Reevaluating Our Evaluations
Now, this entire story is a big puzzle. Because why did Hakadosh Baruch Hu arrange such a strange story, that a great man, a man of wisdom, should make such a mistake? It’s a question that deserves our earnest attention because that’s why the story was recorded in the Torah – it’s written so that we should be able to sit here tonight and give it our attention. In one little shul in Flatbush, there are a group of Jews sitting and fulfilling the purpose of history!
Of course, I don't say that we're going to solve it entirely – surely I would never say that we’re capable of that – but at least we can study it together and understand a little bit of what Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants from us.
And what is the lesson? The most important lesson, the most evident lesson, is that we should know that as much as we imagine that we see things clearly, we are being deceived – especially when it comes to the matter of Yaakovs and Eisavs. That’s the real lesson of this story; that we think we see but actually we’re walking in darkness. We see people, we evaluate them in our mind’s eye, and we think we know. But it’s not so. We have to be very, very careful because if Yitzchok can be deceived then we surely are being deceived all the time. And therefore you should have עד מאד חרדה גדולה and suspect yourself always: “Maybe I’m not thinking right. Maybe my attitude towards the Yaakovs and Eisavs in this world is upside down.”
The Frum Detective
Now, that will take a lot of explaining and we won’t be able to finish in one night, one lecture, but first in order to lead up to the subject, we’ll read a story from Mesichta Bava Metzia (83b); an incident in the life Rabbi Elazar b’Rebi Shimon.
This Rabbi Elazar was one of the great Tannaim at the end of the period of the Mishnah; he was the son of the famous Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and he was considered one of the very greatest in the days of greats. Even Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi, the premier chochom of that generation, stated that Rabbi Elazar b’Rebi Shimon was much superior to him in Torah.
Now, the Gemara tells us that this great man was once employed in a most uncharacteristic profession. He was hired as a detective for the Roman government. How did such a thing come about? You have to know that in the Roman provinces they were serious about punishing crime. They didn’t have yet criminal politicians and criminal judges, and so when a thief was apprehended there was no jail where they supported the criminal with colored TV. There was only one sentence – crucifixion. And there were no appeals to the Supreme Court either. The criminal was nailed to death. They gave him the best rehabilitation; he was guaranteed never to criminalize again.
Rabbinic Advice
But first they had to catch the criminals and so there were detectives who were assigned to the job of ferreting out the criminals. The Romans had many detectives like that; a whole force whose job it was to mix with the people in their daily activities and try to find out who are the criminals, the thieves of the night.
Now, Rabbi Elazar was once in a conversation with one of their detectives and he asked him, “How are you sure about arresting people? After all, the criminals function during the night, when it’s hard to see, and so it’s difficult to catch them. Don’t you think that you are making errors? Maybe you’re arresting innocent people and letting the wicked escape.”
There’s a whole story there about how Rabbi Elazar showed this detective the way to catch the thieves who were disguised as good people and to leave alone the innocent ones, the good ones. There’s a certain chochmah, a wisdom, that’s required if you’re going to not be deceived and Rabbi Elazar was giving the detective a lesson in carrying out his profession.
You’re Hired!
Now, this Roman detective was so impressed that he went and reported the conversation to headquarters – “I met a rabbi and he taught me how to conduct my investigations” – so they said, “If this sage of the Jews thinks he is so expert on the subject, then tell him that he’s elected for that job. Starting today he’s on our staff.”
Now, Rabbi Elazar didn’t like that but in those days you couldn’t refuse an order of the Roman governor and so he became a detective. There’s a long story there because he was catching Jewish thieves and some of the Sages weren’t happy with him. It’s an interesting story – take a look if you want; it’s on pei beis amud beis but I’m not going to tell it to you because it’s off topic. For our discussion we’re going to listen to the possuk that Rabbi Elazar quoted to the detective: תשת חושך ויהי לילה – You, Hashem, make darkness and it becomes night, בו תרמוש כל חיתו יער – in that night walk around all the wild animals of the forest (Tehillim 104).
Rabbi Elazar was describing to this gentile the difficulty in exposing the real criminals because they are compared to the wild beasts who function only at night in order to escape detection. They don't go out by day – not as criminals at least – and so maybe you’re arresting innocent people. Maybe the real thief is well dressed by day; he’s disguised as a respectable citizen but actually he’s one of the thieves. That’s how Rabbi Elazar described the problem – that it’s not easy picking out the criminals in the darkness.
The Dark World
But what we have to know is that this gentile didn’t understand Rabbi Elazar perfectly. Rabbi Elazar was speaking about more than the thieves of the night. Because the Gemara says, what is meant by that verse, ‘You make darkness and it becomes night’? Is it talking only about the nighttime in the forests? No, that’s nothing yet. זה העולם הזה שדומה ללילה - It’s talking about this world that is like night. It means, the entire history of the world, day and night, week in and week out, it’s always dark. Harlem at 2 o’clock in the morning is bright as day when compared to this world. תשת חשך means that the entire existence of Olam Hazeh, Hakadosh Baruch Hu made it to be a dark night.
Now, what does that mean? Does it mean it’s unhappy because it's dark? No. It's a very happy world. In this darkness you eat and you drink and you sleep. You have garments. You have a spouse and children. You have a home to live in. You have warm houses to sleep in. You have a bed and a pillow and blanket. You have everything in the darkness, so no, it's not a sad world; it’s not a sad world at all. But it's a dark world. It’s a dark world because it’s deceiving us.
It means that just like in a forest in the middle of the night it’s very easy to make mistakes – you see a person coming towards you and only as he gets close to you, you see that it’s a chimpanzee ready to bite. Or you see a chimpanzee coming towards you and you run away but really it was a person coming to help you – the same thing in this world. Even though it seems to be illuminated by sunlight, nevertheless it's a place of intense darkness. It’s a place where errors are ripe because בו תרמוש כל חיתו יער – in this darkness of Olam Hazeh creep around all the animals of the forest.
Criminals in Suits
But they’re very hard to see because who are the wild animals? When you spot one of them you’re not going to see a tail on him. You won’t see claws. You’re going to see him dressed – not in jeans. They’re well-dressed gentlemen with pressed trousers. Many of them are important personalities. Politicians and professors and judges and scientists. Inventors and businessmen and actors. Famous television people. News people. People who are fighting for justice. Wealthy innovators, seekers. Some of them are people you look up to, people you speak about with a sparkle in your eyes. Those are the Eisavs in this world.
Now if I hurt your feelings, excuse me because I speak the truth. Nobody has to accept what I tell you, but at least give me a chance to explain it; maybe after a while you’ll see there’s some justice in what I say.
College Demons
Here’s a professor speaking to his college class. He’s well-dressed, polite. He looks like a human being and he’s intelligent too. He’s quite impressive actually. But actually he’s a wild animal, a wild beast. He’s a dangerous creature and nobody knows it.
How is that? Because he stands for the opposite of the emes. First of all he stands for atheism. It means he’s a proponent of the very worst thing in the world! The Rambam says avodah zarah, to worship idols, is less than atheism; atheism is worse. And so this college person, it’s his influence that causes the world to become spoiled with apikorsus.
And all of his ideas about society are filthy and corrupt. He’s a degenerate bum but because he’s well dressed and he makes a lot of money and his ideas are published in journals so the world accords him respect.
It’s not the mafia who are the real criminals. It’s not the murderers, the thugs in the poor neighborhoods. It’s the people dressed up in suits who are undermining the foundations of society. The whole academic world is opposed to the belief in a Creator! They are the biggest criminals because once you destroy the values of mankind, then it’s
