04 Jan THE DANGER OF BEING OVERLY INCLUSIVE

The parsha
tells us (Shemos
12:38) that when
Bnai Yisroel left
Mitzrayim a tremendous group
of converts left
with them. The
Midrash explains
that this was Moshe Rabbeinu’s original idea;
Hakodosh Boruch Hu did not instruct him
to gather these geirim. Following the cheit
ha’eigel (Shemos 32:7) Hashem tells Moshe
Rabbeinu to go down from Har Sinai because
“your nation” has sinned. Rashi (ibid) quotes
from the Midrash that Hashem’s choice of
words – “your nation” – alludes to the eiruv
rav (the aforementioned group of converts)
since Hashem would not refer to the Jewish
people as “your” nation but rather as “my”
nation. Apparently it was Moshe Rabbeinu’s
idea to accept all these converts.
Moshe Rabbeinu was told in advance (Shemos 3:12) that yetzias Mitzrayim is going to
lead up to ma’amad Har Sinai, and apparently
he felt that it would be much more honorable
(“b’rov am hadras Melech”) if there would
be throngs of people present at Har Sinai for
the gilui Shechina. His decision turned out to
be detrimental to the Jewish people because
this group – the eiruv rav – were the ones who
instigated the cheit ha’eigel as well as other
troublesome incidents during the forty years
of travelling in the midbar.
The institution of geirus was not originated
by Moshe Rabbbeinu. Already when Hashem
chose Avrohom Avinu to be the founder of
a new nation He notified him that members
of a different race would be able to convert
and join the Jewish people (see commentary
of the Rashbam to Breishis chapter 12:2-3).
Indeed, the Torah tells us that when Avrohom
Avinu moved to Eretz Yisroel he brought
with him many converts (see Breishis 5:12).
Rashi quotes the tradition from the Midrash
that Avrohom Avinu was active in converting
men and Sara Imeinu was active in converting women.
Even though the halacha of geirus was
known from the very beginnings of the Jewish people, it was not right for Moshe Rabbeinu to make the decision to accept the eiruv
rav without consulting Hashem first. Very
often a halacha appears “on the books” and
is explicit in the Shulchan Aruch without any
dispute but it is still a mistake to make a major
innovation in Jewish observance based on any
halacha without consulting gedolei Torah. A
very sad example of this is well known: at the
beginning of the reform movement in Germany, a group of well-meaning rabbis felt that
since the masses did not understand Hebrew it
would be beneficial to have the tzibbur daven
in German. The Shulchan Aruch does in fact
quote from the Gemorah that the tefilla which
is offered by the tzibbur may be recited in the
vernacular. The gedolei Torah of that generation were not consulted and were all opposed
to this new innovation for various reasons,
and we know what terrible results came about
because of that innovation.
Moshe Rabbeinu’s idea that having a
much greater crowd present at Har Sinai
would enhance Kovod ha’Shechina was apparently not so compelling. True, we have a
principle that “b’rov am hadras Melech”, but
on the other hand being overly inclusive runs
the risk of lowering the level of religious intensity. The nevi’im tell us that l’osid lovoh,
there will be a fulfillment of the theme of
malchiyos, i.e. that all of mankind will recognize Hashem, but we are not yet living in
the time of l’osid l’ovoi. The novi Yeshaya
said (54) that the day will come that the barren woman will give birth to many children
and will be rejoicing. This is a reference to
the fact that the Jewish people will return to
Eretz Yisroel and will become very great in
numbers. The Gemorah (Berachos 10a) tells
us that on one occasion an apikores confronted Bruria, the wife of R’ Meir, regarding the meaning of that posuk. The apikores
understood the posuk to mean that the barren woman (the Jewish people) rejoices because she has no children, and therefore the
apikores challenged that this does not make
any sense – why should a barren woman rejoice over the fact that she has no children?
Bruria responded, accepting this additional
level of interpretation of the apikores (that the
barren woman will rejoice over the fact that
she has no children), by explaining that the
Jewish people rejoice in the fact that they are
still small in number. If we would be much
greater in numbers this would certainly lower
the level of the religious observance of the
masses. (This is, in brief, a famous drosha delivered by Rav Soloveitchik on the gemorrah
in Berachos about “roni a’kora”.)
We were told in advance by the nevi’im
that over the course of the years of galus
many Jews will assimilate and be lost to our
nation. We try to do whatever we can in the
area of kiruv to keep all Jews within the Orthodox fold; but we don’t fall to pieces over
this loss of numbers.
Many in our generation make the same
mistake that Moshe Rabbeinu made and think
that it is important to have large numbers of
Jews, and therefore try to be lenient and water
down the mitzvos a bit so observance should
be more appealing to the masses. Moshe
Rabbeinu was told by Hashem after the chet
ha’eigel that this attitude is improper.