Amram, the father of Moshe, was the leader of the Jews when Pharaoh decreed: "Every son that will be born, throw him into the river." (Shemot 1:22)
The reaction of Amram was extremely radical:
"Amram was the head of the Sanhedrin at the time that Pharaoh decreed and said 'every son that will be born....' Amram said: 'Israel conceives children in vain.' Immediately, he separated from Jocheved and from having relations. He divorced his wife when she was three months pregnant. All of Israel stood up and divorced their wives. His daughter (Miriam) said to him: 'Your decree is harsher than that of Pharaoh, in that Pharaoh only decreed against the males and you decreed against the males and females. Pharao is evil, it is doubtful whether his decree will stand or not, but you are righteous and your decree will stand.' Amram stood up and took back his wife, and all of Israel stood up and took back their wives." (Shemot Rabba 1:13)
The second chapter of Shemot relates the birth of Moshe, the beginning of the redemption. The chapter starts with Amram taking back his wife: "A man went from the house of Levi and he took a daughter of Levi." The message is clear: The critical event that started the redemption was Amram's reversal of his psak (halachic decision) that in the given situation it was better to not have children.
Amram's psak was based on pikuach nefesh - the concern for saving life. This concern supersedes every mitzvah, even the very basic mitzvah to have children. But Amram had overlooked two points that were so compelling to his young daughter that she dared to confront her honored father. One: The enemy has an evil goal and you are advancing his goal in a way that is superior to his. Two: Your calculation of pikuach nefesh may well be incorrect, you may not be saving life at all.
People make mistakes, and great scholars can make mistakes in determining Halacha. It can even happen that great scholars make halachic mistakes that are obvious to simple people. Learning can sometimes obscure common sense. Much to our misery, there is a compelling contemporary example of a psak that was intended to save lives, but in reality helped our enemies and led to a catastrophic loss of life.
Among the politicians that led Israel into the Oslo accords were followers of a leading scholar who issued a psak that such agreements are acceptable, citing pikuach nefesh as the main consideration. Obviously, the considerations that led to the psak were insufficiently balanced against arguments akin to Miriam's two points, even though such arguments were emphatically put forward at the time by many scholars and laymen. However, the psak was never revoked, and the stream of halachic thinking that it stemmed from still has incomprehensibly many adherents.
May we merit that our leaders learn from Amram and may they reap the same reward. Amram was not only a great scholar. He was also an utterly righteous man, and was prepared to listen to the arguments of a simple person. And when he understood his error, he publicly revoked his decision: "...and he took a daughter of Levi." This was an act of such greatness that it merited bringing the redemption.
[Partially based on Perush HaMakabi; Parshat Shemot, by Rabbi Meir Kahane.]
The reaction of Amram was extremely radical:
"Amram was the head of the Sanhedrin at the time that Pharaoh decreed and said 'every son that will be born....' Amram said: 'Israel conceives children in vain.' Immediately, he separated from Jocheved and from having relations. He divorced his wife when she was three months pregnant. All of Israel stood up and divorced their wives. His daughter (Miriam) said to him: 'Your decree is harsher than that of Pharaoh, in that Pharaoh only decreed against the males and you decreed against the males and females. Pharao is evil, it is doubtful whether his decree will stand or not, but you are righteous and your decree will stand.' Amram stood up and took back his wife, and all of Israel stood up and took back their wives." (Shemot Rabba 1:13)
The second chapter of Shemot relates the birth of Moshe, the beginning of the redemption. The chapter starts with Amram taking back his wife: "A man went from the house of Levi and he took a daughter of Levi." The message is clear: The critical event that started the redemption was Amram's reversal of his psak (halachic decision) that in the given situation it was better to not have children.
Amram's psak was based on pikuach nefesh - the concern for saving life. This concern supersedes every mitzvah, even the very basic mitzvah to have children. But Amram had overlooked two points that were so compelling to his young daughter that she dared to confront her honored father. One: The enemy has an evil goal and you are advancing his goal in a way that is superior to his. Two: Your calculation of pikuach nefesh may well be incorrect, you may not be saving life at all.
People make mistakes, and great scholars can make mistakes in determining Halacha. It can even happen that great scholars make halachic mistakes that are obvious to simple people. Learning can sometimes obscure common sense. Much to our misery, there is a compelling contemporary example of a psak that was intended to save lives, but in reality helped our enemies and led to a catastrophic loss of life.
Among the politicians that led Israel into the Oslo accords were followers of a leading scholar who issued a psak that such agreements are acceptable, citing pikuach nefesh as the main consideration. Obviously, the considerations that led to the psak were insufficiently balanced against arguments akin to Miriam's two points, even though such arguments were emphatically put forward at the time by many scholars and laymen. However, the psak was never revoked, and the stream of halachic thinking that it stemmed from still has incomprehensibly many adherents.
May we merit that our leaders learn from Amram and may they reap the same reward. Amram was not only a great scholar. He was also an utterly righteous man, and was prepared to listen to the arguments of a simple person. And when he understood his error, he publicly revoked his decision: "...and he took a daughter of Levi." This was an act of such greatness that it merited bringing the redemption.
[Partially based on Perush HaMakabi; Parshat Shemot, by Rabbi Meir Kahane.]
