[Avodah] moshe's reasoning

[T613K at aol.com]

From: Harvey Benton <harvw613 at yahoo.com>
"

>>  moshe's reasoning and anger at the 2 tribes who did not want to go into 
the  land, was that it was not fair that some people risk their lives, 
homes and  properties, while others stay behind in lush lands and graze their 
cattle. why  does this reasoning not apply to today's army exemptions? which, 
the groisa  rabbonim, are fully aware of????? many of them are baki b'shas, 
and if not baki  b'shas, they are fuly aware of this pasuk(im) and their 
import and meanings.  <<



>>>>>
 
The two tribes were not proposing to live an austere life of Torah learning 
 with minimal material comforts.  They were proposing (Moshe thought) to  
live in the lap of luxury in chutz la'aretz, on lush and beautiful farms, 
with  all the wealth and comfort humans can imagine, while their brethren had 
yet to  conquer their allotted property and did not yet have parnassah or a 
place to  live.  
 
Instead of asking why Torah scholars should be exempt from the army, you  
should ask why is it permissible for us to live lives of material plenty and  
abundance in America while our brethren face war and economic hardships in  
Eretz Yisrael?  Did the writer of this post himself serve in the Israeli  
army?  (That's an actual question, not a rhetorical question -- perhaps he  
did, I don't know.)
 
I would answer -- though it is only  a very partial answer -- that  Jews 
who do enjoy material wealth in chutz la'aretz have an obligation, at the  
very least, to provide material help and support to their fellow Jews in Eretz  
Yisrael, especially to those who live in poverty in order to learn Torah 
day and  night.  At least those who live in chutz la'aretz would thus be 
enabled to  some degree to share in the zechus of those whose Torah learning they 
 support.  I would also say they should support other organizations in 
Eretz  Yisrael as well, in addition to yeshivos and kollelim -- organizations 
like Yad  Sarah, Tomchei Shabbos, Zaka, children's homes, organizations that 
help  soldiers, and many many other worthy causes.
 

--Toby  Katz
================




_____________________  





-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20110812/28eab5cf/attachment-0002.htm>