Halacha Date: 11 Av 5784 15 août 2024
Question: There is a rabbi in our city whom other rabbis from the United States and Europe are working, along with support from other rabbis in Israel, to have removed from his post. Does such a concept exist and how do we know which of the rabbis are correct?
Answer: Rabbeinu Meir Ha’Levi Abulafia (known as the Rama, a friend of the Ramban who also authored some Kabbalistic works, not to be confused with the later Rama as in Rabbeinu Moshe Isserlish) writes that all of the laws regarding honoring Torah scholars apply only to a genuine Torah scholar who is truly G-d-fearing; however, Torah scholars who are lax in Mitzvah observance and do not possess fear of Heaven are considered to be the lowest elements of society since they desecrate Hashem’s name and about them does the prophet Micha (Chapter 3) state, “Hear this please, heads of the house of Yaakov and rulers of the house of Israel that abhor justice and pervert all equity etc. Thus, because of you, Zion shall be ploughed as a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house (Temple Mount) as the high places of a forest.” We see from this that a rabbi’s Torah knowledge is of no importance if he does not possess fear of Heaven, as Maran Ha’Shulchan Aruch rules: “A Torah scholar who treats the Mitzvot lightly and does not possess fear of Heaven is considered like the lowest elements of society.”
Maran Ha’Shulchan Aruch rules as follows: “If a rabbi does not go in a good path, although he is a great Torah scholar and the entire nation needs him, no one should learn Torah from him until he returns to the righteous path.” The source for this ruling is the Gemara in Masechet Mo’ed Katan (17a).
In the past several generations it has occurred several times that there have been rabbis whom Hashem has graced with exceptional eloquence or oratory skills, thus causing many people to listen to them speak. The congregation’s admiration for such people did not stem from his Torah knowledge, for in general, such rabbis were not all that great in Torah and merely knew some basic laws and some Derashot. These rabbis then developed all forms of strange ideologies and began speaking to the congregation about various forbidden issues.
Regarding the issue at hand, we are well aware about the individual you are asking about. His words and various lectures have become famous and within them, he has brazenly distorted the Torah’s views, such as by claiming that the traditions our Sages record in their commentaries are not necessarily absolute and binding and by ruling leniently on several explicit Torah laws contrary to opinion of all of the Poskim. He has also spoken against Hashem and his anointed one’s by telling the public not to allow the rabbis to exploit their ignorance, as if all rabbis are, G-d-forbid, deceiving the public. He has likewise delivered lectures about how the explanations of our Sages regarding Torah law, traditions which have been transmitted from teacher to student all the way back to Moshe Rabbeinu, are not necessarily the Torah’s true intention and convinces people to delve into all sorts of heretical and blasphemous books, along with many other issues. There is no reason to delve with great detail into his foolishness, especially since more recently, he spoke out even more foolishly regarding prohibitions which the Torah distances people from and refers to it as an “abomination”, however, this rabbi said things which were completely the opposite of what the Torah had in mind and he even left room for praise for this sin and the wicked people who follow it, all in order to make create some ratings for himself and to attract more people who would be happy to receive permission from a rabbi to disparage the Mitzvot of the Torah and the Sages of Israel. How unfortunate is the generation in which such things can occur.
It is certainly a sacred obligation for other rabbis to warn their congregations about a rabbi who has false and misleading views, for a rabbi holds the key to the hearts and beliefs of the members of his congregation. This is especially true since the rabbis who have come out in public opposition of this other rabbi and request his removal from his position are well-known for many years to be truly great in Torah and their fear of Heaven and they work tirelessly for Hashem and His holy Torah throughout their entire lives. It is certainly unfathomable to thing that such great sages would call another rabbi a “heretic” for no reason whatsoever.
The second thing you must know is that Hashem has placed the wisdom to differentiate between good and bad in the minds of most people and anyone will realize that the words of this rabbi do not correspond to the true Torah tradition transmitted to us throughout the generations and this individual is merely following in the paths of Tzadok (Saducees), Baitos, and other heretics and those who have perverted the Torah throughout the generations, whom many have originally followed, but eventually went into oblivion.
This is very much different than other disagreements among rabbis where one says one thing and the other says another, for this issue relates to the fundamentals of the Torah and belief in the authentic Jewish tradition as well as the correct path in halachic ruling and thought process. Anyone who takes issue with these ideas and lectures about such topics however he wishes with no regard for the consequences of his comments will very easily stray from the path of Torah to a foreign path and he thereby removed himself from the ranks of all other legitimate rabbis and from the ranks of the believing and faithful Jewish nation and has purposely placed himself in the classification of all other heretics who have warped the Torah throughout the ages. We thus await the arrival of our righteous Mashiach who shall bring down a spirit of purity to the world and then everyone will realize that Hashem is true and His Torah is true.
May Hashem rain down a spirit of purity upon us from on high and allow all of his children to repent fully before Him, Amen.
