Rabbi Gil Student has an interesting post today about the idea of introspection whenever there is an Eis Tzara. Therein he references Rav Mordechai Willig’s essay who discusses the Halachic basis for this. It is based on a Pasuk Bamidbar 10:9: It is a Torah commandment to cry and to sound trumpets when any trouble besets the community, as it is said, “Against an enemy who oppresses you”… and a Pasuk in Yirmiahu (5:25) that says: …all will know that because of their bad deeds evil was done to them as it is written, “your sins have overturned these [good things] and your transgressions have kept goodness away from you” And this will cause that the trouble will be removed from them.
This is all well and good. We should always be mindful that there is room for improvement in our lives. And Teshuva is certainly the remedy that can turn our fortunes around. When something goes wrong for us on a national level we would all do well do a serious Cheshbon HaNefesh, on both a personal level and on a national one.
What troubles me, however, is when individuals point out specific events that they feel are the cause of the problem. It often becomes very subjective and when this happens, they lose me. I want to be clear. I do not mean to impugn what Rabbi Willig says. The areas he mentions are truly valid areas to look at and I don’t disagree that these areas need to be pointed out. But sometimes there are Rabbanim with agendas and their assertions about spiritual causes are entirely subjective, related to the specific biases of those Rabbanim. For example when PM Sharon took ill, it was suggested that God struck him down because of the Gaza pullout.
Rabbi Willig points out areas that need improvement, and surely they do. I am very sympathetic to his perspective. But I stop short of endorsing it as …the… cause of the current crisis. It’s not that he necessarily says that they are. But I think suggestions like these from prominent Rabbanim tend to be looked at as the exclusive reasons for our problems. But the truth is we don’t really know. We can’t know what the real spiritual reasons are. Who is to say that …any… specific area that may need improvement is the specific reason for our trouble now?
There are a great many problems plaguing the Torah world now which perhaps should be examined that need improvement. For example, maybe it is the fact that not enough is being done about Lubavitch Messianism. Or maybe it is the fact that many of our our rabbinic leaders, especially in Israel, are allowing a national tragedy to occur by discouraging Bnei Torah from preparing themselves for Parnassos. Or the perhaps it is the implementation of ill advised bans by rabbinic leaders and the resultant destruction of Kavod HaTorah. Or not doing more about the plight of Agunos. Or the willingness of rabbinic leaders of all stripes to cover-up sexual abuse.
Yes indeed, there is much introspection and much Teshuva to be done by all of us.
There are many possibilities that can be the spiritual cause of our problems now and it behooves us to look at any and all of them. And it behooves us more to not pick out the one which reflect our own biases. Yes, we should look at what our rabbinic leaders say. But that should only be the starting point. The ending point is the Teshuva required in all areas where we have lapsed... as individuals and as a community. Perhaps then we will finally merit to see Moshiach Tzidkenu in our own time.
