I feel like crying, I feel like disconnecting, I don't know what to think anymore. Our public - of which I am a part - suddenly shows me such an ugly face that I don't know what to think anymore.
This controversy, the way people behave, I don't know what to say to myself - to me it's simply incomprehensible. How do people who volunteer at ZAKA or donate to Eliezer even manage to raise a hand against each other?.
And what is the justification for all this? A quarrel over territory, money, control. Which rabbi should I go ask now, whom should I believe?
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
Joseph.
Dear Joseph,
Coming us To cry, come us Disconnect. You are not alone, thousands upon thousands of Jews see the pictures, hear the voices, and cry, and are shocked, and ask themselves "how?"
The question here is twofold: How do Torah scholars, young men who were educated in important institutions, who grew up in homes where they were taught to fear God and love their fellow man, deteriorate into such actions and behavior?
And the even bigger question, and the greater pain, is how do we find scholars, those who are supposed to be like the angel of the Lord of hosts, how do we find them in this cauldron, which arouses disgust in us? And this question cries out from the conclusion of your question, "Whom to believe?"'
It seems that the easy solution is to say, "And the learned man at that time will be silent," and "If you see a learned scholar who has committed a transgression at night, do not dwell on him during the day, lest he repent, lest your mind be cleared (is it doubtful in your eyes that he repented?) but he certainly repented.".
But you and I and thousands and thousands of others know that a persistent, recurring reality requires us to look it in the eye and understand it. Examine it, study its origin, and draw conclusions from this study for ourselves, for our own reflection.
I will explain to you how I answer myself, in the hope that it will somehow calm the justified turmoil in your heart, and perhaps we can both contribute to ourselves and our environment by avoiding these phenomena.
The first point that stands out so much in this story is the power of controversy. The one that can start with a single dim ember years ago, and grow and grow to dimensions that no one anticipated, no one thought about, and no one can control the fire anymore.
The Sages say that "since permission was given to the corrupter to corrupt, it does not distinguish between the righteous and the wicked." It seems to me that the burning controversy does exactly this. Since it begins to corrupt, it first corrupts the bored, action-seeking, and then it slays the seminaries, and indeed, sometimes it does not distinguish between the righteous and the wicked.
The first translation that you and I need to translate into practice the terrible heartache in the face of these phenomena is to stay away from this fire and similar fires. To extinguish every small ember of discord while it is still young, and to be extremely careful not to approach any person or place that engages in this.
There is no guardian for it, it can catch everyone, it does not distinguish between righteous and wicked.
It's hard to understand, hard to explain, terribly painful, but the lesson is clear. We must not be there. We must not be burned by this fire.
Entering one room
Another lesson emerges from the answer to the question we all ask, "How does it get to this point?", or as you put it so well, "To me, it just doesn't make sense.".
Perhaps we can illustrate this this way: There is a model of social experiment in the world in which a group of people are put into a house networked with cameras, and cut off from the world for a period of time.
This disconnection causes people to obsessively engage in themselves and turn insignificant things into big issues that must be "given their souls." And so the viewer gets a hearty dose of watching fights and conflicts that in the outside world seem completely illusory, but when you are in a closed and disconnected house, the proportions are completely distorted.
And as in the parable, so in the parable: You stand awed by the claims of the parties, by the power and magnitude they occupy within the world of the young men and women involved in this dispute, and as you asked, "What is the justification for all this?" - and it seems as if they have built themselves some kind of bubble that we watch from the outside and do not understand what kind of "movie" they have created for themselves?
And I have a feeling that if each of these talented people were to step out of the "bubble house" they created for themselves for a moment, and look at themselves from the outside, with a sharp and true self-examination, they would both vomit and grin.
We, those of us outside the home, should take note of this feeling and be careful not to create more such "bubble homes." Examine ourselves from the outside every now and then, and see if there are things in which we have lost proportion? Have we entered some "movie" disconnected from the real world outside?
I could end my writing to you here. These are the two main lessons I reflect on in the face of these sights, and I am sure you can take them into your life and multiply goodness and sanctification in the name of God.
Find yourself an angel.
But you ended with a poignant, perhaps screaming, sentence that I cannot ignore: "Which rabbi should I go ask now, whom should I believe?" The broken trust cries out here, and I hear the positive innocence of someone who admired, valued, and believed, and whose trust was broken.
Dear Joseph, the Sages say, "For the lips of a priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek Torah from his mouth, for he is an angel of the Lord of hosts. If the rabbi resembles the angel of the Lord, they shall seek Torah from his mouth; and if not, they shall not seek Torah from his mouth." There are angel-like ones all around. If a rabbi no longer resembles an angel in your eyes, seek others. They exist, they are there, and it is your duty to seek those who resemble him. In your eyes To an angel from whose mouth you can drink Torah. He is waiting for you close, within reach.
""To make you a rabbi" is not a recommendation to read the newspaper and follow the recommendations of its writers. To make you a rabbi is a recommendation to seek out the one who is right for you, the one who resembles your angel, and from whom to receive Torah, and from whom to learn.
And those who are not like that? Whoever sees them as angel-like, let him make them his many, but you are not obligated to do so.
But remember, even after you choose a rabbi who seems to you like an angel, he is not a complete angel. A rabbi is a human being, albeit a noble one, but a human being. "There is no righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin," is not an abstract slogan, but a clear statement that even the righteous have an evil inclination, they too can fail, they too have qualities that they need to work on, and we as adults need to be prepared for this, understand this, and be prepared to receive the Torah of Life from a living person, not an angel, not a serpent, a person who fights the wars of creation, and usually wins, and rarely loses.
It is not easy for a grown son to discover that his father is not perfect, and it is not easy for a student to discover that his parents are not angels, but if they still only resemble angels in our eyes – we will seek Torah from them, we will admire, value and teach what is good.
True pain indicates a living body. And a painful question indicates a living soul. And I am sure that with the living soul expressed in your question, you will be able to find a teacher and a rabbi, to grow and do what is right and good in the eyes of God.
I would of course be happy to continue listening to your questions,
With appreciation and friendship
Michael
