Devarim (1:17) states, you shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s. Rashi (Devarim 1:17), Lo Saguru - Do not be afraid of any man. Another explanation is one should not hold back your words before any man. The Tosefta (Sanhedrin 1:8), What is the sources that says that if you are sitting before the judges and you know a merit for the poor and and liability for the rich that you can not remain silent? Because the Torah say, You shall not be afraid of the face of man (Devarim 1:14). That means that you should not hold back your words before any man. Sotah (47b), When they who displayed partiality in judgment multiplied, the command you shall not be afraid [of the face of man] became void and you shall not respect [persons in judgment] ceased to be practiced; and people threw off the yoke of heaven and placed upon themselves the yoke of human beings. The Yerushalmi Sanhedrin (1:1), When two litigants come before you – one who is powerful and one who is weak – prior to hearing their claims it is allowed for a judge to say he doesn’t want to deal with the case out of fear that if he finds the strong one guilty it will make the strong one his enemy. However once he has heard their claims it is not allowed to say that he doesn’t want to deal with the case because it says in Devarim (1:17), Do not be afraid of any man and suppress your views against him. Rather the judges need to know who they are judging and before Whom they are judging…
Sifri Devarim (17): Do not be afraid of any man. Perhaps a judge will say that he is afraid that one of the litigants will kill his son or burn down his harvest or destroy his crops – the Torah say, Do not be afraid of any man because judgement belongs to G-d… And that includes one’s own teacher as it states in Tanchumin (Mishpatim) What is the source that says if a student is sitting before his Rebbe and he sees a merit to the poor and an obligation to the rich that he should not be silent? Because it says in the Torah, Do not be afraid of any man.
I know of this only too well. Whenever I spoke up about Barry Freundel I was castigated for speaking against "a rabbi". After his arrest and conviction people told me I was vindicated. Really? had anyone listened to me BEFORE he built HIS mikvah at least 152 women would not have been put through humiliation.
ReplyDeleteThat's why this time I am NOT remaining silent! I have just mailed over 300 of these cards to Fresh Meadows with more on the way to other areas. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c73d600710ac2dc841ebe8dd641405254ba0e2f6da24023aab853311c6bf2c0a.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/98b53d05639e8bec4951c58ed961decbef8449606241514ac9b98df803a6be72.png
Don't suppress the truth of Torah! tell us the name of the prominent Rav!
ReplyDeletenot suppressing the truth - he doesn't want his name mentioned.
ReplyDeleteYou are admittedly going against the mainstream opinion of respected Talmidei Chachamim who DO want their name mentioned - what is the worth of the advice of a nameless respected Rav?
ReplyDeletewhat mainstream rabbis are you talking about? What opinion are you referring to?
ReplyDeleteAre you referring to Rav Aharon Feldman's assertion which has no basis in halacha?
I hope you at least appreciate the irony of someone afraid of others encouraging you not to be afraid of others.
ReplyDeleteyes but as has been noted - other have much more to lose than I do.
ReplyDeletelook at your post from the 23rd... you claim that most Rabbanim disagree with you
ReplyDeleteI assume your are referring to this
ReplyDelete"Over Yom Tov I have made inquiries about the deafening silence regarding the Kaminetsky-Greenblatt heter for adultery. The consensus seems to be that a horrible error in judgment was made by the Kaminetskys and Rav Greenblatt. But since they refuse to acknowledge it the only alternative is to forget about it and pretend it never happened. "
In what sense do they disagree with me? For themselves personally they see the only option is collective amnesia.
I didn't say that the consensus of rabbis thinks what I am doing is wrong. Clearly Rav Feldman does.
Or put another way - what rabbis would be opposed to Rav Kaminetsky publicly stating that he rejects the heter and that he acted improprerly in obtaining the heter and the damage he did to Aharon Friedman? What rabbis hold that a gadol publicly apologizing for his serious errors is worse than committing adultery? What rabbis claim that my publicizing the problem is worse than adultery?
"Recently a prominent rav told me....not to be afraid of any man in reporting the truth"
ReplyDeleteso let this prominent rav please show us by example, by Tetting us HIS NAME , & " not (to) be afraid of any man" !!!