Beyond Orthodox Conversion to Judaism

"He called Moshe and Hashem spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel and say to them 'When a man among you  brings an offering to Hashem from animals from the cattle from the flock shall you bring your offering'". (Leviticus 1:1-2)

Why is the word you here used in the plural? Rav Moshe Sternbuch Shlit'a in Ta'am V'Da'as explains that the you here represents all the Jewish people. That means that even though the Jewish people are spread out over the world, nonetheless when one Jew is in pain it is as if the entire nation feels it. After all, when someone G-d forbids go missing or someone is sick, the entire Jewish nation rallies around and learns for them, prays for them...

It works the other way as well unfortunately if G-d forbid a Jew transgresses or makes a desecration of G-d's name then the entire Jewish nation is at risk for repercussions! We see that by the story of Purim where Haman's anger is not just vetted out against Mordechai but rather the entire Jewish people Haman wants to eradicate! How careful we must be as G-d's ambassadors as we are viewed by the outside world. Even the slightest thing we may do could cause a desecration of G-d's name.

Here is a true story unfortunately that will illustrate this point. There was an orthodox Jew that sold merchandise which wasn't as advertised. A woman bought some merchandise and after washing it once, some of the designs came off. Upset she went back to where she bought it and complained to the owner. What transpired next is horrific!

The woman says you advertised this as something that it is not. How could you as an orthodox Jew mislead other people? The Jew answered, "who told you to put orthodox Jews on such a high pedestal?" Obviously this is the wrong answer to give someone especially if you are trying to bring them closer to Torah? (pun intended!)

What will this woman now think about orthodox Jews? Probably nothing very nice and I am sure she will be fuming at what has transpired. Therefore whenever we do something in public how careful we must be!! Many people will not look at this as an isolated incident but they could then condemn the entire group. Unfortunately many make the mistake and lump a whole group together based on a few people's actions.

Normally we call that racism but in this case the Jewish people are all intertwined. This is why this is so important. A Jewish leader whether they are a layman or a rabbi have to be even more careful in a public setting of how they act and carry themselves. We certainly don't want to lose our composure because then when others see that this "rabbi" did this, they will say "well if he can do it why can't I?" This is called a desecration of G-d's name which the Rambam tells us in the laws of repentance that a person has to repent sincerely for what they have done, go through Yom Kippur, suffer in this world and then die, and only after that do they get atonement.

Shabbat Shalom