the future of Klal Yisroel must
Toracracy
The Jewish Outlook on Matters of State
By Rav Moshe Shternbuch
The fol-
lowing was
written by
Rabbi Daniel
Yaakov Tra-
vis based on a
drasha given
on leil Shab-
bos by Rav Moshe Shternbuch,
Rosh Av Beis Din of the Eidah
Hachareidis of Yerushalayim.
•••••
FUTURE KINGS
Chazal tell us that Yaakov
Avinu sent Yehudah ahead to
Egypt to start a yeshiva. While
Yehudah was certainly a charis-
matic and influential personal-
ity, wouldn’t Levi or Yissochor,
who were totally immersed in
Torah study, have been better
candidates to start a yeshiva?
Why did Yaakov choose Yehu-
dah for this task?
Throughout Sefer Bereishis,
Yehudah consistently takes on
the leadership role. When the
brothers wanted to kill Yosef,
it was Yehudah who convinced
them to do otherwise. He was
the one who took responsibil-
ity to bring Binyomin back to
Yaakov, and it was Yehudah
who stood up to Yosef when he
wanted to hold Binyomin cap-
tive.
Yehudah’s leadership quali-
ties were the source of his merit
him to be the progenitor of mal-
chus, kingship. He obviously
had great vision and talent for
organization, leadership and
management - key qualities for
any king or leader. While Levi
and Yissochor were greater
talmidei chachomim, in choos-
ing Yehudah to open the first
yeshiva in Mitzrayim, Yaakov
meant to instill in his son an
important message. All future
P: C:
kings and leaders of the Jewish
people would need to internal-
ize this lesson in order to guide
the Jewish people properly.
Jewish leaders must shepherd
Klal Yisroel in accordance with
the Torah and with the guidance
of the gedolim who have mas-
tered it. This was self-evident to
Levi and Yissochor, who were
completely immersed in Torah.
Yaakov wanted to convey to Ye-
hudah and all of his descendants
that all matters of worldly gov-
ernance regarding the Jewish
people must be a reflection of
our commitment to the Torah.
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Page 54
GUARD YOUR
OPENING AND
CLOSING
There is a famous story of
how Rav Chaim of Volozhin
opened his yeshiva. When he
initially went to his rebbi, the
Vilna Gaon, to ask his advice,
the Gaon was quiet. Rav Chaim
understood that the answer was
no.
Some time later, Rav Chaim
came back to the Gaon to ask
his guidance again. This time,
the Gaon gave him a blessing
that he should have much suc-
cess with this endeavor. Rav
Chaim wondered what had
brought about this change in at-
titude.
The Gaon explained to Rav
Chaim that while opening a
yeshiva was certainly a worthy
endeavor, he had noticed that
Rav Chaim was initially very
excited about his project and he
had been concerned that Rav
Chaim was too emotionally in-
volved. The second time, Rav
Chaim was much calmer. Only
then could the Gaon give his
student a bracha for success in
this holy project.
The Vilna Gaon later added
a further reason for his change
of heart: Perhaps, one day,
circumstances would make it
necessary to close the yeshiva
in order to avoid a negative
outcome. If Rav Chaim started
with a huge personal emotional
investment in this project, he
might not be clear-sighted and
objective enough to close the
yeshiva. Later on, when the
Gaon saw that Rav Chaim was
now composed and thinking
clearly, he saw that Rav Chaim
could deal properly with the
complexities of running a ye-
shiva. The Gaon then willingly
gave his talmid a blessing.
The Gaon’s foresight was
right on target. After Rav
EMAIL:
Chaim had passed into the
Olam Ha’emes, the situation
foreseen by the Vilna Gaon
came to pass. The Russian gov-
ernment ordered that secular
studies be taught for an hour
a day in the yeshiva, as part of
a wider plan to “modernize”
the education of young Jewish
boys and wean them away from
their devotion to Torah.
Well aware of the Tzar’s sin-
ister plan, the gedolim of that
generation understood that the
yeshiva hadSOLUTIONS
to be closed down
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rather than change the curricu-
lum. Perhaps it was the clear-
sighted, Torah-focused spirit
that had been blessed by the
Gaon at the yeshiva’s incep-
tion that gave the last rosh ye-
shiva of Volozhin the courage
and wisdom to follow daas To-
rah, though it was heartbreak-
ing for him and his students.
Whether a decision involves
opening a yeshiva, closing
a yeshiva, or any other mat-
ter of importance, one thing
is clear: all decisions guiding
Hatzaddik took the laws of the
be based on the Torah. This
was Yaakov’s deeper message
to Yehudah when he sent him
down to Mitzrayim to open a
yeshiva.
HIS WAYS
ARE JUST
Chazal tell us that at the mo-
ment that Yaakov Avinu was re-
united with Yosef after decades
of separation, he recited Sh-
ema. After so many years apart
from his most beloved son, one
would think that even Yaakov
Avinu would have displayed
It seems that every politician must learn the art
of diplomatically destroying their opponents.
more emotion. What was be-
hind his controlled response?
Once again, Yaakov was
teaching us the proper outlook
on life. Throughout Yaakov’s
life, he experienced hardship
after hardship. From his per-
spective, it seemed as if he was
being punished harshly in this
world.
When Yaakov Avinu saw that
Yosef was still alive, he recog-
nized the justness of the Divine
ways. While he was suffering,
the Almighty was paving the
way to save the world from
starvation. At this auspicious
moment, he recited Shema,
admitting that His ways were
completely just.
Shailah of the Week
Advertising and Geneivas Daas
By Rabbi Gershon Schaeffel
Machon L’Choshen Mishpat
Scenario: I am developing
a new beauty product and one
of the buzz words that people
use to emphasize its quality is
“raw.” The product I am de-
veloping is not raw, but every-
one in the industry advertises
their product as “raw,” de-
spite the fact that it is not raw.
Am I permitted to use the
word raw in my advertising?
Answer: One of the issues
that advertisers must be mindful
of is the prohibition of geneivas
daas. One of the categories of
geneivas daas is when a seller
misleads his customer regarding
the quality of his merchandise.
Thus, for example, the Shul-
chan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat
228:9) prohibits someone from
dying his slave’s beard dark
so that he will appear younger.
Likewise, one is prohibited to
take steps to make his animal
appear fatter than it actually is.
Even when the customer will
not be financially exploited, the
prohibition of geneivas daas
prohibits deceiving a customer
in any manner.
Another example of geneivas
daas involves a butcher who
inflates an animal’s intestines
to make them appear larger
YATED NE’EMAN
TONGUE
It seems that every politician
must learn the art of diplomati-
cally destroying their oppo-
nents. When it comes to criti-
cizing, mocking and defaming
the opposition, nothing is out of
bounds - and all in the name of
freedom of speech. As long as
one does not infringe on some-
one else’s rights, a politician can
say what he wants.
The Torah does not grant us
freedom of speech. The laws of
lashon hara are complex, and
one only has the right to speak
within those parameters. A per-
son must go to great lengths to
avoid slandering someone else.
When Yaakov and his broth-
ers came down to Mitzrayim,
Yosef Hatzaddik found himself
in a bind. It was only a matter of
time before his father would ask
him how he ended up in Egypt.
How could he avoid speaking
lashon hara about his brothers?
The Medrash reveals an as-
tonishing fact. For the 17 years
that Yaakov lived in Mitzrayim,
his son Yosef was never alone
with him until right before his
death. Yosef went to unbeliev-
able lengths to avoid a situation
in which he might say lashon
hara about his brothers. Yosef
or soaks meat in water so that
it should look as though it has
more fat. The Semah (228:16)
limits the scope of this prohi-
bition. The prohibition against
making meat look fatter is limit-
ed to those places where it is not
customary for butchers to pres-
ent their meat in this fashion. If,
however, all the butchers soak
their meat in water, it is per-
mitted, since everyone knows
that this is common practice
amongst butchers and will not
be fooled by the meat’s appear-
ance. Seemingly, this principle
could be applied to our question
and we can surmise that it is
permitted to use the term “raw,”
since that is common practice in
the beauty product industry.
There are two reasons, how-
ever, to refrain from adopting
a lenient approach in our case.
In the case of the butcher, he
never lies about the quality of
his meat. He soaks it to give
it a meatier appearance, but
he never falsely claims that its
quality is consistent with its ap-
pearance. In contrast, using the
term “raw” when, in fact, it is
not raw involves an outright lie,
which is a separate prohibition
other than geneivas daas.
Furthermore, the Shulchan
Aruch Harav (Hilchos Ona’ah
V’Geneivas Daas par. 19)
writes that it is proper for a per-
Torah to heart and applied them
in all areas of his life, despite
the hardship and pain involved
in avoiding his beloved father.
Both Yosef and Yehudah were
outstanding leaders who had a
held a lot of worldly power in
their hands. And yet they never
deviated from the Torah way.
While we are not expected to
live up to the almost superhu-
man standards of the Avos and
their children, the shevatim, we
should also let the Torah guide
us in all areas of life. Even the
political arena should be con-
ducted solely according to the
Torah’s will. Though the whole
world might think that presi-
dents and prime ministers are
running the show, we must al-
ways stay focused on the true
nature of reality: the Almighty
alone is guiding our destiny and
the Torah is His blueprint. When
we remain firm in our Torah out-
look, we perpetuate the lesson
that our father Yaakov taught to
his sons, Yehudah and Yosef.
•••••
Rabbi Travis is a rosh kol-
lel of Kollel Toras Chaim in
Yerushalayim, and is the au-
thor of Shaylos U’Teshuvos To-
ras Chaim and “Praying With
Joy - A Daily Tefilla Compan-
ion,” a practical daily guide
to improving one’s prayers,
available from Feldheim Pub-
lishers. For more informa-
tion about his work, contact
dytravis@actcom.com.
son to refrain from giving false
impressions on the basis that it
is the common custom, since it
is possible that some custom-
ers will not be aware or mind-
ful of the custom and will be
fooled. Although it may be well
known within the beauty prod-
uct industry that the term “raw”
does not mean that the product
is raw, one cannot expect that
every customer will be aware of
that fact and it is thus likely that
some customers will be fooled.
Accordingly, one may not false-
ly advertise their product as
“raw” if that claim is not true.
•••••
Rabbi Gershon Schaeffel is a
member of the Chicago Choshen
Mishpat Kollel and a halacha
writer for Machon L’Choshen
Mishpat. The Machon, which is
headed by Rav Chaim Kohn, is
committed to providing aware-
ness, education and services in
all areas of business halacha. For
more information, visit www.Busi-
nessHalacha.com. For questions
regarding a halachic monetary
issue, call 877.845.8455 or email
aske@businesshalacha.com.
15 Teves 5770 • January 1 2010