The Rambam, Kabbalah, and Moshiach - by Eddie UK

Guest Post by Eddie [D.T. I am posting this because I respect Eddie's sincerity as well as the fact that similar views seem to be accepted as valid amongst some Orthodox Jews. I personally totally reject this understanding and my posting it should not be interpreted as approval or agreement. - I also posted it because Eddie does raise some good questions that are important to deal with. However asking good question doesn't mean that the questioners explanations are correct. Please read the comment sections.]

The Rambam is widely recognized as the most authoratative Rabbinic scholar in post Talmudic literature and possibly Jewish life. His halacha, philosophy, and principles of faith are central to Jewish practice, even beyond denominational communities.

His Ikkarim or 13 principle of faith, which are in his Introduction to Chelek, are generally considered as make or break as far as orthodox or traditional Judaism is concerned.

In his epic Mishneh Torah, he concludes with the laws of Kings and Wars, which is widely accepted by all streams of Orthodoxy, whether Lubavitch, Litvish, Sephardim, Yemenites etc.

הלכות מלכים ומלחמות פרק יא

ז  ועיקר הדברים, ככה הן:  שהתורה הזאת אין חוקיה ומשפטיה משתנים לעולם, ולעולמי עולמים, ואין מוסיפין עליהן, ולא גורעין מהן; וכל המוסיף או גורע, או שגילה פנים בתורה והוציא הדברים של מצוות מפשוטן--הרי זה בוודאי רשע ואפיקורוס.

Here is delineates a position that any changes made to the Torah (that he has just described) is a work of evil and heresy.  He presumably means fundamental, mitsvot, rather than specific halachic opinions which are disputed by his great rivals such as the Gaon RAAVAD of Posquieres.

Regarding Messianic speculation, on the details of Mesianic times, sequences, details, he writes as follows:

ד  ויש מן החכמים שאומרים שקודם ביאת המלך המשיח, יבוא אלייהו.  וכל אלו הדברים וכיוצא בהן--לא יידע אדם היאך יהיו, עד שיהיו:  שדברים סתומים הן אצל הנביאים.  גם החכמים אין להם קבלה בדברים אלו, אלא לפי הכרע הפסוקים; ולפיכך יש להם מחלוקת בדברים אלו.  ועל כל פנים, אין סידור הוויית דברים אלו ולא דקדוקן, עיקר בדת.

  

It is instructive that he says the Prophets did not have access to the specifics, and that Chachamim had no Kabbalah (received tradition) on these matters.

ה  ולעולם לא יתעסק אדם בדברי ההגדות, ולא יאריך בדברי מדרשות האמורים בעניינים אלו וכיוצא בהן; ולא ישימם עיקר--שאינן מביאין לא לידי אהבה, ולא לידי יראה.  וכן לא יחשב הקיצין; אמרו חכמים, תפוח דעתן של מחשבי קיצין.  אלא יחכה ויאמין בכלל הדבר, כמו שביארנו.

Furthermore we are enjoined not to calculate end times, or to dwell on midrashim regarding these matters.

It also significant that he was not challenged by Raavad on these statements.

There is a counter trend amongst mystics of the Kabbalah esoteric school, which not only makes calculations of end times, but also dwells on the Moshiach of each generation, and tells fantastic stories, for example of the Arizal knowing what was unknown to the Neviim and Chazal!

e.g. http://www.kabbalaonline.org/kabbalah/article_cdo/aid/379599/jewish/Visit-to-the-Hidden-Mashiach.htm

We are expected to believe that some 400 years before the Wright Brothers, 2 mystics flew by cloud from Tzfat to Lublin (Poland) , the proof being that they presented the Maharshal with hot cakes fresh from the oven in Israel!

Had these men flown by cloud, not only would the cakes have cooled down by the sub zero temperatures, they would have died from the cold and lack of oxygen.

A number of departures from Rambam and misrepresentations of his comments have been made by some important and less important Acharonim.

The Baal HaTanya  in Shaar haYichud of his Tanya claims that G-d and Sefirot are One, and he bases this on

הלכות יסודי התורה פרק ב

יג  [י] הקדוש ברוך הוא מכיר אמיתו, ויודע אותה כמות שהיא.  ואינו יודע בדעה שהיא חוץ ממנו כמו שאנו יודעין, שאין אנו ודעתנו אחד.  אבל הבורא--הוא ודעתו וחייו אחד, מכל צד ומכל פינה:  שאלמלא היה חי בחיים ויודע בדעה, היו שם אלוהות הרבה--הוא וחייו ודעתו; ואין הדבר כן, אלא אחד מכל צד ומכל פינה ובכל דרך ייחוד.

This is despite Rambam stating that  אבל הבורא--הוא ודעתו וחייו אחד, מכל צד ומכל פינה

This is clearly not the case with the Sefirot / Ein Sof, which have a diverse life of their own.

R Shneur Zalman's chief Mitnagdic opponent, R Chaim of Vollozhin also makes a remarkable misattribution to the Rambam.

In Gate B. Ch. 5 (Penultimate paragraph),  he claims that Rambam in Moreh  Ch 72 of part 1, that G-d is the soul of the world, in the same way that human soul is related tot he human body.

A careful analysis of the above Rambam (Guide 1, ch.72) reveals that Rambam says the exact opposite. In his 3rd  caveat that the management of the universe is totally separated , ie unlike a human soul/body,  Hashem is absolutely separate from all parts of the universe. ( see R' Kapach's edition, Mossad HaRav Kook 1977, p. 132).

The entire works of Rambam, especially his Yad HaHazakah, Guide, and Helek, attest to his non materialist approach to G-d.  His views are bing misappropriated to give creedence to an alien and counter philosophy which is immanentism , which is one way in which pantheism is defined, even by orthodox Rabbis.

Another anti-halachic claim which is commonly mad, is that Rambam violates his own injunction not to calculate the Ketz, or end-times.  It is alleged that he did so in his Epistle to Yemen, when in fact he repeatedly states there that is is forbidden. What he did reveal, was a tradition for a possible date for the renewal of prophecy. He did this in order to stop people from calculating the ketz.

It seems to me, from the above halachic statements of Rambam, that he did not accept mystical kabbalah, and that he denied that Chazal  and Neviim, had knowledge of specifics of Messiah.

Furthermore, his fight against materialism, or corporeality, has gone unheeded, and that this idea, which he calls heretical, has come back in force to become mainstream orthodoxy, who brazenly misquote the  Rambam himself, as justification for this ideology.

One final word: Rambam was famous for saying accept the truth from whomever it comes.  When discussing such matters, and one's entire life and perceived reward is at stake, it is very easy to claim that a list of gedolim said this, therefore they must be right.

Registries Don’t Keep Sex Offenders from Restricted Areas

Time Magazine   Laws requiring sex offenders to register with local authorities are meant to discourage them from moving into the neighborhoods, but the latest study shows they may not be having the desired deterrent effect.

The research provides new information on the contentious question of whether public sex offender registries and housing restrictions actually improve public safety.  Housing restrictions typically bar offenders from living near schools, daycare centers or other sites likely to have a high concentration of children who may become victims.  As of 2011,  nearly 750,000 registered sex offenders were listed in the U.S., whose names can be searched in state and federal registries. But the latest analysis shows that offenders change residences frequently and that over the course of a 30 month period, a third will move into areas where they are not legally allowed to live. [...]

Looking more closely at the offenders who move to restricted areas, however, 51% of those who registered only once and then failed to comply again lived in these regions, compared to 30% of those who registered faithfully.  That could suggest that those who are seeking to hide their activities, presumably in plain sight, are moving to these areas, possibly to find new victims.

Haredim slam TV exposé on sexual abuse in community

Times of London   London’s Haredi leadership has hit back at a television program claiming that the community covers up child sex abuse, saying the show “has done nothing to assist, and may have damaged, the chances of bringing abusers to justice.”

The program, “Britain’s Hidden Child Abuse,” aired on Channel 4 on Wednesday and alleged that rabbis in the Orthodox community forbid or discourage alleged victims of pedophilia from going to the secular authorities. It showed secretly filmed footage of two Haredi rabbis approached for advice by a former member of the community, who alleged that he had been sexually abused as a child. [...]

A spokesman for the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, an umbrella organization for Orthodox institutions in London, told The Times of Israel that the program’s credibility was undermined by its reliance on anonymous sources. These included a rabbi whose face was not shown, who claimed that a young family had been driven out of its community after reporting abuse to authorities, and two young men who claimed to have taken the law into their own hands by attacking alleged perpetrators after their complaints of abuse were ignored by the rabbis.

“Channel 4 chose to use an anonymous ‘rabbi,’ an unidentified group of thuggish vigilantes, a young man whose claims cannot be verified and two specific cases that Channel 4 knew full well to have been investigated thoroughly by the local authorities and dropped without action to imply that our community does not take its responsibilities seriously,” the spokesman said.

“Our community does not need Channel 4 to remind us of our duty and responsibility to protect our children. They are our future, and we do all we can to protect them from these unspeakable crimes.

R' Yoel Malik arrested for sexual abuse of yeshiva students

Wall Street Journal    A rabbi at a religious school in New York's ultra-orthodox Jewish community has been arrested on charges of sexually abusing students, a law enforcement official says.

The arrest of Yoel Malik, 33, of Brooklyn comes amid mounting pressure to report allegations of abuse within the insular, secretive community, the largest outside Israel, and barely a week after a respected religious counselor in the same sect was sentenced to 103 years in prison for sexually abusing a girl.

Both cases come from within the Satmar Hasidic sect, the official said.

Malik was taken into custody Wednesday after reports he may have brought two students to motels for sexual liaisons, said the official who was not authorized to speak publicly on the case and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. A third encounter was reported in a car. The official said the victims were all teenage boys, ages 14 to 16, and the encounters took place between March of last year and last week. [...]

Yeshiva teacher - Evan Zauder pleads guilty to sex abuse

NY Daily News   A former New Jersey teacher faces 27 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to possessing child pornography and having sex with a minor.

Evan Zauder, 27, has been held without bail since his arrest in May.

He was charged with possessing kiddie porn after the FBI found hundreds of images of underage boys engaged in sex acts on his home computer in Manhattan.

He was also charged with having a seven-month affair in 2011 with a 14-year-old New Jersey boy. Sources said the victim was not a student.

Who’s afraid of Hassidic Jews? Everyone!

Times of Israel  by Rabbi David Eliezrie

The ominous image of two Hassidim in a dark forbidding background appears in an advertisement asking for support for the American Jewish University. The liberal Jewish college sits astride the hills of the Sepulveda Pass dividing Los Angeles from the San Fernando Valley. In the ad’s foreground are the backs of two Hassidic Jews, their large round hats, peyos side curls and dark clothing. A headline in bold white letters across the page poses the question “Will They be the only Jews left in 100 Years?” Against a black background slicing across the bottom we read that the “American Jewish University is a center of ingenuity and vision, dedicated to Pluralism in the open society.” It will insure a future for a dynamic Judaism.

The subliminal message is more portentous. We are the bastion of progressive ideas against the menacing and rising number of “ultra-Orthodox.” It’s our innovation that will chart the course for the future. We stand ready to stem the black hatted fundamentalist tide. [....]

Britain's Hidden Orthodox Child Abuse - Channel 4 Video

London chareidim respond to program http://daattorah.blogspot.co.il/2013/02/haredim-slam-tv-expose-on-sexual-abuse.html

Channel 4   A victim of child sex abuse in one of Britain's religious communities goes undercover to expose the way his community has for decades been dealing with paedophilia.

In a year-long investigation, other victims of child abuse from this closed community express their anger about the lack of justice caused by their leaders' misguided approach to dealing with the issue.

In some cases those brave enough to complain to the police about their abusers have even been harassed, spat at and ostracised by other community members.

This Channel 4 Dispatches special report also reveals that an alleged child abuser was allowed to continue working with children, despite complaints from his victim.

And other victims, frustrated by their inability to bring child abusers to justice, tell Dispatches they've threatened and attacked those they believe to be paedophiles.

Chazon Ish: Shielded from knowledge of Holocaust?!

Rabbi Grylak (Mishpacha Magazine (Jan 21, 2013)) defends Chareidi exemption from the army because they are providing greater protection through their Torah learning. He tells the following unbelievable story to support his thesis.

 =========================

As I write, I recall a story I heard from talmidim of the Chazon Ish some forty-five years ago, when I was collecting material for the biography Pe’er HaDor: the Chazon Ish was irate over the fact that, in order to spare him pain, his talmidim and family hid the facts from him about what was happening to the Jews of Europe under the Nazi reign of terror. When he learned the true extent of the disaster he blamed them for not informing him. His brother-in-law, Rav Shmuel Greineman, quotes him in his book on the Chafetz Chaim as saying that had he known, “Men nit gelozt” (We wouldn’t have let it happen).

What exactly the Chazon Ish meant by this remark, I cannot presume to say. But at the least, it indicates the strength of the Jewish belief in what Torah study can effect in this world.

Note the following assertions 1) Chazon Ish did not know what was happening in Europe during the Holocaust. 2) He didn't know because he was shielded from information which was common knowledge by his family and students 3) Furthermore he was upset when he found out the truth - not because he was shielded - but because he apparently could have stopped the Holocaust had he been aware of it!

This is shows the power of Torah learning!?

R Manis Friedman's problematic views of sexual abuse

Audio that is missing from the beginning of the video

Secret Squads enforce modesty in Williamsburg

NY Times    The rules are spoken and unspoken, enforced by social pressure but also, in ways that some find increasingly disturbing, by the modesty committees. Their power is evident in the fact that of the half dozen women’s clothing stores along Lee Avenue, only one features mannequins, and those are relatively shapeless, fully clothed torsos.

The groups have long been a part of daily life in the ultra-Orthodox communities that dot Brooklyn and other corners of the Jewish world. But they sprang into public view with the trial of Nechemya Weberman, a prominent member of the Satmar Hasidim in Brooklyn, who last week was sentenced to 103 years in prison after being convicted of sexually abusing a young girl sent to him for counseling. [...]

The details were startling: a witness for Mr. Weberman’s defense, Baila Gluck, testified that masked men representing a modesty committee in the Hasidic village of Kiryas Joel, N.Y., 50 miles northwest of New York City, broke into her bedroom about seven years ago and confiscated her cellphone. 

The Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, who prosecuted the Weberman case, has now received allegations that members of a modesty committee forced their way into a home in the borough, confiscating an iPad and computer equipment deemed inappropriate for Orthodox children, officials say. Allegations have also surfaced that a modesty committee threatened to publicly shame a married man who was having an affair unless he paid the members money for what they described as therapy.[...]

“There are quite a few men, especially in Williamsburg, who consider themselves Gut’s polizei,” said Yosef Rapaport, a Hasidic journalist, using the words for “God’s police.”

“It’s somebody who is a busybody, and they’re quite a few of them — zealots who take it upon themselves and they just enforce. They’re considered crazy, but people don’t want to confront them.” 

Police intimidation against social activists

Haaretz Editorial Last summer's protests drew hundreds of thousands of people who filled the streets and exercised their basic right to protest social injustice. The demonstrators did not merely make do with criticizing the situation, but put forward ideas for change. Never before had a civil protest left such a deep impression on the reality of our lives. The possibility that these demonstrations may return in the coming weeks apparently seems threatening to the powers that be, which are preparing for them.

Summoning prominent activists in those protests to be questioned by police in an effort to ascertain if and how they will act in the coming weeks is an illegitimate act. The summonses given to the activists did not state the purpose of the questioning; as the police itself admits, it was not a proper investigation of suspected crimes that were committed in the past or might be committed in the future, but an effort "to better prepare for the summer months." 

This attempt to collect information about the protests is not innocent. As the activists questioned tell it, the police warned them a month ago against "stretching the boundaries" and made it clear that at whichever events might be planned, they would be the first to be arrested. It looks as if the police had hoped that "marking" the protest leaders and scaring them would put a damper on efforts to renew the protests. In a society in which one is permitted to demonstrate, at least for now, such threats are not acceptable.