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Friday, September 25, 2015

OBERGEFELL v. HODGES and Causing the Masses to Sin

Rabbi Yechiel Michel Tukachinsky zt"l, in his Luach Eretz Yisrael, mentions that before Yom Kippur one should check that he does not have one of the 24 things that hold back teshuvah. These things are listed by Maimonides in his Laws of Teshuvah, Chapter 4:
There are 24 deeds which hold back Teshuvah: Four are the commission of severe sins. God will not grant the person who commits such deeds to repent because of the gravity of his transgressions.
What are these four things out of the 24 that are so severe that God will give the transgressor the opportunity to repent?
They are:

1) One who causes the masses to sin, included in this category is one who holds back the many from performing a positive command;

2) One who leads his colleague astray from the path of good to that of bad; for example, one who proselytizes or serves as a missionary [for idol worship];

3) One who sees his son becoming associated with evil influences and refrains from rebuking him. Since his son is under his authority, were he to rebuke him, he would have separated himself [from these influences]. Hence, [by refraining from admonishing him, it is considered] as if he caused him to sin.

Included in this sin are also all those who have the potential to rebuke others, whether an individual or a group, and refrain from doing so, leaving them to their shortcomings.

4) One who says: "I will sin and then, repent." Included in this category is one who says: "I will sin and Yom Kippur will atone [for me]."

Rabbi Tukachinsky's advice was directed at the individual that he should check himself, indeed the entire idea of learning ethics is how to learn to apply them to one's self. However, I could not help but think of the SCOTUS when I read the first item:"One who causes the masses to sin..."Their decision in the OBERGEFELL v. HODGES case seems to be a classic case of causing the masses to sin, as I explained here. There I also expressed my dismay that all three Jews sitting in the Supreme Court supported the SCOTUS's scandalous decision.

Unfortunately there were also other groups, that claim to have a connection with Judaism or the Jewish People, which also pushed for this decision, and filed a "brief". They should be ashamed, but they are not. Even if they believe that the Constitution guarentees the right for such unions, they should have shown that their first allegiance is to the God of Israel. And if they could not bring themselves to actively oppose this breach in morals, they certainly did not have to actively support it. I am listing the Jewish organizations in that brief here:

ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE

AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE

BEND THE ARC: A JEWISH PARTNERSHIP FOR JUSTICE

CENTRAL CONFERENCE OF AMERICAN RABBIS

GLOBAL JUSTICE INSTITUTE

HADASSAH, THE WOMEN’S ZIONIST ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA

JEWISH SOCIAL POLICY ACTION NETWORK

KESHET

THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN

NEHIRIM

RECONSTRUCTIONIST RABBINICAL COLLEGE AND JEWISH RECONSTRUCTIONIST COMMUNITIES

SOCIETY FOR HUMANISTIC JUDAISM

T’RUAH: THE RABBINIC CALL FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

WOMEN OF REFORM JUDAISM

WOMEN’S LEAGUE FOR CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM

Shame on them all!

Friday, September 18, 2015

Rabbi Eliyahu Avichail zt"l

Baruch Dayan HaEmet:
Rabbi Eliyahu Avichail, the founder and director of Amishav, the organization on behalf of the Dispersed of Israel, passed away on Thursday morning at the age of 83.

Rabbi Avichail was identified for many years with efforts to find the descendants of the ten lost tribes. He founded Amishav in 1975 to help Bnei Menashe communities in India, Myanmar (Burma) and Israel.

Also an educator, Rabbi Avichail taught for many years at educational institutions within the religious word. Together with his wife, Rivka, he won the Yakir Yerushalayim award for outstanding citizenship in 2012.

Rabbi Avichail is the author of six books on the Ten Tribes and dedicated his life to research regarding their fate.

Thanks to his activism, thousands of people from communities thought to be descended from these tribes made aliyah to Israel. Most notable in the Bnei Menashe community from India.

According to his grandson, Aryeh Minkov, Rabbi Avichail even helped Marranos in Spain return to Judaism and come to Israel.

Minkov told Arutz Sheva that Rabbi Avichail was first encouraged to pursue the issue of the dispersed of Israel by his teacher and mentor, Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook.

He then established the Amishav organization, which Minkov described as Rabbi Avichail's "whole world despite being a side job."

"We as a family saw the great love the Bnei Menashe felt for my grandfather. They called him brother, named their children after him, and in the last year, when he fell ill, they came to visit. My grandfather loved them back. That was his whole world."

Rabbi Avichail is survived by his wife, six children and numerous grandchildren. Funeral details have not yet been announced.

I remember hearing him speak at Mahon Meir over thirty years ago. Inspired by what he said, I purchased the booklet pictured below.

May his family be comforted with the restoration of Zion and the return of those exiled.

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Goodbye 5775!

Goodbye 5775! As for 5776, bring it on! May you all be written and sealed for a good year!

Read this semi-prophetic dvar-Torah that Rabbi Kook gave in the Hurva Synagogue.