Recently, the Shas Minister of Religion stated that Reform Jews are not part of the Jewish People, because they are heretics who do not believe in the Divinity of the Torah. Of course he was wrong, because the Talmud in Sanhedrin states, "A Jew, no matter how sinful he is, always remains a Jew."
The Chazon Ish on Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 13 states that "All heretics and sinners in Israel today have the status of "TINOK SHENISHBA BEIN HAAKUM" (a child, captive among the pagans) – which means they are totally unaware of the beauty of Torah Judaism, because they are indoctrinated by decadent, pagan Western culture and values. Thus, the Chazon Ish states, "It is incumbent upon us to restore the heretics only by acts of love and to enlighten them to the greatest extent possible."
The source for this seemingly lenient statement of the Chazon Ish is the great Tanna, Rabbi Tarfon. The Torah in Vayikra 19 commands us to rebuke our wayward, sinful fellow Jew. Rabbi Tarfon declares that even in his generation (2nd Century C.E.) the sinner could not be condemned, since there was no one to give proper and adequate rebuke. He states, "I wonder if there is anyone in this generation who can give proper rebuke. If one says to the sinner, 'Remove the flintstone from between your teeth', the sinner will say to the rebuker, 'First, you, remove the large wood beam from between your eyes.' " (Talmud Erechin 16).
Hence, the Chazon Ish on Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 13 is following the opinion of Rabbi Tarfon, who considers every sinner today as one acting prior to rebuke. In effect we, the Torah observant community, must assume responsibility to educate, enlighten and liberate the captive minds of our Reform Jewish bretheren.
Thus, the Chazon Ish urges us to love, not hate, teach and not reject, any Jew, no matter how sinful he is, because he is totally ignorant and brainwashed, so that he does not see the beauty of Torah True Judaism.
Our task as Torah observant Jews is to de-program and re-educate our wayward Jewish bretheren through love and understanding. |