1. No foul language. A major item on the news agenda was the news published in 'Kan' about Ethiopians who were banned by the kashrut body from working in wine.
Central volume by liberal speakers [Jewish-religious racism]; Central volume by Haredim Group A [unnecessary racism that is far from Halacha]; Central volume by Haredim Group B [no racism, pure Halacha].
And what they all have in common? The desire to explain, to clarify, to strive for good, logical, understandable order.
Even the people of the 'community' and their supporters: Racism? No, absolutely not, it's just halakha. The Ethiopians are our brothers, it's just that halakha is halakha. Where does this attitude come from? Isn't it better: Ethiopians are not Jews and hence 'less valuable'? That 'not a Jew' is considered 'less of a person' as explained by the Sages? Well, no. Because the norms have changed. Because with respect to statements of this type, which were legitimate in the past, there has been a change.
Therefore, even the rabbis known in the world of Teshuvah describe a wonderful attitude towards the Gentile in Judaism and expound on the matter with stories of the righteous. Why? Because the world of the 21st century, in the era of liberal, humanistic and postmodernist revolutions, does not allow us to think differently. Does not allow us to use foul language. Racism? God forbid. Not with us. It's just halakha.
Judaism does not change, nor does Halacha. The perception of the norm and the structure of the language - does.
2. What is racism? And with the sound and image, it is perhaps permissible to ask: And what, isn't this racism? Isn't this the exclusion of people under the guise of religious justifications? What does Jewish thought say about this? And here, Supreme Court Justice Haim Cohen, in 2013, defined Jewish marriage laws as racist and even compared them to the Nazi Nuremberg Laws.
And so much so that the matter caused a stir that a book was published, 'On the Case of Judge Chaim Cohen' [Hapoel Hamizrachi, 1964], in which the responses of the nation's greatest intellectuals, both observant and non-observant, were collected. And besides the obvious shock, over the comparison of religious laws to Nazism [despising and blaspheming the systems of God – Rabbi Kook] and the pleas for him to retract his words [Judge Cohen, Repent – Menachem Begin], quite a few texts appeared that were more in-depth on the substance of the matter, and I will only quote a sentence, less polemical but more practical, corresponding with the practice of the 'test of results': "Chaim Cohen knows as well as anyone what the true love of man is that was born from the laws of the Jewish race, and what the hatred of man is that was born from the doctrine of religious cosmopolitan love and what secular internationalism is" [Dr. Israel Eldad].
So Jewish racial laws exist?
Yes, but they were not intended to establish a hierarchy and racial superiority. Who said that? History, life, practice. Racism inevitably gives rise to oppression, humiliation, hierarchy. In Judaism, which accepts into its ranks also those who innocently desire it, this has not happened.
3. Life itself: The country is abuzz with the case of the Ethiopians at Barkan Wineries who were disqualified by the kosher "ultra-Orthodox community," and some are attacking "racism" and others are justifying themselves and reminding us that with kosher, the law will strike the mountain, and there is no exaggeration in severity and pomp. And the halacha? Realistic. Sane, alive, and seeks to get away from the harshness. Here is Rashi [Yevamot]: A person is trustworthy to testify about the meat in his hand, otherwise, "you do not have a person who eats with his fellow.".
Meticulousness? Righteousness? Severity and suspicion? Maybe, but life is stronger. In realism, I followed Rashi's interpretation of the break from life itself: your wife is at the neighbor's house, your son is at a friend's, you're stuck in a business meeting; what will you do, won't you eat? Will you suspect the host? No, trust him. Don't turn normative life into compulsive, anxious, and paranoid.
Halacha, as a sane one, is preserved from a life filled with neuroses, nervousness, and religious madness: "There is no fear lest a rat drag [leaven] from house to house and from place to place... if so, there is no end to the matter" [Pesachim].
3. Jewish stratification? The debate over who is more Jewish and who is less, who is allowed to work in wine and who may be disqualified, and this week's episode of Injuza with the accidental murderer who was imprisoned in the 'city of refuge' until the death of the High Priest, has also been discussed.
So why the High Priest and how does his death affect the atonement?
Here is the Lubavitcher Rebbe drawing attention to the unusual connection between these two polar figures. The High Priest symbolizes the height of holiness and purity, and the murderer symbolizes the height of depravity and sin. Despite this, their fates are intertwined, and despite the dichotomy, the one who is elevated from a people becomes the one responsible for at least some of it.
Hierarchy? Statuses, a hierarchy of holiness? They exist, and even evolve in the Jewish people, but in the end, in the moment of truth, the connection between citizen number one and the vile murderer is stronger than the difference. Why? Because they both belong to one body, both are vital organs in one organism, both, well, both are Jews, and see more about this in Rat and Teiv ['Shabbat Table with the Lubavitcher Rebbe', Alumot Publishing].
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