Does such a thing happen when a nonJew is on trial? We do not see such concern
from non-Jews throughout the world when
one of their own is on trial in another
country, let alone one’s own country or
even one’s own town – because non-Jews
simply do not have this intrinsic sense of
connection between them. The pain felt by
one non-Jew does not elicit any sort of reaction from another non-Jew, even when
they are from the same place and even
when they share the same religion. Accordingly, Rabbi Shapiro explained, the Jewish
people are correctly referred to by a singular name, ‘adam’, whereas non-Jews can
only be referred to by the plural form of
that same word, ‘Anashim’, men (or people). Thankfully, the jury eventually acquitted Beilis – and seemingly, the entire Jewish people and our Torah along with him.
This unique quality of Jewish unity –
what makes us laugh and rejoice together
at each other’s smachot (as we sing, “Siman
tov u’mazel tov yehe lanu u’lechol Yisrael –
may there be a good sign and a good fortune for us and for all Israel”) and cry and
mourn at each other’s losses – is actually
something we see in the mitzvos that
Hashem commanded us, such as lo titor5
(don’t bear a grudge) and lo titom6 (don’t
take revenge), as well as v’ahavta lere’acha
kamocha7 (love your fellow as you love
yourself), all of which, we should note,
were commanded in the very same passage
in the Torah. Rashi, our great teacher, explains8 what is meant by revenge: A person
says to someone: “Lend me your sickle,”
IF WE DO NOT EXPERIENCE JOY AT THE SMACHOT OF
OTHER JEWS, OR THE OPPOSITE, PAIN WHEN SOMETHING
UNPLEASANT BEFALLS THEM, THEN WE MUST CONCLUDE
THAT WE HAVE BECOME SPIRITUALLY ‘PARALYSED’.
and the other person responds: “No.” The
next day, the person who turned down the
previous day’s request approaches the person who had asked him and says: “Lend me
your axe,” and the other person responds:
“No, I will not lend (my axe) to you, just as
you would not lend (your sickle) to me” –
this is taking revenge. What is bearing a
grudge? If instead, the person was to answer: “Here is (my axe), I am not like you
who did not lend (your sickle) to me” – this
is bearing a grudge, for he bears hatred for
the other person in his heart, even though
he does not take revenge on him (by refusing to loan him the axe).
But, how can a person really be expected
to rise to such an occasion and behave in
such a manner, giving the item wholeheartedly without any trace of ill feeling in his
heart towards someone who refused to do
the very same thing for him only the day
before? The Talmud Yerushalmi9 offers an
analogy to help us better understand this
seemingly impossible obligation of not taking revenge. Suppose a person was cutting
meat and the knife slipped while he was doing so and he cut his other hand in the process. Would one think that the hand that
was cut should now take revenge on the
hand that had been doing the cutting and
strike that hand in return? Of course not!
The Jewish people are one people – difficult
as it may be in practice, we are meant to see
each and every other Jew as merely an extension of our own selves. Moreover, this
also explains why we are meant to share reciprocal feelings for what transpires in each
other’s lives.
On the other hand, suppose a person
was to injure his arm – to bruise it or cut it
or damage it in some way – but not take
any notice of the injury? What would we
say in such a case? Surely, we would have to
conclude that the injured arm had somehow been paralysed, that some sort of
nerve damage had taken place that prevented the message of the injury from being transmitted to the rest of the body via
the brain. Similarly, if we do not experience
joy at the smachot of other Jews or, the opposite, pain when something unpleasant
befalls them, then we must conclude that
we have become spiritually ‘paralysed’, insensitive to the feelings of our brethren,
and we must, accordingly, do everything we
can to urgently find a remedy for such a situation, seeking whatever intervention is
available – just as we would if it was a physical part of our body experiencing this paralysis. The Jewish people exist intrinsically
as a singularity – as a unity – comprised of
many different, but essential, parts. Only
by embracing this unity via the natural
connections that exist and allowing such
connections to grow and flourish, will we
find our true place in the world and achieve
our true potential. JL
1
Menachem Mendel Beilis arrest
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menahem_
Mendel_Beilis
2
Yevamos 61a
3
Founder and Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas
Chachmei Lublin
4
Shevuos 39a
5
Vay