Author: Ari Shvat

When the Sanhedrin is re-established, would its authority extend to Israel’s civil law, or only religious matters?

Q. Will Israeli civil law be subject to the Sanhedrin when it is re-established or would the Sanhedrin only have jurisdiction over religious law?

In the end, civil law will be decided by the King/national leadership, together with the Sanhedrin, because there is much overlapping and cooperation needed between the 2 jurisdictions. On the way to that final setting, there may very well be various stages where little by little, Am Yisrael gets used to having a Sanhedrin, and the national leadership will learn to consult & work together with them, with mutual trust and respect. It’s hard to know ahead of time, what those gradual stages will be and how long they will take, but to a large extent it depends on us (not just the religious, but all of Israel), and at what pace we want to advance.

Seeing calls online to fund meals for soldiers in Gaza – is supporting that actually a mitzvah, and which one?

Q. Kavod HaRav: i saw people posting links to sites to feed IDF in Gaza. Just curious, is that a mitzvah to support? If so, what mitzvah would it be?

A. Of course it’s a mitzva of chessed-kindness, and loving your neighbor as yourself. The army does provide food, and on Shabbat and Yom Tov festive food, but it’s usually not all that good, and I can tell you from experience, when you’re in the army with very little sleep, food, shelter, and especially when you’re risking your life for the Jewish Nation, it definitely makes you feel good to receive some kind of minimal thanks or token of appreciation. Put yourself in their shoes and you can easily understand and sympathize with loving your fellow Jew as you would like them to relate to you! In addition, it is a Milchemet Mitzvah to fight to defend Am Yisrael (Rambam hil. Melachim 5, 1) and an additional one to fight and protect the Land of Israel (Bamidbar 33, 53 and Ramban there and Rambam, ibid), so accordingly the minimal role of helping feed the soldiers is the least one can do to aid the war effort, if he’s not trained to serve. May we have good news of quiet and Shalom!

An observation on why aggression toward Israel is treated as acceptable, even religiously sanctioned, in many parts of the Arab world.

Every objective person in the world knows that unfortunately, the Arabs in the Middle East generally see violence and aggression as legitimate and even a religious obligation which they regularly shift into high gear during their holiday season of Ramadan. The democratic State of Israel is totally transparent in her attempt to defend her innocent civilians, and unfortunately world news coverage have often confused the aggressor and the victim. Yes, it’s difficult for objective people to imagine why the weaker Arabs always start up with the stronger Israel, but it clearly comes from a warped Jihadist religion which overcomes their logic and sees one who dies fighting against “infidels” (including Christians, as in the Twin Tower bombings) as one who “wins” in the world-to-come, so even if they lose, they think they win. I suggest you watch a more objective and less anti-Semitic news coverage, and pray that the violent Moslems will quickly mature and join the rest of mankind in our striving for peace.

I am a Christian and I would like to celebrate Passover next month. However, I live with my parents and they will not allow me to remove all leavened food from our house. Can I still celebrate Passover with leavened food in my house? I’m eagerly awaiting your response. Sincerely,
Brittany

As a non-Jew, there is no obligation whatsoever to remove the leavened food from your or your parents’ home. To the contrary, one should be very tolerant and not force his beliefs on others, how much more so, his parents, where it can lead to family strife, from which the Bible clearly warns. Gentiles should focus on observing the 7 Noachide commandments, and that’s enough to have a good life and go to Heaven.

My mother comes from a long line of Eastern European/Russian Jews (and at least one Cohen). Her parents however were non-observant. She married a non-Jew and converted to Espiscopalianism. As I understand it, I then am considered Jewish since she was (even though I am not religious.) Is that right? I then married a non-Jew, and we did not raise our kids in any religion. What is the status of our children – simply “of Jewish descent”? (I am male)

One’s Judaism is determined by the mother and there’s no such thing as converting “out” of Judaism. Therefore, if your mother was born to a Jewish mother, than she was Jewish, and accordingly, you are just as Jewish as I am (regardless of whether one is religious or not, for Judaism is also a nationality, not just a religion). On the other hand, being that you are male and your wife isn’t Jewish, your children are not Jewish at all, and as far as Judaism is concerned, there’s no significance or standing to someone who just his father is Jewish. On the other hand, if it’s important to you that your children be Jewish, although it’s not easy to be Jewish, you can convert them through your local orthodox rabbi.

Under normal circumstances when a couple consummates the marriage and the woman conceives, then all of a sudden they decide to abort the child on grounds that they cannot afford to raise a child at the moment. Would in this case, abortion be deemed sinful? What is the Orthodox Jewish view of abortion under normal circumstances?

It is forbidden to abort a fetus in normal circumstances, like in the case which you mentioned. In any subjective case which may seem like an extenuating circumstance, a rabbinic halachic authority must be consulted.

Why isn’t the holocaust labeled as the third redemption? There were 6 million Jews murdered. Also, is there any sign of what may happen 70 years after the Jews got Israel back in 1948?

It was very observant of you to notice that I consciously omitted the Holocaust as one of the signs of redemption even though it is mentioned [e.g. Midrash T’hilim 20: just as when we see a graveyard we know that the state (= civilization) will soon be seen, so too when we see many troubles befalling us, know that the redemption is soon to come]. I omitted it because this was the only sign that the false messiahs always cited, since it wasn’t uncommon for there to be serious problems over the 1,900 years of exile. After terrible pogroms, these charlatans would claim, “it can’t get any worse- so I am the messiah!” Even though it’s hard to imagine something happening worse than the Holocaust (especially now that Jews can always run to Israel for refuge), nevertheless, we learn from Jewish history that one should never say “it can’t get worse!” Accordingly, the other signs are much more positive (both meanings implied!) and conclusive. Nevertheless, as opposed to the 3 historical signs mentioned in the previous response (Israel returning to fruition; gathering the exiles; the State of Israel), about which the Talmud commands us to constantly search for their fulfillment and subsequently publicize (Shabbat 31a), conversely, they teach us not to deal with exact calculations (Sanhedrin 97b) for obvious reasons.

Why is it that today, so many people are not getting married? Has something gone wrong with our concept of love?

There are at least 7 major changes in western society that need to be identified as part of the problem many people have today in finding their soul-mate:
1. Unfortunately, the modern technological world which God revealed to man to be used beneficially, is often misused. Just like modern atomic energy can either cure cancer or bomb, indiscriminately killing masses, so too computers are unbelievably beneficial, yet internet, Facebook and pornography can unfortunately produce loners who mistakenly think they have friends, or are so distracted from life, they don’t even realize what they are missing.
2. Similarly, in a society where one chooses a spouse out of the “romantic” feeling screened in Hollywood, there will inevitably be a disproportionate amount of disappointed marriages and divorce (because the romance wears off), and an exaggerated number of single people “waiting for the magic” to happen. I’m not saying that we should all go back to the “matchmaking” system, but if by a certain age one hasn’t yet found their soul-mate, they should unabashedly take advantage of some form of assistance (today there’s even international computer dating to expand one’s potential social field!).
3. This problem is compounded by the extremely co-ed society which to a large extent “immunizes” the super-strong chemistry that is naturally found between men and women when they discover the opposite gender for the first time at the age of 18, and for the purpose of marriage. Halacha calls for more separation between the sexes, thus facilitating that special “chemistry”, to feel the magic.
4. God granted mankind the will of free choice, which is so strong that it can even overcome nature. Man can choose to overcome his natural fear because sometimes he needs to charge the enemy, or overcome his instinct to eat because he medically or aesthetically needs to diet. This super-strong will, can also be misused to overcome our Godly good nature, as well. Just as there are anorexics who overcome the natural healthy instinct to eat, to do counterproductive and exaggerated diets, so too, western society and especially feminism, sometimes produces women who overcome their natural desire for motherhood, mistakenly delaying marriage, by thinking that dedication to their career will bring them even more satisfaction. Rav Kook stresses that in general, when healthy, we should follow our healthy nature, and the tool to “overcome” one’s nature and instincts should be used sparingly and only under rare necessary circumstances.
5. Feminism sometimes confuses people, to mistakenly think that financial independence also lessens the need for companionship.
6. The self-centeredness of the “Me Generation” in western society runs counter to the Godly ideal of altruism and giving, which is what marriage expresses, helping us achieve our potential to be “givers”. Accordingly, the idea of compromise, giving-love and altruism, the building blocks of marriage, must be consciously developed today, whereas once they were taken for granted.

7. Our high standard of living and globalization have “spoiled” us to be accustomed not to compromise, and strive for better in everything, including a spouse. Although we intellectually know we ourselves are not perfect, many often “hold out” thinking the “next candidate will be even better”, forgetting that everyone has faults, and we should focus on the major issues and compromise on the secondary.
We can meet these challenges, but we must first identify the problems.    With Love of Israel, Rav Ari Shvat

Are only those exiled Jews who set foot on the Land of Israel after their exile the only ones to return to Israel? Are those who died en route to the Land of Israel or those who resolved to return but change their minds en route and went another way also among those who returned to the Land of Israel?

To date, more than 7,000,000 Jews have returned to the Land of Israel, and statistically, within 6 years, the majority of the Jews in the world will be living in the Holy Land for the first time since the exile of the 10 tribes about 2,700 years ago. Only God can judge those who don’t physically return, for only He knows whether they sincerely tried their best or were just looking for excuses. Even those with legitimate excuses are nonetheless, missing out on this historic event, the fortune to participate in the national revival of the Chosen People, and the writing of the most glorious chapter in our exceptional history.   With Love of Israel, Rav Ari Shvat

Is the concept of reincarnation contrary to the doctrinal teachings of Orthodox Judaism?

There is a difference of opinion among our greatest rabbis whether there is reincarnation or not. R. Sa’adya Gaon, R. Yosef Albo, and R. Chasdai Kreskas for example, believe that after life, one goes to the World to Come where his soul enjoys those spiritual pleasures until, if he merits, he reawakens in the Revival of the Dead. They believe there is no reincarnation coming back to this world, as we know it. In contrast, although not mentioned in the Talmud, many of our greatest mainstream rabbis, including the Ramban, R. B’chaye, R. Yizchak Abravanel, and the Zohar explicitly speak of reincarnation, where one may be given the choice to return to this world to “try again”, and improve himself and his free will, rather than undergoing the difficult intensive educational punishment of hell (gehinom) for 12 months. They see this as an occasional answer to the age-old question of why bad things sometimes happen to good people. Like a child compared to an adult, man, compared to G-d, clearly doesn’t see the entire picture of what happened before (maybe in a previous life), nor after (in the World to Come), and accordingly often can’t see the justice or benefit derived from a certain occurrence or life, which is now hidden from him. Sometimes he may even request a little assistance, to return with a certain limitation or handicap which may have prevented him, in a previous life/lives, from improving a particular given field (such as speech, not to slander, etc.). That being said, everyone agrees with the Rambam that it’s much more important to focus on improving ourselves in this world rather than thinking about future worlds or future lives.