National Scholar Updates

In his study of the killer heat wave that struck Chicago in 1995, Eric Klinenberg found that elderly people died especially when they lacked social networks.  The heat was just as deadly, but the old men and women who lived alone survived, in general, if they had someone to look in on them, to call them, or to ask how they were doing.  Without that minimal level of social contact, they were much less likely to survive.   You can read Klienberg’s conclusions in his book, Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago. 

Like the Chicago heat wave, the coronavirus pandemic seems more deadly for the old than for the young.  It seems probable that it will, again like the heat wave, especially strike socially isolated people.  The visitor who asks after someone’s health could well make the difference between survival and death.  But now, faced with the corona virus, we all need to isolate ourselves, to limit our meetings with people.  We must not pay physical visits to our neighbors; telecommunications must replace physical visits.

Observant Jews, however, generally will avoid using telecommunications devices for three consecutive days next week: two days of Yom Tov running right into Shabbat (a little easier in Israel, with only one day of Yom Tov).   For an old person living alone, those three days might prove deadly.   Even for a couple, if one of the two must go the hospital, the other will remain at home, isolated, worried, not expecting to communicate  with anyone.

Perhaps, under these circumstances, observant Jews must use telecommunications to keep tabs on isolated neighbors, friends, or relatives.  Observant Jews in isolation must decide whether to use devices to call on their support systems.

What guidance can we offer to people facing these decisions?

I trust that your local rabbi has extensive knowledge of the intricacies of halakhah, the rules of Jewish observance.  However, this question does not depend on the intricacies of halakhah.  It does depend on your assessment of the reality: How frail is Aunt Sadie? Might Uncle Harry remember to take his medicine? What could happen if I get seriously depressed?

No one absolutely knows how to assess this reality. It depends, to some extent, on guesswork.  You have to act or not act based on incomplete knowledge.  You – whether you are frail and isolated, or whether you know someone in that category, you have to decide.  What should you do?

Consider what the Talmud advises in a possibly related case:

If a child gets locked in a room on Shabbat, the Talmud rules that one must chop down the door to free the child.  Whoever does this more quickly deserves praise, and one does not need to ask permission from a rabbinic court (Yoma 84b).

Later authorities codify this ruling (Rambam Shabbat 2:17; Shulhan Arukh, Orah Hayyim 328:13).  R. Yosef Karo adds “whoever asks (for permission in such a situation) spills blood” (Orah Hayyim 328:2). R. Y. M. Epstein goes further: “Whoever is asked spills blood.”  Why?  If the student asks whether to intervene instead of acting at once, that shows that the teacher “should have taught the public that intervening to protect life takes precedence over the laws of Shabbat”   (Arukh HaShulhan, Orah Hayyim 328:1).

Do you feel conflicted about whether to call on your neighbor, or to call your neighbor for help? Rabbi Eugene Korn puts the answer to this dilemma succinctly: “In the end, after taking in as much halakhic knowledge as we can, it is a personal decision because only the people directly involved can best assess the gravity of the potential pikuach nefesh (intervention to protect life) status of  Aunt Sadie.”

Rabbi Korn continues: “I would also add that if we are placed in an existential dilemma like this, it is better to be  machmir (strict) on safek pikuach nefesh (a doubtful need to intervene to protect life) than on lo tivaru aish” (“do not light a fire on Shabbat”.Exodus 35:3 or whatever other prohibition may exist on using telecommunication on Shabbat).

Yoel Finkelman wisely suggests that rabbis do have a role in the determination:

Perhaps the job of rabbis, who know the halakhah but not necessarily the reality, is to guide people who know more about their friends and relatives to be willing to pick up the phone. The prohibition is deeply ingrained and visceral. People will need help to believe that they can and should reach out using electronic devices.

In short, to use a phrase from the Talmud: “Be more strict about danger than about prohibitions.”

QUESTION:

In response to the devastating Coronavirus pandemic,   Israel’s  government has outlawed public gatherings in order to reduce the spread of a contagion that is particularly lethal for the elderly and those with compromised immunity systems.  In spite of the mandatory lockdown, there have been numerous instances of non-compliance with the government’s directives. In a south Jerusalem apartment building, a ground floor apartment was converted into a Chabad shteiblel which continued to convene on holy days after the Israeli government outlawed these public gatherings.  Some members of a gated Israeli Orthodox community that complied with the governmental order discovered to their chagrin that rogue minyanim, prayer quorums of ten adult men, were convening within the community, in violation of the governmental order.

On one hand, minyan attendance is a worthy and legitimate Halakhic mandate, but so is the obligation to preserve health and life.  The relative weights of these two occasionally conflicting concerns requires clarification.  Furthermore, there is a prohibition against mesira, of delivering and informing on a Jew to the secular authorities.  Does this prohibition apply to those who join minyanim in violation of the law?    To whom should Halakhically committed people turn for relief  from those who ignore the  lockdown  directives?

ANSWER:

1. When the legitimate, lawfully elected ruling government forbids public gatherings in order to limit the spread of disease, the government is doing its job, which is to preserve the peace, public safety, and domestic tranquility.  If attending public gatherings under current circumstances is deemed by the government and the medical community to pose a danger to public health and safety, the minyan quorum must be suspended.  Even if the minyan quorum were an absolute religious obligation, which it is not, it is Halakhically proper to report those who violate the rules forbidding these gatherings to the civil authorities because public safety is being compromised by the offenders’ non-compliant, selfish, and unsafe behavior.
2. At https://www.ynetnews.com/article/Bkfd9CKDI#autopla it is reported that the Haredi Jerusalem Faction protested the Israeli Health Ministry lockdown directives which, to its view, outlaws Jewish observance by forbidding the prayer minyan on the pretense that there is a medical health emergency.  This particular sect does not recognize the religious or political legitimacy of the Israeli polity because its own rabbinic elite does not control the organs of State.  The Haredi Jerusalem community, which was only partially compliant with the governmental directives, has nine times the Coronavirus infection rate of the general population.  And the Haredi community is not the only offending population.  The “Hilltop Youth,” politically Right Wing political radicals, also refused to comply with the isolation order, and rioted in protest [https://www.ynetnews.com/article/S12OtG9PU].   At https://www.jta.org/2020/03/18/israel/were-not-scared-some-haredi-orthodox-jews-in-israel-are-ignoring-coronavirus-social-distancing-rules, it is reported that a Satmar affiliated Hassidic school in Bet Shemesh was operating in defiance of the lockdown directives, and that “Rabbi [Chaim] Kanievsky [the leader of the non-Hassidic camp of Israel’s Haredi society and son of R. Yaakov Kanievsky, the “Steipler Rov,” who insisted on implementing a stridently parochial version of Orthodoxy, says “canceling Torah study is more dangerous than corona,”   and that an eighteen year old yeshiva student claimed that “[t]he Torah protects us and saves us. We’re not scared…. I’m young. People in the yeshivas aren’t afraid because we won’t get sick and anyone with a fever is sent home. We learn Torah, so it won’t happen.” As the pandemic spread, Kanievsky reversed himself and enforced the directives. It is suggested that the Haredi community’s insularity, avoidance of computers and televisions, and its disdain for the secular media underlies its unwillingness to implement governmental directives—and authority. The Haredi community looks to its own religious leadership for both religious and political guidance, and does not turn to the secular, non-Haredi authorities unless their rabbis direct them to do so.  The Haredi adherent is socially conditioned to obey the orders of his/her rabbinate before the Israeli government’s directives.  The individual Haredi must see him or herself as a disciple of a great rabbi before considering oneself to be a citizen of the State of Israel.
3. The following incident received wide coverage in Israel, because an ideologically distinct minority population was found to be ignoring the discipline and expectations of the rest of the population:

“An estimated 300 people participated Saturday night in the funeral of Rabbi Tzvi Shinkar in the predominantly ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak in central Israel, defying social distancing restrictions issued by the government. Sources in law enforcement are pinning the blame directly on Tel Aviv district police commissioner David Bitan, saying he chose to avoid clashes with the community, rather than enforce the law. The coronavirus is now spreading fastest in ultra-Orthodox communities in Israel, according to internal Health Ministry figures obtained by Haaretz. The police initially requested to limit attendance but then agreed to allow the general public to participate after organizers promised people would maintain social distancing rules. In effect, mourners congregated closely and ignored police directions.” [https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-mass-ultra-orthodox-funeral-held-in-israel-despite-coronavirus-pandemic-1.8720614]

For full disclosure, PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s 25 year old son, Avner, observed the Seder with his father, against the same governmental directives that the Haredi dissidents ignored  [https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-holding-passover-seder-with-his-son-leads-to-criticism/].  The Israeli  President Reuben Rivlin also hosted his daughter for Seder, also against these rules [https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/rivlin-celebrated-passover-with-daughter-against-coronavirus-laws-report-624269], but Rivlin, an elderly widower, needs family help and is a special case:

“His office said that since his wife died, a family member was always with him on the Sabbath, holidays and flights overseas. Rivlin has four children. The report did not say which of his two daughters was with him.” [https://payments.jpost.com/paywall/paywallpersonaldetails?utm_source=jpost&utm_medium=site_banner&utm_campaign=premium]

4. The funeral of Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, the President of Agudath Israel of America, tells another story. Before his own passing from the Coronavirus, he proclaimed,
       

        “’We must be informed about the facts of this disease and    

what the expert doctors, the infectious disease specialists, are telling us, in a unanimous way,’ he said in a video message. ‘We cannot behave today like we did last week or two weeks ago. We are told that the Jewish law is that we must listen to doctors whether it’s about a sick person on Yom Kippur or a sick person that requires desecrating Shabbat and so on.’” [https://www.jta.org/quick-reads/yaakov-perlow-leader-of-novominsker-hasidim-and-a-top-orthodox-rabbi-dies-of-coronavirus-(at-89]

R. Perlow taught his constituency by personal example. His funeral was consistent with his directive:

“The Levayah (funeral) of the Novominsker Rebbe will take place privately at 10:00 A.M. due to this coronavirus epidemic. Tehillim (Psalms) and Hespedim (eulogies) will be available live by telephone. The family has requested that there should be no gathering at the Levayah” [https://vosizneias.com/2020/04/07/funeral-of-novominsker-rebbe-rabbi-yaakov-perlow-ztzl-to-be-broadcast-live-by-telephone-at-10-am/]. 

However, upon being diagnosed with the virus, Israel’s Haredi Health Minister, Yaakov Litzman was subject to criticism for having himself attending an illegal rogue minyan, against his own directives.  [https://www.jta.org/2020/04/07/israel/israels-health-minister-has-the-coronavirus-hes-also-under-fire-for-allegedly-defying-his-own-departments-orders]. Litzman opposed the extradition of Malka Leifer to Australia to face charges of sexual abuse and he is also facing bribery charges for intervening on behalf of a food business for sanitation violations.  Turning to the secular authorities for legal relief from other Jews is portrayed as a violation of the Jewish law that forbids tattling on Jews to the civic authorities or seeking relief from other Jews by any organ other than rabbinical courts that Haredi society deems to be legitimate.  At stake in this policy is the doctrine, originating in the medieval kehillah, or autonomous Jewish corporation, that the Haredi affiliate ought to be governed by Torah law as it is understood by its rabbinate, and not the secular State of Israel. Because the Jewish state is not governed by Jewish law as it is understood by the Haredi rabbinic elite, the State lacks Jewish legitimacy. Israel is only an ethnically Jewish polity but not a legitimately Jewish state, which would require a government whose constitution is Torah law as understood by the theologically Right, reverend rabbis. Israel’s secular leaders have no standing to restrict, restrain, or even regulate the conscience-driven behavior of true believing Orthodox Jews.  The regulations enacted by Israel’s secular leadership are not accepted to be binding unless the Haredi elite endorses them. This is why extraditing Malka Leifer to face her accusers or informing the Israeli police of unlawful religious assemblies, to this line of thinking,  is  unacceptable. 

This cultural divide between pre-modern Traditional Judaism and secular medical science is explored in Y.D. Berkowitz’s Hebrew short story, ha-Talush [The Detached One], which describes how the well-intentioned, well-educated, but religiously alienated  Dr. Vynik fails to connect with the Yiddishkeit [the “Jewishness” of Yiddish language traditional Jewish culture] and Yidn [Jews who live Yiddishkeit] of old world Traditional  Jewry that was not shaped or corrupted by secular modernity. Vynik is “detached” from and no longer a part of that Jewry’s pre-Enlightenment Jewish culture.   This anti-physician attitude finds antique precedent in Kiddushin 4:14, which proclaims that “the best of physicians are destined to Gehinom” [perdition]. Since this tannaitic phrase is a semantic observation and not a prescription, it should not and generally was not taken to be a hard, inviolate, legal norm. Norms are “to do” or “not to do” statements; descriptions do not prescribe, and many medieval great rabbis earned their livelihood by practicing medicine. In modern times, the education required for practicing medicine and the learning expected of a Torah authority hardly ever overlap. Sensing the secularity in the medical profession’s training, expertise, and professional culture, many Haredim do not trust physicians to follow the Torah’s directives unless those physicians are vetted by their Rabbinic leaders. 

5. The Haredi position is not monolithic. R. Perlow’s funeral instructions are fully consistent with Monsey’s Olympia shul’s Rabbi Chaim Levitan, who wisely taught the following to his community:

“Gedolei Yisroel have paskened not to have Minyanim. To make or be part of a Minyan, even outside, makes you a rodef, also a nirdaf. This means our neighborhood also. All of the excuses are shlugged up by anyone on the chevra kaddisha. I am going to follow their issur. How could anyone take the chance of making someone sick, to die alone? If anyone cannot resist being frummer than Rav Chaim Kanievsky, do not come to me to sell your chometz. If already submitted the form, bli neder I will not buy it back from the goy and since you gave reshus to do as I see fit, I will sell all your chometz for a total of one dollar. Using your chometz after that will make you a gonif, whose gehinom is much less than being a rodef. The road to corona is paved with good intentions. Do not make Minyanim. It's clear that no nachas ruach comes from it. Yizkor can be said without a Minyan. Your compliance IY'H will keep all of us safe BS'D [with Heaven’s help].”

On one hand, R. Levitan’s position is both correct and unambiguous.  However, unaddressed is the Haredi predilection of preserving past patterns of behavior and its insisting that life continues as did in the remembered past unless its own great rabbis say otherwise.

This tension between risking lives and allowing non-Haredi politicians to determine—and govern—Haredi culture policy can be teased out of Agudath Israel of America’s delicately nuanced statement:

“Those over 50 or 60, those with cardiovascular disease (including high blood pressure), diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, or certain other chronic or immunocompromised conditions, are especially vulnerable to complications from COVID-19. All such people should take precautions beyond those listed below. Those who care for, or have close interaction with such individuals, should also adopt a more careful approach.
If you have any symptoms of COVID-19 – fever, cough, shortness of breath, or sore throat, STAY HOME. Call your physician. This includes anyone with a fever or a cough without another known cause….
Tefilah betzibur (public prayer) and krias haTorah (public Torah reading) are definitive requirements and an important component of Jewish life. A community may reach a threshold of infectious activity that necessitates shul closings, but few communities are at this point now. However, all shuls should make every effort to create circumstances that enable social distancing. For example, on weekdays, perhaps adjoining sections can be opened to spread mispalelim (praying people) over a larger area; perhaps a larger building auditorium can be temporarily used; minyanim times can be altered to reduce traffic, etc. Agudath Israel also recommends that all shuls redouble their cleaning procedures, especially on high-touch surfaces like door knobs. Soap and hand sanitizers should be made readily available. A shul that can only function in a manner that would force its congregants to be tightly squeezed together should ask a shailah about its continued operation. It should also consult intra-communally to not unduly increase capacity on other shuls. The elderly, and those with the above noted health conditions, should think carefully before appearing in public settings such as a shul, shiur, or simchah. Talk to your doctor and Rav to ascertain your fact-specific risk level and psak.” Y[https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/1839881/agudath-israel-of-america-updated-coronavirus-guidance-to-communities.html].  While the original Haredi resistance to the lockdown restrictions cannot and is not denied, the Haredi leadership now concedes the need to adjust its policies. And this change is a significant and welcome change of direction.

6. Given this background, we may now address our question, is it proper to turn to the State for relief from those Orthodox identifying Jews who refuse to observe governmental decrees requiring social distancing because they do not recognize the legitimacy of the State of Israel? At Shulhan ‘Arukh Hoshen Mishpat 425:1, it is taught that   a rodeif, or “pursuer,” a person whose behavior poses an immediate public danger, must be stopped, not as punishment for wrongdoing but to protect the innocent public from dangerous behavior.  The   threatening danger may be to life and limb, sexual impropriety, or even for grand larceny, which could endanger the standing and safety of the Jewish community. A person who acts in a way that threatens the lives, sexual integrity, or property of others is not unlike  someone who might be infected with the Coronavirus virus yet refuses to take the governmentally mandated precautions, like wearing protective masks and practicing social distancing, that limit  the danger of transmitting the disease to others. A “pursuer” whose unsafe behavior presents a clear and present danger to others must be stopped at all cost, as explained by R. Lavitan.  If there are accusations of wrongdoing regarding  Laufer’s behavior, then Laufer should not be permitted to exploit Torah principles to escape criminal accountability. Similarly, if someone may be carrying the Coronavirus knowingly violates the lockdown decree which was put into force to protect life, that person is considered to be a pursuer who presents a clear and present danger to the general public.  Even conceding the most restrictive standard regarding informing the civic authorities of Jewish misbehavior, Jewish law privileges the law of the pursuer and public safety over the law of the informer and Jewish self-government. Therefore, the Jewish community is required to inform the civil authorities in order to restrain the pursuer, not to punish the offender but to protect the innocent. It is on these grounds that Laufer deserves her day in court to confront her accusers, and congregating in groups where Coronavirus contagion may be spread must also be prevented. If bad behavior may have transpired, an accounting must be given and, when appropriate, consequences must occur.
7. The minyan is a desirable but not necessarily required format for Jewish prayer.  So too are holy day communal kiddushim, fundraising charity dinners, public lectures, weddings, and funerals. One may not risk one’s life, and/or the lives of others, in order to participate in these events. Therefore, the Orthodox rabbi, the expert on Jewish law, must first defer to the medical experts to understand the physical reality and the dangers now posed to which Torah’s values are applied. We may not assume that biological threats may be ignored because medically untrained rabbinic eyes are blind to the presence of those threats.
8. A colleague recently called my attention to Shabbat 32a, where it is taught that one must always distance oneself from danger, and not count on being protected by miracles. And should such a person have risked danger and emerged whole because of a miracle, the person will still have to give account for the irresponsible choices that was made.
9. If a person opens, or even attends, a minyan, or for that matter, participates in any medically forbidden public gathering during a pandemic lockdown, violating the governmental directives requiring social distancing, that person has the status of rodeif, a pursuer who must be stopped in order to preserve public safety.  Since the civil authorities are authorized to apply coercive force to in order to ensure compliance with those directives, the Shulhan ‘Arukh actually requires informing the civil authorities when bad behavior threatens others. The highly regarded Haredi authority, R. Asher Weiss, who combines intellectual clarity, an appreciation of the complexity of Oral Torah texts and norms, and empathy for the human condition, has earned the ear and respect of all Halakhic communities, reminds his readers that when life is in danger, even remote risks may not be tolerated.  [Minhat Asher, (Jerusalem, 2020), p. 6].
10. Why do some Haredi Jews have difficulty with non-Haredi governance and control over their society?  As explained above, Haredi society’s legitimate leadership is its own cadre of great rabbis, not any secular government and for sure not the secularized, Jewish scientific knowledge class that does not defer to the charismatic authority and parochializing policies of the Haredi rabbinic leadership. Since the Haredi great rabbi is endowed with legitimating religious charisma, and secularists do not value charismatic religious claims, the great rabbis inspire a loyalty much more intense and much greater voluntary compliance from their constituency. The sanction of exclusion, resulting in anomie and identity loss, is a very powerful deterrent that discourages challenging the elite in any way.
11. At https://www.ynetnews.com/article/Hkl00mpYvI, Ben Dror Yemini reports that the political commentator Rina Matzliah finds the Israeli Government’s forbearance for Haredi society’s flaunting the laws of the State and by endangering the public by ignoring the pandemic lockdown instructions, to be intolerable. The Haredi response to non-Haredi critique is to dismiss any and all criticism as anti-Semitism and racism. Following the guidance of its rabbinic leadership, the Haredi community initially ignored government directives regarding social distancing, which resulted in Haredi contagion rates at least six times the national average.  As a consequence, PM Netanyahu, himself sympathetic to Haredi needs—and votes—felt it necessary further restrict movement to and from  Haredi neighborhoods.  David  Israel reports [at https://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/religious-secular-in-israel-israel/utj-attacks-netanyahus-closures-say-they-discriminate-against-haredim/2020/04/13/] that Litzman rebuked Netanyahu, arguing that “[c]lear and equal criteria must be set for all cities, regions and neighborhoods in Israel – regardless of the nature of the population…. the definitions whereby movement should be curtailed in the Haredi enclaves are mistaken and besmirch an entire community that obeys the law and the rabbis.”  The same Litzman who attended an illegal minyan here invokes “democracy” as well as the claim that Haredi society is a victim of anti-religious prejudice, without addressing the fact that rabbinically prescribed Haredi  behavior is the immediate cause of the exponentially higher incidence of contagion in  Haredi neighborhoods. 
12. Litzman‘s UTJ  [English acronym for the Israeli political party named United Torah Judaism, not  to be confused with the American  UTJ, the Union for Traditional Judaism] colleague, MK Israel Eichler complained, “[a]ny discrimination in imposing rules on the public or in the treatment of patients constitutes a hate crime.”  But Bnei Brak’s “continued closure continues in its full severity, even though the infection level there is decreasing day by day, while Arab and secular cities where the level of infections is rising at an alarming rate are still open to all.”  Eichler presents the enhanced lockdown  of Haredi neighborhoods to be expressions of anti-Haredi prejudice when these lockdowns represent a defensive response  to  the doleful consequences of  Haredi behavior.  Although culturally self-isolated in the Haredi world he faithfully represents, Eichler is sufficiently urbane to reference liberal secular culture’s politically correct buzz words and dogmas.  Eichler demands equal treatment for Haredim when there has not been an equality of behavior or illness incidence.  The usually clever Eichler argues for egalitarian political treatment in spite of Haredi non-compliance with expert medical directives as well as the resultant explosion of Coronavirus causes caused by that non-compliance. In other words, Haredi commitments, we are informed, should generate Haredi entitlements.
13. What is the real religion, as opposed to the “official” religion, of the Haredi community that Litzman and Eichler represent, and what is at stake in this ideological clash between “secular modernity” and what claims to be the “old time religion” which we are told is the only authentically “orthodox” Judaism worthy of the name? We find the answer at https://www.kupat.org.il/news/235?source=kikr15, a Haredi site articulating normative Haredi policies and ideology. R. Kanievsky is said to have endorsed the following claim, “one who contributes a significant sum [of money]  to the [charity  foundation] ‘I  [referring to God] Shall Remove Illness from Amongst You,’ [the idiom is taken from Exodus 23:25] which will  be distributed by Kuppat ha-‘Ir [B’nai B’rak’s rabbinically endorsed public assistance charity fund] to the families of  the ill [victims of the Coronavirus] and who will earn merit commensurate [to amount of their  donation that] they will not become ill with Coronavirus and  there will not be ill persons in their homes.”  This solicitation concludes with the assurance that “all contributors will receive for their homes a ‘document of special protection’ signed by the holy hand of our master, his excellency, R. Chaim Kanievsky, may he have good, and long life [literally long days], amen.”  The “document of protection” claims that “one who possesses this document has contributed charity to the ‘I  [referring to God] Shall Remove Illness from Amongst You Foundation,’ so that by [the efforts of]  Kuppat ha-‘Ir,  may provide rescue and salvation of the infirmed.” The fact that this “charity” has not been condemned by the Haredi rabbinic elite indicates that this fundraising gambit meets with their approval. How these great rabbis know that the giving charity to them, that is providing the great rabbis with patronage funding, i.e.  filling Kuppat ha-‘Ir’s rabbinic coffers, will necessarily heal those afflicted with the Coronavirus, is not stated  [https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Rabbi-Chaim-Kanievsky-promises-coronavirus-immunity-for-donors-of-NIS-3000-625053].  Jewish law regards universal Torah education and medical care to be entitlements; they are not commodities to be traded and acquired in a free market. If these great rabbis have the power to read and control God’s mind as this solicitation implies, why do they require significant contributions to heal the ill people of the community over which they preside?  If someone makes a significant contribution to Kuppat ha-‘Ir and then contracts the Coronavirus anyway, given the assurances made by the solicitation, will the aggrieved client be allowed to sue in beit din for service guaranteed to be rendered but not delivered? 

R. Natan Slifkin, also found these claims problematic.  At http://www.rationalistjudaism.com/2020/04/daas-torah-on-how-to-avoid-getting.html?spref=fb&fbclid=IwAR3MzCJqPP1LkRhveaqbPndFOVsvtt7EdNBWqDouuz2k-wQ2q2NH05mAPBQ, he writes

“The economic situation of haredi society, always in bad shape because of the low rate of employment, has gotten much worse with coronavirus. In an effort to raise larger donations, the Vaad HaRabbonim has launched a new campaign. They are enticing people to donate substantial sums with an incredible lure:  A promise from the Sar HaTorah, Rav Chaim Kanievsky, that they will not get sick from coronavirus! As the ad says..., 'He will not be sick!' A straightforward answer in a time of uncertainty."

Slifkin originally thought that for a price, Kanievsky would pray on behalf of the patient.  Kanievsky affirmed that this is not the case:

“Yitzchak Shaul Kanievsky, attesting to his father saying that you and your family can be saved from coronavirus, provided that you donate a ‘substantial sum’ to Kupat HaIr, which they defined as three thousand shekels. The donation will get you a ‘protection contract.’"

 This iteration of Orthodoxy’s fund raising techniques are not only jarring and alienating for most Jews, it is also unattested in the Written and Oral Torah.  Just as Martin Luther found the Roman Catholic Church’s selling of indulgences to be theologically problematic, appealing to supernatural power, and speaking in God’s name when  appealing for funds is dubious [Deut. 13:1-6].

When challenged that Orthodox rationalists find Chaim Kanievsky’s “guarantee” incredible, Yitzchak Kanievsky first objected to the term “rationalist,”

"I wouldn't call them "rationalists", rather these are people to whom a stain of heresy and enlightenment has become attached. This was the way of the maskilim [the Jewish advocates of the Enlightenment, who did not accept the right of the Traditional Orthodox rabbinate to rule the Jewish people in matters  of public policy] in every locale, to mock and render ridiculous the words of our rabbis, the Gedolei haDor, may their merit protect us."

Slifkin identifies the real outrage of Kanievsky’s claim, “if you question this promise, you're an apikores”   [heretic]. Unbelief in the claims of the great rabbis is presented as unbelief in God.  Holding great rabbis to account for their decrees, policies, and directives is seen as disrespectful and, and a consequence, condemned as heresy.  Official Orthodox Judaism reflects the neo-Kantian sociologist Max Weber’s rationalist law and leadership, which is based on what is taken to be God’s revealed law, memorialized in an accessible, canonized, public law.  A legitimate opinion is one that does not violate the norms of that canon, even though popular practice and expectations may be subject to review.

In contrast, Kanievsky’s governance style reflects Max Weber’s traditional and charismatic leadership models, which does not require the consent of those governed. Appeals to the Jewish canon in order to assess great rabbis’ leadership are inadmissible because rationality is insufficient because for them, the Torah may be revered but not understood. To the Haredi view, a divine law requires a divinely inspired mediator; those who are not  endowed with a charismatic intuition are not entitled to express an opinion. Kanievsky believes that world Jewry is obliged to defer to his divinely guided, subjective intuition.  For him, Jewry must remain secularly uneducated, politically docile, and unquestionably compliant to the rules and rulings that he, the great rabbi, deems appropriate.  The divinely inspired Torah scholar is entitled, authorized, and empowered to rule world Jewry with the assumption of infallibility and sovereign immunity.  In contrast, Oral Torah “orthodoxy’s” only restriction on dissent  is that an ordained sage sitting the Sanhedrin’s plenum  may not rule to disobey in practice a decision of the Sanhedrin,  the Supreme Court authorized by the Torah [Deut. 17:8-12] to interpret and legislate Torah law. According to Oral Torah “orthodoxy,” it is not forbidden to argue [a]  I disagree with the decision of the Beit Din ha-Gadol [b] but accept the authority of the court [bSanhedrin 88a].

R. Kanievsky’s initially claimed that  synagogue and yeshiva attendance are sufficiently sacred acts to override the danger of Coronavirus, and his charismatic authority is adequate to read God’s mind, apply God’s will, and issue a dispensation to ignore the advice medical experts in this moment of pandemic crisis is unorthodox  in the extreme.   At stake in this debate is the identity and essence of what is anachronistically called Jewish “orthodoxy.”  Some suggest that “orthodoxy” is defined by the charismatic intuitions of an inspired elite; others argue that “orthodoxy” is defined by the most reasonable reading of a revealed, and readable, Torah.  According to the canonical Torah evidence, the Torah is readable, the judges subject to judgment, and not even God gets sovereign immunity from assessment. Those who believe the Torah is readable will have the audacity to challenge  dubious claims; those who rule from charisma would have Jewry believe that God revealed a Torah that is unreadable.   In charismatic Orthodoxy, modesty is demanded of the ruled; in the Orthodox religion of the Written and Oral Torah library, modesty is reflected in the claims, character, and behavior of those who rule.

To our members and friends

We congratulate our Campus Fellows for their ongoing programming through this difficult time of COVID-19. They have transitioned to Zoom and other technologies to reach their peers, and now their programs are available to students on other campuses. We appreciate how our Ideas and Ideals are bringing meaningful discussion to students everywhere.

Looking ahead to next year, if you know of college students who might be good representatives for our Institute on their campuses, please have them contact me, [email protected].

Here are the latest programs from our Fellows.

Rabbi Hayyim Angel

National Scholar

Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals

Yona Benjamim (Columbia)

In my initial proposal I outlined two events, one on the memory of the history of the Mishnah, and one on the uses of text criticism in learning. This changed slightly wherein I instead chose to have the two topics be both related to text study. One being lower criticism, and the second being higher criticism. I hosted both gatherings in the dorms and each had about 13-15 attendees.

The first event began with a discussion of what lower criticism entails (explaining the manuscript traditions and the ways in which they can be compared.) We then discussed why this mode of criticism has at times been more acceptable in traditional circles, as it does not threaten the aura of the text but rather discusses its recension through time.  However I brought a case in which lower critical observations show that traditional understandings of a topic in the Mishnah are perhaps misinformed due to very early scribal errors. This case was meant to show that the insights the method provides are large and should be invited, but that one should not think that one will not be challenged by what one learns. We discussed the idea of Yeridat-Hadorot as a way to understand the potential failures of textual transmission in our tradition. 

The second event largely concerned higher criticism, which I disseminated some prior reading about. We discussed how it might initially seem to be antithetical to a reverential attitude towards Rabbinic texts and Halacha, however I offered a Shamma Freidman article I had read in a previous class which outlines what I consider to be a positive take on what text study can offer. I also taught a series of Mishnayot and their parallel texts which I was writing my final research paper on so as to explain what learning with a source critical perspective can look like. 

Overall both events were a success. I discussed the institute at both and explained how I felt the values of the institute were reflected in the learning we were doing. This was received well and I expect similar enthusiasm could be had for more events like this in the future. 

Zac Tankel (McGill University)

Last semester, we had two Institute events. The first was on October 3^rd, and it was a shiur by David Chaim Wallach, a Judaic studies teacher from one of the local high schools. The topic was religiously observant Jews in prison and repentance. You can see the social media page for the event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2473512592698137/. 

The second was a discussion group that I ran on November 28^th, based on Afterlife in Jewish Thought from Keys to the Palace.  https://www.facebook.com/events/474138363453231/

Ayelet Rubenstein (University of Pennsylvania)

I am planning on leading a discussion about different models of Jewish leadership over Zoom. In addition, I am working on planning a Pesach-oriented discussion related to the topic of freedom in our lives today.

Avi Siegal (Princeton University)

Rabbi Yitzchak Blau's class on "Women in the Exodus Narrative" on 3/2 was a success. It was publicized as "Co-sponsored by the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals." The class was well-attended given our community's size: around 20 students came. Before Rabbi Blau began speaking, I said a few words about the Institute and then passed around a sheet on which students could write down their names in order to subsequently receive information from me about signing up for the University Network. I later followed up with those students.

For my second event this semester, I'm thinking of leading a Zoom chaburah on the topic of triage in Halakhah.

Marta Dubov (Ryerson University)

On February 15, we organized about 12 students to come together and experience a community-wide Shabbaton together. A number of them have expressed interest in joining the university network, as well as potentially taking on the role as fellows on their own campuses.

Ari Barbalat (University of Toronto)

In partnership with Rabbi Aaron Greenberg of JLIC, we hosted scholar Roy Doliner. He spoke on the topic: “The Ox and the Donkey: The Secret Meaning of the Bible’s Odd Couple.”

Eli Hyman, Ora Friedman (Yeshiva University)

We’re working with Steven Gotlib (RIETS) to plan two panel discussions (see Steven Gotlib’s report below).

Additionally, the event that we were planning on doing (a Shiur followed by a discussion/Q and A with Rabbi Hajioff), is still on.  We hope to have it over Zoom early in May, and the topic will be “Five Signs We Are Close to Mashiach and the End of Days.”

Steven Gotlib (Rabbi Isaac Elhanan Theological Seminary, Yeshiva University)

For this semester's events, I'll be transitioning online and hosting two panel discussions on "Reimagining Jewish Community in the Wake of COVID-19." Each panel will be framed by some words of Torah I give, followed by a discussion on how we've can make the best of the situations we find us in. 

The first panel, scheduled for next Thursday evening from 8:30-10pm will be framed with "Zooming into the Future: R. Shagar, R. Nachman and the Matrix" followed by a panel discussion with speakers representing the four corners of Jewish community: Yeshiva, Day School, Campus, and Synagogue. 

The second panel, Date TBD, will be framed around "Love, Romance, and Covenant Across Social Distance" and will focus more on interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships from both a psychotherapeutic and rabbinic perspective. 

(Jeremy Rosen is a graduate of Cambridge University in philosophy and studied at and received semikha from Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He has worked in the Orthodox rabbinate, Jewish education, and academia, and currently is the rabbi of the Persian Jewish community of Manhattan.)

The Torah is quite clear in its condemnation of magic and superstition. So, too, is the Talmud and most certainly and explicitly, Maimonides. Magic, spells, and superstitions are universal and have been since the earliest record of human cultural activity. They are to be found throughout Jewish history and sources. In many respects, our present Jewish world seems to have regressed to the Middle Ages in its embrace of the paranormal. Sometimes I wonder if there is any room in the world of Torah for rationalism anymore.

Biblical Terminology

The Torah uses a lot of different words for what we subsume under the general term “magic.” Laban uses the word leNahesh, which in modern Hebrew means something like “I took a risk in employing you.” But the Chaldeans of whom he was one, were well known for their interest in the supernatural and that was probably Laban's world. He will have consulted some kind of magic or oracle. There is even a Midrash that says that the rabbis agreed with Chaldean methods.[1] The same word, leNahesh is used of Joseph telling them that he is able to guess, or to divine the real truth about the brothers. Its root suggests lahash, to whisper or talk or even nahash, meaning a snake, with its hissing and slyness. This is the word favored by Balaam when he was invited to curse the Children of Israel. When he realized that he could not countermand God he no longer returned to consult his nahashim. Balaam declared that “There is no witchcraft [nahash] in Jacob and no magic [kessem] in Israel.” Kessem seems to be more a description of objects used in magic rather than a system. When the elders of Moab come to Balaam, they bring kessamim, carrying charms. Someone who uses charms is called a kossem. The word kessem also means a stick—possibly the art of casting down sticks or wooden dice and reading their signs.

 In Egypt, Pharaoh had disturbing dreams and called upon his hartumim, commonly translated as magicians, to interpret them. Most scholars take the origin of the word to come from heret a stylus or engraver and so the hartumim could be those who interpreted texts, perhaps the scientists of those days. It is used in Egypt together with wise men and so must have been one of their sciences: “And Pharaoh called to his wise men and his magicians, mekhashefim,” in which case it could be a synonym for hartumim.

When Moses met God at the burning bush, God used a variety of methods to persuade Moses to take on the assignment of going down to Egypt to get the Children of Israel out. There was a burning bush that did not burn up, a staff that turned into a snake, and an arm that turned leprous. We might have put all these down as miracles performed by God were it not for the fact that the Egyptian hartumim could, initially at any rate, imitate many of Moses's miracles, including the snake trick.

Another word that is used in connection with nahash is onen which might mean telling the future by reading the clouds (since the word for cloud is identical), or it could come from another similar word ana for answering, replying with words to requests for information. Onen is used later in respect of the dead as well. Then there is the word now commonly used for magic, kishuf, which indicates the ability to reveal secrets.

There is another category that involves making something, either an effigy or raising up an image of someone. The words are ov and yidoni, and the Torah talks about not turning toward them (for answers). “Do not turn to the ovs and the yidonis. Do not ask things of them.” There the text adds the prohibition against “asking of the dead.” So it would appear that these elements were part of a procedure of calling up the spirits of the departed. An ov might be an image, figurine, or effigy, and a yidoni might be a spirit or a less material form having some special knowledge (given that yidoni has the same root (y-d-a) as the word for knowledge).

Deuteronomy adds another category, that of the “hover haver.” Literally this means befriending a friend. One can only assume it is a confidant or a private consultant on the affairs of the occult. It could also mean someone who has a special relationship with spirits or is on a higher level, like the honorific term later given to scholars haver.

These are a series of very different categories in the Torah that are forbidden under the general rubric of turning to forces, oracles, symbols, or objects to guide one in one’s actions and decisions. This looks like a very clear objection to magic, witchcraft, astrology, and the various pseudo-sciences that are just as prevalent today as they were 3,000 years ago.

In those days they were associated with idolatry. When it comes to the specific laws of the Torah, there are laws that deal with the penalties for magic and its allied areas. In Exodus there is a specific command to get rid of witches: “A witch (mekhashefa) should not be allowed to live.” Why only a witch and not the others mentioned above? The death penalty as prescribed in the Bible was reserved only for the most serious and existential of threats and even so, rarely exercised. And although the word is most commonly used of a female, it is also used of a male wizard.

There are specific commands against individuals to try doing these things. “Do not try to make charms or tell the future” and “Do not turn (for answers) to an image or a spirit, and do not contaminate yourselves with them, for I am God.” Here we go a step further in specifying that this approach is a form of contamination that goes against God directly. The implication is that one should accept God's instructions and no one else's. The same text goes on “Do not eat over blood, do not make charms or tell the future.” Eating blood was strictly forbidden in the Torah. It was a very important part of idolatrous rites in Canaan and has continued to play a role in magic rites supposedly passing on the qualities of the previous “owner” of the blood. We have a clear indication that these practices were rooted in idolatry and the opposition is to the context as well as the act itself.

The clearest evidence of the idolatrous context of these practices comes toward the end of the Torah:

When you come into the land which the Lord your God gives you, do not learn to do the abominations of those nations. There should not be amongst you anyone who passes his son or daughter through fire, a charmer of charms, a reader of clouds, a fortune teller or a magician. A friendly fortune teller or someone who asks of an image or a spirit or asks of the dead. Because God despises anyone who does these things and it is because of these abominations that the Lord your God is driving them out before you. You should be straight with the Lord your God. For these nations that you will displace, they listen to fortune tellers and charmers, but you should not do so.

Then the Torah goes on to talk about the prophet as the prototype of spiritual leadership and spiritual direction. He is the one the Israelites were instructed to turn to for advice and for help in dealing with the unknown, the frightening and the uncertainty of the future. And that was because he or she functioned within the constraints of Torah.

Oracles

Oracles were very much part of the ancient world, in Greece and Rome, using humans, animals, and inanimate objects. The Bible approved of the oracle of the Urim and Tumim that were part of the breastplate of the High Priest. They were occasionally consulted before and during the First Temple period. Interestingly they were also called the ephod, which was as well the name for the basic priestly garment that was also used to describe idolatry objects. However, the Torah ordained that Urim and Tumim were a way of consulting God through the medium of the priest, rather than other forces.

And this was what differentiated them from other pagan forms of oracles. If the message comes from the One God, the vehicle of revelation may vary. This after all is the message of Balaam, a renowned and successful magician, but unable to do anything without God’s approval.

A striking story involves King Saul. Desperate for guidance after the prophet Samuel died, he asked his servants to find him a ba’alat ov, a woman who could produce and communicate with images of the dead. The spirit of Samuel does indeed appear to rise. This seems to indicate that magic in one form or another can achieve results. Yet it was clearly regarded as forbidden.

The very name of Purim is based on what one assumes was a Persian word for the magic lots that Haman cast to determine the appropriate time to destroy the Jews. Haman is portrayed as trying to use this “magic” for his own ends. In contrast, divine influence, even though hidden, is not obvious. Esther's name means “hidden,” and perhaps that is also why God's name is not mentioned directly in the story of Esther. Forces at work behind the scenes are referred to by Haman's wife and his wise men (a parallel with the wise men and magicians of Pharaoh) when they tell him, “If you have begun to fall before him (Mordecai) you will not be able to overcome him.” This is an obvious contrast to the Jewish historical experience, which often has included a decline before rising. This was an assertion of the superiority of the Jewish way of responding to challenges over the pagan way of feeling determined how to act and therefore more passive in the face of adversity.

The Torah, interestingly, does not say that magic is baseless, empty, or primitive. Its instructions are simply not to get involved in it in any way that might have some influence or power over a person. But clearly these practices were so ingrained and popular that they were all but impossible to wipe out as the history of both Israelite Kingdoms illustrate. King Hezekiah had to destroy the serpent from the time of Moses because it was being abused[2] as well as censoring a “Book of Cures.”

The Talmudic Era

By the time of the Talmud, the serious debate centered more on astrology and mazal. There is a difference of opinion as to whether these skills count as part of idolatrous practices and therefore are banned under the general prohibition of anything to do with idolatrous practices, Darkei HaEmori, Emorite, or pagan practices,[3] or whether they count as wisdom: “The men of the east know about mazalot and astrology.” Non-Jewish wisdom that had no heretical connotations was not prohibited, and, on the contrary, was something to be appreciated (there is even a blessing to be said over wise men of all races).[4]

There is also a major difference of opinion as to the extent to which the constellations or various forms of mazalot did or did not influence human behavior. It was at the time a universally accepted idea that there were 12 signs of the Zodiac that were an integral part of the way God's universe was made up and influenced the natural and supernatural world. It was not until modernity that such an idea transitioned from science to superstition.

The term mazal, initially meant no more than the constellations. At some stage, the role changed into one of determining the future in ways bound up with magic and other non-rational esoteric practices. “What did they do wrong? They consulted the stars (signs of the Zodiac), magicians who look at birds and those expert in reading signs. “Tayar,” say some commentators, are the auspices of Roman tradition, the innards of birds, others suggest symbols, the origin of Tarot).”[5]

In the creation process described in Genesis, there is no mention of mazalot. The Torah talks about the sun, the moon, and the stars. But by the Second Book of Kings there is one passage where mazalot replace the stars.[6] The fact that the mazalot are not mentioned in the Torah leads one to argue that the idea of mazalot came later into Israelite life because they were significant in Egyptian and Mesopotamian culture and then in Roman and Christian societies. This may be why Balaam thought they had no impact on the Israelites. But the Talmud is happy associating Abraham with astrology. “Abraham said to God I can see the future in my mazal, that I will only have one son. God took him outside and showed him the heavens and said to him 'Ignore your astrology; mazal has no power over Israel.’”[7]

            The main discussion on mazal in the Talmud above, has R. Yohanan, Rav, R. Yehuda, R. Nahman Bar Yitzhak, R. Akiva, and Shemuel all agree with different sources that mazal has no power over Jews. On the other hand, R. Hanina says there that both wisdom and wealth are influenced by mazal and that every hour of the day has its mazal exercising control over it.[8] The most famous passage from the Talmud that supports the influence of mazal is that “Life (how long a person lives), children (how many or how they turn out), and income do not depend on a person’s deserts but on mazal.”[9] And “There is not a blade of grass that does not have a mazal in the heavens.”[10] “Mazal affects people” seem to assert that something extraterrestrial has an influence, whether it is the constellations or the power of God working through various processes before it reaches humankind. If a person suddenly feels frightened, it may be because although he hasn't seen anything dangerous, his mazal has. But the Talmud responds by saying that the answer is to say the Shema. In other words, having a direct connection to God is a protection against any sub-divine powers or influences. The compromise position is that mazalot exist and have influence. But God controls everything. “There are 12 mazalot God created in the heavens,”[11] or “God controls the mazal.”[12]

            The ayin hara, the evil eye, as well as the fear of curses, played and still plays an enormous part in many people’s lives. Initially a bad eye meant only an attitude, a way of looking at the world negatively. “A bad eye (outlook) and a bad inclination can destroy a person’s world.”[13] The rabbis give different meanings to this: feelings envy, hatred, or negativity. The Hebrew Beli Ayin Hara and the Yiddish expression kenayinhora, may there be no evil eye, are widespread among some Jews…as if just looking at another person really can do harm.

Despite the illogicality of it, the Talmud refers a great deal to its negative effects. For example, there is reference to Joseph protecting one from the evil eye based on a verse in the Bible[14] that Joseph is pleasing to the eye which can be mistranslated as overcoming the (evil) eye. The very concept that a random look or putting a hex on someone can affect a person defies logic. But then logic and superstition are opposite poles. People who feel they are cursed can find it turning into is a self-fulfilling source of anxiety. The pure halakhic response is that if one behaves according to the Torah one should have nothing to fear.

Spirts and Demons[15]

The Talmud continued the biblical polemic against witchcraft. R. Shimon Ben Shetah is reported to have executed 80 women when he waged a campaign against witches. The Talmud records that their families paid him back by framing his son. Yet the Talmud is full of stories of magicians, spells, demons, spirits, and the whole paraphernalia of the ancient and medieval world.

The spirit Ketev Meriri is covered with scales and anyone who sees him cannot survive.[16] If one wants to see the spirits around, he should “get the placenta of a black cat the offspring of another black cat, the firstborn of a firstborn, roast it and grind the ashes, and put them on his eyes and he will see them. Then put the left over into an iron sealed container so that they do not steal it and keep his mouth closed throughout.[17]

Cures

Lists of fanciful cures abound. Here is one example amongst many. “If one has a fever, one should take seven thorns from seven palms, seven chips from seven logs, seven pegs from seven bridges, seven ashes from seven ovens, seven amounts of earth from seven sockets, seven samples of pitch from seven ships, seven pinches of cumin, seven hairs from an old dog, and tie them together to the garment of the sick person with a white thread.”[18] One wonders if in the time it takes to gather all this, the fever might have passed. Perhaps the effort in itself was therapeutic.

So is the prevalence of the ancient idea of charms or in talmudic language, a kameya. The Talmud discusses being able to carry a kameya around one’s neck on Shabbat. It distinguishes between a kameya that “works” and one that has not proven its effectiveness.

Medieval mysticism drew heavily on the non-Jewish world of magic, astrology, and alchemy. Once one leaves rationality or philosophy behind, the gates of superstition are thrown wide open. For them, this was still a world of evil spirits, devils as well as angels; and given the absence of universal health systems it is not surprising that any tool would be used when faced with a crisis of health or wealth.

There are many such charms used in the past and today, written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and local languages, often combining Hebrew letters, quotations from Psalms, kabbalist combinations of letters, not to mention blood, plants, and bones. Of course, in days before modern scientific health provision, people turned to magic for cures, and still do in many parts of the world.

The rabbis completely reject the idea of using sources from religions outside Judaism to bring about cures.[19] Yet if the same methods are used by rabbis acting in the name of God, they become legitimate. Nevertheless, it seems they understood and condoned the placebo effect.

Why Is It Not Acceptable?

Idolatry requires obedience to corrupt practices and symbols that damaged the fabric of a moral, caring society. It delivered people into the random and unpredictable power of priests and magicians who had control over life and death. This conflicts with the Jewish concept of a clear commitment to a known constitution that preserves rights and protects the weak.

The important principle lying behind opposition to magic was the issue of responsibility of a person to decide how to act. The opposition to these practices is because a person is handing over the decision-making process either to another or is subjecting the decisions to random or unknown criteria. This is not the same as asking for advice or seeking out expertise because there, one still has responsibility for the final decision. In Judaism, the expert advice of a great rabbi is still based on clear set of assumptions and criteria. It is handing oneself over to unknown powers that conflicts with the Jewish principle of obedience to God and Torah.

Despite these very definite prohibitions, it is hardly surprising that many Jews around the world still do pay a great deal of attention to good luck charms, things that protect from harm, evil spirits, and demons. And they can point to talmudic and medieval sources to justify their beliefs. Superstition is deeply imbedded in all societies. Sometimes it is associated with and part of the local religion. And even where officially the religion may deny the role of superstition, people often treat the religion in a superstitious way.

Why Does It Continue?

To this day, many people pay attention to astrological charts and go to see miracle workers to discover the appropriate times for business deals and betrothals. It seems that almost everything Maimonides specifies as being wrong and prohibited is popular in many Jewish circles. And what of those who regard the mezuzah as a charm to protect homes? What is more, many people have had experiences with mind readers, palm readers, or psychics that are remarkably correct both about the past and the future. Besides, the Torah does not say these things are all nonsense, just that we should avoid them. And if the Bible can record Samuel's body returning doesn't this prove that there is something to it?

Just because people do things, this does not make them right. The mezuzah is not a charm. It simply reminds us of the principles and the commandments that each home should be dedicated to. The word on the exterior is the name of God. It is God who protects us, not the mezuzah. Yes, we have all heard of “wonders” that happen when we check a mezuzah and find a letter missing, but like all “miracles” there are other ways of seeing what actually happened. We hear about the coincidences and the wonders but not of the cases where nothing happens at all. People are very gullible. That is precisely why so much of the Torah is devoted to attacking these sorts of practices.

The current nostalgic return to the past has led to a roaring trade in our times in wonder rabbis and others offering cures (for money usually). Checking texts for errors, a mezuzah or a ketubah, to explain why things went wrong for a household or a couple. Combining names, all the tricks of astrologers, mind readers, and card sharps are all part of the game. The lines between religion and magic and superstition can be very blurred.

Science and technology have made life so much easier in so many ways. And yet, societies have become so materialist, so stressful, so soulless, and so devoid of human interaction that more and more people look for comfort, solutions, and answers. The human need for a placebo is so strong that this is an area where religion, tacitly if not officially, has capitulated.

The Torah is clear that one can intercede directly with God and that the best protection one can have is to behave according to the commandments. An ability to cope with pressures, to be positive and strong are the only honest answers. But if superstitious beliefs and actions give people hope, it is difficult to wean people from them.

There is room to study these phenomena, to try to understand what is going on and to better understand the universe we are part of. However, the guiding principle is “Be straight with the Lord Your God.”[20]

We have the possibility of a direct and personal relationship with God, and this is the route we should aspire to follow. It is, to give an analogy, the difference between having direct access to the President, instead having to make appointments with his secretaries and assistants. We have no need of intermediaries.

All of us are deeply concerned by the Covid 19 pandemic. We worry about health…physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, financial etc.  Most of us are sheltering in place; our world is contracting.

The ancient Israelites were enslaved in Mitsrayim—the Hebrew name for Egypt. The word mitsrayim comes from the root tsar, meaning “narrow and confined.” The Israelites were not only in physical servitude, but they suffered from the psychological pains of being in bondage. They lacked freedom to go where they wanted when they wanted. It was a depressing, anxiety-ridden time.

We now find ourselves in a modern-day mitsrayim. We are dealing with the narrowing of options and with confinement.

Rabbi Benzion Uziel, late Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, offered an explanation of the Korekh “sandwich” eaten during the Seder. This custom goes back to Hillel the Elder who used to put together the matzah and maror and eat them together. This was based on the verse (Bemidbar 9:11) that instructed people to eat the Pessah offering with matzah and maror.

Rabbi Uziel noted that the matzot were eaten after the Israelites left Egypt, and are therefore a symbol of freedom. The bitter herbs, maror, are eaten as a reminder of slavery in Egypt. We eat both of them together to remind us that freedom and slavery are intertwined elements of life. We always find ourselves between exile and redemption. But even at a time when we are experiencing the bitter herbs of life, we should be awake to the possibility of redemption; we must maintain hope.

Today when we are in a sort of mitsrayim--when our lives are increasingly confined and narrowed-- we need to strengthen ourselves as much as possible. Each word of comfort and consolation is helpful. Each prayer to the Almighty is important. We need to reach out as often as possible to relatives and friends, to those who may be feeling excessive isolation and loneliness. We push back at the powers of mitsrayim by trying to enlarge our lives through communication with others (while strictly observing the social distancing rules). Phone calls, emails, online interactions help bring light into our lives.

This year’s Sedarim will indeed be different from all other Pessah nights. We pray that the Almighty will give strength and wisdom to all the health care professionals and scientists who are working so diligently to combat the pandemic. We pray that the Almighty will bless all of us with all manner of good health. We pray for a speedy end to this world wide plague.

May we soon emerge from this time of mitsrayim and may we soon enter a period of freedom and redemption.

The ancient and so-far uncured disease of “anti-Semitism” is reflected in Megillat Esther.  Haman tells the king: “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; and their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the king’s laws; therefore it profits not the king to let them be.” (Esther 3:8). Haman’s description of the situation is insidious and hateful. It slanders the Jewish people who, although they follow their own religious laws, also are law-abiding people who follow the king’s laws.

The disease of anti-Semitism has persisted through the generations and continues today, with all its false accusations, paranoia and dangerous consequences. How are we to cope with this deep-seated irrationalism? How are we to explain this to our children and grandchildren?

                                                                     *   *   *

Each generation of Jewish parents and grandparents seems to face the same dilemma. We teach our children and grandchildren that all humans are created in the image of God; that we should respect and assist others; that love of God necessarily entails love of God’s creations.

Yet, these right and proper teachings are challenged by the realities which our children and grandchildren witness with their own eyes. They see thousands of missiles shot at Israel by Hamas terrorists with the aim of killing as many Jews as possible. They see throngs of Palestinians cheering as missiles are launched to murder Jews. They hear the rantings of the President of Iran who calls for the annihilation of Israel. They read of anti-Semitic diatribes and attacks by anti-Semites throughout the world. They see the large number of countries at the United Nations who consistently vote against Israel, who consistently side with those who would destroy Israel. They know of the so-called humanitarian groups and journalists who seem to find fault only with Israel, but rarely, if ever, with the vicious enemies of Israel. 

We Jewish parents and grandparents constantly teach our young generations about love of God, love of humanity, the sanctity of human life. Yet, there are so many millions of fellow human beings who are saturated with hatred, who engage in murderous activities against us. And there are so many millions of others who are complicit with the evils of anti-Semitism by their neutrality or silence.

How can we teach of love in a world filled with hatred? How can we teach that all humans are created in the image of God, when so many humans are actively trying to murder us? How can we preach the goodness of humankind, when so much of humankind is engaged in violence? 

For thousands of years, our people have weathered the storms of persecution. In spite of the senseless hatred and violence perpetrated against us in so many lands, the Jewish people are still here to tell our story.  Our enemies always disappear; we always survive. That is an iron law of history. And that bothers the anti-Semites greatly.

Why do anti-Semites give us such a hard time? Why do people who do not even know us express hatred and malevolence toward us? Why do Israel’s enemies persist in demonizing the Jewish State, rather than  finding a way to co-exist peacefully and happily?

Jews represent an infinitesimal fraction of the world’s population. Yet, so much negative energy is directed against us! I suppose we should feel complimented to receive so much attention!

Our enemies are astounded and troubled by the fact that such a tiny Jewish people has been able to accomplish so much. We gave the world Moses, King David, Isaiah and Queen Esther. Our Bible is venerated by Christianity and Islam and has been a major influence for human civilization. Our sages have produced an unmatched legacy of literature dedicated to righteousness, ethics and law. For thousands of years, our communities have striven to maintain the highest ideals of our tradition.

Jews have distinguished themselves for service to humanity far out of proportion to our numbers. Our enemies resent our persistent commitment to excellence: generations of Jewish doctors and teachers, social workers and scientists, artists and philanthropists, business people and diplomats. They resent the incredibly high proportion of Jewish Nobel Prize winners and other world-class intellectuals and writers.

Some hate us because they see in us a highly educated, highly idealistic, highly charitable group. In contrast to their much larger groups, we are an annoying paradigm. The enemies of Israel do not understand how a tiny Jewish State has become a world leader in science and technology, agriculture and industry. How can such a small State, constantly embattled and boycotted by much of the Arab world, be so amazingly successful in so many ways? How is it that only Israel of all countries in the Middle East has been able to maintain a vibrant and dynamic democracy, a society that gives so much freedom to all its citizens?

Our enemies solve their dilemma by denying or belittling Jewish virtues, or by blaming us for preventing their own advancement. When they cannot come to grips with their own shortcomings, they look for a scapegoat: and we are a convenient target since we are so small and yet so visible. If anything, their anti-Semitism is a blatant admission of their own failings and weaknesses. Those who devote themselves to hatred thereby undermine their own humanity.

The Jewish people are persistent in believing in the ultimate goodness of humanity. In spite of all our enemies and all their hatred, we remain eternally optimistic. We believe that reason and benevolence will prevail. We work to make society better and to alleviate suffering. We believe that even wicked human beings can be redeemed through love and compassion. We can point to many millions of people who think kindly and warmly toward Jews and toward the Jewish State. The good people far outnumber the anti-Semites.

When we come under fire from anti-Semites, we call on our collective historic memory to give us strength. We have survived the millennia due to the incredible courage and fortitude of our forebears. We are the children of the prophets who taught justice, righteousness and love to the world. Our teachings are right: the world simply hasn’t absorbed them as yet.

How can we teach of love in a world filled with hatred? How can we teach that all humans are created in the image of God, when so many humans are actively trying to murder us? How can we preach the goodness of humankind, when so much of humankind is engaged in violence? 

We teach these things because they are true, and because they are the ideas and ideals that can best bring fulfillment to humanity. In spite of so much hatred and evil in the world, the Jews teach love and righteousness.

The day will come when hatred and bigotry will disappear from humanity. In the meanwhile, we must stay strong, courageous and faithful to our tradition. And to our collective Jewish memory.

Get some FRESH AIR.

At least twice a day or as much as you can -even while in quarantine. Even just sitting next to an open window and breathing deeply with eyes closed can be a virtual break from sitting around inside.

Get some SUN.

Again, as much as you can- especially if you are in quarantine. Exposure to direct sunlight helps your body make Vitamin D.

Find a sunny spot in your house/apartment/yard and soak up some rays for 15-30 minutes (unless, of course, it's cloudy).

WRITE something.

Encourage your grandchildren to put thoughts down in words. Inventive spelling is wonderful for the younger children. For yourselves, you can start keeping a diary or journal. Transform your thoughts and feelings into a poem. Write a letter to someone you love - an actual letter, on paper, that you put in an envelope with a stamp - grandchildren especially love to receive those. 

MOVE your body.

Get some physical activity. Stretch and exercise along with a YouTube video. Try the 7-minute workout. Just get the body in motion. Our Director of Athletics, Coach Dejon, has been posting awesome exercise activities on our instagram account and MDS MiBayit.

LAUGH a lot and often.

Laugh and play as much as you can… laughter is the best medicine. Game nights, movie nights, joke books, and looking through family photos and videos can lighten things up and take off some of the pressure.

DISCONNECT from your devices.

This one is tricky when we have to be on our devices for much of the day to attend to the news and stay connected with friends, etc. If you are with your grandchildren, try and carve out some time for unplugging for them. During un-screened time, encourage your grandchildren to read a real book, draw, play cards or board games, dress up, imaginary play, do a puzzle.

Go on an "INFORMATION DIET."

We are encouraging everyone to take breaks from the media…. and stick to reliable, less emotional sources for your news. Turning off the computer and TV and disconnecting can give you and your family some distance and help you put things into perspective and frame the conversation for your children and grandchildren. 

TALK to someone.

It is 100% normal, natural and predictable for people to feel really uncomfortable in this situation. It is very hard to live our lives with a heightened level of worry and uncertainty with which we are currently living. Can talking to someone about your angst and worries change the things that are making you feel that way? Probably not. Can talking to someone change the way you feel about those things? Probably. Believe it or not, talking about your feelings, saying them out loud to another person who listens to you and validates how you feel, actually makes those feelings easier to bear.  

Sending you lots of positive energy and motivation! We can do this!!!

Best,

Ariella Azaraf, School Social Worker and Michal Agus Fox, School Psychologist

Angel for Shabbat, Parashat Bo

by Rabbi Marc D. Angel

Rabbi Yitzhak Shemuel Reggio, a 19th century Italian Torah commentator, offers an interesting insight concerning the plague of darkness. The Torah states that Egyptians spent three days in deep darkness while “all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.”

Rabbi Reggio opines that the plague of darkness did not befall the land of Egypt—but rather the eyes of the Egyptians. Egypt itself was full of light; but while the Israelites continued to enjoy that light, the eyes of the Egyptians were blanketed in darkness. If an Egyptian stood right next to an Israelite, the Egyptian would be unable to see--but the Israelite would see clearly.

Rabbi Reggio notes that after the plague of darkness, the Torah reports that “the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the eyes of Pharaoh’s servants and in the eyes of the people.” It seems that the Egyptians did not recognize the greatness of Moses until after they had experienced darkness. This plague somehow caused a transformation within them. They started to see things differently, more clearly. It took darkness to make them see the light!

For many years, the Egyptians did not think twice about their enslavement of the Israelites. This was a “normal” fact of life, not to be questioned. They did not see that anything was morally wrong with the status quo. They had grown so accustomed to their pattern of thinking, that they did not question the validity of their assumptions and their lifestyle.
When they were plunged into absolute darkness, they began to realize how wrong they had been. They came to understand that their assumptions and patterns of behavior were immoral. When they “saw the light”, they then recognized the greatness of Moses. He was, after all, telling the truth! He—not Pharaoh—was the agent of truth.

The transformation within the minds of the Egyptians may also be evidenced by the Torah’s later statement that the children of Israel found favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, so that the Egyptians gave them presents. The Egyptians no longer saw the Israelites as slaves, as objects to be exploited; rather, they saw the Israelites as fellow human beings who had been cruelly mistreated. Egyptians felt empathy toward the Israelites, whom they had previously treated so callously and viciously. They wanted to give them presents, to demonstrate human solidarity.

Rabbi Reggio’s insight might be extended to relate to human life in general. People live with assumptions, values, and patterns of behavior typical of their societies. They do not necessarily self-reflect: are these assumptions true? Are these values moral? Are these patterns of behavior ethical? It is highly difficult to rise above one’s milieu and judge one’s reality in a dispassionate, honest manner.

Professor Daniel Kahneman, the Israeli Nobel Prize winner in Economics, has coined the phrase “illusion of validity.” He points out that we tend to think that our own opinions and intuitions are correct. We tend to overlook hard data that contradict our worldview and to dismiss arguments that don’t coincide with our own conception of things. We operate under the illusion that our ideas, insights, intuitions are valid; we don’t let facts or opposing views get in our way.

The illusion of validity leads to innumerable errors, to wrong judgments, to unnecessary confrontations. If we could be more open and honest, self-reflective, willing to entertain new ideas and to correct erroneous assumptions—we would find ourselves in a better, happier and more humane world.

The ancient Egyptians had the illusion of validity, believing that their murderous, slavery-ridden society was fine. They did not question their lifestyle, opinions or worldview. It took the plague of darkness to make them think more carefully about the nature of their society—and the nature of their own humanity. Once they “saw the light”, they were able to make positive adjustments. Although Pharaoh and his army continued to foster the pre-darkness views, the people as a whole seem to have re-oriented their way of thinking and acting.

The plague of darkness might symbolize the need for each of us to periodically clear our minds, re-evaluate our assumptions, and see where we might have fallen victim to the illusion of validity. In the darkness and quiet of our inner selves, we can try to shed light on our opinions, values, attitudes and behaviors. We can try to rise above ourselves, as honestly and objectively as we can.

An old proverb has it that “no one is so blind as the one who refuses to see.” We might offer an addendum to this proverb: “no one sees so clearly as the one who has first experienced darkness.”

Our National Scholar, Rabbi Hayyim Angel, published a new Book Review in Tradition (the journal of the Rabbinical Council of America) discussing the interface between religious Bible study and archaeology.

Koren Publishers has embarked on an impressive new project, a popular companion to the Torah presenting contemporary research on archaeology, Egyptology, flora and fauna, geology, the languages and realia of the ancient Near East, and other areas that elucidate aspects of the biblical text. It is presented in a similar engaging manner to the Hebrew series, Olam HaTanakh, and like that Hebrew work was composed by a team of scholars who specialize in a variety of fields of scholarship. There are brief articles and glossy photographs, maps, and illustrations that bring these areas to light. Living up to the standard that the community has come to expect from Koren publications, the volume is an impressive work of graphic design, with a high aesthetic sense. Unlike Olam HaTanakh, which also offers a running commentary on biblical books, The Koren Tanakh of the Land of Israel discusses specifically those background areas that may enhance our understanding of the text within its real-world setting.

This series is written from an Orthodox perspective. Its authors believe that God revealed the Torah to Moses, and they utilize contemporary scholarship as a tool for understanding God’s word. The articles generally are presented judiciously, rather than reaching conclusions that exceed the biblical and archaeological evidence. The volume does not purport to be original scholarship, but rather synthesizes contemporary academic scholarship in an accessible and Orthodox-friendly manner.

Here are a few brief examples of how the authors highlight elements of the background of the narrative and laws...

To read the complete review, please go to 

https://traditiononline.org/11255-2/ 

A New World: An American Sephardic Memoir

By Rabbi Marc D. Angel

(These are excerpts from Rabbi Angel’s book, A New World: An American Sephardic Memoir, Albion Andalus Books, Boulder, 2019.   The book is available through the online store of jewishideas.org.)

            Transitions.

Things stay the same, but not really. Things change, but not totally.

            My grandparents were among the 30,000 or so Sephardic Jews who came to the United States during the early 20th century. They were born and raised in Turkey and the Island of Rhodes. They had little formal education, little money, but a lot of courage.

            They brought the “old country” with them to the new world. Their language was Judeo-Spanish. Their culture was the traditional Sephardic Judaism of Ottoman Jewry. They settled in Seattle, Washington, and were part of a vibrant Sephardic enclave with large extended families.

            My grandparents were of the “old world” and they sought to transmit their ideals and values to their children. Their children were of the “new world.” Life in America was very different from the tradition-centered life of the Jews in Turkey and Rhodes. The children’s generation respected their parents; but this new American generation was restless. They wanted to adapt fully to American life. How much of the “old world” could they carry with them? How much of it had to be left behind?

            By my generation (I was born in 1945), the Americanization process was well advanced. We loved and admired our grandparents and their generation; but we were full-blooded Americans, many of us with American-born parents. The “old world” was remote, somewhat exotic. It didn’t define who we were.

            Our children and grandchildren are further removed from the “old country.” Most have never heard a conversation in Judeo-Spanish. Most have not had personal contact with members of my grandparents’ generation.

            The Americanization of our family over the past hundred years has brought many changes. We are far better educated than the immigrant generation. We are generally more affluent, more “successful,” and more integrated into American society. We have shared in the American dream.

            But we have also incurred losses in the generational transitions. Life is not static. Things change. Circumstances change. People change.  Whereas most of our family once lived within the same neighborhood in Seattle, now we are spread out all over the country. Whereas most of our family once felt a strong sense of belonging to the Sephardic Jewish tradition, now we are much more diverse in our religious and cultural patterns of life.

            While we can’t go back to the “old days” and the “old country” way of life, we can draw meaningful lessons for ourselves and our next generations. In assembling the memoirs for this book, I have chosen people and events that have left a lasting impression on me…and that I think can leave a lasting impression on many others. This book is one man’s record of an era which is rapidly coming to a close. I acknowledge that memoirs are subjective; each person experiences life through his or her own eyes and each remembers things differently.

            My mother used to say that we could learn almost everything we need to know about human nature from our own extended family. Some relatives were wise, some foolish; some were successful, some failures; some optimistic, some morose; some pious, some rebellious.  Our family included intellectuals and people of very limited intelligence. We had courageous and outspoken individuals, and we had timid, quiet types. Some had phenomenal senses of humor, and some would hardly ever laugh. In the family, one could experience love, hatred, selflessness, jealousy, greed, generosity, spirituality, materialism, seriousness, humor.

            The family included people of great mind and heart, people who were handsome and beautiful, people of striking personality. It also included, without embarrassment, people who were quite ordinary, as well as individuals who had various physical, emotional and mental disabilities.

            My grandfather Angel had a shoeshine stand. My grandfather Romey was a barber. My father was a grocer. Among my uncles were a butcher, fish salesman, rabbi, printer, storekeeper, bartender, college professor, and assorted unskilled laborers. Various relatives were real estate speculators, never-do-wells, while others were employees of Boeing.  In the days of my childhood, most of the women of our family did not work outside the home.

            By the next generation, the extended family came to include rabbis, teachers, attorneys, insurance and real estate agents, a political scientist, skilled employees in various companies, a merchant marine, salespeople, athletes, a nurse, and several authors of books.

            My mother saw the family as something of a microcosm of humanity in general and society in particular. We could understand the world around us if we could understand ourselves.

            In those days, the family was large, diverse and whole. We mostly lived in the same neighborhood; we got together often; we recognized a strong vital sense of kinship among ourselves.

            One of the focal points of my childhood was the home of my maternal grandparents at 214 15th Avenue in Seattle, Washington. Even now, so many years after their deaths, I often find myself reminiscing about that house, remembering so many details about it. It has stood as a symbol in my mind of our family together. It calls to mind a simpler time, a time when life seemed whole and connected.

*****

My grandparents and their generation have passed away.

My parents and all their siblings have passed away.

My generation is getting on in years. Some of my cousins have died or are in declining health. Some still live in Seattle, but some live in Portland, Los Angeles, Sioux Falls, New York, Jerusalem…and other places. Some are religiously traditional, and some have moved far from Jewish religious observance.

Our children and grandchildren live in a world much removed from the “old neighborhood” in Seattle where I was born and raised. They have little contact with the children and grandchildren of the cousins of my generation. They have hardly heard (or never heard) Judeo-Spanish as a living language. They have no first hand memories of the lives of the pioneer Sephardic immigrants who came to America in the early 20th century.

Peter Berger, an eminent scholar of modern American civilization, has noted that moderns suffer from a deepening condition of spiritual “homelessness.” The old anchors and moorings have not held.

The old days are gone forever. Looking back can be pleasant; but it cannot create a new framework for society. It is not enough to have a “home” in the past. We need to be at home in the present and to create homes for our children and grandchildren.

The “old country of Seattle” cannot be put back together. It is gone, never to return. But values can live on; attitudes can be transmitted; ideas can transcend time and space. Moderns need not be spiritually homeless if they can create a society based on love, trust, shared values and ideals. Our sense of being at home will come from inner strength, from our immediate family and friends, from our communal structures. For our future generations to feel that life is whole, meaningful and secure, we will need to create frameworks where they feel “at home,” comfortable with themselves, comfortable with the world in which they live.

Our grandparents and parents and their generations left us a powerful legacy of memories, values and ideals. As we draw strength and wisdom from their lives, we face the present and the future with increasing confidence. We can’t go home again, but neither can we ever really leave home.