The Difference Between a Tzadik and a Rasha
What's the difference between a Tzadik and a Rasha? A Rasha says bad things, specifically like the massacre at Mercaz Harav last week, happen because of:
"rebelling against the Shalosh Shevuos." ( 1. returning to the Holy Land by force, 2. rebelling against the Nations, and 3. delaying Moshiach by their sins.)The Rasha basically says, to boil this down, that these yeshiva bochurim, who were sitting and learning Torah, were killed because they had the wrong "Hashkafa" (a term, as I've mentioned before, I despise). I'm sorry, but I don't care how famous and supposedly great this Rasha, "rabbi" Don Segal, is. These words of hatred toward other Jews simply make him a Rasha. How dare ANYONE say another Jew died because of "bad Hashkafas" (so don't wonder WHY I hate the term, once you read the post to which I linked)?! Who the hell is this Rasha to decide these kedoshim died because they had philosophies that didn't agree with his own "Hashkafas?" Truly, this is a disgusting human being. He has acted as Ovadiah Yosef did in the past, stating the victims of the Holocaust died because they were reincarnations of evil people who deserved to die a horrific death. This attitude, no matter from whom, is truly despicable and anathema to all that is Torah and Judaism.
[The Rasha] continued by saying, "Only the Torah and Mitzvos Jews observe here provide protection." [The Rasha] also derided the belief that the Jewish State is part of the Torah belief in Geulah, saying that the attack was a sign from Heaven, and mentioning how many tears the Satmarer Rebbe [Reb Yoilish Teitelbaum] shed on what he considered unnecessary bloodshed. (Click.)
A Tzadik, on the other hand,
upon hearing the news, stopped seeing anyone and secluded himself in his room to daven and say Tehillim. Even though thousands of Chassidim had arrived from all over the world to participate in his Simcha (his grandson's Bar Mitzvah), the Rebbe stopped what he was doing and had to daven for those in need.That's what a Tzadik does. He cares that other Yidden have been hurt, regardless of their "Hashkafic" outlook. He expresses his pain, davens for those suffering, goes to the funerals of those murdered, and visits the injured and expresses the pain he feels to the families reeling from this tragedy. That's what a Tzadik does. And that's what the Belzer Rebbe, Rav Yissachar Dov, did.
On Friday he attended the levaya (funeral) of those who were killed.
On Sunday he personally went with his son to visit the wounded in the hospital.
The Belzer Rebbe is not a religious Zionist. He does not ascribe to the philosophical world view of Rav Kook. He does not agree with all of the hashkafos of Yeshiva Mercaz HaRav.
However, he is a caring and feeling Jew; and he knows that when one Jew is hurting, all Jews are hurting. He knows that when part of the body has been injured, the entire body must show its concern. He knows that ideological differences do not impact on concepts such as concern and compassion. He loves all Jews, irrespective of how they dress and if they are Belzer Chassidim or not. (And even though this last is from Cross [Loving] Currents, sometimes they DO have a pretty good article, so click anyway...)
And that's the difference between a Rasha who thinks himself a "gadol" or whose clueless students think him a "gadol," someone who simply goes yet again to prove that these Chareidi/Yeshivish nut cases simply are not Torah observant Jews, and a true Gadol b'Yisrael.
6 comments:
This is a nice post. There are always those people who blame the victim for the crime, and try to justify the crime, rather than simply mourning that such a tragedy took place.
Yes. And it's quite unfortunate that some "rabbi" decided why these kedoshim were murdered...
I mean, to blame the victim? It's like saying a woman deserved to be raped because she wasn't dressed appropriately as far as someone was concerned, and her mode of dress was an invitation to be raped and therefore the raper had every right to rape the woman! That's basically what this "rabbi" said. As far as HE was concerned, these bachurim were not true believers or true adherers to Torah, so therefore they deserved to be murdered and the murderer was perfectly justified in murdering these kids.
Just lovely. This is the rabbinic leadership of the Chareidi/Yeshivish world. Isn't that great?
I guess Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman was killed by the nazis because he too had bad hashkafos
He did NOT say that they were killed because of what they believed. Of course I disagree with his hashkafa, and the timing of the words were totally insensitive because of how they could be missunderstood, but he said that the bloodshed and suffering in israel is happening to everyone, including haredim and anti-zionists, because we, israel, have forced itself apon the arabs against gods will. The satement was said not with a tone of anger and blame at the victims, rather with pain at the suffering of the nation. It was insensitive.
His statements were more than insensitive. They were downright Rishus. He believes this, and that's his choice, but a lot more people believe, as the Rambam did, that the world would have to be eased into the Geulah, and they believe, as do I, that the state of Israel IS Raishis Tzmichas Geulasainu.
It's funny how the right wing adheres so dearly to the 13 Ikarrim of the Rambam, but not the rest of what he wrote...
Therefore, to say this happened because of certain hashkafas is wrong, is blaming the victim, and is Rishus. In contrast, look at what the Belzer Rebbe did and said. This is what a TRUE Gadol B'Yisrael does. He doesn't place blame or lash out at Hashkafas with which he does not agree. He expresses his sorrow, goes to the funerals and the families, davens for the victims.
And as someone who is supposed to be an example for his talmidim, if "rabbi" Segal were a true Gadol, that's what he would have done. At the very least, he'd have kept his mouth shut.
Even the Yated, by the way, decried what he said...
Post a Comment