An opinion of our Sages teaches that the evil decree in the Purim story came when the Jews of Shushan attended the feast of Achashverus which celebrated his false understanding that the Jews would not return to Eretz Yisrael to build the Beit Hamikdash. Apparently, Mordechai was the only Jew who protested. He begged the Jews not to participate, but they were happy to attend, insisting that the food and drink would be glatt kosher. The cause for the celebration – the belief that the Jews were freed of the obligation to return to the Land of Israel and to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash did not seem to bother anyone save Mordechai. There is no record that the other great Rabbis of the time, of which there were many, supported Mordechai’s vehement protest. Perhaps they dd and perhaps they erred and attended the gala party which celebrated the disconnection from Eretz Yisrael and an open door to acceptance amongst the Gentiles and assimilation, believing it would cement good relations with the powers that be. The modern version of that question arises – how could Gedolai Yisrael make a mistake in such a serious matter as the return of the exiled Jewish Nation to Israel? Rav Tzvi Yehuda HaKohen Kook, of blessed memory, my Rosh Yeshiva at the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem, told us that great Rabbis and Tzaddikim can also make occasional mistakes as seen in their opposition to Hashem’s returning the Jewish People in modern times. He discussed this very sensitive matter with us in spite of the reverence he held and taught us to feel for our Sages and for all Torah Scholars. However, he wanted us to understand that even great Torah Scholars can err. In this past week’s Torah portion of Vayikra several types of sin offerings are mentioned. Situated between the offerings of a High Priest who sins and a king who sins are the laws of a sin offering for the whole congregation (Vayikra 4:13). The tractate Horiot explains that this is a case where “the majority of the Great Sanhedrin makes a mistake” and because of their error in deciding the law a majority of the congregation transgresses. The Sages of the Great Sanhedrin were the leading Rabbis of the time, yet the Torah defines a situation where even they can make an error of judgment. The Torah testifies about Korach and his followers that they were outstanding Torah Scholars, stating: “They were princes of the congregation, the elect men of the assembly, men of renown” (Bamidbar, 16:2), yet they made a terrible mistake in their opposition to Moshe and Aharon. Datan and Abiram even went so far as to call Egypt, “a land flowing with milk and honey,” the very special expression the Torah bestows upon Eretz Yisrael. For their own personal reasons, they turned the words of the Torah upside down. R. Samson, R Avraham Shapira, R. TY Kook Courtesy More than once, Rav Tzvi Yehuda reminded us of the tragic sin of the Spies who rebelled against Hashem in the wilderness by refusing to go up to Eretz Yisrael. They were the outstanding Talmidei Chachamin of the era, the Chiefs of the Sanhedrin, the heads of the Tribes, whose sin was so severe the entire generation was punished with death in the wilderness (see “Mesillat Yesharim,” Ch.19, on Honor). Furthermore, our Sages inform us that this sin was the foundation of the destruction of the First and Second Temples (Tanhuma, BaMidbar, Shelach, 11-12). The Gaon of Vilna, certainly one of the greatest Rabbis of modern times, stated that the taint of this sin still exists in the Nation and even Talmidei Chachamin are affected by it: “In the time of Mashiach the Sitra Achra attacks the Guardians of Torah with blinders… Many of the sinners in this great sin of ‘They despised the cherished Land,’ and also many great Torah Scholars, will not recognize or understand that they have been sucked into the Sin of the Spies in many false ideas and empty claims, and they cover their ideas with the already proven fallacy that the mitzvah of the settlement of Israel no longer applies in our day, an opinion which has already been disproven by the Torah giants of the world, the Early and Later Torah Authorities” (Kol HaTor, Ch.5; see Shulchan Aruch, Pitchei Tshuva, Even HaEzer, Section 75, Sub-section 6). The brilliant and renowned scholar, the holy Rabbi Eliyahu of Greidetz, wrote: "Human intellect dictates that we initiate the process of redeeming the Land of Israel and then Hashem will complete it. One must understand the great importance of this matter, for the evil forces, the kelipot, gain strength even among the most righteous individuals, in order to nullify this great good. This is so because the entire strength of the kelipot (impure opposing forces) depends on the Exile. When the Exile dissolves, so will the kelipot, as the Talmud states in tractate Sukkah" (See “Eim HaBanim Semeichah” Pg.11). To the question how could Torah leaders err in their opposition to the settlement of Eretz Yisrael in our time and in their rejection of Medinat Yisrael, Rav Tzvi Yehuda explained: “When one believes that the Redemption of Israel and the coming of Mashiach have to appear miraculously from out of the heavens, in a way which transcends the normal order of life, then one fails to see the Hand of Hashem in all the events in the world. The Redemption is not obligated to appear with obvious miracles, nor does it have to be absolutely natural. Both miracles and natural historical development belong to the Almighty’s domain. The Rambam explains that the appearance of Mashiach is also a natural historical process, which is revealed by the ingathering of the Jewish People to Israel and even through wars (Rambam, Laws of Kings and Their Wars, 12:1-4). The Redemption of the Jewish People which comes to pass gradually in a natural way, as we have experienced in our time, is also from the Almighty” (See the book “Torat Eretz Yisrael,” Ch. 8). Rav Kook continued: “Certainly, the Redemption hasn’t yet reached completion. Many Torah leaders backed away from the Zionist cause and even fought against it because they wanted the Geula (Redemption) to be instantly complete. They attached themselves to the idea that the Geula had to be one-hundred-percent kosher from its inception, as opposed to being a gradual process, unfolding through many individuals, organizations, wars, international political agreements, the self-sacrifice of the early pioneers, the bravery of Jewish freedom fighters, and the hard manual labor of making the desert bloom, in order to bring the Redemption toward its final fulfillment. They couldn’t accept a Redemption which spread out in many directions, including secular movements replete with heretics and free thinkers who had thrown off the yoke of the Torah. Nor could they come to terms with the Geula’s unfolding in natural, down-to-earth events like the Balfour Declaration and ghastly World Wars. “When the Rebbe of Belz came on aliyah, he said, ‘We realize now that we erred in our estrangement from Eretz Yisrael.’ Other Gedolim also repented over their shortsightedness. If this repentance had occurred 30 years before, preceding the Holocaust, prompting the mass aliyah of devout God-fearing Jews, the spiritual situation is Israel would be very different today (unless, of course, Montgomery had not defeated Rommel at El Alamein, a miracle by natural means, and Hitler would have destroyed the Jews in then Palestine as well, ed.) “The beginning of the Zionist awakening was filled with uncertainty in the eyes of many Rabbis, but today there aren’t any doubts. We see eye-to-eye the acts of Hashem revealed in the ingathering of the exiles and the incredible rebuilding of the Nation in the Land. And it has become increasingly clear that those who supported the return to Zion were right.”
The die was cast. King Achashverosh granted Haman a genocidal license against the Jewish nation. Mordechai was one of the first to learn of the plot and he appealed to Queen Esther for help. Esther explained that it was dangerous even for her to enter the king’s chambers unbidden. Mordechai replied that it was precisely for this moment that G-d chose her to be queen. Esther understood the power she held to save the Jews, but she also understood the mortal danger in which this placed her. She consented to Mordechai’s appeal but on the condition that Mordechai gather all the Jews and declare a fast for three days and nights. Three days of intense prayer and fasting would give Esther the spiritual fortitude for her perilous task. The Dispute Mordechai agreed, but with one proviso. Surely, Esther intended to include only the righteous Jews who resisted the appeal of the royal Persian party. Nine years earlier, King Achashverosh threw a great feast for his citizens to celebrate the demise of the Jewish nation and the destruction of their Holy Temple. Mordechai admonished the Jews not to attend, but many disregarded his exhortations and went. Surely, Esther can’t mean to rely on the prayers of these self-hating Jews, betrayers of their cause and identity? But Esther wanted these Jews included. An argument broke out right then and there. Mordechai was adamant that G-d would not want to hear from such Jews. He was convinced that Haman’s plot was decreed by G-d against all Jews because of the sins of these Jews. How can we invite those who caused the decree to pray for its amelioration? Including these Jews would only serve to anger G-d. Esther was just as adamant. Fasting and prayer that doesn’t include all Jews is worthless, she proclaimed. G-d does not want to hear from Jews who drive wedges between themselves and those they deem inferior. All Jews are G-d’s children. In fact, when these Jews are invited to pray, they will recognize that their actions caused this decree and will repent with a complete heart. Their change of heart will generate such intense passion that their prayers will pierce the heavens and reach G-d’s’ throne. But how can you know that, asked Mordechai. How can you foretell that they will repent and pray with a complete heart? After all, they closed their hearts to my admonitions; who says they won’t close it again? Empathy I know, Esther explained, because I walk in their shoes daily. Mordechai, it is easy for you to judge these Jews because you are protected behind the virtual walls that you put up between yourself and the nations. From inside your proverbial fortress, where you are devout and pious, you reject the promise of power, luxury, and acceptance that tempts other Jews. But the Jews who went to the party don’t live behind the walls of your fortress. They live in the community, amongst the people. They do business every day in the market and mingle with Persians day in and day out. They see the fabulous power and wealth the Persians possess and compare it to their meager lot. They are envious of the Persians. When the Persians invited them to the party as equals, it was hard for them to resist. The allure was just too great. When you instructed them not to attend, they refused because it was hard for them to resist the invitation. When you demanded that they follow your lead and refrain, they couldn’t because you didn’t understand them. They felt your rebuke, not your love. You could not relate. I, on the other hand, live in their world. I walk the corridors of this palace. I reside in this center of debauchery fueled by immense power and fabulous wealth. Every day, I need to remind myself of my Jewish values because they can easily erode in this environment. I know the Jews who went to the party. To you, they are blatant sinners. To me they are bleeding hearts who were overcome by terrible trials. Where you see stone-cold heretics, I see passionate bleeding hearts. I want them to fast and pray with me. These are my children. My Jews. I know their hearts and spirit. Please, Mordechai, don’t split the nation at a time like this. We need unity. A single united front. Invite these Jews, or I won’t go to the king. Mordechai yielded to Esther’s forceful argument. He could not disagree. The facts were the facts. He was not living the life of these Jews and realized he had erred in his unflinching rebuke of them. The rest is history. Mordechai declared the fast. Esther approached the king. All Jews, including the former sinners, stood united and ready to die as Jews. In the end, Haman was hanged, and the Jews were saved. The Lesson When Haman presented his case to the king, he characterized the Jewish nation as a scattered and divided people. His point was to assure the king that his plot would succeed because the Jews were fractured. A united front is difficult to defeat, but as a fractured group, each faction would pull in a different direction while the enemy would divide and conquer. Recognizing that disunity made them vulnerable, Esther argued for unity. Fortunately, Esther prevailed because unity and peace are channels for Divine blessing. Because Mordechai gathered all the Jews, the Jewish people were saved. The traditional practices of Purim underscore this truth. Three of the four obligations on this day bolster Jewish togetherness and unity. We send food parcels to one another. We give charity to the poor. And we throw large feasts while opening our doors to visitors and guests. These are practices designed to strengthen the unity of our nation and put the lie to Haman’s claim that we are scattered and fractured. The lesson is to be stubbornly committed to Jewish unity despite our very real differences. This requires refraining from judging and dismissing each other. The reality is that everyone has faults. If we highlight everyone’s faults, there will be no one left to befriend. The only way around this is to fudge our integrity by overlooking the faults of the people we like and highlighting the faults of those we don’t like. This is dishonest, but we do it all the time. The fiction preserves the friction. The trick, then, is to love all Jews, as the Torah requires, and overlook everyone’s faults. If, instead, we highlighted their strengths, we would inspire them to improve. When we profess our confidence in a fellow Jew known to have faults, we nurture their commitment to live up to our compliments. This inspires them to overcome their faults and to double down on their strengths. The key is understanding that people are not inherently bad just because they have faults. Just like we don’t think our friends are bad despite their faults, so is no Jew inherently bad just because they have faults. Mordechai dismissed sinners as dispensable to the Jewish people. We can’t repeat his error. We need to reach out to all Jews, even those with whom we vehemently disagree. We must treat all Jews as we treat our friends. This is the key to unity. And unity is the key to redemption.
Минувшей ночью, с 28 на 29 марта, пресс-секретарь джихадистской группировки «Исламское государство», Абу Хутайфа аль-Ансари, высоко оценил нападение на российский концертный зал под Москвой , где погибло более 140 человек, а также призвал мусульман сражаться с Израилем. «Мы просим аллаха, чтобы вы добрались до Палестины, чтобы вы могли сражаться с евреями лицом к лицу в бесконечной религиозной войне», - сказал он, согласно сообщению агентства Reuters , на которое ранее ссылался Аруц 7 . Как известно, именно ИГИЛ поспешила взять на себя ответственность за теракт в России. Однако, президент РФ, Владимир Путин, признав, что террористы, совершившие нападение, были «радикальными исламистами», ещё раз повторил свои обвинения в адрес Украины, якобы, сыгравшей свою роль в этом теракте. Со своей стороны, официальный Киев отрицает какую бы то ни было причастность к этому нападению: президент Украины, Владимир Зеленский, обвинил Путина в стремлении «переложить вину» за нападение на его страну. Ранее Совет национальной безопасности США недвусмысленно заявил, что Украина не имеет никакого отношения к смертоносному теракту под Москвой: «ИГИЛ несет единоличную ответственность за эту атаку. Никакой причастности Украины к ней не было».
Quite unexpectedly, the Gemara in Kiddushin seems to depict a temporary type of yetzer hara , the evil inclination, as a " menuval shepaga ba - an evil entity that pierced you." Yet on the same page it's described as a more permanent type of figure, an entity knocking on your door twenty-four hours a day, relentless and continual. How is this seeming contradiction overcome? Investigating Purim The Megillah begins with a seemingly neutral event - the party of Achashverosh. All the food was kosher and there didn't seem to be any concrete violation of Jewish law. If you dig a little bit deeper, however, there was quite a profound aura that surrounded this celebration. Achashverosh was celebrating the fact that the Beit HaMikdash would not be rebuilt and that the Jews would be bound to galut. This party was a celebration of the negation of the Mikdash, showcasing its opulent vessels, keilim. Was this the party that the Jews belonged at? And how did it lead to such an extreme descent? Happenstance Meetings In Kiddushin, we are told of the story of Rabbi Akiva where he is walking along and the yetzer hara appears to him as a beautiful woman. He chases after “her” only to be saved by the fact of - as the yetzer hara itself declares - the great mass of his accumulated Torah. This encounter is just that. A split-second appearance to an unprepared great sage. Rabbi Akiva’s Torah had to retroactively save him, for the chances of him getting to a beis medrash in time to quell his passions would take too long. This doesn’t contradict the Gemara, however, that says when this menuval pierces you, take him to the beis hamidrash . Rabbi Akiva’s yetzer hara was likely enormous in tandem to his level, whereas others can still save themselves by taking the time to reach a study hall. We know of another story of a great sage that’s brou ght down in Kiddushin as well. Upon the light of his attic revealing a scene of a non- tznius image, he yells that there was a fire in his house. HIs students arrived and were perplexed as there was no real fire. They asked their rebbe how he could state a lie? Their rebbe said that it’s better to be shamed in this world than the next. In truth, there was no real lie here. There was a fire burning, the fire of the yetzer hara that was there to purge his soul. Just as many equate embarrassing someone to killing them even if there wasn’t actual murder, claiming a fire of a raging evil entity is no less than a fire of reality. Original Sin The snake brought death to the world in innocent fashion. Using some loose logic of the tongue, it brought down humanity. This already gives a powerful insight into its ways: it’s casual, looks for an opening and then strikes. If you picture the modern-day snake, you also see these tendencies. It’s very patient in its approach. It picks out its prey, remains quiet and unassuming and then goes in for a quick kill. The yetzer hara is the snake and he too looks for the opening and strikes with deathly-like blows. Built into the creation of the world was a seven-day cycle. It may very well be that this is the explanation of the notion that a tzaddik falls seven times and gets up. Why seven? Perhaps it represents the idea of the yetzer hara. It’s ever-present, every second of every day for all seven days of the week, waiting to strike a blow. A Winning Mindset The casualness of attending a party that signified Jewish decline is not where one wants to be. It can affect the soul to fall into a decline and this is exactly what happened on Purim. The yetzer hara intervened innocently but with precision, ultimately causing a potential knockout blow. The Messilat Yesharim echoes the idea of Pirkei Avot, that the only way to defeat the yetzer hara is through a full-fledged war. It’s not easy to block off seemingly happenstance occurrences that don’t seem so damaging. But that’s exactly where the yetzer hara begins his path of destruction. He knows every person’s weakness and throws endless “casual” blows in that direction. He’s patient, methodical and never rests. The fence needed to offset his strikes must be sturdy and impenetrable. We’re now in a physical war where we need a quick and sweeping victory. Victories in the spiritual realm will only enhance our battlefield victories. With more merits, we can counter the ministering angel of our enemy and see the Beit HaMikdash that was rebuilt twice, be rebuilt again.