Bava Basra 32 continues the discussion of R' Nachman's position that a beis din can reverse its prior holding. As part of this discussion, the gemara mentions a dispute between R' Elazar and R' Shimon Ben Gamliel in relation to a person who was a kohen and then his lineage was questioned. Subsequently, one witness came and said that he was of proper descent, but then two witnesses came and testified that he was a ben gerusha or ben chalutza. Later, another witness came and testified that the kohen was of proper lineage. R' Elazar took the position that we do not restore the kohen to his position, while R' Shimon Ben Gamliel ruled that he is restored.
The gemara then attempted to explain the dispute between R' Elazar and R' Shimon Ben Gamliel as dependent on whether we are concerned that beis din will be damaged as appearing to be flip flopping. R' Elazar would thus rule that since there are already two witnesses who have testified that the man is of tainted lineage we will not accept a later arriving single witness, while R' Shimon Ben Gamliel is unconcerned with the image of Beis Din.
The concern about the image of Beis Din and the kiddush/chillul hashem possibly created by the act of changing a ruling reminded of a story Rabbi Frand told in his pre-Rosh Hashanah shiur last week. Rabbi Frand mentioned that he had been invited to speak at a learning camp in the mountains where his son was a rebbi. Rabbi Frand then mentioned a story he had been told about the camp.
Originally, the camp had wanted to open on a property in a different part of the mountains. When they inquired about the property, they were told that they would need a variance in order to open. When they applied for the variance, the town set the matter down for a public hearing. Once news of the hearing got out, so many residents of the Town wanted to speak that they decided to hold the hearing in the school auditorium.
The hanhala of the camp related that when they arrived at the meeting they were the only ones not wearing tattoos. The meeting started and each speaker got up and stated their disapproval for the camp as it would bring traffic, parties, loud noise and drinking.
Finally, the director got his opportunity to speak. He first passed out a schedule to the audience and explained the program - the day would begin with prayers followed by talmud study, meals, some sports and more talmud study with later prayers. When he was done speaking, the audience all rose to clap. The town official who was chairing the meeting then said that his son was married to a Jewish girl and their child was Jewish. The official said that he hoped one day his grandchild could attend the camp "wherever it will be located."
Although the Rabbi had walked into a hostile situation where he was clearly not wanted and was unsuccessful in changing their minds as to whether they wanted a camp, he had created a kiddush hashem and this is all we can ask for.
If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!
The gemara then attempted to explain the dispute between R' Elazar and R' Shimon Ben Gamliel as dependent on whether we are concerned that beis din will be damaged as appearing to be flip flopping. R' Elazar would thus rule that since there are already two witnesses who have testified that the man is of tainted lineage we will not accept a later arriving single witness, while R' Shimon Ben Gamliel is unconcerned with the image of Beis Din.
The concern about the image of Beis Din and the kiddush/chillul hashem possibly created by the act of changing a ruling reminded of a story Rabbi Frand told in his pre-Rosh Hashanah shiur last week. Rabbi Frand mentioned that he had been invited to speak at a learning camp in the mountains where his son was a rebbi. Rabbi Frand then mentioned a story he had been told about the camp.
Originally, the camp had wanted to open on a property in a different part of the mountains. When they inquired about the property, they were told that they would need a variance in order to open. When they applied for the variance, the town set the matter down for a public hearing. Once news of the hearing got out, so many residents of the Town wanted to speak that they decided to hold the hearing in the school auditorium.
The hanhala of the camp related that when they arrived at the meeting they were the only ones not wearing tattoos. The meeting started and each speaker got up and stated their disapproval for the camp as it would bring traffic, parties, loud noise and drinking.
Finally, the director got his opportunity to speak. He first passed out a schedule to the audience and explained the program - the day would begin with prayers followed by talmud study, meals, some sports and more talmud study with later prayers. When he was done speaking, the audience all rose to clap. The town official who was chairing the meeting then said that his son was married to a Jewish girl and their child was Jewish. The official said that he hoped one day his grandchild could attend the camp "wherever it will be located."
Although the Rabbi had walked into a hostile situation where he was clearly not wanted and was unsuccessful in changing their minds as to whether they wanted a camp, he had created a kiddush hashem and this is all we can ask for.
If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!
No comments:
Post a Comment