Special Current Events & Secrets Of Purim

It is your iniquities that have diverted these things, Your sins that have withheld the bounty from you.

But if, despite this, you disobey Me and remain hostile to Me,

When this column of smoke inclined to the north it would enter a certain hole there. All the bands of the Sitra Achara knew about this smoke and would gather round. One of them was appointed over all of them and they were accompanied by sixty-thousand myriad encampments of shells of impurity. All of these would gather together in the north and stand beside a certain portal called, “Happenstance [keri].” It is from that opening that all the accusers of Israel would emanate. Concerning this was it stated, “And if you walk with me by happenstance, then I will also walk with you with the wrath of happenstance” (Vayikra 26:21-28). These are the same shells of impurity that go out to fly and hover about at night, appearing to men and engaging them in levity until they have an emission of seed [keri]. The column of smoke mentioned above provides sustenance for these accusers so that they will stay in their place and not spread about the world. It was corresponding to this that the evening service was instituted. And since these bands of accusers come from an eirev rav [a “mixed multitude”], the corresponding prayer is called tefilas erev [the “Evening Prayer”], to weaken the above mentioned forces. Extreme concentration is required during the Evening Prayer in order to weaken the power of the Sitra Achara, especially during this bitter exile.

ויסרתי, same as Deuteronomy 8,5 כאשר ייסר איש את הנו, “as a father who disciplines his son.” The word occurs in this sense also in Deuteronomy 21,18 ויסרו אותו, “after they disciplined him.” (physical punishment.) Similar constructions are found with the root ישב, as in Ezekiel 25,4 וישבו בך טירותם, “they will establish their palaces within you.”

Let us search and examine our ways, And turn back to the LORD;

Previously, the Gemara discussed suffering that results from one’s transgressions. The Gemara shifts the focus and discusses suffering that does not result from one’s transgressions and the suffering of the righteous. Rava, and some say Rav Ḥisda, said: If a person sees that suffering has befallen him, he should examine his actions. Generally, suffering comes about as punishment for one’s transgressions, as it is stated: “We will search and examine our ways, and return to God” (Lamentations 3:40). If he examined his ways and found no transgression for which that suffering is appropriate, he may attribute his suffering to dereliction in the study of Torah. God punishes an individual for dereliction in the study of Torah in order to emphasize the gravity of the issue, as it is stated: “Happy is the man whom You punish, Lord, and teach out of Your law” (Psalms 94:12). This verse teaches us that his suffering will cause him to return to Your law.

Seen in this light, they may be regarded as the "afflictions of love" spoken of by our sages, viz. (Ibid): "If one sees afflictions coming upon him, let him examine his deeds, as it is written (Eichah 3:40): 'Let us examine and search out our ways.' If he examined them and found a sin, let him repent of it, as it is written (Ibid.): 'And return to the L-rd.' If he examined them and found no sin, let him attribute his afflictions to neglect of Torah study, as it is written (Psalms 94:12): 'Fortunate is the man whom You afflict, O L-rd, and whom You teach from Your Torah.' If he posited this assumption, but found it unwarranted, it is certain that his afflictions are 'afflictions of love,' as it is written (Proverbs 3:13): 'For whom the L-rd loves, He chastises.'"

You shall act in accordance with the instructions given you and the ruling handed down to you; you must not deviate from the verdict that they announce to you either to the right or to the left.

ימין ושמאל [THOU SHALT NOT DEPART FROM THE WORD WHICH THEY SHALL TELL THEE] TO THE RIGHT NOR TO THE LEFT, even if he (the judge) tells you about what appears to you to be right that it is left, or about what appears to you to be left that it is right, you have to obey him; how much the more is this so if actually he tells you about what is evidently right that it is right and about what is left that it is left (cf. Sifrei Devarim 154:5).

according to whatever teaching they direct you concerning the difficult matter.

Right or left: "Even if he tells you about the right that it is left or about the left that it is right" - [that is] the language of Rashi. And its matter is that even if you think in your heart that they are erring, and the thing is simple in your eyes - [just] like you know [the difference] between your right and your left - do like they command. And do not say, "How can I eat this completely forbidden fat" or "How can I kill this innocent man," but rather say, "So did the Master who commands command me to do with the commandments, that I should do His commandments, according to all that those that stand in front of Him - 'in the place that He shall choose' - instruct me; and He gave me the Torah upon the understanding of their minds, even if they err." And this is like the matter of Rabbi Yehoshua with Rabban Gamliel about Yom Kippur that fell out according to the calculation [of Rabbi Yehoshua] (Rosh Hashanah 25a). And the need for this commandment is very great, since the Torah is given to us in writing, and it is known that the opinions are not [all] the same concerning all of its implications. And [otherwise] the disagreements would grow and the Torah would become several Torahs. And the verse set forth that we should listen to the High Court that stands in front of God 'in the place that He shall choose,' about all that they tell us concerning the understanding of the Torah - whether they received its understanding, one witness from the mouth of another, and Moshe from the mouth of the Omnipotent; or they say thus according to the meaning of the Scripture. Or its intention is that in accordance with their opinion does He give them (other [variants of the text]: us) the Torah: even if it is in your eyes like the replacing of the right with the left; and all the more so, when they say about the right that is right - that you must think that the spirit of God is upon the servants of His Temple, 'and He will not leave His pious ones, they will always be protected' from erring and from stumbling. And the language of Sifrei on Shoftim 154 is "Even if they show to your eyes about the right that is the left and the left that it is the right, listen to them."

Even if he tells you that right is left, etc. It seems that Rashi means as follows: Even if he tells you that what you consider right is left and that what you consider left is right you should listen to him and blame the mistake not on him but on yourself, because Hashem always places His Spirit on those who serve in His sanctuary; and He guards them from any error so that only truth comes out from their mouths. You might ask: How does Rashi know to expound [the verse] this way? Perhaps [it should be understood] according to its obvious meaning that one should not deviate from that word either right or left! The answer is that since the “word” is an intellectual matter, right or left is not relevant to it. Therefore they expound what they expound.

ימין או שמאל, “to the right or to the left.” Rashi says that even if the ruling is such that it appears what the man in the street knows to be right as being left, and vice versa, i.e. that you are convinced that the decision is flawed, you must accept their decision and conduct yourself in accordance with it. You cannot, because of your conscience, say that you refuse to eat a piece of חלב, fat tissue forbidden on pain of the Karet penalty, that you are certain is such in spite of the Supreme Court’s decision to the contrary. The following is how Nachmanides elaborates on the words of Rashi. It was necessary for Moses to spell this out, seeing that the Torah was given to the people as a written document, and it is common knowledge that not a single letter in that document will ever be changed or tampered with. If it were possible to do that, we would soon have numerous such books, each claiming to be the original Torah. This is why in that same written Torah we needed to have a verse explaining the absolute authority of the leading scholars of the nation to interpret the Torah according to approved guidelines. It is not necessary for these Torah scholars to have received that particular piece of legislation, or interpretation, from Moses directly. Basically, Moses teaches that the Torah that will be taught to us after his death, will be taught to us on the basis of how these scholars understood and interpreted it. It is irrelevant if minor scholars, or learned individuals are convinced that the Supreme Court had erred in a specific ruling.

Should a man act presumptuously and disregard the priest charged with serving there the LORD your God, or the magistrate, that man shall die. Thus you will sweep out evil from Israel:

that man will die The Court will execute him, the reason being that All Israel should hear, and fear. Having mentioned the sovereign [comment on : 9], Scripture now lists the laws that he is obliged to keep.

והאיש אשר יעשה בזדון, who deliberately hands down a ruling to be applied forthwith, which is against that handed down by the Supreme Court, ומת האיש ההוא, he is to be executed at the behest of the Supreme Court, and thereby all the people will hear about it and the absolute authority of the Sanhedrin will be preserved and the people will remain in awe of it.

. והאיש אשר יעשה בזדון, “and the man who will act deliberately contrary, etc.” the Torah refers to a judge, however competent, who after the Sanhedrin has ruled on a matter under dispute hands down a dissenting decision. The matter under dispute concerns violations for which the karet penalty applies if they were committed deliberately. Such a judge or elder is known as זקן ממרא, “a rebellious Elder.” He becomes guilty of the death penalty by asphyxiation.

And if not, these judges and those judges come to the High Court, the Sanhedrin of seventy-one judges that is in the Chamber of Hewn Stone, from which Torah emerges to the entire Jewish people, as it is stated: “And you shall do according to the matter that they shall declare unto you from that place that the Lord shall choose and you shall observe to perform according to all that they shall teach you” (Deuteronomy 17:10). They are the ultimate arbiters who establish the halakha that is binding. If they ruled contrary to the ruling of the elder and the elder then returned to his city, and nevertheless, he taught in the manner that he was teaching previously, he is exempt from punishment. But if he instructed others to act on the basis of his ruling that stands contrary to the ruling of the Sanhedrin, he is liable to be executed, as it is stated: “And the man that shall do so intentionally not to listen” (Deuteronomy 17:12), meaning that one is not liable unless he instructs others to act.

(Devarim 17:12) "And the man who shall do wilfully, not to listen": to its ruling.

One who does not believe in the Oral Torah is not to be identified with the rebellious elder spoken of in the Torah, but is classed with the epicureans (heretics).— —

The rebellious elder mentioned in the Torah is indeed one of the sages of Israel, who is familiar with the traditional lore, acts as judge, and instructs in subjects of Torah, as do all the wise men of Israel; but he has disagreed with the Supreme Court on a point of law, refusing to yield to their point of view. Instead, he has opposed them and taught others to act contrary to the court's ruling. The Torah has condemned him to death, and if he confesses before being executed he has a share in the world to come. Although he argues just as well as they do, he received the traditional lore just as well as they did, yet the Torah has honored them [favoring their view]. Even if the members of the court are willing to forego their honor and leave him alone, they cannot do so, in order to prevent many dissensions in Israel.

A rebellious elder is not guilty of death unless he is one of the sages of Israel, fit to render decisions, having been ordained by the Sanhedrin, and he is opposed to the court on a matter punishable by kareth for willful action, and by a sin-offering for action in error.— — But if he is a student who has not yet reached the stage of rendering decisions, and he has given a decision concerning what should be done, he is not liable, as it is written: "If a case is too baffling for you to decide" (Deuteronomy 17:8) ; that is, one who is capable of solving any problem except a superior one.

וכל ישראל ישמעו וייראו, “and the whole people of Israel will hear about this execution, and they will become more G’d-fearing.” According to Nachmanides this is the Torah’s way of making clear to the people that G’d’s objective with this legislation is even more aimed at the people on the whole than at the victim, as it is hoped to make the carrying out of this legislation totally unnecessary in the future. Execution of the recalcitrant Torah scholar, זקן ממרא, who may even have been objectively correct in his interpretation of Torah law, is also based on the fact that the authority of legally appointed judges must be respected, even if until the final handing down of the judgment there is freedom to argue the merits of the verdict. Public interest as interpreted by the lawgiver, the Torah, sometimes overrides what we in our limited vision consider the infringement of the right of the individual. Stamping out the roots of religious disputes by nipping such dissent involving civil disobedience in the bud, prevents the forming of schisms and different groups ultimately each upholding a version of the Torah of their own. [Some of the wording is my own, though not the thrust of the message. Ed.]

. והאיש אשר יעשה בזדון, “and the man who will act deliberately contrary, etc.” the Torah refers to a judge, however competent, who after the Sanhedrin has ruled on a matter under dispute hands down a dissenting decision. The matter under dispute concerns violations for which the karet penalty applies if they were committed deliberately. Such a judge or elder is known as זקן ממרא, “a rebellious Elder.” He becomes guilty of the death penalty by asphyxiation.

Rabbi Ḥiyya said: Anyone who remains settled of mind after drinking wine, and does not become intoxicated, has an element of the mind-set of seventy Elders. The allusion is: Wine [yayin spelled yod, yod, nun] was given in seventy letters, as the numerological value of the letters comprising the word is seventy, as yod equals ten and nun equals fifty. Similarly, the word secret [sod spelled samekh, vav, dalet] was given in seventy letters, as samekh equals sixty, vav equals six, and dalet equals four. Typically, when wine entered the body, a secret emerged. Whoever does not reveal secrets when he drinks is clearly blessed with a firm mind, like that of seventy Elders.

Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said to them: My children, do you throw thorns in my eyes? How can you say this in the presence of the Nasi himself? Rabbi Ḥiyya said to him: My teacher, do not view their behavior in a negative light. Wine [yayin] is given in letters of seventy, i.e., the numerical value of the letters in the word yayin is seventy, and secret [sod ] is given in letters of seventy, i.e., the numerical value of the letters in the word sod is seventy. When wine enters, secrets emerge.

Rabbi Ishmael also said: Three wars of trouble will the sons of Ishmael in the future wage on the earth in the latter days, as it is said, "For they fled away from the swords" (Isa. 21:15). "Swords" signify only wars, one in the forest of Arabia, as it is said, "From the drawn sword" (ibid.); another on the sea, as it is said, "From the bent bow" (ibid.); and one in the great city which is in Rome, which will be more grievous than the other two, as it is said, "And from the grievousness of the war" (ibid.). From there the Son of David shall flourish and see the destruction of these and these, and thence will He come to the land of Israel, as it is said, "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with crimsoned garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save" (Isa. 63:1).