Re’eh 5770 Volume XVII Number 47 Toras Aish Thoughts From Across the Torah Spectrum beware "lest there be a malevolent thought in your RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN heart, saying, 'The seventh year, the debtor-release Shabbat Shalom year, is approaching,' and you will look meanly upon your destitute and you will not give him a loan; he may he biblical portion of Re'eh contains many laws - then appeal against you before the Lord, and it will be ritual and ethical - but with a marked emphasis on accounted to you as a sin. You must give, yes give Tthe ethical, especially in terms of interpersonal him... and, in return, G-d will bless you in all your deeds relationships and finances. In this context, our and in your every undertaking" (ibid 15:9,10). portion includes the law of the Sabbatical year requiring But is this really fair? Can the Bible legitimately the Israelites to leave their land fallow every seventh expect creditors to wipe out their IOU receivables in the year, neither sowing nor pruning nor reaping nor sabbatical year? And the fact is that when society harvesting. The land is allowed to rest and restore itself, changed from an agrarian to an industrial system, and fruits and vegetables are left "free for all takers" and the individuals began making business rather than personal clear lesson is that "no land may be sold [or owned] in loans, the sages allowed for a prozbul, wherein loans perpetuity, for the land [even land which G-d gave to were to be made through the religious court and Israel] is Mine [G-d's]; you [human occupants] are therefore would not have to be rescinded on the merely strangers and residents with Me [on My land]" seventh year (B.T. Gittin 36, 37). Nevertheless, the (Lev. 25:23). biblical law would certainly require, even today, well-to- Our portion of Re'eh adds one critical nuance to do creditors to cancel personal loans, especially to this law: Not only must each landowner relinquish indigent debtors. What is the basis for this requirement? (Hebrew shmita) his ownership of the land by not I believe the answer is to be found in a literal "working" it and by allowing every passerby to benefit reading of the passage which forbids taking interest on from its produce, but he must likewise release his loans: "If you [have surplus funds, and therefore are in a debtors from repaying their loans at the end of this position to] lend [money] to My nation, [understand that] seventh year. "This is the matter of the remission: every G-d has given the money which should have gone to creditor must remit his authority over what he has lent the poor to you [in trust, as a test]; do not press him in his fellow; he may not press his fellow or his brother for an overbearing way, and do not charge him interest repayment, since a remission [shmita] has been [since you are only returning to him what should have proclaimed for the Lord" (Deuteronomy 15:2). gone to him in the first place]" (Exodus 22:24, in Many modern biblical scholars maintain that the accordance with the interpretation of the Ohr Hahaim, Bible is merely calling for an extension, and not a R. Haim ben Attar). Hence not only our land but also cancellation, of the loan; after all, if the farmer cannot our funds really belong to G-d, and He expects us to harvest and sell his excess produce, how can he be distribute those funds fairly! It is not what we have which expected to repay a loan? Therefore, the creditor must is significant, but who we are; and who we are depends wait until the end of the eighth year, after the following in great measure on what we give - to others, to society. harvest, to press for repayment. However, the sages did I heard a beautiful story from a very special not interpret shmita as merely a temporary suspension Jew, Victor Alhadeff, who - together with his gracious of the loan, but rather as a complete cancellation, an wife Suzie - is a leader of the Seattle and world Jewish opportunity for every debtor to start afresh, to gain a community. Eight extremely wealthy, nonobservant new lease on life, emerging from the sabbatical year Jews took a trip together to Israel for the first time. As with a clean slate. Indeed, the very next passage was to be expected, they were hounded by donation enjoins the Israelite to open his hand to his destitute seekers, all of whom left them unimpressed. And then brother, to freely lend him whatever he requires and to they were taken to a haredi yeshiva, whose representative promised that they would be taught This issue of Toras Aish is dedicated in honor of Torah in the central study hall for only one hour by Micha Berger English-speaking students - and there would be no for all his tireless efforts at assisting with the weekly appeal for funds. After a fascinating hour, the elderly publication of Toras Aish for almost 18 years! yeshiva head, stricken with Parkinson's, rose to address Yaasher koach! You rock! them: "I am old, and have lived my life; you are young 2 Toras Aish were influenced by the majority culture against all TORAS AISH IS A WEEKLY PARSHA realistic evidence and Divine fiat to the contrary. NEWSLETTER DISTRIBUTED VIA EMAIL AND THE Jewish history, over the last three centuries WORLD WIDE WEB AT HTTP://AISHDAS.ORG. especially, is littered with the debris of majority cultures FOR MORE INFO EMAIL [email protected] that have bankrupted and proven to be disastrous. The material presented in this publication was collected from publicly available electronic mail, computer archives and the From being "Germans of the Mosaic persuasion" to UseNet. It is being presented with the permission of the respective Marxists of the first order, disastrous results have authors. Toras Aish is an independent publication, and does not emanated from Jews following majority cultures. necessarily reflect the views of any given synagogue. Today's majority culture of not only tolerating TO DEDICATE THIS NEWSLETTER PLEASE CALL but encouraging sexual hedonism, the pursuit of wealth 973-472-0180 OR EMAIL [email protected] and gain at any cost, phony universalism and distorted and have much to accomplish. I know you are busy, concepts of intellectual and academic rights, is slowly and have no patience for long speeches. You have leading to disaster for many unsuspecting Jews. Part of visited our yeshiva and studied with our students - all the problem lies in the fact that most Jews, unaware very dedicated, all very poor, and living literally from and ignorant of any Jewish history or tradition, simply hand to mouth. "Permit me to leave you with one cannot recognize the trap that they are falling into. thought. I spent the Holocaust in a concentration camp. They "pick up the hem of their robes" to run We were eight people in one bunk who were cruelly faster to worship the currently fashionable gods of the pushed to work with rigor and almost without food for 16 majority culture. Their attitude is a danger to the very hours a day. We came back at night to a freezing room survival of the Jewish people. And yet, blissfully, no one with only one blanket. What did we, what could we do? is allowed to speak against these current majority We shared!" The old yeshiva head sat down. His lesson norms lest one be branded as an obstructionist and old- was clear, as is the lesson of the Bible. We must all fashioned. share! © 2010 Ohr Torah Institutions & Rabbi S. Riskin In this week's parsha, the Torah's warning against blindly following majority cultures certainly RABBI BEREL WEIN should resonate in our current "Jewish democratic" world. We should be careful to choose wisely, listen to Wein Online our tradition and history and be content to be a G-dly n this week's parsha, the Torah presents the ultimate minority, unwavering in our principles, ideals and Jewish Ichallenge to any minority group living in a society way of life. © 2010 Rabbi Berel Wein- Jewish historian, where the majority culture, mores and lifestyle differ author and international lecturer offers a complete selection radically from those of that particular minority group. of CDs, audio tapes, video tapes, DVDs, and books on Human nature abhors outsiders, aliens, those who are Jewish history at www.rabbiwein.com. For more information obviously different. And therefore within all of us lies a on these and other products visit www.rabbiwein.com deep seated drive to conform, to belong, to become RABBI AVI WEISS part of the perceived whole and not to remain so isolated and strange. Shabbat Forshpeis The Torah phrases it succinctly; "How is it that his week's Torah portion gives us a curious the many nations of the world all worship pagan gods?" mitzvah. It tells us not to add or subtract to the Is everybody wrong and only I am correct? Can fifty Tcommandments. (Deuteronomy 13:1) This seems million Frenchmen be wrong? And therefore "I will also to go against the idea of the ongoing development of do so," I will join the crowd and bow down before gods Jewish law on the part of the rabbis. (See Deuteronomy of wood and stone handcrafted by humans themselves. 17:8-13) In spite of the absurdity of this logic, it truly Consider, for example, one of the dietary laws.