Beit Shemesh Response

Dear Parents,

Vacation is a wonderful time for parents and students to rejuvenate and to finish their Chanukah celebrations. Over vacation, I enjoyed watching various groups of students learning with Rabbi Dovid Schwartz and Rabbi Yechezkel Yudkowsky on a daily basis. This type of dedication to Torah and mitzvos earns us the title, “Ashreichem Yisroel – Praised are you, Children of Israel.” The title of my article, “We Have Seen the Enemy and it is us,” illustrates that the behavior of the majority can be compromised by the few whose actions and behavior are reprehensible. Although I make the effort to rarely comment on Jewish or worldwide politics, I have chosen to do so this week. World news has been flooded with pictures and comments on recent events in the chareidi section of Beit Shemesh, where a few individuals chose, under the guise of religion, to verbally and physically attack other Orthodox children and adults for their perceived lack of modesty. What ensued was a major outcry from the media and the secular population against anyone who is Orthodox, painting the entire community negatively in one stroke for their discrimination and inappropriate behavior. The negative media reaction has led to violence against Orthodox children and adults. What should our response be?

In attempting to deal with this issue, we must ask ourselves the following: What are our goals in our day-to-day service of Hashem, and how do we inculcate these values in our interactions with others and in the education of our children? We are told that one of our goals is to be an “ohr lagoyim – a light unto the nations.” What does this mean? In order for us to be an ohr lagoyim, our interactions with the general public should be respectful and of the highest ethical standard at all times, and we must act without any feelings of superiority and entitlement. Although we are few in number, the world scrutinizes us and our actions. Nothing is kept private, and the behavioral expectations of us by society are great, as they should be. In an ideal world, we would hope that the world response to our behavior would be one that is represented by the verse “ashrei rabbo shelimdo Torah – Blessed is the rabbi who taught him Torah.” When our behavior doesn’t reflect these standards, then the exact opposite is true and we are looked at with disdain. There is a famous quote from Walt Kelly that reads, “We have seen the enemy and it is us.” At times we become our own worst enemy.

We must and do unilaterally join the Orthodox Union, Young Israel, Agudath Israel and many other Orthodox agencies in condemning the actions of this small group of zealots, but perhaps we must do even more. Unfortunately, when we look at the headlines over the past year, we realize that we are far from perfect and that the Orthodox community nationwide needs to look at ways of increasing tolerance and showing the beauty of Torah to all those around us. Rather than focusing on the mistakes of the media and its unfair allegations against Orthodoxy, we must take positive action to change society’s opinion of us. If every family were to reach out to their less observant neighbors and friends and invite them for a Shabbos meal, we would immediately begin to break down existing barriers and build bridges. Every Orthodox member of the community who is involved in the activities of the Jewish Alliance by making phone calls on Super Sunday or by serving on one of its committees demonstrates our willingness to show that our Torah is a living legacy that affects our behavior and way of life. For many families in Providence, this already takes place on a regular basis, and through their actions and the future actions of other families, we will surely help others to appreciate the very rich traditions of an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle.
In a letter that Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz disseminated this week entitled “Teaching our Children Tolerance,” he relayed the following dvar Torah. The Sifri (Midrashic commentary) in Devarim (343) notes that when Hashem revealed Himself to give the Torah, He first went to the children of Eisav and asked them if they would accept it. They replied that they could not do so because the Torah says, "You shall not murder," and Eisav's father, Yitzchak, gave him the blessing of "v’al charbicha tichyeh – and by your sword you shall live.” (Bereishis 27:40)

Our great rebbi, Rav Avrohom Pam, zt"l, who lived every moment of his life pursuing peace and harmony, asked, "How can we possibly think that Yitzchak blessed his son, Eisav, that he should be successful in killing people?"

Rav Pam explained that Yitzchak's blessing was for Eisav to "live by the sword," by hunting successfully and by defending himself when attacked in battle. However, since Eisav’s daily bread came through bloodshed, he and his children became desensitized to killing to the point where it would be inconceivable for them to accept a Torah that forbids the taking of human life.

If the "blessed" actions of Eisav had such a corrosive effect on him and his family members, how much more so is the moral compass of children distorted by listening to adults speak about others in hateful terms, or even worse, by watching them engage in violence for "good" causes. Our positive actions should serve as a merit to build tolerance and understanding, and hasten the coming of Mashiach speedily in our days.

Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Peretz Scheinerman,
Dean