The Greeks of yore did not altogether step down from the
stage of history; they only changed their masks and props.
Their treacherous goal has not yet evaporated and they
continue to bare their fangs and sharpen their claws. The
Greeks of yore did not fade out; they are still here, now, in
the secular State of Israel. In fact, the blue and white flag
is, in effect, their very banner.
The decrees which they sought to institute against Torah and
its adherents and to govern the lives of the people were felt
strongly ever since our last elections, though maybe now that
Shinui left the government things may change. Those who carry
on the ways of those Hellenists, reared their heads and shook
their fists. In the wake of their seizing strategic spots in
the government, they sought to lay a hand upon our sacred
institutions: the halls of Torah, the yeshivos, and to
contaminate the cruse of pure oil with their touch, via a
blow to our economic subsistence, an invasion of the
curriculum of education for the young flocks, and attempts of
coercion and subversion of the Bais Yaakov schooling.
Not only does the Torah world feel their rude and rough
touch. Their attempts do not skip over the branch of
rabbinical sovereignty of the State of Israel. This body has
remained little more than a figurehead, a last vestige of
Jewish identity in a totally secular country, and now, this,
too, is being threatened. Those who seek to effect the change
do not stop short of declaring, as of yore, "Write on the
horn of the ox that you have no portion and heritage in the
G-d of Israel."
In order to understand their nefarious methods and inherent
danger, one must go back and study the methods of ancient
Greece. In order to know the spiritual danger threatening our
skies, one must identify and expose the face of that Greek
treachery. What was Antiochus' historic design? How did he
outline his plan of action? And what, exactly, are his
followers attempting to emulate and incorporate?
In his work Ner Mitzva, the Maharal asks: In Al
Hanissim we say, "To make them forget Your Torah." This
seems to imply that Torah was strong and vibrant, rather than
weak, and that the Greeks wanted to make us forget it. From
where did they derive the power to tamper with the Torah?
What difference did it make to them, anyway?
The Maharal clarifies the source of this power of forgetting
according to the Gemora in Megilla 9b. "R'
Shimon ben Gamliel says: They did not allow them to write in
any language but Greek. Said R' Abahu in the name of R'
Yochonon: The halochoh goes according to R' Shimon ben
Gamliel. Said R' Abahu in the name of R' Yochonon: Why
precisely R' Shimon ben Gamliel? Because it is written,
`Hashem shall enlarge/beautify Yefet, and dwell in the tents
of Shem.' And what about Gomer and Mogog, who were also sons
of Yefet? Why did they permit use of the Greek language? Said
R' Chiya bar Abba: The reason it is stated thus, is to
signify that the language of the Greeks, which is more
beautiful than that of the rest of the sons of Yefet, shall
dwell in the tents of Shem, that is, among Jewry."
From here we can infer that the Greeks had somewhat of a
grasp of Torah through their love of language and poetry, and
through this weak link they succeeded in infiltrating and
then sabotaging the Torah and making Jewry become lax and
forget it.
The Greeks did not worship only materialism. This nation also
idolized beauty, art, culture, science, what they called the
`muses.' They were spiritual people of sorts, and therefore
sought to mold the people of those times according to their
ideas and preferences, in spite of their low moral level.
They believed in spiritual ideology, says the Maharal, and
through this feature were able to infiltrate and subvert
through their particular appeal.
But all their love of beauty was external and shallow. They
were not basically good and moral and so, could not touch the
core of Torah, either. They could not grasp its essence, nor
tamper or change it in any way. One who delves in the Torah
from within, in depth, in essence, through its deep values,
cannot help but become uplifted through it. They, however,
only saw the artistic side, the peripheral beauty of the
Torah, without embracing it with their souls.
According to the Greeks, Torah was just another branch of
science, another facet of knowledge, a science. Profound
— yes, intellectual — yes, but only something to
study, not to incorporate and live by.
The truth is that Torah is so much more: it is truth, it is
life, it is Torah!
The Greeks relegated it to just another subject to be studied
and appreciated superficially, and in their misguided
approach, they declared, "Write for you on the horn of the ox
that you have no portion in the G-d of Israel." When we are
able to understand the profundity of this declaration, we
will have exposed the distortion and their evil scheme will
be revealed.
The Greeks, who plotted to sever Jewry from its Torah, were
not opposed to Jews having an independent legislative system.
Nor were they against the Jews supporting a sovereign
judiciary body with courts and judges. They only demanded
that this system be subservient to a general judiciary system
and to the jurisdiction of the Greek judiciary body. If the
Jewish people was interested in maintaining its own network
of civil law, as any civilized society does in order to avoid
anarchy, that was fine with them, even if that system
differed from their own set of laws.
Under one condition: that it be a branch of learning unto
itself, but a judicial system and no more. Write for yourself
upon your legislative system, inscribe on the horn of the
Talmudic "ox that gored a cow," that you have no part and
parcel in the G-d of Israel. Inscribe upon your code of civil
law, on your laws of nezikin in a very blatant manner,
that this is merely a civil code, and not Torah! It is the
law of the land, and even if it be different from the Greek
laws governing private property and damages and the like, it
is merely for the sake of law and order, for governing
purposes, and not something to be regarded as sacrosanct.
Your law is not Divine; discount it as a G-d-given code of
laws.
However, Jewish halochoh, even regarding property and
damages, is not a civil judicial system. "Hashem stands in
the divine assembly, He judges among the judges." The judges
only carry out what has been ruled through the power of our
holy Torah. "Whoever judges a thoroughly true judgment
becomes a partner to Hashem in the act of Creation."
Therefore, the laws of nezikin, including that of the
`ox's horn,' are an integral part of the G-d of Israel. It is
a partnership, as it were, with Hashem.
The Jewish judicial system is Divine and has additional
purposes beyond that of establishing a viable society. In his
droshos (the 11th), the Ran, and the Abarbanel as
well, elaborate on this subject at length. According to them,
the laws of the Torah are not intended to "establish a
working political entity alone, but they have an independent
goal: to draw down upon our nation the Divine bounty. But
these are exalted concepts of very lofty meaning. One cannot
explain these things simply, especially to those who are on
the other side of the ever streaming river of life."
In essence, what disturbed the peace of the Greeks was our
attitude to the laws of the Torah as Divine "laws of Your
will." Being people of intellect and bowing to human logic,
they found it difficult to digest the subservience of a very
sage people to something beyond the human intellect, to
Divinity. It was not the laws, per se, that they
opposed, but "the laws of Your will — chukei
Retzonecho." The very fact that a judicial network is a
supernatural, a Divine thing — beyond the jurisdiction
of man — irked them. They demanded that the system be
answerable to their own `ministry of justice.' It made no
difference what those laws were, as long as they were the
product of human logic, humanly concocted and not Divinely
imposed and transmitted.
Is it necessary to be flexible in the laws of conversion? Use
your minds and find or create the necessary loopholes. Adapt
the laws, tailor them according to your needs and whims. Make
the laws suit your demands, and not vice versa. Be
enlightened, logical. Be flexible. No, you need not abolish
the Jewish code. As a code, it is fine. Just adapt it to your
particular needs, and change it if and when the need so
arises. Let your laws serve you and your needs, by all means
— but under Greek rule, that is, dictated by the Greek
philosophy of human logic being the ruling factor.
The Greeks were forced to forbid the study of Torah, because
the Torah is "the laws of Your will" and not simply a
codification of laws for the rule of society. They knew that
Torah scholars had, indeed, a portion in the G-d of Israel.
Therefore, Jews refused to inscribe the dictum of "No
portion," upon the horn of the "ox that gored a cow." What
determined their law was precisely the fact that it is
Divinely originated as opposed to laws formulated according
to human logic.
Jewry taught that if there is no food, let them subsist on a
crust dipped in salt. If life is threatened, let them flee to
the caves and study there at risk and sacrifice, contrary to
human common sense, for the laws of Hashem's will require the
suppression of one's intellect. One does what is required,
regardless of what common sense dictates. At risk and with
self-sacrifice.
*
Years passed yet the piercing Greek wind still blows. From
time to time, it succeeds in penetrating even through the
slats of our window shutters. Occasionally, it succeeds in
ripping off leaves from the ancient stalwart tree, dispirited
victims who could not withstand its force.
Now, more than ever, is the hour when throughout the hostile
world the cry should ring out, "Whoever is for Hashem, rally
unto me."
When scheming Hellenists roam the outside world, it is
necessary to erect a barrier lest anyone dare touch the
Torah. It is necessary to clarify repeatedly, "The Torah is
not a science. It is not another branch of knowledge; it is
Torah! Pursuing it is not a study like other sciences."
Whoever does not understand this contaminates Torah by his
touch, for it is a Greek touch, external, superficial. He
sees the shell and not the core. The outer peel and not the
inner essence.
Whoever does not understand this, has `caught cold' from the
cross current wind blowing forth from the bellows of the
latter day Hellenism. Torah is Torah, not another branch of
knowledge or science. Therefore, its study is not relegated
to talented people who can hope to go far in acquiring its
knowledge. Torah was not transmitted only to the clever and
gifted. The purpose of Torah study is not to produce teachers
and rabbis etc. according to the needs of the community,
because the study of Torah is not an instrument. Rather, it
is an end unto itself. Lishmoh. Torah for the sake of
studying Torah. No one has the right to be absolved of its
study.
If a person has an individual problem, he must present it to
a qualified authority and get a personalized ruling for his
particular situation. There may be dozens, hundreds and even
thousands or ten thousands who get a personal reprieve from
pursuing Torah study, but they will always be isolated
people, exceptions, and never a group with a blanket
`deferment.' The rule governing them all is to do the will of
Hashem, Your will. Total subservience to Torah, with no
questions asked. No ifs and buts, no other options weighed.
Any collective reprieve smacks of the spirit of Greece. This
is the thick darkness and obscurity symbolized by that
nation, as was predicted in the bris bein habesorim,
for they darkened the eyes of Israel with their decrees.
We must not allow the present day decrees to obscure our
vision and blind our scope. We must not let them contaminate
the pure oil and muddy up our golden clear oil.
Even if there be decrees, we are secure in the promise that
no one will succeed in touching the pure cruse of oil.
Whoever finds sanctuary within that `cruse' will be
impermeable to a foreign hand. How will he be protected? The
answer is not important because the very question is not
relevant.
The meaning of "chukei Retzonecho — the laws of
Your will," is to negate oneself totally. When we do what is
incumbent upon us, then Hashem will do His part and keep His
promise. Sounds illogical? That is precisely the principle
and logic behind "the laws of Your will." This is the root of
the difference between the round spectacles of the ivory hall
professors and the Torah eyeglasses of talmidei
chachomim. This is the difference between a Jewish
scholar and a scholarly Jew.
*
When lately we hear false notes in the fringes of our camp,
when there are reverberations to these notes, we must repeat
and reiterate the saying, even to our own selves: Torah is
Torah. It is not a branch of knowledge. We live according to
the Torah, through self-negation. Not for any pragmatic
reason, not for any ulterior motive, but solely because it is
the will of Hashem. Without making any reckoning,
calculations, prognosis and predictions, neither looking to
the right nor to the left, but marching blindly forward with
trust, prepared for self-sacrifice. When the spirit of Greece
seeks to strike at the sanctuary of Judaism, the halls of
Torah and of yeshivos, this is the time to secure ourselves
behind our fortifications.
We must make no allowances for defectors. Adhering to "the
laws of Your will" implies blind following, making no logical
deliberations. "The laws of Your will" denotes total
submission and self effacement. This is the will of Hashem!
Not to make cheshbonos, reckoning, logistics, mental
acrobatics. Certainly not to voice any doubts in public, for
this virtually hands over the sword to the enemy, the present
day Hellenists who are the anti-chareidi forces who seek to
contaminate the pure oil.
Any attempt to bow our heads because of the economic decrees
of the modern day Hellenists, any logic that causes us to
count, calculate, qualify qualitatively or decrease
quantitatively, is a victory for them, perhaps as a distant,
belated repayment for the unforgettable victory of the
Maccabees. If anyone supports such notions, they are
ambassadors of Greece of yore in Israel of today.
We must bear in mind:
A change in our weltanschauung, by as much as a
hairsbreadth, is a breach of the fortress. Thus, the
slightest veering in the walls of our opposition, can bring
to "they contaminated all of the oils." Torah true Jewry,
even as a minority, has been able to withstand all the
Hellenists. The world of Torah that survived, like the pure
cruse of oil, will not even give an ell to Greece or allow it
to get close enough to infiltrate, touch us, defile us.
Torah true Jewry will remain sealed with the stamp of the
Kohen Godol. Many years later, the voice of Matisyohu still
resounds and reverberates:
"Mi laShem eilai — Whoever is for Hashem, rally
unto me!"
