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<font size=3> From
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/98qh7gm" eudora="autourl">
http://tinyurl.com/98qh7gm<br><br>
</a>Written by Rabbi Hershel Schachter<br><br>
Years ago Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik warned, both in his public <br>
addresses as well in his written essay ("Confrontation")
against <br>
having any such contact with the church. How shameful it is that <br>
people who claim to be "disciples" of his have
"reinterpreted" his <br>
words to mean the exact opposite of what they really say, and have <br>
then added that even if at one time he did prohibit such interaction
<br>
with the church, this clearly no longer applies today. To the best of
<br>
my understanding, moshiach has not yet arrived and the world is still
<br>
full of avodah zarah!<br><br>
Achronim had a debate whether believing in the trinity constitutes <br>
avodah zarah for a Noachide or not; but for Jews there is no question
<br>
that it is avodah zarah! And even for bnai Noach, Rav Soloveichik <br>
quoted in the name of his grandfather Rav Chaim that this <br>
understanding of the Remah and Shach was a shegagah she'yatz'ah <br>
milifnei hashalit and it makes no sense to distinguish between the <br>
definition of avodah zarah for a Jew and for a ben Noach.<br><br>
The human desire to be mechadesh (to act as an original thinker) has
<br>
misled these rabbis in Eretz Yisroel to play into the hands of avodah
<br>
zarah and shemad. The words of this week's parsha stand out clearly <br>
to teach us that in Eretz Yisroel we are required to be even more <br>
careful when dealing with the church. Time and time again the Torah <br>
warns us that in Eretz Yisroel we must not get involved with avodah <br>
zarah. Officially Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the King over Eretz Yisroel <br>
(see Mordechai to Gittin #401), and the midrashim refer to all of <br>
Eretz Yisroel as the "palace of the King". The Ramban (end of
Acharei <br>
Mos) explains that the main location for observance of all of the <br>
mitzvos is Eretz Yisroel, and one who sins there is compared to one <br>
who rebels against a king's authority in his palace, which is a more
<br>
brazen sin than sinning elsewhere(see Avnei Nezer, Yoreh Deah
#454).<br><br>
Apparently the sanctity of Eretz Yisroel arouses strong feelings of <br>
spirituality that one must take care to channel properly. These <br>
strong feelings can mislead even the wise to get carried away by <br>
their imagination and their desire to be original thinkers, and in <br>
turn to strengthen avodah zarah and shemad. Some rabbis have gained <br>
credibility by claiming to be disciples of Rav Soloveitchik, and then
<br>
have proceeded to totally misrepresent his views on these issues of <br>
avodah zarah and shemad.<br><br>
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