Open Letter to Errant Rabbis
In this
unsettling time of year in which we mourn the absence of the Beis Hamikdash and
yearn for its rebuilding, let's consider our sages' ominous words in the Talmud
(Shabbos 119b):
אמר
רב המנונא לא חרבה ירושלים אלא בשביל שביטלו בה תינוקות של בית רבן שנאמר "שפוך
על עולל בחוץ" וגו׳ מה טעם "שפוך"? משום ד'עולל בחוץ'
"Rav
Hamnuna said: Jerusalem was destroyed only because schoolchildren there were
interrupted from studying Torah, as it is stated: '[And I am filled with the
wrath of God, I cannot contain it], pour it onto the children in the street...'
(Jeremiah 6:11). Rav Hamnuna explains: What is the reason that the wrath is
poured? It is because 'children are outside in the streets' and are not
studying Torah."
Nearly 1,950
years later, Jewish children are yet again 'outside on the streets,' being
barred from attending school, prevented from learning Torah.
These
innocent children are the unfortunate victims of the wrath of a frenzied,
mob-mentality that has been insidiously indoctrinated, engineered, and fomented
by overreaching government and media, under the disproportionate influence of
the pharmaceutical industry and the mainstream medical establishment that it
funds.
Sadly, many
uneducated rabbis, educators and lay leaders have become willing participants
to this grave injustice and blatant violation of halacha.
To these
errant rabbis and leaders, I submit the following word to the wise:
Your
hypocrisy is appalling. Do not claim to mourn the Temple when the very reason
it was destroyed is happening again in your own community while you sit by
silently and complacently, and perhaps even condone or endorse this travesty.
Or even
worse, perhaps you "spewed wrath" yourself and abused your authority
in attempt to strong-arm Jewish parents into vaccinating their child against
their own personal beliefs or medical concerns. Perhaps you wrathfully accused
them of being rodfim and irresponsibly endangering their child or the
children of others.
[While you
are entitled to your own opinion, you are by no means a medical expert, nor is
it your jurisdiction to enforce medical opinions of experts, even if it’s a
majority opinion. Your personal opinion is not halachically binding on them,
and even if it were, you have absolutely no halachic grounds for banning their
child from school as a punishment for not complying with state-required vaccine
schedule that includes immunization for Hepatitis B, Tetanus, and other
diseases for which the child’s lack of immunity poses no immediate danger to anyone.
Your ill-advised zeal to coerce Jewish parents into compliance is a grave abuse
of your rabbinical authority.]
To you, I
say: enough of your wrath! You've caused a churban. Now go fix it.
Until every
single Jewish child in your community is attending a Jewish school, your kinot
are meaningless lip service.
Instead of
lamenting our millennia-long exile, go lament the unprecedented exile and banishment
of Jewish children from yeshivos and schools in your community that you
caused (or were party to).
Do not hide
behind the specious excuse of "dina d'malchusa." That excuse existed
at the time of the Churban too, but it is irrelevant.
As the
leader in your community, you are responsible that every Jewish child
learns Torah. כל עיר
שאין בה תינוקות של בית רבן מחריבין אותה ומחרימין אותה. Any rabbi or leader who sits by idly (while Tinokos shel beis
Rabban are thrown out into the street) deserve to be excommunicated.
Before you
claim to care about the churban beis hamikdash, START CARING about the CHURBAN
in YOUR community. Get those children back into school. Resist unjust government
laws that order you to throw innocent "children out into the street."
Stand up to
the destructive wrath that has been unleashed in your community.
As a rabbi
or leader, YOU are responsible.
Yes, I know
there is societal and financial pressure, but as Harry Truman famously
observed, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."
If you can't
take the pressure of leadership and are too afraid to stand up to govt and/or
influential community members, then RESIGN and let someone more competent take
your place. If you are unfit to lead, then stop leading.
Meanwhile,
Jewish children are on the street. עולל בחוץ.
Can we
afford to let this happen again?
Haven't we
been through enough 'wrath'?
When will
start to see some real Jewish leadership?
עד מתי? Until when?
May these days be transformed from days of sadness to days of joy and celebration.
5 comments:
כל הכבוד
Yasher Koach!
Thank you for writing such a letter
Rabbi Green,
I commend you for your bravery and for you being the voice for all children and parents! May our Jewish leaders wake up and understand what they are doing is wrong on all levels. Thank you! May HaShem continue to bless you and your family!
Thank you you are making a difference!
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