Vos Is Neiz is reporting (and now Haaretz is as well, but with no details) that Rav Don Segal, known as "The Mashgiach", has announced the reason, the casus belli, for the terrorist attack on Yeshivas Merkaz HaRav last week in which 8 bachurim were slaughtered by an Arab.
Rav Don says the reason is because the Jews came to Eretz Yisrael in a fashion in which they were "oiver" on the three oaths that the Gemara says Hashem had made the Jewish nation take. The three oaths are:
- Not to return to Eretz Yisrael by force (like a wall)
- Not to rebel against the nations of the world
- the Nations would not overburden and oppress the Jews too much depending on the opinion in the Gemara, another opinion of the third oath is that the Jews would not sin too much thus causing a delay in the coming of the Mashiach)
Rav Don is a great Rabbi, ethicist, and mashgiach. He also happens to be pretty extreme in his views. While that is well known, I was not aware that he has gotten so extreme that he has gone way beyond even the Satmar Rebbe.
But to comment on what he said, if Torah and Mitzvos are what provide the protection to jews nowadays, how could the attack have occurred in a yeshiva while the boys were learning?
Also, did Rav Don mean all attacks that happen nowadays are because of the three oaths - even the attacks on Haredim (such as the #2 bus that blew up in a suicide attack a few years ago, along with various smaller attacks in which Haredim were the target)? Are all acts of violence attributed to this cause, or only the attack on the Merkaz HaRav yeshiva because they are, so to speak, the flagship yeshiva of the Natioal Religious movement in which the State of Israel is "idolized"?
I can't believe he went there. Although I am sad to say when I saw on the news (or was it your blog?) all these Hareidi rabbaim coming to the yeshiva, I am so terribly sorry to say, I got worried.
ReplyDeleteSo what does he suggest, we pack up and leave?
(Well, i'm still reading Ein Habbanim Smeicha. lol. I wish there were reviews about it. Let me check before I bemoan that.)
Ignoring the merits of Rav Segal's comments, I disagree with your assessment. Assuming that he is correct that Torah/Mitzvot protects the Jews nowadays, then when and if that protection is lifted, it is lifted for the Jews as a people, not for the particular Jews which do not observe Torah/Mitzvot as they should. (I can't find the source right now, but there's a Rashi in Shemot by Makat Bechorot that says that once "mashchitim" are on the loose, no one is safe.)
ReplyDeleteIn addition, it may be that if we are in a situation that there is not enough observance of Torah/Mitzvot, then the "secular" Jews are not entirely to blame, since, by and large, they don't know better, that's how they were raised, etc. But the "frum" Jews have a responsibility to teach and influence the not-yet-observant, and no to insulate themselves in their own worlds (live in their own world maybe, but definitely not insulate themselves there). This is similar to the gemara in makkot that says that the reason that the death of a Kohen Gadol secures the release of killers from an Ir Miklat is because, as the leader, he should have been more of a positive influence on his generation (note to flamers - I know I took a small liberty there, but I believe that it's within the spirit of the gemara).
I can't prove any of this (obviously), but they are some thoughts about why even "frum" Jews are vulnerable to attack in light of Rav Segal's comments.
I did not offer an assessment of what he said - I asked some questions that I did not understand because of what he said.
ReplyDeleteBut I still have other questions - how does he know to relate it to something that happened 60 years ago and not something more recent, such as tznius or because they serve in the army, or because they eat hetter mechira or whatever?
Also, if the reason is because of the three oaths, how can we correct and make amends for our transgression - leaving Israel? something else? I have not heard any such (other than from Neturei Karta) suggestion as to how it is possible to correct the aveira, so if that really is the source, are we damned to this forever because there is no way out of it?