ADAPTED FROM HIS AUDIO SHIUR ON EIN YAAKOV LESSON 29A-B – ROSH HASHANAH 10

Judged for the present moment

Rabbi Yitzchak says in the Gemara that when a person’s fate is decided, he is judged only according to his deeds at that moment. If he is good then, he is judged as a good person; if he is evil, he is judged as an evil person. Heaven knows what he will become, but the judgment is based on what he is right now (Rosh Hashanah 16b).

The Gemara learns this from a case in the Chumash. Avraham Avinu had two sons, Yitzchak and Yishmael. Sarah insisted that Yishmael leave the home; she did not want his evil influence upon her son Yitzchak. Hagar took Yishmael with her, and they reached a point where there was no water left to drink. She felt that they would die of thirst and began to cry very bitterly.

The Torah tells us that HaShem heard the boy’s voice, “בַּאֲשֶׁר הוּא־שָׁם” – “where he is” (Bereishis 21:17). What does this mean? What his status is right now, what type of person he is now.

The angels knew what would come

There was an uproar in Heaven. HaShem said, “I am going to make a miracle. The tears of these two people are such that I must save their lives.” The angels rose up in complaint. They protested strongly: “Yishmael’s descendants are going to destroy Your children, the Jews, in later years with water. You are going to save him now with water?”

How would his descendants do this? When the Jews went into exile after the first Holy Temple was destroyed, their captors led them in chains, very hungry and thirsty. They begged, “Give us something to eat or drink or we will die.” Their captors refused. So the Jews said, “Let us ask our cousins, the children of Yishmael. They live nearby. Perhaps they will help us.”

The children of Yishmael said, “Surely we will help you. You want food and drink? Of course.” They gave the exiles food that was deliberately over-salted. Hungry, they ate it, and it left their throats parched. They were dying of thirst. Then they were given canteens: “Here, these canteens are full.” But the canteens were filled with air. When the exiles put them to their mouths, the air shot into them and killed them. This was the heartlessness of the children of Yishmael (Rashi, Bereishis 21:17).

This is what the angels cried about to HaShem: “His descendants are destined to do such harm to Your children. Is his life worth saving now?” HaShem answered, “Right now, did he commit a crime with water?” They said, “No.” HaShem said, “We judge a person only for what he is at present. Right now he is good; he is not a criminal. That is how I must judge him. What happens later is not our affair.” Therefore he was saved.

A seeming contradiction

Now the meforshim raise a powerful question. Anyone who has learned Chumash should ask about this seeming contradiction. There is a law in the Torah concerning “בֵּן סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה” – “a wayward and rebellious son” (Devarim 21:18). Under the Torah’s specific conditions, this son is put to death (Devarim 21:18–21).

What crime did this boy commit? The Gemara says that he refused to listen to his parents; he took meat and wine without respect, without manners. Why should this bring such a penalty? The Gemara says that eventually he will become a criminal. He will want the same food and be led to steal and hurt others. Rather than have him die later as a rasha, guilty of major crimes, better that he should die now while he is still pure (Sanhedrin 71b–72a).

But we just stated that a person is judged for what he is right now, not for the future. How can we give a boy who is, true, disrespectful and unmannerly a death penalty because later he might do something? Judgment should be for the present only. This is the seeming contradiction.

Rabbi Kalmanowitz’s shiur

I think it would be very respectful here to bring up the name of Rabbi Kalmanowitz A”H, the Rosh Yeshiva of the Mir Yeshiva, who passed away a short time ago. He is buried in Jerusalem. Many years ago – it must be at least ten years ago or more – I once sat in at a shiur that he gave.

This was in the month of Elul, and I recall that his shiur concerned this topic. The Gemara says that if you mention words of Torah of one who passed away, his soul lives again in this world. I am sure he would appreciate this, so let us perform that mitzvah for his sake, since many here undoubtedly knew him. To repeat his words, he added some powerful questions on this topic.

Five powerful questions

First, the wording in the Gemara is: Let this boy die pure rather than die as a rasha. This is directly contrary to Avraham Avinu’s plea when HaShem decided to destroy Sdom: “הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה צַדִּיק עִם־רָשָׁע” – “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” (Bereishis 18:23). If there are tzaddikim, the city should be saved.

And HaShem answered: “אִם־אֶמְצָא בִסְדֹם חֲמִשִּׁים צַדִּיקִם בְּתוֹךְ הָעִיר וְנָשָׂאתִי לְכָל־הַמָּקוֹם בַּעֲבוּרָם” – “If I find fifty righteous people within the city of Sdom, I will spare the whole place for their sake” (Bereishis 18:26). There we find clearly that HaShem saves the tzaddikim. Why do we say here, “Let him die as a pure person,” contrary to those words?

Second, how can we take away this boy’s life when he could live another year, fifty years, a life of seventy years? The Torah says that one hour of teshuvah and good deeds in this world is worth more than all the eternity of Gan Eden (Avos 4:17).

Gan Eden, a paradise in Heaven, is wonderful, remarkable, and its pleasures are so much higher than anything on earth. But one thing you have not got there which you have here is the opportunity to perform mitzvos. Once a person dies and goes to Gan Eden, no matter how he tries, in all the years of eternity he cannot perform one single mitzvah, no matter how much he wants to. Here he has his chance.

Therefore one hour on earth, in that respect, is worth more than all the eternity in Gan Eden. Certainly this applies to seventy years. Why deprive this boy, who we say is pure now, of the chance to perform mitzvos – especially teshuvah? He has a chance to repent throughout those years.

Third, what happened to freedom of choice? Does a person not have freedom of choice on earth? We say that he will turn out to be evil, a thief, a highway robber, one who will hurt people. Why should we say that? He has the freedom to choose for himself. He may want to become the biggest tzaddik in the world. By taking his life now, we are depriving him of that choice. He can prove himself to be the best person.

Fourth, we are always told to fear the day of judgment. Judgment means harshness, no pity, no compassion. It seems here that one must fear pity more than judgment, because a person can drown in pity too. A person can be killed by kindness.

What is more destructive than this so-called kindness? Because we want to be kind to this boy, let us kill him while he is still good. Let us not wait until he does something wrong in later years. With such kindness we could kill every person in the world. Everyone will say: Let us kill them while they are good. Take all the good people on earth and say: Destroy them because they might turn evil someday. Such kindness is even harsher than judgment.

We do not say that. HaShem says, “I judge people by what they are at present.” So we come back to the question: Why should this boy be different?

Fifth, add this question. We say: Let him not die when he commits a crime. What crime will he commit? He will steal from others. If we let him live and he steals, what penalty does he get then? He will receive a penalty, but not the death penalty. So the worst that can happen is that he deserves a penalty which is still not death, and certainly not stoning. Why should we give him now, when he is still pure, the worst type of death possible, stoning?

The Maharal of Prague’s answer

These are the questions asked by the Maharal of Prague A”H. His answer is a vital one that should remain with us and guide us throughout our lives. The law of the Torah has its limitations. For a certain sin you pay a certain penalty; for a bigger crime you pay a larger penalty. These are the mishpetei Torah, the Torah’s set of laws.

But the Torah also tells us that there is something above the laws of Torah and above the Torah itself, something which HaShem regards as more important than Torah: the key to Torah. Without that key, the Torah that a person learns or carries out is worthless. HaShem disregards it completely. This key is the crown of Torah.

This key is so important that any mitzvah done without it is meaningless, and any Torah a person learns without it is of no value. This key, the preface, the hakdamah to Torah, is derech eretz kadmah laTorah (Vayikra Rabbah 9:3). Respect is more important than Torah itself. HaShem wants a person to show respect more than He wants him to show the actions of mitzvos.

A person who has respect for Torah is more important than a person who learns Torah. A person who shows respect for that which is holy is more important than a person who performs the greatest deeds on earth. Nothing is above respect. This is the crowning glory of every single mitzvah that exists.

Before HaShem wants Torah from a person, He wants him to show respect. This is what we call yiras HaShem, fear of HaShem; it means respect for HaShem. We say Avinu Malkeinu, our Father, our King. HaShem asks: “וְאִם־אָב אָנִי אַיֵּה כְבוֹדִי” – “If I am a Father, where is the honor due Me?” (Malachi 1:6).

The same thing applies to a parent. HaShem says, “כַּבֵּד אֶת־אָבִיךָ וְאֶת־אִמֶּךָ” – “Honor your father and your mother” (Shemos 20:12). Your parents are partners with HaShem in bringing a person into the world. This son may have eaten only a piece of meat and drunk a bit of wine; comparatively, this is a small crime. But his major crime is that he has shown a complete lack of respect, complete disdain for his parents.

Respect for one another

Rabbi Akiva had twenty-four thousand students. Imagine being students of Rabbi Akiva, having so great a rabbi. What crime did they commit? Did they steal? Did they kill? Did they break Shabbos? Did they fail to put on tefillin? Chas veshalom. None of these sins were committed by them.

It was the one thing which we consider unimportant: a lack of respect. Not respect for their rabbi – respect for each other, mutual respect (Yevamos 62b). Derech eretz is so important that the greater a person is, the more this respect is demanded of him. Without this key, everything else is reduced to nothingness.

Above all, we must remember that nothing is as important as respect for anything that is holy. A person may not be learned; he has not had the opportunity to study Torah. But he is sincere, humble, and has respect for Torah, for those who are knowledgeable, for a chacham, for holy things and holy places. He enters a shul or a yeshiva with respect for its holiness. He has respect for Shabbos and the holy days. This person is admired more in Heaven than the most learned person.

A person can be filled with Torah, but if he is also filled with conceit and haughtiness, without proper respect for Torah, his knowledge means nothing. It is respect that comes before Torah, respect that stands higher than Torah.

The way we speak

The Gemara says that a son could tell his father to go out and work, or say, “Father, I bought you the nicest gift, roast turkey, prepared. Take it.” The one who tells his father to work could get Gan Eden for it; the one who gives him roast turkey could go to Gehennom. How? It depends upon the way he says it (Kiddushin 31a–b).

If it is said with a tone of respect, without arrogance, with feeling for the parent, then there is Gan Eden. If he gives him the best food, treasures, money and everything, but with a disrespectful attitude, chas veshalom, all those gifts are worthless. The derech eretz manifests itself in the tone.

As much as a child does for a parent, as much respect and honor as he shows, he could never hope to repay even the tiniest part of the care during his infancy and growing up, or the interest and sincerity a parent shows in the child. So if he cannot repay it, at least beware of going the other way, of showing arrogance or disrespect. This is the most important lesson: derech eretz kadmah laTorah.

Where he stands now

In the case of “בֵּן סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה” – “a wayward and rebellious son” (Devarim 21:18) – the boy shows no respect at that age. We are certain that this lack of respect could lead to much evil. But we are not punishing him for that future evil. We state that now, with this lack of respect, there is very little hope for him. It will result in evil actions later on. Yet the question remains: The Gemara says that a person is judged only for what he is at present. Why judge him for his crimes in the future?

The meforshim distinguish between this son and Yishmael. Yishmael himself had not committed that crime; his descendants would do this harm to the Jews. He was not to be punished for their crimes. HaShem said: What will happen later is a separate case. Right now, he himself is not the one committing this crime.

Secondly, we must distinguish between the Heavenly court and the court on earth. The Heavenly court says: We judge him for what he is now, because if he commits a crime later, he can never escape us. Heaven sees and observes a person every moment of his life. There is no place to hide from HaShem. But the judges on earth say: Right now we know this person is evil. If the court says that this son deserves a penalty, it is up to us to give it to him now.

What can change a decree

The final word in the Gemara is that tefillah is so powerful that it is not stopped or halted by any decree in Heaven. Whether before or after the harsh decree was made, tefillah is effective. A person can pray at any time, and if his prayers are sincere, heartfelt, with teshuvah, they will be answered.

Rabbi Yitzchak says that four things can change a decree: tzedakah, tefillah, a change of name, and changing a person’s actions – teshuvah (Rosh Hashanah 16b). This is the main item. Through teshuvah, a person can change completely. The decree was issued against a certain person, and he is not there anymore. This is a new person. Through teshuvah a person can be saved completely.