Monday, March 4, 2013
Half-baked religion worse than no religion
10:57 AM | 
Posted by
Rabbi Chaim Coffman |
By Rav Moshe Sternbuch
“Trepidation
has taken hold of me, because of the wicked who have forsaken [ozvei] Your
law” (Tehillim 119:53). The Vilna Gaon zt”l reads ozvei
as ozrei: we are consumed with trepidation when the wicked seek to assist
the Torah. Our erring brethren are currently claiming that the Torah is
wonderful and unique, and that it merely has to be amended somewhat to make it acceptable
to the whole nation. For example, we have to be flexible about the laws of
conversion and marriage, so as to take into account the large numbers of
halachik non-Jews, which were deliberately brought in from the former Soviet
Union. Let us accept everybody with open arms, they say, without the need for
them to undertake observance of mitzvos.
“The
proud have had me greatly in derision; yet I have not turned aside from your Torah.
I have remembered Your laws which are of old, O Hashem, and have comforted
myself” (Ibid 119:51-52). These people are deriding us for sticking to
the Torah only, but we do not turn aside one iota from it. This is not the
first time in our history that we face such challenges, but we find comfort in
the Torah itself. As we said last week, The
Torah is kept in the kodesh
hakodoshim as a reminder that we
cannot fathom its holiness, and any attempts to tamper with it are likely to
have dire consequences.
The Mizrachi (as they
used to be known) are now showing their true face. Already many decades ago Rav
Chaim Brisker zt”l saw through them. Once one of their rabbonim was supposed to talk in Brisk, but Rav Chaim was opposed to it. People
could not understand him. The person seemed to be learned and have fine middos, but Rav Chaim compared the divrei Torah uttered by this person to kosher food cooked in a treif pot.
Similarly,
in the early days of the State, his son, the Brisker Rov zt”l, was vehemently opposed to a United Religious Front between
the Aguda and the Mizrachi, even though other rabbonim praised the idea
as one that would be likely to lead to harmony between the religious factions.
They cloak their
warped outlook with a veneer of religiosity, but in reality they want to uproot
religion. Now that they are adopting an open anti-Torah platform and aligning
themselves with an extreme anti-Torah party, Rav Chaim’s foresight is evident
for all to see.
Our response to all
this is to beseech Hashem, who has presented us with this trial, that he will
save us in His great mercy, but we must also educate our students about the
essence of Torah. Rabbomim and roshei yeshiva must give the bochurim chizuk, and encourage them to pray properly, and
they should also emphasize how dear they are in the eyes of Hashem, how the
continued existence of the whole nation depends on them, and how vital it is that
Torah remains the predominant feature of our lives and not a fleeting one.
The Chazon Ish zt”l
already said that we are more afraid of the "candies" offered by
anti-Torah elements than by their decrees. Our duty is to remain steadfast in
the face of various temptations being offered to bochurim and avreichim
to lure them away from their learning. We must realize that nothing is
sweeter than Torah, and any "candies" may appear to be sweet, but
their end is bitter. In this period of parashas Zochor and Purim we must
counteract the forces of Amolek by reinforcing our emuno and strengthening
our hasmodo in learning.
May
we merit to welcome moshiach zidkeinu speedily and without suffering.
*****
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