THE UNFAIR TRIAL

“Were they wise they would comprehend this; they would discern it from their end. For how could one pursue a thousand, and two cause a myriad to flee, if not that their Rock had sold them out, and Hashem had delivered them? For not like our Rock is their rock – yet our enemies judge us!” (Devarim 32:29-31)

In his epic song, Moshe reviews the past and future of the Jewish people. He predicts that the Nation will stray from God and will suffer oppression at the hands of cruel enemies. Their victory over the Jews will appear supernatural, yet they will not realise that it was Hashem who allowed them such success. Moshe ends on an ominous note declaring “our enemies judge us.” Rashi explains that the word “judgement” here means to defeat or punish. Our foes punish us because God has willed it so. This is a very difficult concept to grasp and it seems to fly in the face of our understanding of Hashem who is described as merciful and forgiving.

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, of blessed memory, (The Steinsaltz Humash, Louis Weisfeld Edition, Koren Publishers) translates the verse thus: “For our Rock is not like their rock, the rock of our enemies is not as strong as our Rock, and nevertheless, our enemies are our judges and administer punishment to us.” In his commentary he writes, “The Israelites will be unable to prove their virtue in the courts of the other nations because they will not be treated as equals under the law. This problem is almost as ancient as the nation of Israel itself.  Throughout various periods of history, Jews were required to debate and justify their position, despite the fact that the opposing side served as the judge [this is like having a New Zealander being the referee at a match between the Springboks and the All Blacks!]. An arrangement of that kind left little chance for the possibility that the Jew would emerge victorious.”

A famous example of this is the debate between the Ramban, Nachmanides, (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, Spain and Israel, 1194-1270) and the apostate Jew. This is the story behind it (from www.chabad.org): For many years, Ramban lived in his native town supporting himself as a physician, and devoting most of his time to the study and teaching of the Talmud and Kabbalah, and to his literary work, writing commentaries on the Torah and Talmud. But in his declining days, when he was nearly seventy years old, his quiet life underwent a sudden change. An apostate Jew, masquerading as a devout Catholic, Paulus Christianus, had challenged the Jews to a religious disputation. He induced King James I of Aragon to summon the renowned Rabbi of Gerona to a public debate in Barcelona in the year 1263.

Reluctantly, Ramban journeyed to the king’s court at Barcelona. Ramban declared himself ready to participate in the debate only if he were given permission for full freedom of speech. Unusually, the king granted him his request. Then, before a large court audience, began the debate between Paulus and his Dominican colleagues on the one side, and the venerable Rabbi of Gerona at the head of the Jewish representatives on the other. Ramban easily refuted all the arguments of Paulus and proved effectively that the Jews were entitled to retain their own beliefs and faith. For four days, the public disputation carried on and Ramban’s brilliant defence of his faith was too much for his adversaries. It made them anxious to end the debate. The king was so impressed with the scholarship, wisdom and eloquence of Ramban, that he visited him in shul the following Shabbat! At a farewell audience to which the king invited Ramban, the king praised him highly and gave him a rich present as a token of respect and admiration.

But, as was the case of the earlier disputation of Rabbi Yechiel of Paris, the enemies of Israel claimed victory in the debate, spreading malicious propaganda throughout Spain. Indignantly, Ramban published a true account of the debate and even had it ratified by the king himself. But although he did not publish anything except for what he had said at the debate with the king’s explicit permission, Ramban was brought to trial by the influential Dominicans and was eventually condemned to banishment for “blasphemy.” At the age of 72, he had to leave his beloved community, his famous Yeshiva, his friends, and his native land. He set out for the Land of Israel, hoping to find peace and solace there.

There are two accounts of the four-day debate. One, composed in Latin, was written by church officials claiming that they won the debate. The second, written to set the record straight, was composed by Ramban in Hebrew. I have a copy in my study edited by the scholar Rabbi Chavel and published by Mosad HaRav Kook. The debate was also the subject of a 1986 film, ‘The Disputation’, starring Christopher Lee. The king agreed to Ramban’s request that the debate be limited to three issues: (i) Has the messiah already come?  (ii) Is the messiah God? and (iii) Do the Jews hold the true Torah, or is that the sole possession of the Christians? This book, the account by Nachmanides, shows that the debaters addressed the first two questions, but not the third. In response to the second question, Ramban replied very bravely that, “The prophet Isaiah (2:4) said that in the era of the Messiah… “They will beat their swords into ploughshares… one nation will not lift a sword against another nation… and they will no longer learn the art of war”. And yet, from the time of Jesus until the present, the world has been filled with violence and injustice, and the Christians have shed more blood than all other peoples…”

Even though Ramban won the debate, he ultimately lost and was forced into exile. Tragically, this perversion of justice continues in the twenty-first century. One need not look any further than the United Nations where resolution after resolution is passed against Israel by the very nations who would gladly rejoice in the destruction of the Jewish State. Consider, also, South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. On December 29, 2023, less than three months after the brutal Hamas attack on southern Israel, South Africa opened a case at the IJC in which they argued that Israel’s actions and omissions in Gaza were genocidal in character and intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian population. The application framed the conflict within a broader context of long-standing occupation, blockades, and policies. Israel rejected the allegations as “baseless” and a “blood libel”, maintaining that its operations target Hamas military capabilities in self-defence following the October 7, 2023 attacks. Israel also challenged the court’s jurisdiction. Once again, this is a case of “our enemies judge us.” I have no doubt that there is little impartiality on the part of the jurors of the IJC.

We look forward to a time when we are judged objectively and fairly.

Lee, Chani Merryl & Naomi join me in wishing you Shabbat Shalom and Gemar Chatima Tova!

Rabbi Liebenberg.

This week’s YouTube message: https://youtu.be/cbWGSKU-UMg?si=KScvFaLlJaLh2GBL

YouTube clip for Yom Kippur: https://youtu.be/H938dCcimhA