Rabbi Weissman – Lessons From Melachim Part One

 

Contemporary Lessons from Melachim – Part One 

A Special Merit

Yaravam ben Nevat had tremendous spiritual potential. He risked his life and took a public stand against Shlomo HaMelech for the sake of Hashem's honor. Because of this Hashem chose Yaravam to be the king of the ten tribes when He split Israel into two kingdoms. 

Once he rose to power, however, Yaravam quickly turned bad. He feared that the regular Jewish pilgrimages to Jerusalem would render his kingdom inferior, and eventually lead to its dissolution. In order to strengthen his political position, Yaravam placed two golden calves in his territory to serve as substitutes for the Beis Hamikdash. To ensure that those who learned anything from history wouldn't torpedo his plans, he also set up military checkpoints to prevent his citizens from ascending to the Beis Hamikdash.

He didn't “force” the Jews to serve the golden calves, but he didn't give them much choice if they wanted to remain part of society, either.

Even after he sinned so terribly and caused countless others to sin, Hashem offered him a lifeline:

אחר הדבר הזה לא שב ירבעם מדרכו הרעה מאי אחר אמר ר' אבא אחר שתפשו הקב"ה לירבעם בבגדו ואמר לו חזור בך ואני ואתה ובן ישי נטייל בגן עדן אמר לו מי בראש בן ישי בראש אי הכי לא בעינא 

“After this matter Yaravam did not repent from his evil path” (Melachim I 13:33). What is it referring to by “after”? Rabbi Abba said, after Hashem grabbed Yaravam by his garment and said to him, “Return!  Then I, you, and the son of Yishai will stroll in the Garden of Eden.” 
He said to Him, “Who will be at the head?” 
[Replied Hashem] “The son of Yishai.”
“In that case, I'm not interested.” (Sanhedrin 102A)

These golden calves would continue to drag down the ten tribes for many generations until they were finally exiled. All because Yaravam couldn't bear the thought of being second after tasting power. There is much to learn from this, but what comes next is even more instructive for our times. Yaravam's son, Aviya, became ill and eventually died. The prophet Achiya HaShiloni foretold as follows: 

וספדו לו כל ישראל וקברו אתו כי זה לבדו יבא לירבעם אל קבר יען נמצא בו דבר טוב אל יהוה אלהי ישראל בבית ירבעם
And all of Israel will eulogize him and bury him, for this one alone of Yaravam's [house] will come to be buried, because in him was found something good to Hashem, the God of Israel, in the house of Yaravam. (14:13)

What special merit was found in Aviya? 

רבי זירא ורבי חיננא בר פפא, חד אמר שביטל משמרתו ועלה לרגל, וחד אמר שביטל פרדסאות שהושיב ירבעם אביו על הדרכים שלא יעלו ישראל לרגל
Rabbi Zeira and Rabbi Chinina bar Papa: One says that he canceled his guard duty and went up for the pilgrimage, and one says that he canceled legions that Yaravam his father placed on the roads so that the Jews would not go up for the pilgrimage. (Moed Katan 28B)

Aviya was one of the soldiers whose job it was to prevent Jews from going up to Jerusalem. He left his post and went up himself. According to one opinion, he even got other soldiers to follow his example. It's true that, as the king's son, he could get away with more than most people, but this still required incredible courage. He was rebelling against a mandate that Yaravam believed was the key to his entire rule. 

This was Aviya's special merit: a valiant act of civil disobedience for the sake of Hashem.
It must be noted that his disobedience did not make a big difference in the grand scheme of things. It didn't lead to a social movement, let alone the abolition of the military checkpoints. Indeed, the checkpoints remained for approximately two hundred years.

Aviya was a rare dissenter in a society that turned idolatrous. In a world gone crazy, where they were once again serving golden calves, Aviya did something remarkable for Hashem. He was unable to save his society – but don't be fooled. His civil disobedience was not for nothing.
He saved himself.

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According to the Israel's Mafia of Health:

6,676,541 took one shot of crap
6,031,267 took two shots of crap (645,274 said no more or died)
4,405,984 took three shots of crap (1,625,283 more people said no more or died)
558,661 took four shots of crap (a whopping 3,847,323 more people checked out)
In total, 6,117,880 have taken at least one shot and stopped lining up for more.
Only a tiny percentage of Israelis are still lining up to get more crap.
The government does not intend to give back the freedoms they stole in the last two years.  They have other plans.  Now is the time to fully wake up and join the resistance movement.

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It's long past time that Torah-observant Jews across the board acknowledge the fact that Yeshiva University is no longer an Orthodox institution, despite maintaining some superficial resemblance to one.   They already sold out their faculty and staff to the death cult of forced masks and bioweapon injections.  Now they are running an event in open support of murdering unborn children under the guise of "social justice".  

 https://www.yu.edu/wurzweiler/events?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D566078945

We shouldn't be shocked or outraged — this is the next logical step.  This is what they are.  But it's time to say it like it is.  YU is outside the pale, and should be treated accordingly.

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Here's a blast from the past.  Four years ago I did a screening of my documentary, Single Jewish Male, at the OU Israel Center.  (This was before they required people to be injected with bioweapons to enter the facility.)  After the screening we had an interesting Q and A session, which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQHApyBY_hE.  The documentary is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_2-F-XwTcI&t=1149s, and there are three short films with bonus footage on my channel as well.