24 Aug DO YOU EVER “SLAUGHTER” ANOTHER JEW?

No Gashes. There

is a fascinating

verse in this week’s

Torah portion,

Reah:  : You are children of the

Lord, your G-d. You shall neither cut

yourselves nor make any baldness between

your eyes, for the dead. (Deut. 14:1) The

custom of many pagans was to cut

themselves in demonstration of grief over

the death of a loved one. To vent their

agony, they would make incisions in their

flesh, pull out their hair, and flay their skin.

The Torah prohibits this behavior. There

must be limits to grief. This is the meaning

of the Hebrew word “sisgodedu,” to scrape

off the flesh. The Talmud, however, adds a

second meaning to this commandment:

-              –           :  ,

      . The Torah is saying: Do not splinter

yourself into separate groups. (“Sisgodedu,”

from the root word “agud” or “agudah,”

means groups.) This is a prohibition against

the Jewish people becoming divided.

Practically, this is a prohibition against one

Jewish court dividing into two and guiding

the community in a conflicting fashion,

creating division and conflict. One practical

example would be this. If a synagogue has a

certain tradition of how to pray, one may not

come and begin praying in a different

tradition without the consent of the

community. But there is something strange

here, and the question was first pointed out

by the 16th century Jewish sage and leader,

Rabbi Yehuda Leow (1512-1607), known

as the Maharal, chief Rabbi of Prague (who

one of the most influential Jewish

personalities of his time, and author of

major works on Jewish thought.) The

Talmud and the Midrash often present

various interpretations for one biblical term

or verse; but nowhere do we find two

interpretations that are completely

disconnected. On the simple level,

“sisgodedu” means scraping off your skin.

Now the Talmud tells us that it also means,

“don’t split up into separate groups.” How

do these two divergent instructions come

together in a single word? Why would the

Torah communicate such two disparate

ideas in one word-lacerating your body and

dividing a community? Or to put it more

poignantly and humorously, the sages, it

seems, by imposing this second

meaning are “violating” the very

injunction they are trying to convey.

They take a simple word in the verse

and they “splinter” its meaning to

connote divergent interpretations that

seem to lack any common streak? In

words of the Maharal: “Every man of

wisdom and understanding will be

amazed at the relationship of their

[the sages] words with the simple

meaning of the text, at a depth that is

truly awesome. Yet, the man who is a

stranger to this wisdom, will wonder

at their unlikely reading of the verse, their

words seeming implausible to him.” One

Organism Yet it is here that we can once

again gain insight into the depth of Torah

wisdom. The truth is, that the two

interpretations are not only not divergent,

they are actually one and the same. They

both represent the same truth-one on a

concrete, physical level; the other on a

deeper, spiritual level. The Torah prohibits

us from cutting our skin as a sign of

bereavement. Our bodies are sacred; our

organism is integrated, precious and holy;

we must never harm it. We must not

separate even a bit of skin from our flesh.

Even difficult moments of grief don’t allow

us to give up on our life and on the

sacredness and beauty of our bodies.

But that is exactly what we are doing

when we allow our people to become

splintered. The entire Jewish nation is

essentially one single organism. We

may number 15 million people, and

come from different walks of life,

profess extremely different opinions,

and behave in opposite ways, but we

are essentially like one “super

organism.” When I cut off a certain

Jew from my life, when I cut myself

off from a certain Jewish community, I

am in truth cutting off part of my own

flesh. When I cut my skin, I am

lacerating my body. When I cut you off

from me, I am lacerating my soul.

Because our souls are one. Only G-d I

once read the following powerful

story. In the late 18th century, in

Eastern Europe, there was a terrible

conflict between the Chassidim and

their opponents, the Misnagdim, who

suspected the Chassidim in heresy and

blasphemy. The chief opponent was

the Vilna Gaon, the famed Rabbi

Elijah (1720-1797), from the

Lithuanian city Vilnius, who issued a

ban (cherem) against Chassidim. He

excommunicated them from the

Jewish community. It was a terrible

division which continued for decades.

The Misnagdim came to one of the

greatest students of the Vilna Gaon,

Rabbi Refael Hakohen Katz, the Rabbi

of Hamburg and author of Toras

Yekusiel (1722-1803), and asked him

to sign the ban. He refused. They said:

“But your own Rebbe, the Vilna Gaon,

signed it, and your Rebbe is like an

angel of G-d!” This was his response: There

is a famous question on the story of the

Akeida, the binding of Isaac, in Genesis. G-d

instructs Abraham to bring up his son Isaac

as an offering. Abraham complies. At the

last moment, as he is about to slaughter

Isaac, The Torah states: “And a heavenly

angel of G-d called out to him, and said:

Abraham! Abraham!… And he said: ‘Do not

stretch out your hand against the lad, nor do

anything to him.” At the last moment, Isaac

is saved. There is something strange about

this story. The instruction to bring Isaac as

an offering came directly from G-d. G-d

Himself told Abraham to offer his son to

Him. Why did the reverse stop-order come

from an angel and not from G-d? The

answer, said Reb Refael, is this. If G-d

wants to tell you not to touch a Jewish child,

sending an angel will suffice. But if He

wants you to “slaughter” another Jew, an

angel can’t suffice! G-d Himself needs to

come and tell you to do it. If you are going to

“slaughter” another Jew, make sure you hear

it from G-d Himself. To let Isaac live, the

instruction could be communicated via an

angel. To let Isaac die, G-d needed to show

up Himself. “My Rebbe is an angel of G-d,”

Reb Refael said. “But I will not sign a ban

against another Jew,” even when an angel

tells me to do so. To “slaughter” a Jew I need

to hear it from G-d Himself. [The source of

the above story is Toras Yechiel by Rabbi

Schlezinger Parshas Vayeira. Chut

Hameshulah, a biographey of the Chasam

Sofer, page 27. In the latter the name of the

student of the Vilna Gain is given as Reb

Zalman of Valazhin, who was one of the

most beloved students of the Vilna Gaon.

There he also adds that when the Vilna

Gaon heard this response, he himself

abstained from any further action against the

Chassidim! It is also interesting to note, that

according to many sources, the famed

Chafetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan,

who dedicated his life to increasing Jewish

unity, and his works spread among all Jews,

was a grandson of Reb Refael of Hamburg.]

Be Careful Sometimes we get in to fights

with people over idealistic reasons. We

“slaughter” people-with our words or

actions-and we feel that we are acting on

behalf of an angel. We feel angelic about

our actions. Be wary, says the Torah! If

you are going to cut someone off from your

life, you want to hear it from G-d Himself. If

not, let it go.