Advice from the Ramban concerning Perilous Times
We will begin our discussion with illuminating words from the Rambam. He provides us with explicit instructions how a Jew is supposed to think and act during times of crisis and peril. Here are his sacred words (Hilchos Ta’anis 1, 2-3):
This practice is one of the paths of teshuvah. When trouble arises, and the people cry out and sound the trumpets, everyone will realize that the calamity befell them because of their evil deeds, as it states (Yirmiyahu 5, 25): “Your sins have turned away (the rains and the harvest climate).” This awareness will cause the removal of the trouble. However, should the people fail to cry out (to Hashem) and sound the trumpets, and instead say, “What has happened to us is merely a natural phenomenon and this trouble is merely a chance occurrence,” this is a catastrophic perception of things, which causes them to remain committed to their evil deeds. Consequently, this trouble will lead to further troubles. This is implied by that which is written in the Torah (Vayikra 26, 27): “If you remain indifferent to Me, I will be indifferent to you with a vengeance.” In other words: When I subject you to troubles, so that you will perform teshuvah, and you say it is a chance occurrence, I will compound your troubles as an expression of vengeance for that indifference.
During these difficult times, we are desperately seeking to blame someone for what has happened. For some reason, unfortunately, it is easier for us to assign the blame to others. In reality, what we should be doing is pounding our own chests and confessing our own sins attributable to the yetzers in our hearts. To quote the Rambam: “Everyone will (should) realize that the calamity befell them because of their evil deeds.” After all, Chazal teach us an important principle in the Gemara (Shevuos 39a) derived from a passuk in the “tochachah” (Vayikra 26, 37): "וכשלו איש באחיו, איש בעון אחיו, מלמד שכל ישראל ערבים זה בזה"—“and a man will stumble over his brother”: Man will stumble because of his brother’s iniquity; this teaches us that all Jews are responsible for one another. If we take this to heart and heed this lesson, the Rambam assures us that “this awareness will cause the removal of the trouble.”
Thus, it is incumbent upon each and every one of us to perform a personal self-appraisal. Although we should always be vigilant with regards to transgressing serious aveiros, we must be especially vigilant not to fall prey to the yetzer hara during these challenging times. For example, it is crucial to refrain from speaking “lashon hara.” It is so easy to transgress this serious aveirah; yet, it is tantamount to the three cardinal sins, such as murder. As we have learned in the Gemara (Arachin 15b): "תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל, כל המספר לשון הרע, מגדיל עוונות כנגד שלש עבירות, עבודת כוכבים וגילוי עריות ושפיכות דמים... במערבא אמרי, לשון תליתאי, קטיל תליתאי, הורג למספרו ולמקבלו ולאומרו". A Baraisa was taught in the Academy of Rabbi Yishmael: Whoever speaks “lashon hara” proliferates iniquities equivalent to the three (cardinal) aveiros—idol worship, immorality, and murder . . . In the west (Eretz Yisrael), they said: The third tongue kills three. It kills the one who speaks it (“lashon-hara”), the one who receives it and the one about whom it is spoken. In other words, the act of “lashon-hara” involves three parties. As a consequence, three parties are affected and ultimately killed—physically and spiritually.
G-d help us! How often do we fail in this matter?! Even if we are not guilty of speaking and disseminating “lashon hara,” without even noticing or trying, we might hear some particular “lashon hara.” Out of courtesy, we are too polite to advise the speaker to stop and desist. We should warn him that he is transgressing several prohibitions from the Torah, as we are taught by the Chafetz Chaim; and furthermore, he is killing several people with his “lashon hara.”
In fact, the Torah of someone who is not careful and mindful in this matter is worthless. Let us refer to what they expounded in the Midrash (V.R. 16, 4) apropos the passuk (Vayikra 14, 2): "זאת תהיה תורת המצורע, הדא הוא דכתיב (תהלים נ-טז) ולרשע אמר אלקים מה לך לספר חוקי ותשא בריתי עלי פיך". Regarding the status of the “metzora,” who is guilty of speaking “lashon hara,” the Midrash cites the passuk (Tehillim 50, 16): “But to the wicked, G-d said, ‘What benefit is it to you to recount My decrees and to bear My covenant upon your lips?’” Until he is cured of his “tzara’as,” which was his punishment for speaking “lashon hara,” he is considered a rasha, and HKB”H is not interested in his Torah. Only after he has performed teshuvah and has been healed does it say: "זאת תהיה תורת המצורע ביום טהרתו"—this is the Torah of the “metzora” on the day of his purification.
During these difficult times, it behooves us to also feel and consider the distress of HKB”H; He undoubtedly grieves over the murder of Yisrael, His children. As we have learned in the Mishnah (Sanhedrin 46a), HKB”H grieves even over someone who is sentenced to death by Beis Din. For, the passuk states (Devarim 21, 22): "וכי יהיה באיש חטא משפט מות והומת ותלית אותו על עץ, לא תלין נבלתו על העץ כי קבור תקברנו ביום ההוא כי קללת אלקים תלוי"—if a man is guilty of a capital offense and is executed; you shall hang him from a tree. Do not leave his corpse overnight on the tree, rather you are surely to bury him on that day, for a hanging corpse is an affront to G-d.
Rabbi Meir explains the reason that he must be buried on the same day: "אמר רבי מאיר, בשעה שאדם מצטער שכינה מה לשון אומרת, קלני מראשי, קלני מזרועי, אם כן המקום מצטער על דמם של רשעים שנשפך, קל וחמר על דמם של צדיקים". Rabbi Meir said: When a person suffers, what expression does the Shechinah utter? “I am burdened by My head; I am burdened by My arm.” So, if the Omnipresent is distressed over the blood of reshaim that is spilled, how much more so for the blood of tzaddikim! Rashi explains that it is analogous to a person who is exhausted saying, “My head is heavy; my arm is heavy.”
It stands to reason that if HKB”H suffers and is distressed even by the death of someone sentenced to death by Beis Din, all the more so is He distressed by the cold-blooded murder of hundreds of Yisrael sanctifying His name. As they expounded in the Gemara (ibid. 47a) the passuk (ibid. 79, 1-2): "מזמור לאסף אלהים באו גוים בנחלתך טמאו את היכל קדשך... נתנו את נבלת עבדיך מאכל לעוף השמים בשר חסידיך לחיתו ארץ"—a psalm of Assaf: O G-d! The nations have entered into Your inheritance, they have defiled the Sanctuary of Your holiness . . . They have given the corpse of Your servants as food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of Your devout ones to the beasts of the earth.” Since they were killed for sanctifying His name, they are categorized as His “servants” and His “devout ones.”
