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28 Cheshvan 5762 - November 14, 2001 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Opinion & Comment
Utter Dedication to Hashem

One time, in the middle of a "normal" election campaign, one of the rabbonim who was quite close to HaRav Shach zt"l wanted to set up a separate political party, because he felt that he could thereby attract many voters who would otherwise not vote for a chareidi party. Because of his special relationship with HaRav Shach, all the politicians who were against that move appealed to the Rosh Yeshiva, fearing that the overall effect would not be good.

After one such meeting, eyewitnesses reported that the Rosh Yeshiva commented: "Some politicians just came to see me, asking me to forbid (asser) Rav [Ploni] to set up an independent Knesset list. I do not understand them. Are issur and heter in my pocket so that I can pull out an issur on him? If the thing is not osur how can they ask me to forbid him?"

How much clarity and objectivity resides in these words! An issur or a mitzvah are not just words of disapproval or approval that a rov uses, but rather the terms of Torah that follow from the rules of Torah.

Whatever he did and whenever he did it, the Rosh Yeshiva considered only the eternal measures of Torah and not the temporary, fleeting needs of the moment. This was as true in the peace of a Shabbos afternoon as in the heat of an election campaign.

The pundits used to assess his moves in political terms, and even spoke of "tactical errors" that drove supporters into voting for opposing parties.

Anyone who saw his deep grasp of the political situation knew that he was not unaware of the political consequences of his actions. However he clearly chose to ignore them. What did he care about elections, what did he care about votes or about Knesset representatives -- if the voice of truth was not heard?

Rabbenu knew well that the election campaigns afforded him media attention that he did not otherwise get, and he took full advantage of it to discuss issues of pure hashkofoh without regard to their political utility. After all, the true goal is spreading daas Torah and not strengthening a political party.

When HaRav Shach founded the organizations that serve the Torah community today -- Yated Ne'eman (Hebrew and English), Degel Hatorah, Shearis Yisroel -- he was already in his late eighties and nineties after a long life of toil in Torah which showed no signs of stopping. He already had enough laurels to rest on and the tasks he set for himself were not easy. There was opposition within and without at each step of the way. He was criticized and vilified at every step.

What did he need it for? He certainly did it all only because he felt that it was necessary for Klal Yisroel and for kvod Shomayim. And they were decisions clearly made on the basis of an unbiased assessment of the situation and an objective determination that there was no better alternative.

Rabbenu described his approach in his introduction to the fourth edition of his Avi Ezri: " . . . therefore our task is but to do what we have to do: to increase Torah and yirah, Torah in its purity, its wholeness and its true image, and Hashem will do His part, so that Torah is not forgotten among people, as He promised us . . . "


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