Tuesday, December 7, 2010

A Terrible Decree

It once happened in the times of Rebbe Elimelech of Lizensk that there was a terrible decree issued against the Jews. All the people's eyes were trained on the Tzaddik, looking to him to pray that the decree should be nullified. The Rebbe answered them thus:

"I am from the World of Truth and no secret is hidden from me. I know the reason behind all things, and I too have agreed to this decree. How can I go back and pray for nullification of a decree that was issued with my consent ?

"You should instead look to a Tzaddik who doesn't know the reasons behind the decree, since this decree was issued without his knowledge or consent. Such a righteous Tzaddik can call out and pray to Hashem, and maybe his prayers will be answered."

Source: Sifrei Tzaddikim

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Devorah,
The World of Truth...
Doing the research reveals “truths” such as: “A woman is solely for beauty: a woman is solely for children” (Ketubbot 59a); “There is no wisdom in women except at the spindle” (Yoma 66b); “Women’s minds are frivolous” (Shabbat 33b); “Gentiles, slaves, women, fools, and minors are ineligiable to serve as witnesses” (Bava Batra 155a); “When Eve was created, Satan was created with her” (Genesis Rabbah 7); “A woman [before marriage] is a shapeless lump and concludes a covenant only with him who transforms her [into] a [useful] vessel, as it is written, ‘For thy maker is thy husband; the Lord of Hosts is his name’ [Isaiah 54:5]” (Sanhedrin 22b); “I find more bitter than death the woman” (Eccl. 7:26); Woe to one whose children and female” (Bava Batra 15b); “You already know that all commandments are binding on males, but females are bound only by some of them, as explained in Tractate Kiddushim. He is therefore more sanctified than she, and that is why a man has priority in being kept alive” (Maimonides, Commentary on the Mishna, Horayot 3:7). And there's LOTS more of this type of rubbish where these came from,but you get the point, right?
And so I just have to step back from any of these old school rebbes, and many many current day rebbes as well, and wonder how in the heck have they been able to get away with these lies for so long?
The World of Truth…is in exile…maybe one day in the near future the world of lies really will end and the real world of truth will come forward. As long as lies such as above, which we find in our “holy books”, are revered as truth by the ruling class of traditional Jews (men) nothing will change, unfortunately.
Other than stuff like this, love you and your blog.
Shalom, Lytamyn