HaGaon HaRav Chaim Feinstein’s Hashkafah On The Hostage Deal

HaGaon HaRav Chaim Feinstein

Rosh Yeshivas Ateres Shlomo, HaGaon HaRav Chaim Feinstein, holds a weekly va’ad for avreichim on the sefer Nefesh HaChaim.

At the end of this week’s shiur, one of the participants asked the Rosh Yeshivah about Daas Torah on the hostage release deal.

The Rosh Yeshivah at first refused to comment on it, saying: “You’re toiling in Torah, holding up the world. You shouldn’t wear out your minds and your time on devarim betailim.”

The Rosh Yeshivah then added: “Do you think that this is an agreement with the government here in Israel? This is actually an agreement between America and the Arabs. The government here is not the decision-maker. The US demands and so it will be. The army has nothing – without America, they don’t have a single bullet to shoot. The entire army is built from beginning to end on America. They’re the owners and they’re the decision-makers.”

The Rosh Yeshivah added painfully: “Meanwhile, the only thing the army has power over is drafting bnei yeshivos and uprooting the Torah.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)



4 Responses

  1. Thank you for posting this!
    Such an example of Da’as ba’al habayis hepech Torah hu!
    Ba’alei battim don’t offer definitive, expert judgements about things they haven’t thought about very much (things they consider unworthy of their time).
    But not true when it comes to Da’as Torah!
    They don’t need to spend time thinking about it.
    Their pure Da’as Torah shows them the answer nevertheless!
    Yes, da’as ba’al habayis (let me research this first) hepech Da’as Torah hu!

  2. Bekavod HaRav, I disagree wholeheartedly. Even if we don’t know what’s right and wrong, we should have this deal in our heart as a way to empathize with our brothers and sisters who are affected by the deals. We need to be nosei beol chaveiro. Empathy with the joy of the hostages and their families who will finally be reunited. Empathy with the families of the bereaved who’s killers are now being released. Empathy with the hostages and their families who are not included in the deal. Empathy with the joy of the soldiers who can now return home. Empathy with the soldiers who lost so much and now feel abandoned by the deal that threatens to undo what they sacrificed for. Empathy for the people of the State of Israel who are now fearful what the added threat of released terrorists bring. And yes, even empathy for our politicians who had to go through the psychological torture of making such difficult decision.

    The Charedim are not a separate nation. We are all one nation. This deal affects us all. We may not have the expertise to disagree or agree with the deal with certainty (and anyone who does is deluding themselves). But that doesn’t mean we don’t think about it. That doesn’t mean we don’t feel for each other. This is not something we can ignore. This is the furthest thing from Devarim Beteilim.

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