Shabbos (139a)It was taught. R. Jose b. Elisha said: If you see a generation overwhelmed by many troubles, go forth and examine the judges of Israel, for all retribution that comes to the world comes only on account of the Judges of Israel, as it is said, Hear this, I pray you ye heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money; yet will they lean upon the Lord, etc.3 They are wicked, but they place their confidence in Him Who decreed, and the world came into existence.4 Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring three punishments upon them answering to the three sins which they cultivate,5 as it is said, Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.6 And the Holy One, blessed be He, will not cause His Divine presence to rest upon Israel until the wicked judges and officers cease out of Israel, for it is said, And I will turn my hand upon thee, and thoroughly purge away thy dross, and will take away all thy tin. And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning, etc.7
‘Ulla said: Jerusalem shall be redeemed only by righteousness,8 as it is written, Zion shall be redeemed with judgement, and her converts with righteousness.9
R. Papa said: When the haughty cease to exist [in Israel], the magi10 shall cease [among the Persians]. When the judges cease to exist [in Israel], the chiliarchi11 shall cease. ‘When the haughty cease to exist [in Israel], the magi shall cease [among the Persians]’; as it is written, And I will surely purge away thy haughty ones.12 When the judges cease to exist [in Israel], the chiliarchi shall cease, as it is written, The Lord hath taken away thy judgements, he hath cast out thine enemy.13
R. Melai14 said in the name of R. Eleazar son of R. Simeon: What is meant by the verse, The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers?15 ‘The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked’ refers to the judges who become a staff for their sheriffs;16 ‘the sceptre of the rulers’ refers to the scholars in the families of the judges.17 Mar Zutra said: This refers to the scholars who teach the laws of the public18 to ignorant judges.19
R. Melai14 said in the name of R. Eleazar son of R. Simeon: What is meant by the verse, The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers?15 ‘The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked’ refers to the judges who become a staff for their sheriffs;16 ‘the sceptre of the rulers’ refers to the scholars in the families of the judges.17 Mar Zutra said: This refers to the scholars who teach the laws of the public18 to ignorant judges.19
R. Eleazar b. Melai said in the name of Resh Lakish: What is meant by the verse, For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue muttereth wickedness?20 ‘For your hands are defiled with blood’: this refers to the judges: ‘and your fingers with iniquity’, to the judges’ scribes;21 ‘your lips have spoken lies’ to the advocates of the judges;22 ‘your tongue muttereth wickedness’ — to the litigants.
R. Papa said: When the haughty cease to exist [in Israel], the magi10 shall cease [among the Persians]. When the judges cease to exist [in Israel], the chiliarchi11 shall cease. ‘When the haughty cease to exist [in Israel], the magi shall cease [among the Persians]’; as it is written, And I will surely purge away thy haughty ones.12 When the judges cease to exist [in Israel], the chiliarchi shall cease, as it is written, The Lord hath taken away thy judgements, he hath cast out thine enemy.13
R. Melai14 said in the name of R. Eleazar son of R. Simeon: What is meant by the verse, The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers?15 ‘The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked’ refers to the judges who become a staff for their sheriffs;16 ‘the sceptre of the rulers’ refers to the scholars in the families of the judges.17 Mar Zutra said: This refers to the scholars who teach the laws of the public18 to ignorant judges.19
R. Melai14 said in the name of R. Eleazar son of R. Simeon: What is meant by the verse, The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers?15 ‘The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked’ refers to the judges who become a staff for their sheriffs;16 ‘the sceptre of the rulers’ refers to the scholars in the families of the judges.17 Mar Zutra said: This refers to the scholars who teach the laws of the public18 to ignorant judges.19
R. Eleazar b. Melai said in the name of Resh Lakish: What is meant by the verse, For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue muttereth wickedness?20 ‘For your hands are defiled with blood’: this refers to the judges: ‘and your fingers with iniquity’, to the judges’ scribes;21 ‘your lips have spoken lies’ to the advocates of the judges;22 ‘your tongue muttereth wickedness’ — to the litigants.
Torah thought on דברים
ReplyDelete“Up! Set out across the wadi Arnon! See, I give into your power Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin the occupation: engage him in battle. This day I begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples everywhere under heaven, so that they shall tremble and quake because of you whenever they hear you mentioned. Then I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to King Sihon of Heshbon with an offer of peace, as follows, Let me pass through your country. I will keep strictly to the highway, turning off neither to the right nor to the left. What food I eat you will supply for money, and what water I drink you will furnish for money; just let me pass through [lit. with my feet]d—as the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir did for me, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar—that I may cross the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is giving us. But King Sihon of Heshbon refused to let us pass through, because the Lord had stiffened
his will and hardened his heart in order to deliver him into your power—as is now the case. And the Lord said to me: See, I begin by placing Sihon and his land at your disposal. Begin the occupation; take possession of his land. Sihon with all his men took the field against us at Jahaz, and the Lord our God delivered him to us and we defeated him and his sons and all his men. At that time we captured all his towns, and we doomed [i.e., placed under herem, which meant the annihilation of the population] every town—men, women, and children—leaving no survivor. We retained as booty only the cattle and the spoil of the cities that we captured. From Aroer on the edge of the Arnon valley, including the town והעיר in the valley itself, to Gilead, not a city was too mighty for us; the Lord our God delivered everything to us.”(Deuteronomy 2:24-36).
Looks contradictory: God says to Moses: See, I give into your power Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin the occupation: engage him in battle.
What does Moses do first? Then I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to King Sihon of Heshbon with an offer of peace, as follows, Let me pass through your country.
No contradiction. Moses knew well the psychology of Sihon and his people. Moses sent an offer of peace---they view peace offers as a statement of weakness. This encouraged them to go to war thinking see the Jews are scared to fight and will run away.
“A song of ascents. In my distress I called to the Lord and He answered me. Lord, save me from treacherous lips, from a deceitful tongue! What can you profit, what can you gain, O deceitful tongue? A warrior’s sharp arrows, with hot coals of broom-wood. Woe is me, that I live with Meshech, that I dwell among the clans of Kedar. Too long have I dwelt with those who hate peace. I am all peace; but when I speak, they are for war.” (Psalms 120)
Sihon and his people are like the progressive Left “treacherous lips, from a deceitful tongue!” Preach black lives matter, sounds holy, but act to riot and to attack black businesses, property and people who don’t agree with them.
דברים ב' כ"ו
וָאֶשְׁלַח מַלְאָכִים מִמִּדְבַּר קְדֵמוֹת אֶל סִיחוֹן מֶלֶךְ חֶשְׁבּוֹן דִּבְרֵי שָׁלוֹם לֵאמֹר:
רש"י
ממדבר קדמות - אף על פי שלא צוני המקום לקרא לסיחון לשלום, למדתי ממדבר סיני מן התורה שקדמה לעולם. כשבא הקדוש ברוך הוא ליתנה לישראל חזר אותה על עשו וישמעאל, וגלוי לפניו שלא יקבלוה ואף על פי כן פתח להם בשלום, אף אני קדמתי את סיחון בדברי שלום.
How does this help Orthodoxy's image, since we have suffered tremendously for the past 2000 years?
ReplyDeleteThis is what made Chazal so great and gave them their moral authority. As opposed to today's leaders who shout "How dare you question 'Daas Torah'?", they were the first to wonder "Are we possibly the cause of the problems today?" That humility is in short supply nowadays.
ReplyDelete