ובני קורח לא מתו
Today I saw a comment on the Beit Shemesh Chat that shook me to the very core!
A lady from Beit Shemesh was sharing that she is recommending a school for High School girls that is based in Yerushalayim that caters to girls who were bullied! She is busing her daughter to Yerushalayim every single day so she would be in a "safe place."
Suddenly, I got an epiphany, a moment of sudden insight!"
The Gemarrah in Yevamos 62b, tells us that Rabbi Akiva
"had 12,000 pairs of students and all of them died in one period of time because they did not conduct themselves with respect towards one another"
"מפני שלא נהגו כבוד זה לזה " "because they didn't treat each other with respect"
Let that sink in!
They died! Why? Because "they didn't treat each other with respect."
Who were these students?
They were "Tanaim"!
They were the "gedoieli hador"; they were the ones who learned from the greatest Tanna ever, Rebbi Akiva!
They were the ones to give over the holy mesorah! and it was their rebbe, Rebbi Akiva that was the one who taught the famous dictum
ואהבת לרעך כמך זה כלל גדול בתורה
and though they had the greatest teacher, those words had absolutely no effect on them!
None! Zero! Nada!
I could never understand that, despite the many explanations that the commentaries give, it still begs the question: why did they have to die?
Did they kill someone? Did they rob someone? Why a death penalty??
I saw that even the Baalei Musser struggle with this!
The Chasam Sofer writes that the students lacked in one specific quality, and that is
"Loving Hashem's Creatures" .... Wow! What a powerful statement!
Question remains, why did they deserve death?
The Michtav Me'Eliyahu by Rav Dessler writes that whatever they did, they didn't deserve death, but at the same time, with this bad trait they weren't allowed to carry the mesorah further! If they had lived, they would have passed this trait to others, and Hashem wouldn't allow that!
Basically, it's not that they deserved death but they couldn't go on living either!
Back to my epiphany! I believe that students of Rebbe Akiva, bullied each other!! Yes! absolutely!
These great Tanaim bullied those whom they found not exactly like them! And that comes from, as the Chasam Sofer states from not "Loving Hashem's Creatures"
The latest WZO debate brought out the worst in people! And when I say people, I mean our Torah leaders!
Why can't a Torah leader state his opinion without degrading those who oppose his opinion?
Why must they "bully" the other side?
I noticed that those who were opposed to the vote, were writing nasty Kol Koras, while those who supported the vote were very respectful of the other side! Why was it necessary to lie and degrade those Gedoilim who urged to vote?? Why"
And this bashing and degrading was between Chareidim themselves!
I will bring you an example from my very own blog!
As you all know I come from a very Charedie Family!
It took me a while to notice that the extremist element of the Charedie community could not, and would not, tolerate anyone who came from their own community that had an opposing view!
Hence the battles between Satmar and Kloizenberg, Satmar vs Spinker, Satmar vs R' Moshe Feinstein, Satmar vs Satmar, Bobov vs Bobov, Viznitz Vs Visnetz, Ger vs Ger, Sadegre vs Sadagre, and I didn't even touch the Yeshivishe Communities who hate each other as well! One Charedie Gadol wrote a book where he states unequivocally that anyone who thinks differently than him is an "apikoras" and a heretic!
This is all between Charedim themselves!
There are antizionist guys that comment on my blog, that bash, ridicule and degrade in the most vile language other Charedie Gedoilim!
One particular guy, called the Zaken Hador R' Shmuel Kaminetzky.,. "Old Sam" and said that Rav Eliyashiv called him a "Rasha"
I don't know if this was true, but if it was, you have a Gadol like Rav Eliyashiv calling another Gadol a "Rasha!"
He further wrote that Rav Belsky was "evil" , and that the accepted Poisik Rav Asher Weiss was a "joke in the Torah Velt" !
This is a Charedie writing this about his own Charedie Gedoilim!
Well, you may say that this is just a couple of "nut jobs" but I can tell you that this is actually the Charedie thinking! I know because I follow social media and am on their chats!
Let me give you another example that happened just this evening in Shul!
I had some time between Mincha and Maariv as my Chavrusa was late, so I grabbed a sefer called
אורחות רבנו
which is about the minhagim of the Steipler and it is a 5 volume set.
In one of the chapters I was perusing, I saw that they kept referring (page קס"ו) to someone called "Unterman" ! I soon realized that they were referring to the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Harav Unterman, who was a huge Talmid Chachim and a Talmid of R' Shimon Shkop and was influenced by R' Shkop's unique halachic approach! This sefer didn't refer to Rav Unterman with a title like Rabbi, but just "Unterman!"
As I'm a glutten for punishment, I continued to skim through this volume and it didn't take long to see that they wrote that the Chazon Ish said that it is prohibited to read Rav Kalman Kahana's sefer since he, Rav Kahana was "נתקלקל" in other words "he went off" meaning the "derech" .
Rav Kalman Kahana was elected to the First Knesset as a member of the Agudat Yisrael Party! Rav Kahana was instrumental in taking down the third government when he disagreed with Ben-Gurion over the need to strengthen religious education! But that didn't stop the Chazon Ish from branding Rav Kahana for life as a נתקלקל, according to this book!
Again, I don't know if this story is in fact true, but if it is, you have one of the greatest Charedie Poiskim denigrating someone he didn't agree with!
On a page before (קס"ה), they totally decimate in the name of the Steipler, Harav Ovdia Yosef! They write that Harav Yosef
מעיז פניו בפיו כנגד שעורי החזו"א, ודרכו ללכת כנגד הרמ"א
"dared to go against the Chazon Ish's measurements, and against the Ramah"
Crazy! Insane!
Of course, Rav Yosef would not go with the Ramah as the Ramah was Ashkenaz and Rav Yoisef would naturally go with the mechaber who was a Sfardie!
Also, not one Poisik, be he Ashkanaz or Sfardirie goes with The Chazon Ish's measurements!
I am not going to go further into this story, you can read it yourself it's in the last volume!
So the Steipler because he disagreed with Harav Yosef, chastises Rav Yosef because he dared challenge the Chazon Ish, again, according to this book!
Why can't they all just state their opinion? Why must they degrade those who disagree?
Why can't they just write a sefer and discuss the greatness of the Chazon Ish and the greatness of the Steipler, why must they denigrate others to lift up the Steipler and the C"I?
I believe that all this constitutes "bullying!"
Charedim bully! Even their Torah leaders "bully" those who disagree with them!
It is interesting that if you read the Teshuvois of Harav Yosef be it "Yabia Omer, Chava Daas Yalkot Yosef, you will never find him ridiculing those who pasken differently than him. He brings down the Minchas Eluzer's psak with the greatest respect then writes why he cannot go with that psak.. all being respectful!
I believe that this is the pshat in מפני שלא נהגו כבוד זה לזה, It is not that they disagreed, but it was when they did disagree that they denigrated them!
And this is a great challenge, even 2,000 years later!
Going back to my introduction, how low have we sunk that they had to establish a school that won't tolerate "bullying" and establish a "safe place" for the girls!
The reason that children "bully" is because the parents do nothing!
And the reason that the parents do nothing is because they "bully" as well!
Yes, we are in the Sefira, a time to mourn, but it is a time to take a valuable lesson and learn from this tragedy, a tragedy that happened to the best, the cream of our Torah Scholars!
"Love Hashem's Creatures"
