A Torah that Sanctifies or Desecrates? - That is the Ultimate Question. Parshat Pinchas, 17th of Tammuz

Today, as we fast on Shivah Asar b'Tammuz, we commemorate not only the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem by the Romans, but also two tragedies that strike at the heart of Torah itself -  Moshe Rabbeinu's shattering of the Luchot after חטא העגל, and the burning of a Sefer Torah by Apostomus. 

What is the takeaway message from this fast? The breaking of the Luchot and burning of the Torah remind us that even the Torah itself can become entangled in Chillul Hashem. 

Against that backdrop, yesterday the Knesset gave first-reading approval to two very different pieces of legislation relating to Torah. At first glance, they appear very similar. In truth, they could not be more different.

The first was the proposed Basic Law of Torah Study (חוק יסוד לימוד תורה), which forms part of the current coalition's effort to provide a legal basis for continued exemptions from military service for many full-time yeshiva students. 

The second was a bill establishing an annual day on which the Knesset will study the Torah and legacy of my Roshei Yeshiva from Yeshivat Har Etzion, Rav Yehuda Amital zt"l and Rav Aharon Lichtenstein zt"l. Both bills passed their first reading yesterday.

As people who love and cherish Torah, our instinct should be to celebrate both. How could one object to Torah study being a core value in a Jewish state?!

Yet one is a profound Kiddush Hashem.

The other has become a profound Chillul Hashem.

This year marks the sixteenth yahrzeit of Rav Yehuda Amital zt"l. It is therefore especially meaningful that the Knesset chose to commemorate his legacy this very week. Rav Amital believed that one of the greatest religious responsibilities of a Jew is to create a Kiddush Hashem, to sanctify God's Name in the world.

In a shiur delivered in 2014, he quoted the Gemara in Yoma (86a), which teaches that Chillul Hashem is the one sin that one cannot atone for except through death. 

The Gemara then asks: What is Kiddush Hashem?

Its answer is one of the most beautiful definitions in all of Chazal:

וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ — שיהא שם שמים מתאהב על ידך.

"You shall love the Lord your God" means - Let the Name of Heaven become beloved through you."

The Gemara explains that when a person learns Torah, conducts himself honestly, speaks pleasantly, and treats others with dignity, people naturally respond, Fortunate is the one who taught him Torah -  "אשרי אביו שלמדו תורה, אשרי רבו שלמדו תורה." Torah itself becomes beloved because of the person who lives it.

But when someone studies Torah and behaves in a way that causes others to recoil from Torah, people say, אוי להם לבריות שלא למדו תורה - "Woe to the one who learned Torah." His conduct becomes a Chillul Hashem.

For Rav Amital, this was not merely a beautiful idea. It was one of the defining religious challenges of our generation. Especially in the State of Israel, where so many Jews encounter Torah through those who publicly represent it, our greatest responsibility is to ensure that God’s name becomes beloved and sanctified through us

Rav Amital concludes by quoting Rav Kook, who makes a bold observation in אדר היקר,

 “הכפירה המוסרית היא לעולם היסוד לבנין הכפירה המתדמה למדעית"

According to HaRav Kook, heresy and rejection of God always begins with immoral behavior by people who represent the faith. 

That is why yesterday's two laws could not be more different. The bill commemorating the teachings of Rav Amital zt"l and Rav Lichtenstein zt"l, honors two rabbanim whose lives embodied Torah together with responsibility for society, ethical sensitivity, humility, and profound Kiddush Hashem. Their Torah inspired admiration far beyond the walls of the beit midrash.

The proposed Basic Law of Torah Study, by contrast, is not tragic because it celebrates Torah. 

It is tragic because it is being advanced as part of a legislative framework that would enable many full-time yeshiva students to continue receiving exemptions from military service. In the eyes of millions of Israelis, this has become associated not with the sanctification of Torah, but with one of the greatest Chillulei Hashem of our generation.

Whether one supports or opposes the legislation politically is not the central question.The religious question is much deeper: 

Does this make the Name of Heaven more beloved or does it, God forbid, produce the opposite response?

On Shivah Asar b'Tammuz, the day on which we mourn the breaking of the Luchot and the burning of a Sefer Torah, these questions need to be addressed. 

The challenge of our generation is not only to produce more Torah learners.It is to produce Torah that causes people to love Hashem more. As Rav Amital taught - שיהא שם שמים מתאהב על ידך

May the Name of Heaven become beloved through us.

That is the Torah our generation so desperately needs.

Shabbat Shalom!