A tragedy has shaken the Charedi world—a young bochur either fell or jumped, and the community is stunned that “Torah didn’t protect him.” But this shock reveals a deeper problem: the belief, spoken or implied, that Torah study alone exempts one from basic safety precautions.
In some circles, there’s a mindset that safety rules are for goyim and chilonim. That Torah is a shield against all harm, even when common sense is ignored. But this belief isn’t just misguided—it’s a distortion of Torah itself.
In Maseches Sotah 21a, Rav Yosef and Rava debate the protective power of Torah and mitzvos.
Rav Yosef says Torah protects whether one is actively learning or not. But Rava challenges this, citing Doeg and Achitofel—Torah scholars who met tragic ends. Rava concludes:
Torah protects only when one is actively engaged in it. Otherwise, it may shield but not save.
So no, Torah is not a magical force field. It demands responsibility. It demands hishtadlus. It demands that we care for our bodies as vessels of holiness—not treat them as disposable in the name of faith.
This isn’t apikorsus. It’s halacha. It’s seichel. And it’s time we stopped using Torah as a slogan and started living it as a truth.
3 comments:
I know plenty of people who don’t follow rules. I can’t think of any who do dangerous things because they believe they have divine protection. They’re just stupid and think they are smarter than the signs. Mostly stupid teenagers. I understand that frum Jews should be better, but we definitely aren’t worse.
Anyone remember the Holocaust? The ones learning Torah were amongst the first to die. Torah study is a mitzvah, it's the centre of our national identity, but it doesn't protect you from any physical damage. Over 2000 years of proof of that.
2:18
Most of those in the building and on the crane were NOT teenagers, look carefully on the videos
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