This month we celebrated Tisha B'Av, the most difficult day for the Jewish people, when the Temple was destroyed and the people of Israel were exiled from their land. One of the stories of the destruction associated with Tisha B'av is the well-known story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza on the eve of the destruction of the Second Temple. The following is a summary of the event: The Gemara (Gittin no 1a) tells us about one of the rich men of Jerusalem who had a big feast, and his servant mistakenly invited Bar Kamtza, the rich man's enemy, instead of his lover Kamtza. When the rich man saw Bar Kamtza sitting at his party, he was furious, approached him and asked to expel him.
Bar Kamtza, who was embarrassed, tried to convince the host that he would let him have the meal and in return would pay him the cost of the meal and later also the cost of the entire main event so as not to embarrass him in front of everyone. The rich man did not agree and shamefully expelled Bar Kamtza. Bar Kamtza, who was offended by the presence of distinguished sages at the event who did not prevent his deportation, decided to take revenge and accuse the Roman emperor that the Jews were rebelling against him.
To prove this, Bar Kametz suggested to the emperor to send a victim to sacrifice in the Temple and see if the Jews would sacrifice him or not. If they do sacrifice - then they are not rebelling against the kingdom, and if they do not sacrifice - it is a sign of rebellion
in Rome On the way to Jerusalem, Bar Kamtza mutilated their sacrifice so that it would not be acceptable to the Jews and thus they would not sacrifice it and be found rebels in the Roman Empire. Here the legal system of that time, entered into a whirlwind and a big dilemma.
The sages realize that they have fallen into Bar Kamtza's trap and are debating whether to sacrifice the invalid sacrifice for the sake of royal peace or to kill Bar Kamtza in order to prevent another whistleblower to the emperor that they did not offer his sacrifice. One of the sages, Rabbi Zechariah ben Abkolas, opposed both options, and in the absence of a unanimous decision of the sages,
The Jews avoided offering the wrong sacrifice and this led to the destruction of the house. Later, the Gemara cites Rabbi Yochanan's harsh saying: "Rabi Yochanan said: The humility of Rabbi Zacharias ben Abakols destroyed our house, burned our temple and exiled us from our country."
The accusing finger of the Gemara is directed towards Rabbi Zechariah ben Abkoles. Why refrain from deciding? Why was he afraid to make a decision? Rabbi Zachariah ben Abakols is seen as a man of principles who is not willing to deviate a millimeter from Halakha, the dry law. He did not understand the magnitude of the hour and the responsibility that rests on his shoulders at these moments. It was the purity and righteousness he practiced that led to the destruction of the house. How difficult is this saying of the Gemara. If only he had agreed with the sages to offer the wrong sacrifice, as an order of the hour, as an oversight of the soul, we might be in a different place today.
Our legal system can and should learn the lesson and conclusions from Rabbi Zakaria's over-righteousness. both civilian and military. The righteousness and purity of the civil justice system and now also the military with the Sde Yemen case, is breaking records day by day. The case of the detention of the reserve soldiers in the field of Yemen is a small example of this. Reservists from the seventh to October were attached to the Sde Yemen base to guard lowly barbaric terrorists who murdered, raped and massacred. And who are you investigating? Our soldiers who do such a hard job. Think for a moment, who is capable of doing such a job as guarding the monsters in Noah'a? Think of your child who is forced to perform such tasks
and deal with human monsters every day and in the end may find themselves being investigated by the military prosecutor's office because of the lies of terrorists. Attorney Ephraim Demari, who represents 4 soldiers in this story, said this week that the prosecutor's office was simply trying to please the world. And maybe that's the story. For the avoidance of doubt, it should be emphasized that if there were indeed cases that deserve to be investigated, of course they should be investigated and not plastered over. Rather, there should be a quiet and mindless investigation without television cameras. Open the leading news broadcasts in the world and see the media coverage around this and how these arrests look in the eyes of the world. I saw an upside down world.
Rabbi Zachariah ben Abakols became a symbol of excessive purity and righteousness which eventually led to the destruction of the house. The judicial system should learn not to sit on the fence, not to try to please the world and not be afraid to make decisions first and foremost for the benefit of our soldiers, for the benefit of the people of Israel. This is not the time for purity and righteousness. It is time for the justice system to rise to the occasion and responsibility and prevent the internal rift within us from worsening. Nobody here wants another house destroyed.
The writer is the spokesman for the World Federation of Moroccan Jewry
Those who are designated to take care of prisoners undergo tests and interviews and escort to make sure that the designated person can meet the gap between internal justice and the law.
On the other hand, in the IDF, it is enough to have a uniform...