Rav Hershel Schachter שליט"א on "Libi BaMizrach"

    I wish that I could say that the esteemed Rosh Yeshiva -- whom I am privileged to know a little bit, having been the lucky Rabbi of the shul that hosted a weekly shiur from him for many years -- ever read this blog, or even heard of it. 
    But when I read this Dvar Torah of his today, I wanted to place it here, in order to honor his Divrei Torah, and because he mentions the famous statement from where I took the name.
    For those who cannot follow the entire discussion, the bottom line is that despite the shrinking of the world given the advanced technology of transportation available today -- in which one can literally go from one end of the world to the other in less than 24 hours -- North America may be considered truly far away from Israel geographically (and spiritually).
    I will also note that I sometimes tell people that I when I started this blog living in Oregon, I truly felt that I was בסוף המערב (the end of the west), as anything west of there is the Far East!
    Without further ado . . .
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Libi Bamizrach Va'ani B'sof Maarav

The obligation to offer a korban Pesach begins at twelve noon on erev Pesach, and the korban must be offered in the Beis Hamikdash before shkia. One is considered to be "b'derech r'choka" if he is so far away from Yerushalayim on erev Pesach at noon that even if he were to walk non-stop at a reasonable pace he will still not arrive in Yerushalayim before the shkia[1]. He simply does not halachically relate to Yerushalayim; even if he could travel by horse or car and easily arrive in Yerushalayim before shkia, he is still considered b'derech r'choka. Furthermore, even if he joined with others and became a partner in someone else's korban Pesach, and he managed to arrive before the shkia, he still has not fulfilled the mitzvah[2]. Only one who is b'derech k'rova can become a partner in a korban Pesach and fulfill this mitzvah. All of those who are b'derech r'choka at noon on the fourteenth of Nissan are obligated to bring a korban Pesach sheini one month later, on the fourteenth of Iyar.

After the passing of the Nodah B'Yehuda a dispute developed amongst his close talmidim regarding the nature of this din. Why should derech r'choka be determined by the distance one can walk by foot to Yerushalayim? Was setting the requisite distance based on the pace of travel on foot built in to the very definition of the halacha of derech r'choka, and therefore how fast one could travel by other means was and is entirely irrelevant, or was travel only used as an example, since the average traveler in the days of the second Beis Ha'mikdash would travel by foot, but now that we have trains and cars and the average traveler would certainly use other means of travel, the distance of derech r'choka should be adjusted accordingly?[3]

This debate regarding korban Pesach in the late 1700s was unfortunately not relevant halacha l'maaseh since there was no Beis Ha'mikdash at the time and the korban Pesach was not being offered. The rabbonim said that when the third beis ha'mikdash will be built, techiyas ha'meisim will take place and we will be able to ask Moshe Rabbeinu this shaila.

There is, however, another halacha which is a function of this din which is relevant today. The Gemorah tells us that if someone dies and the family starts sitting shiva, and a relative who is unaware of the death shows up in the home of the aveilim before shiva is over, he picks up shiva from what they are up to and he terminates his aveilus with those who started earlier. The Gemorah[4] says, however, that this is only in cases where the relative in question came from a "makom karov". The rishonim borrow the definition of makom karov from the din of korban Pesach: if the relative was close enough to the beis ha'avel when shiva began that he would have been able to arrive within one day, his location is considered to be a makom karov. Regarding this din we cannot wait until techiyas ha'meisim and ask Moshe Rabbeinu - this halacha is relevant every day of the year even when there isn't a Beis Ha'mikdash! Later poskim ruled that since we have a rule in the Gemorah[5] that whenever there is any slight sofek in Hilchos Aveilus we go l'kula, we should be lenient and say that when the aveil was more than ten parso'os away from the beis ha'ovel but could arrive within one day if he traveled by train or by car, which is the normal way of traveling a distance today, he should end his shiva with the rest of the family.

Today the average person traveling a long distance would certainly travel by airplane, via which one can get from one side of the world to the other within one day. Should we therefore say that there is no place in the world that is called a makom rachok or a derech r'choka? Rav Moshe Feinstein was of the opinion that this cannot be. The Torah has dinim that apply only to one who is b'makom rachok and all aspects of the Torah are eternal. Rav Moshe suggested that of necessity we must limit this halacha and say that the person's location must at least be on the same continent as the beis ha'ovel in order to be considered a makom karov, and one does not halachically relate to a city on a different continent. It is for that reason that Rav Moshe felt that this din cannot apply connecting people in Eretz Yisroel and a beis ha'ovel in America.

Rav Yehuda Halevi lived in Europe when he declared, "Libi Bamizrach Va'ani B'sof Maarav", but those of us who live in America are on a different continent. As such, even if one living in America feels that his heart is really "Bamizrach", Eretz Yisroel can not be considered "his makom."

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[1] The Rambam differs on this definition. See Eretz Hatzvi p. 81.

[2] Pesachim 92b – shelo hurtza

[3] Sefer Chaim U'Beracha L'Mishmeres Shalom, entry entitled Gadol Habayis, paragraph 12

[4] Moed Kattan 21b, Tosafos s.v. Makom Karov

[5] Moed Kattan 18a, halacha l'hakeil b'aveilus

More divrei Torah from Rabbi Schachter

Israeli Elections, Religious Wars, and the Silent Majority

Sometimes you wonder what Hashem makes of all this.

In recent years, elections have become truly insane – both in Israel and in the United States.   The anger, vitriol, and malicious vilification by all sides of the other sides is staggering.  But, in at least one way, they did one thing more effciently in Israel.  In America, they are trying to undo an election for over two years.  Here it was undone in only five weeks!

After all the Sturm and Drang, the victory proclamations, the claimed vindication of Daas Torah by the Chareidi parties, the humiliating defeat of those who did not pass the threshold — we get to throw out that result and start over again.  Everyone has an opinion on who is to blame (most blaming Avigdor Liberman), and more importantly, what is likely to result.  Will the next election result in a strong majority coalition of at least 65 votes, or will be back at square one once again?

Here is what seems likely to this observer.

Yisrael Beiteinu, the party of Avigdor Liberman, was founded about twenty years ago primarily to represent the large group of Russian immigrants in Israel. Recently it has had to evolve as younger, more integrated Russians, are not as interested in such a sectarian party.  These days, its call to arms on the election posters was Yemin veChiloni.  (Right-wing, but Secular).  Liberman seeks to represent those who are politically and nationally conservative but want nothing to do with religion. Thus, it has become a militant secularist party on the Right, to match Meretz, the militant secularist party on the Left.  For the second time in half a year, Yisrael Beiteinu has forced new elections, this time by refusing to commit their five seats to the other sixty pledged to Netanyahu.

Liberman’s personal animus to Netanyahu was central to this refusal, as documented in a persuasive essay by Caroline Glick.  Of course, Liberman claimed that his stonewalling was an act of principle against the Chareidim.  Despite many incentives, he refused to budge one centimeter off his demand that there be a set quota for drafting Chareidim into the army.  (This despite experts who say that the whole issue – if judged purely by the requirements of the military – is moot; the army does not need any Chareidi soldiers.) The Chareidi parties were willing to compromise.  As Glick wrote:

The ostensible reason for his refusal to reach a coalition agreement is his insistence that Netanyahu pass a draft law that would require the ultra-Orthodox community to fill specific quotas of draftees annually. Liberman’s position made little sense on its merits. The ultra-Orthodox parties agreed, during the negotiations, to fill draft quotas. But they insisted that the quotas be determined annually by the government, rather than by law since the Israel Defense Force’s requirements change from year to year. By making the number of conscripts a function of a government decision, the number can be raised or lowered, depending on military requirements in a manner that would be impossible if the quotas are fixed in standing law.

Although the Chareidi parties represented sixteen seats while Liberman had only five, and the Chareidi parties were willing to compromise while he was not, much of the media blamed the Chareidim for being the ones unwilling to make a deal.

Battle lines between the militantly secular and the religious are being drawn.  I hate to contemplate the likely electioneering to come, with those seeking to blame all the Nation’s problems on the growing power of the religious, particularly of the Chareidim, but I fear that it will get quite ugly.

Statements out of the Chareidi parties assure the public that this was a good result; “so many people are angry at Liberman that he will not cross the electoral threshold.”  Halevai (If only) this would be true; so far, polls are leaning in the opposite direction. With Liberman now the new secularist hero for standing up to the Chareidim, he may get as many as nine seats.  Meretz, interestingly, looks also to go to five from four seats. While the Chareidi parties will probably stay at around the same strength, the two large parties may lose a few seats, although Likud will be the largest.  It will remain to be seen what the religious Zionist parties will do. Will Bennet and Feiglin attempt to run separately again, or will they join together to avoid wasting many votes as they did last time?  Will sanity or egos prevail? Anyone’s guess.

Will Netanyahu be able to cobble together a coalition this time? Hopefully, the Religious Zionist parties and Bennet and Feiglin will get their act together so that Netanyahu can form a coalition with them and the Chareidi parties without Liberman.  What will happen if yet another stalemate is reached?  A coalition between Blue and White, the Left, the Arabs and Liberman?  Perhaps – but then Liberman will have to sell his soul even more than he has already.  Or will we have a national unity government between the two large parties, who cannot stand each other?   Very unclear.

One thing, however, is clear.  Battle lines between the militantly secular and the religious are being drawn.  I hate to contemplate the likely electioneering to come, with those seeking to blame all the Nation’s problems on the growing power of the religious, particularly of the Chareidim, but I fear that it will get quite ugly.

Underlying all this is a growing societal struggle. 

On the one hand, the electoral power of the Chareidim is undeniably growing.  While mainly due to demographics, with an average of 7.1 children per Chareidi woman compared to 3.1 in the general population,  it is also due to the growing pull towards tradition and Judaism, with many of the old animosities falling.

On the other hand, those who are opposed to religion are increasingly feeling threatened, as the Chareidim move closer to a majority in the country.  With 58% of the over one million Chareidim under the age of 20, as compared with 30% of the rest of the community, projections are that Chareidim will comprise 16% of the total population by 2030 and constitute a third of all citizens and 40% of the Jewish population in 2065.  This is deeply troubling to those, like Liberman and his cohort, for whom the thought of the Chareidim having more electoral power is anathema.  They are determined to do whatever it takes to prevent the State from turning to a “Halachic State.”

All that is perhaps inevitable, but most unfortunate.  Although the extremists on all sides will make hurtful and damaging statements, the truth is that for the silent majority, many of the old animosities are lessening.  From the Chareidi side – despite the horrible actions by the Peleg Yerushalmi and others engaged in non-stop Chillul Hashem as they make religious Jews look like wild-eyed, hateful ingrates interested only in protecting their turf – things are different.  More Chareidim are entering the labor force, supporting themselves, participating in the many organizations of civic responsibility such as Zaka, Yad Sarah, Hatzola, and many others.  Moreover, indeed, more and more are serving in the Army.  The tone of the ads for Yahadus HaTorah this past election were notable for stressing positive messages to the Israeli public, the importance of Shabbat for everyone, and about striving for social fairness for all sectors.  This was no doubt helpful in their rise in the polls.

From the secular side, there are more and more people who – while not officially religious – are looking for a greater connection with Torah and our heritage.  There are many groups of “non-religious” Israelis throughout the country who regularly participate in Torah study and tefilla, and they are growing.  Two groups that I am involved with are very much encouraging this trend, and there are many others.  One is Ayelet HaShachar, who began shuls and religious services in secular kibbutzim and moshavim throughout the country, established a huge network of chavrutot who study together by phone on a regular basis, and have helped plant people like me — the only religious family in a completely secular Yishuv — to spread the light of Torah in quiet and pleasant ways.   Another is a fascinating group called “HaKipot HaShkufot” (the Transparent Kippot), a grassroots coalition of religious, formerly religious, not-yet religious, and non-religious-but-interested-in-tradition working together.  They are putting together a national Tikkun Leil Shavuot, inviting people of all kinds to come together and share their thoughts about a tradition or Jewish value topic, and honor Zman Matan Torateinu.  Another group (administered by my dear cousin Ayelet Kuptiev) is Keshet - a network of schools and programs in which religious and secular people come together to learn with and from each other.

As we stand now before Shavuot and Matan Torah, it behooves the religious public to remember that perhaps the most impressive feature of Am Yisrael at that time was that they camped together “as One Nation with One Heart.”  

The bottom line: while an ugly battle about the place of religion in Israel is likely between the loud voices and extremists for the next few months, we take solace in knowing that this is not the direction of the majority, on both sides. 

As we stand now before Shavuot and Matan Torah, it behooves the religious public to remember that perhaps the most impressive feature of Am Yisrael at that time was that they camped together “as One Nation with One Heart.”  Parshat Bamidbar, always read just before Shavuot, speaks of twelve separate tribes, each with its own flag, personality, and way, gathered around the portable Mount Sinai (as Rav Hirsch understands the Mishkan) for the greater good of unity.  In our world, the differences between the different segments of our Nation are in some ways greater than then, but we should still strive to see ourselves as One Nation with One Heart, seeking what unifies, rather than divides us.  May we get through this challenging time ahead with a minimum of damage, and may the religious community have the wisdom to answer the venom that is sure to come, with pleasant and peaceful words aimed at the silent majority eager to hear the beautiful voice of our heritage.

(An excerpted version of this article appears in this week's Jewish Press)