Uniquely United

Torah Thoughts on Parshas Chukas by Rabbi Berish Cardash

"זֹאת הַתּוֹרָה אָדָם כִּי יָמוּת בְּאֹהֶל כָּל הַבָּא אֶל הָאֹהֶל וְכָל אֲשֶׁר בָּאֹהֶל יִטְמָא שִׁבְעַת יָמִים" בְּמִדְבַּר י''ט:י''ד

“The is the teaching regarding a man (אָדָם) if he will die in a tent. Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in the tent shall be impure for a 7-day period.”  BeMidbar 19:14

The Gemara (Yevamos 61a) teaches from the pasuk: "You are called 'Odom' and the nations of the world are not called 'Odom'." Based on this drashah, Chazal derived that there is no tumah, defilement, of non-Jewish graves in an ohel. This drashah caused a huge controversy among the nations of the world, and it was used in one of the most famous blood libels in modern day history.

About a hundred years ago, the gentiles of Russia and its inhabitants plotted a poisonous blood libel against a Yid named R’ Mendel Baylis and imprisoned him until the matter was adjudicated in court. The entire Jewish world rose up and prayed for Mendel's salvation, and the trial aroused great interest throughout the world. In the meantime, the Russian court worked tirelessly to prosecute this innocent Yid by bringing all kinds of 'evidence' from the Gemara that Jews are supposedly allowed to kill gentiles, etc. One of the pieces of evidence was the Gemara’s drashah, "You are called 'Odom' (man), and there are no nations of the world who are called 'Odom' ", which showed that the Jews consider non-Jews as animals that are allowed to be killed. This trial became greatly publicized, so much so that it caught the attention of the whole world, and even the Jewish defense attorneys had difficulty giving a clear and concise explanation for this drashah. It seemed like R’ Mendel was destined to be executed as an innocent man.

When this case came to the attention of the Gaon, Rabbi Meir Shapiro of Lublin, he immediately sent a letter to the chief defense attorney and wrote the following to answer what the Gemara really means: There are several synonyms for the word “man” in our Torah, and they can all be expressed both in the singular and in the plural, e.g. Ish/Ishim or anashim; gever/gevarim. However, the definition 'Odom' cannot be said in the plural. The whole world is now witnessing the entire Jewish world uniting as one person and as a friend to Mendel to pray for his salvation. After all, everyone knows that if the accused was a typical American, French, etc. - maybe a few people from his homeland will be interested in his safety but not many more. Furthermore, everyone knows when any Jew is held liable in court, all the nations will riot against Jews throughout all countries of the world – even against those who are not related by family or homeland to the convicted Jewish person. That is why you yourselves have proven that the people of Israel are called 'Odom', in the singular, because only the Jewish people are united and inextricably linked as one. But the rest of the nations of the world are called 'people', 'men', and so on. They are just collections of groups of many individuals, but they are not necessarily united as one. This is the true interpretation of the words of our sages! In the case of Mendel Baylis, it is the greatest proof that only the people of Israel can be called by the word 'Odom' and not by the other synonyms with the verb. It goes without saying that this answer and the accompanying insights of Rav Meir Shapiro were accepted in court and R’ Mendel was set free.

Rav Meir Shapiro’s words are as relevant today as they were then. Let’s takes this lesson to heart and realize the special power of the oneness of Klal Yisrael, which differentiates us from the rest of the nations of the world.

---

Rabbi Berish Cardash (FYHS 1989) received Semichah in 1997, and was a member  of HTC’s Bellows Kollel and the HTC administration until 2010, when he started a business career with Mathnasium Learning Centers. Currently Rabbi Cardash is helping hundreds of students through his Mathnasium Centers. He remains actively involved in the Chicago Jewish Community and is the Executive Vice-President of BYHSC.