‫ב”ה‬

‫פרשת מקץ תשס”ח‬ ‫שיחות רב עוזר‬

Insights into Torah and Halacha from Rav Ozer Glickman ‫שליט”א‬
‫ר”מ בישיבת רבנו יצחק אלחנן‬
Weeping in the Playtime of Others
:‫ואת אחיכם קחו וקומו שובו אל האיש‬
Despite the pleas of his eldest son ‫ראובן‬, ‫ יעקב אבינו‬refuses to let his youngest son ‫ בנימן‬join his brothers on a mission
of mercy to ‫ארץ מצרים‬. Not even ‫ שמעון‬languishing in captivity can convince him. And then a plea from ‫ יהודה‬and ‫ יעקב אבינו‬has
a sudden change of heart. The ‫ בן תורה‬who listens ‫ באימה וביראה‬to ‫ קריאת התורה‬will perceive an abrupt change in tone. What
prompted this reversal?
In the ‫מרדש הגדול‬, ‫ חז”ל‬provide a story to explain our father ‫’יעקב‬s behavior. Two pious Jews sail the ocean on a sacred
mission for a ‫דבר מצוה‬. They find themselves in the midst of a ‫( נחשול‬tsunami ) that threatens to capsize their ship and toss
them into the violent sea. One cries out to the other: ‫( לית ביש מן דא‬There is nothing worse than this). The other shouts to his
companion over the roar of the ocean: ‫( ואית ביש רב מן דא‬There is something much worse than this). The first Jew is astonished
by the suggestion: ?‫( אנו על שערי מיתה ואית לך ביש מן הדא‬We stand in the clutches of death and you see something worse than
this?) Yes I do, he says but does not volunteer an answer. Again, his friend is forced to ask: ?‫ואיזה זה‬
What is worse than facing one’s own imminent demise? His friend tells him and we recoil in shock:
‫זה יום שבנו אומר לו תן לי פת ואין לו מה יתן לו‬
It is the day that one’s child asks for bread and there is nothing to give him.
The friend continues. The sudden shift only came when there was no more bread to give the children.
We can find the ‫טעמא דדרשא‬, I think, in a careful reading of the words of ‫יהודה‬:
:‫ויאמר יהודה אל ישראל אביו שלחה הנער אתי ונקומה ונלכה ונחיה ולא נמות גם אנחנו גם ואתה גם טפנו‬
It is not the fate of the brothers that moves him to risk his precious ‫ בנימן‬and it issurely not his own fate. It is his inability to face
the children without bread for them to eat that moves him to risk his son.
Children sensitize us to the plight of all unfortunates. As we learn in ‫ירושלמי סנהדרין‬:
‫וכל מי שלא ראה לו בנים כשר לדון דיני ממונות ולא דיני נפשות‬
Until one has children, one may not have learned to view the entire world as children- everyone is someone’s child. That is the
nature of the human condition. One may not have the requisite empathy, not for the victim and not for the accused, without
having experienced the ultimate vulnerability that children give us. As the ‫ מרדש הגדול‬tells us, ‫ יעקב אבינו‬was resolute until he
faced an empty store and hungry children.
‫רבותי‬, there are hungry children all over the world. If we are asked for our support for hunger or other misfortunes, we
are without a doubt sympathetic. To be moved to alter our everyday existences, to pass up commitments, that is another matter
entirely.
A few weeks ago, I read in the Jewish Week about the efforts of our distinguished rebbe, ‫מורנו הרב הגאון שכטר שליט”א‬,
whose life is ‫כולו תורה‬, on behalf of ‫נשים עגונות שבישראל‬. I approached the ‫ רב‬at a ‫ חתונה‬of one of our ‫ אברכים‬in shame that I was
doing nothing to help these beleaguered women. The ‫ רב‬promised to let me know when I could help and a few days later one
of my own ‫ תלמידים‬relayed a message from our rebbe of an upcoming demonstration.
The next day I spoke with Mr. Josh Ross of GetORA, an organization devoted to assisting ‫ בנות ישראל‬whose husbands
exploit our holy Torah in order to extort, punish, and pressure their wives. Last weekend, I spent ‫ שבת‬in Minneapolis where I had
the opportunity to speak with local ‫ רבנים‬struggling with this difficult issue. I even had the privilege of offering ‫דברי חיזוק עידוד‬
to a remarkable woman whose faith in God and His Torah is unshaken by the precarious position in which she finds herself and
her children.
To all the ‫ רבנים‬both ‫ חברים‬and ‫ תלמדים‬of mine, I ask you to join our rebbe when the call is issued to stand up for the
integrity of the Torah, ‫בית יעקב‬, and the purity of our own ‫ נשמות‬in a demonstration against those who enable Jewish men
to sidestep their responsibilities and prolong the suffering of ‫ נשים עגונות‬in our midst. If our rebbe ‫ שליט”א‬can tear himself
away from ‫לימוד התורה‬, can’t we as well? Would we stand by and force this ‫ גדול‬to stand alone, to suffer the verbal abuse and
intimidation these ‫ רשעים‬seek to heap upon him just because we haven’t seen the faces of the children?
For anyone who ever bemoaned the lack of rabbinic will to find a halachic way, why not take yourself to Brooklyn and
stand alongside our rebbe for the sake of our people and our Torah?
‫שבת שלום‬
These sichos are published by students and admirers of Rav Ozer Glickman shlit”a. We may be reached at ravglickmanshiur@gmail.com.

PLEASE JOIN RAV SCHACHTER ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2007 AT 9:45

AM AT 534 EAST 4th STREET IN BROOKLYN TO PROTEST THE ACTIONS
OF R’ SHLOMO BLUMENKRANTZ. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.
GETORA.COM