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THERE WERE FOUR MEN, LEPERS, OUTSIDE THE GATE. THEY
SAID TO ONE ANOTHER: "WHY SHOULD WE SIT HERE WAITING FOR DEATH?"
(Melakhim
Bet 7:1, Haftorah for Metzora)
"Always push away with the left hand
and draw near with the right"
The
Rabbis learned: Elisha suffered three bouts of ilness: One, when he enraged
bears against children, one when he pushed away Gehazi with both his hands, and
one that killed him, for it is said Elisha had been stricken with the
illness of which he was to die (Melakhim Bet 13: 14).
The Rabbi learned: Always push away with the left hand and draw near with the right, not like Elisha who pushed off Gehazi with both of his hands, and not like Yehoshua ben Perahya who pushed away one of his students (according to some texts, Jesus of Nazareth) with both hands.
What
had Elisha done? It is written: Naaman said [to Gehazi], "Please take
two talents" (Melakhim
Bet 5:23)
and it is written, [Elisha accused Gehazi:] Did not my heart go along when a
man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this a time to take money in
order to buy clothing and olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, and male
and female slaves? (5:26) But did he
[Gehazi] really take all of these things? He only took money and clothing!
Rabbi
Yitzhak said: At that very hour Elisha was expounding the laws of the eight
impure swarming creatures. He [Elisha] told him [Gehazi]: Wicked-one, now the
time has come to receive your reward for the eight impure swarming creatures
[i.e., the eight types of luxuries you wished to acquire from Naaman], the
leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and to your descendants forever (5:27).
There
were four men, lepers - Rabbi Yohanan said: They were Gehazi and his
three sons.
(Sotah
47a)
Our
Father who is in heaven, bless the State of Israel and its inhabitants, protect
it with your merciful hand and spread your sukkah of peace over it, and send
your light and truth to its leaders, ministers, and advisors, grant them good
counsel before You, and give peace in the Land and eternal joy to all of its
inhabitants.
When You Enter the Land
of Canaan Which I Give You as a Possession, and I Inflict an Eruptive
Affliction Upon a House in the Land You Possess
Nega'ei ha'bayit [the "afflictions"
of houses] have caught the interest of bible commentators ever since the Sages
wondered about the phenomenon's strangeness. Rashi chose to interpret the
matter midrashically, and understood the nega'ei habayit to constitute a
kind of blessing. He wrote:
And I inflict an eruptive affliction - This was an
announcement to them that these plagues would come upon them, because the
Amorites concealed treasures of gold in the walls of their houses during the
whole 40 years the Israelites were in the wilderness, and in consequence of the
nega they would pull down the house and discover them [the treasures].
(Based on Silberman translation)
Hizkuni cites the words of the Tosafot which
claim that the nega'ei ha'bayit marked the houses in which idols had
been worshipped, so that the Israelites would know which buildings had to be
destroyed.
Sanhedrin 71a offers the most radical
interpretation in the course of a discussion of those mitzvot which appear in
the Torah, but which lack practical application - mitzvot meant to serve as
objects of purely theoretical interest to be "studied in order to receive
a reward [from heaven]." Regarding the nega'ei ha'bayit the Talmud
there states:
There never was and never will be an afflicted house. And why is it written? Expound upon [it] and receive a reward.
Indeed, the Gemara does present us with other
interpretations and even testimony supporting the existence of afflicted
houses, but the author of the discussion grants ample space to those who hold
that the ben soreir umoreh [disobedient child], the ir ha'nidahat
[city which turned to idolatry], and the afflicted house all "never
existed nor will ever exist in the future" and were mentioned in the Torah
only in order to afford people the opportunity to "expound upon [them] and
receive a reward."
What, then, is there to be expounded upon in
this matter?
We find two apparently contradictory approaches
regarding the possibility of houses in Jerusalem being afflicted:
The Gemara in Yoma 12a says that Jerusalem - and
certainly the area of the Temple - cannot suffer afflictions, since they are
not included in the category of your possessions, in accordance
with the view holding that "Jerusalem was not divided among the tribes."
Contrastingly, in Vayikra Rabbah 17:7, we read:
And I shall inflict an eruptive affliction upon
a house in the land you possess - This refers to the Temple, for it is
said, I am going to desecrate My Sanctuary, your pride and glory (Ezekiel 24:21).
Of course, it is possible to reconcile the two statements by pointing out that the quote from Yoma is halakhic, while that from Vayikra Rabbah is a midrash aggadah meant to express a theological idea. The midrash even continues along the metaphorical thread that it had begun:
The owner of the house shall come (Vayikra 14:35) - That is the
Holy One Blessed be He, for it is said, because of My House which lies in ruins
(Haggai
1:9)
And tell the priest (Vayikra, loc cit) - That is
Jeremiah, for it is said [that he was one] of the priests that are in Anatot
(Jeremiah
1:1).
Something like an affliction has appeared upon
my house (Vayikra,
loc cit)
- That is the filth of idolatry. Some say: That is Menashe's idol.
It seems to me, however, that both the midrash and the Talmudic statement may be read in a different way since, in any event, this halakhah has no practical application, and halakhah may also be interpreted on the philosophical level.
In his comments on the verse from Vayikra, Rabbi
S. R. Hirsch explains that on the one hand, the afflictions only occur in the
Land of Israel, while, on the other hand, they only occur in the land you
possess, i.e., in houses belonging to known individuals. Thus, at the ideal
level, Jerusalem and the Temple "cannot be made impure with afflictions."
The affliction is, therefore, a social
affliction connected with the consequences of the acquisitiveness that can
arise from private ownership.
If so, there is an essential contradiction
between ownership and holiness, the holy is set apart and cannot be included in
any kind of real estate holding or sovereignty.
However, the afflictions can damage the
Temple when the attitude towards it is acquisitive - an acquisitive attitude
necessarily defiles the holy. The remedy is in the emptying of the house, its
quarantine, removal of the affected stones (idolatry), their dispersal to an
unclean place, and their replacement with other stones.
I do not think there is need to write at length
in order to make understood the meaning of these ideas for today. The creation
of the State of Israel sets before us many important challenges. We can be
able, if we so wish, to build in our hearts and in our society a place for the
Temple, where our lives will be sanctified and our society built upon a solid
foundation of justice. No material stones are needed, but rather the
construction of a society that seeks peace, cares for the stranger, for the
orphan and for the widow. It may be that in order to achieve this we will have
to substitute afflicted stones with other stones, but in order to preserve the
house's future, we must expound upon the laws of nega'ei habayit, and
find a way to apply them.
May we all enjoy a happy Yom Ha'atzmaut.
Pinchas
Leiser, the editor of Shabbat Shalom, is a psychologist.
There never was and never will be an
afflicted house. And why is it written? Expound upon [it] and receive a reward.
(Sanhedrin
71a)
And I shall inflict an eruptive
affliction upon a house in the land you possess - This refers
to the Temple, for it is said, I am going to desecrate My Sanctuary, your
pride and glory (Ezekiel
24:21).
(Vayikra
Rabbah 17:7)
The
character of the most completely unsociable being as represented by the dror
bird at once springs to one's mind as the opposite contrast to what is
demanded for re-entrance into the social life of he community. It is the
contrast of the animals of the "field" to the humans of the "city."
The
demand which is made as the condition for the re-entry into the social life of
the community is that the priest shall slaughter one of the birds, i.e.,
the energetic subjection of the wild untrammeled animal life under the sharp
control of the morally strong human will.
(Rabbi
S.R. Hirsch on Vayikra 14:8, based on Isaac Levy translation)
Is ThereReligious Significance to
National Independence?
The
religious establishment has struggled to shape the religious character of Yom
Ha'atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim, and this issue continues to engage various
sectors of the religious community. It cannot be solved without coming to an
understanding of the religious value of the historical events associated with
those holidays. Let it be said at the outset: We are not dealing here with the
significance of a "prophetic vision" or "messianic destiny"
involving "the Kingdom of Israel." Rather, we must investigate the
significance of the political creation of the actual State of Israel, which
came into existence in 1948, and the significance of the manner and conditions
of its creation, its wars and conquests. The religious attitudes towards these
days can only be based upon historical understanding, and not upon study of the
halakhic tradition, which never contemplated such situations...
It
is impossible to avoid a clear decision regarding Yom Ha'atzmaut. This day
cannot be given a partial evaluation. One view has it that it is not a holiday,
but rather a day of mourning: the day the Jewish People rebelled against the
Torah. Another view holds that it is particularly apt for us to say the berakha
of she'hehiyanu and to recite the Hallel and mark Yom Ha'atzmaut
as a holiday, for it is the day when the Jewish People opened the door to the
possibility of fulfilling the Torah - a gate that it may enter, if the people
decide to apply themselves to observance of the Torah. This view is not
subverted by the fact that the majority of the present generation does not seek
the Torah's observance.
(Y.
Leibowitz, Yahadut, Am Yehudi U'midinat Yisrael pp. 90, 91, 96, 97)
Certainly we view the State of Israel as a healing process. I cannot imagine what would have happened to the Jewish People if the state had not arisen. It was so necessary for the rehabilitation of the survivors! When I think of the refugees from destruction, if they had to continue wandering from shore to shore, not finding a safe-haven in the Land of Israel, what would have happened to the Jewish People? In this sense, of course there is a connection...
The
first expression of independence was "bringing home the individuals."
There is nothing greater than a home...not only individuals who came and found
a home after years spent in concentration camps and death camps.
(HaRav
Amital, as quoted in M. Miyah, Olam Banuy, Hareiv, U'Vanuy, pg. 68)
We are back! A
message from the editor regarding the renewal of the Hebrew print edition.
For the past three months, Shabbat Shalom was published only
in an electronic format. Many of our readers down-loaded it from our website,
or received it by email. Some even made the effort to personally print up
copies for distribution in their synagogues. We extend our thanks to everyone
who made it possible for our voice to be heard, if only in a more modest forum,
a kind of "small still voice."
During the break that we had to take, many good people
contacted us to express their distress that our voice was not being heard in
the synagogues. It should be mentioned that people who do not necessarily agree
with our positions also felt that something important had been taken from them.
Many went beyond mere expressions of sympathy and took upon themselves to allow
us to renew publication, at least for the coming months.
Therefore, thanks to your help, starting this Shabbat we
will again distribute the Hebrew print edition of Shabbat Shalom in Israeli
synagogues, as we had done during the past six years. We thank all those who
identified with the need for the voice of a different religious Zionism to be
heard, one that emphasizes the values of peace, social justice, and the dignity
of all human beings created in the Divine image. Special thanks to Daniel Lazare,
who took the trouble every week to produce an easy-to-print file of Shabbat
Shalom in addition to the html version appearing on our website. Thanks also to
our translator, who made possible the continued appearance of our English
edition, which is received by many overseas readers. My colleague, Miriam Fine
deserves a special yashar koah for her part in campaigning for the
donations that allowed for renewed publication of the print edition.
As mentioned above, we renew the printing and distribution
of Shabbat Shalom because we hope and believe that the great interest it
generates among worshippers in the synagogues will help us continue its
publication for the present year.
Any donation - no matter how modest - helps us sustain this
project. Please note that an edition (in part or in full) of Shabbat Shalom can
be dedicated to the marking of a family celebration, or in the honor or memory
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Checks should be made
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"Oz V'Shalom-Netivot
Shalom"
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Shabbat
Shalom is available on our website: www.netivot-shalom.org.il
If you
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With God's
help and your own, we will rise ever higher.
Editorial
Board of Shabbat Shalom
Executive
Board of Oz Ve'Shalom-Netivot Shalom.
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