Halachic Ruling Through Clarification or Through Force?

THE DAILY CHIZZUK BY MOREINU HARAV ELIEZER BERLAND SHLIT”A -- IS HALACHA TRANSMITTED FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION THROUGH FORCE—OR THROUGH STUDY AND CLARIFICATION?

SUNDAY, 3 TAMMUZ 5785

[1]Zerach was the greatest Tzaddik – he shone like the sun, because Shaul asked from whom does David descend: From the seed of Zerach or from the seed of Peretz?

They answered him: “Don’t ask whether he’s from Zerach or Peretz.  Ask whether he’s even a Jew at all.  [It says,] ‘An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the congregation of Hashem; also their tenth generation shall not enter the congregation of Hashem, forever’” (Devarim 23:4).

No, it’s written “Ammoni” and not “Ammonit” (Yevamot 77a), “Moavi” and not “Moavit” [forbidding a male Ammonite or Moabite, and not a female].

They answered, “This is no excuse.”  [David’s mother, Nitzevet,] told them, “Say Mitzri and not Mitzrit, Edomi and not Edomit.”

Then Shmuel ben Yeter came.  Sometimes he was called Shmuel HaYisraeli, sometimes Shmuel ben Yeter.  He drew his sword.  The Gemara asks, “Now do we rule on halacha by the sword?”  Shmuel said that anyone who doesn’t accept this halacha – Ammoni and not Ammonit, Moavi and not Moavit – shall be struck with the sword.

So how can this be, ruling on halacha with swords?  Halacha is halacha – we don’t threaten with swords!  The main thing is to rule on the halacha.  A person needs to learn in order to derive at the proper halacha!  Learn halacha like the [2]tribe of Binyamin, who jumped into the water, because that was the halacha.

The work is to clarify the halacha, like King David, “Who will give me water to drink from the well of Beit Lechem” (II Shmuel, 23:15).  All the wells were in the hands of the Philistines – all the wells.  [3]Three mighty men went.  They had the authority of a Sanhedrin to rule the water kosher, but David didn’t want to drink the water.  David said, “Under no circumstance will I drink the water.  I’m with twenty men – we don’t say a halacha in the name of someone who sacrifices himself for the halacha.  Whoever sacrifices himself for a halacha, we don’t say the halacha in his name.

So now King David said, “Who will give me water to drink from the well of Beit Lechem?”  He was born in Beit Lechem Yehuda.

Shaul asked Yehonatan, “What are you doing to me?  Why are you sending him?”  Shaul wanted to kill him.  He asked Yehonatan, “What did he do for you?”

Because he killed the Philistine!  The Philistine – Goliath.  This was an innocent man.  He never did anything bad to anyone.  Why kill him?

David came to Goliath with a stick.  Goliath said to him, “Why are you coming to me with a stick?  Aren’t you ashamed?  Where’s your honor?  Where’s your manners?  Is it manners to come like this with a stick?  Come with a spear, with a lance.

It is written in “Etz Chaim” about the verse, “Moshe took the staff of God” (Shemot 4:20): “I have the staff of God in my hand,” but in the end they used a lance.  When Moshe died, they used a lance.  Yehoshua had a lance.  He gripped a lance, “Sun, stand still in Givon.”

“Sun, stand still in Givon” – it happened on a Tuesday.  On Tuesday, the third of Tammuz, we will stop the sun – “Sun, stand still in Givon.”

https://vimeo.com/1097240661?p=1s

[1] Peretz and Zerach were twins born to Tamar and Yehuda ben Yaakov.  Peretz pushed his way through and was born first, but Zerach extended his hand first.  The House of David is descended from Peretz.  When David came before Shaul after defeating Goliath, Shaul asked, “Who is this youth?  He said: If he’s from Peretz, he’s destined to rule, and if he’s from Zerach, he’s destined to be important.  HaKadosh Baruch Hu said to him: By your life, both this (kingship) and this (importance) belong to him.  This is to say that Shaul tried to understand if David comes from Petetz, from whom the kingship would emerge, or from Zerach, which would mean he would be important but not king.

[2] Gemara Sotah 37b: “When Israel stood at the sea… this one said, ‘I will go in first,’ and this one said, ‘I will go in first.’  The tribe of Binyamin jumped in and went into the sea first… and the leaders of Yehuda stoned them.  Therefore Binyamin merited to be the host for the Almighty” (the Temple was built in his portion).

[3] “And David had a craving and said, ‘Who will give me water to drink from the well of Beit Lechem at the gate?’  And three mighty men broke into the Philistine camp and drew water from the well of Beit Lechem… and he refused to drink it and poured it out unto Hashem, saying ‘Far be it from me to drink the blood of these men who risked their lives.’”