “saved time”, then more people started to do it, then it became a phenomenon, and now if someone doesn’t play along he’s the crazy one.

A girl (or her parents) is expected to share a picture to be forwarded around and ogled by strangers. A girl who doesn’t allow her picture to be ogled by strangers is told she will not get married. Not only must she share a picture, she must take a glamour shot, otherwise she will pale before those who do. (Increasingly the same is true for men, as two can play that game.)

It doesn’t matter that from the earliest age she was impressed with the supreme importance of tznius [modesty]. When social pressure enters the picture, tznius goes out the window, and she must be profaned for her own good, otherwise she will not have a chance to marry a “catch”. So the real lesson is not the importance of tznius, truly believing in God, or living according to principles even when faced with resistance, but that fitting in socially is what matters most.

The Ohr HaChaim explains that showcasing a girl’s beauty – even with the best of intentions, even for the sake of marrying her to someone suitable – profanes her, leads others astray, and leads to widespread immorality. This is a biblical prohibition. In light of this, the degrading practice of coercing singles to share pictures must be immediately ceased. It should go without saying that the common practice of both men and women displaying pictures of themselves on social media, to be ogled and admired for no greater purpose, certainly does not befit anyone who follows the Torah.

We are once again seeing the great evil of blindly following the social tide, even when we can rationalize that it is “for the greater good”. For the last two decades I have been urging the Jewish world to bring sanity and true Torah values back to shidduchim. Hopefully those who have ignored me will finally see that their mindset is the same mindset that leads people to inject themselves with poison and engage in other senseless acts of self-harm.

If you are single or the parent of a single, stop playing the game, even if people call you the usual names. If you really believe in God and the Torah, you need to prove it by doing the right thing even when it’s inconvenient and people disrespect you for it.

Stop asking for pictures. Stop sharing them. Break out of the madness, and help others do the same.

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See https://chananyaweissman.com/articles.php for nearly 20 years’ worth of  articles about the shidduch world.  You can also show the love and buy my books on the subject, EndTheMadness Guide to the Shidduch World and How to Not Get Married: Break these rules and you have a chance.  Also check out my documentary and series of short films, The Shidduch Chronicles.

Medical Intervention in the Torah Part 2

Chizkiyahu’s illness, like all others mentioned in the Torah, had a direct spiritual cause: he had refrained from marrying and starting a family. The prophet Yeshayahu instructed him to give his final instructions to his household, for he was going to die (see Melachim II 20:1-11). Chizkiyahu replied: “Finish your prophecy and get out! I have a tradition from my forefather [King David], even if the point of the sword is on the neck of a man, he should not hold himself back from mercy.” (Brachos 10A)

Chizkiyahu immediately prayed and cried to Hashem from the depths of his heart. Before Yeshayahu could get far, Hashem spoke and told him to return with a message for Chizkiyahu. He would be granted another fifteen years of life and would witness miraculous salvation from the powerful Assyrian army that had besieged Jerusalem. (This could have been the ultimate redemption and Chizkiyahu could have been Moshiach, but the opportunity was lost [Sanhedrin 94A].)

Yeshayahu then instructed Chizkiyahu to place pressed figs on his inflamed skin, after which it healed. Chazal teach that such a treatment should have been harmful even to healthy skin, but Hashem performed a miracle within a miracle to show that He is in charge of all healing, and nature is really nothing more than a camouflage for His intervention (Melachim II 20:7, Rashi, Radak). This is one of the reasons we must engage in reasonable natural efforts, to maintain “plausible deniability” for those who wish to deny God’s intervention, and thereby preserve free choice (see Ralbag). Without the camouflage of nature, that would be impossible. Nevertheless, the true cause of illness and healing (unless one sabotages his own health) is entirely spiritual.

Deep down we all know this. Even those who trust doctors and scientists far more than they ever deserved nevertheless pray in times of medical distress. We do not pray for the plumber to find the cause of the leak and successfully repair it (though perhaps we should). Ditto with the auto repairman, the electrician, the tailor, and so many others whose services and expertise we rely upon to fix that which needs fixing. We know that there is a step-by-step process to their work, the outcome of which – short of negligence – can be entirely predictable.

Yet when it comes to curing an illness or healing the body, we innately understand that the outcome is never entirely predictable. No doctor has ever cured a patient. The most they can do is facilitate the body’s healing, with God’s permission for it to heal. This is why people are nervous even when they undergo “routine” procedures or take medication, and those with sense pray for it to be successful. The step-by-step process of medical treatment includes a lacuna that no doctor can control: the body’s response to treatment. Unlike repairing a car or a shoe, anything can go wrong.

Despite this, doctors have a vaunted belief in their own abilities (a big reason why “the best doctors go to hell”), and most people place doctors on a pedestal. Faith in science and the abilities of doctors has become a religion unto itself, if not a cult. Even most religious people look to doctors with reverence, the sort of reverence that is given to great rabbis and few others. The stereotypical Jewish mother takes the greatest pride in her son, the doctor.

Chazal teach us that Chizkiyahu did six controversial things, three of which received the approval of the Sages and three of which did not (Pesachim 56A). The three which received approval all countered avoda zara: he dragged the bones of his father, an idolater, on a bed of rope, he pulverized the copper snake that Moshe fashioned (Bamidbar Chapter 21) which the Jews later began to worship, and he hid away the book of cures.

The latter is most intriguing. Rashi explains that people used this book of cures (which the Ramban in his introduction to Bereishis attributes to Shlomo Hamelech) to heal immediately, and they didn’t humble their hearts. Chizkiyahu hid it to compel the people to turn to Hashem.

The Rambam vehemently rejects this explanation (see his Pirush Hamishnayos). He suggests that the book of cures might have contained information about how to prepare various poisons from plants, what illnesses they would cause, and how to cure them. When Chizkiyahu saw that this scientific information was being used to murder people, he hid the book.

However, the Rambam’s preferred explanation appears in Moreh Nevuchim Part 3 Chapter 37. There he writes that the book of cures was based on the idolatrous ideology of the Sabeans, which dated back to the times of Avraham. This ideology was dominant at the time; it combined nature-worship, star-worship, and sexual perversity. Their cultish behaviors were not merely religion, but the accepted science of the time. Consequently, one who veered from their behaviors was considered a heretic, a science-denier, and a threat to society. The Rambam is adamant that the cures in the book were idolatrous and fraudulent.

The Talmud Yerushalmi’s version of the teaching refers to it as a tablet of cures (Pesachim 64A). The Pnei Moshe and Korban Ha’eida commentaries both explain that remedies based on astrology were engraved on the tablet, and it was a great sin for people to follow it. This is similar to the Rambam’s explanation.

When Chizkiyahu was deathly ill, he prayed for Hashem to remember that he had done what was good in God’s eyes. Both Rashi in Pesachim and Radak in Melachim say that this refers to hiding the book of cures. It’s interesting that they single out this action. Perhaps Chizkiyahu’s effort to turn the Jews to Hashem as the source of healing merited his own recovery.

Even more interesting, Chizkiyahu knew that hiding the book would indirectly cause some people to die. He reasoned that the book of instant cures was causing more spiritual harm than it was worth. Although this was most controversial, the Sages agreed with his decision. Did his miraculous salvation after turning to God – when the book of cures was no longer available – validate his decision?

According to Rashi, Ramban, and Radak, it was meritorious to suppress authentic medicinal cures because the people had put their faith in medicine over God. In our day, the cultish faith in modern science and medicine is on steroids (pun intended). This mindset is equated in the Gemara with actual idolatry, and warranted a swing to the opposite extreme – banishing the book of cures – to set people straight.

According to the Rambam, the book of cures was fraudulent, and therefore its banishment was no loss to the sick. If anything, removing this “misinformation” could only benefit them! It seems strange that Chizkiyahu’s decision to hide a book of false, idolatrous, presumably harmful medicines would be controversial. Perhaps the Sages needed to approve this obviously righteous act because Chizkiyahu might have ended the people’s dependence on the fake science without burying an important historical record.

Either way, the Jews of Jerusalem, with a Beis Hamikdash and true prophets in their midst, were so attached to fake science and cultish behavior that it took the brave action of a Moshiach-worthy king to put an end to it.

Stop and reflect on this as you compare to present times. Read the previous paragraph again, and just reflect on it.

Even if the science was authentic – even if it contained the wisdom of King Solomon – it was still appropriate for the book to be hidden, because the people relied on the science too much. When people give power and faith to science over God, it is idolatrous, and it is better for the science to be suppressed.

Compare to present times and reflect on that as well.

A reader recently emailed me the following remarkable comment: “I noticed a special fact today while reading the Torah. In the Greek translation (Septuaginta) I read that Pharaoh called his magicians to perform miracles. The word for magician in Greek is “Pharmacon” as you surely know [I didn’t]. These are the Pharmacists of today. They could only make some plagues worse but not take them away. How topical…So this biblical story from Egypt now gets a whole new perspective.”

If modern pharmacology does not have its actual roots in idolatry, the slavish worship of white coats, degrees, and establishment “experts” is clearly idolatrous. There is overwhelming evidence that the system is rife with corruption and that much of what is taken for granted as “scientific fact” is more akin to faith in cult leaders. Those who scorn religious faith have created a substitute that demands complete faith and ritual obedience.

Natural interventions are intended to be a camouflage for God’s intervention, not a substitute. This is even when the science behind them is indisputable, all the more so when it is shrouded in deceit, greed, politics, and conflicts of interest. Those who gamble their wellbeing and their lives on such science are certainly turning away from God and committing a great sin.

We pray three times a day in the Shemoneh Esrei for God to heal us, referring to Him as the רופא נאמן, the faithful healer. There are many doctors, but only God is the true healer, only God can be relied upon. If we must turn to doctors at times, we must do so with the understanding that they are nothing more than a camouflage for God’s healing. Their place in society deserves no special reverence, no more than anyone else who does a job and relies on God for the outcome to be successful. Doctors and medicine exist to provide a cover for God’s intervention, not to replace it.

We are blessed to live in a time when the idolatry of medical worship is being destroyed before our eyes and its priests exposed as frauds. Let us live according to the Torah, turn to God, banish the fear, and enjoy life.

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https://chananyaweissman.com/