HaRav Shmuel Eliyahu is Chief Rabbi of Tzfat
One of the commandments that the Torah commands us in this week’s parashah is not to seduce a young woman into immoral behavior. When a man seduces a young woman into relations, he cannot absolve himself by saying that everything was done with her consent:
“If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife" (Shemot 22).
If her father or she herself does not desire this:
“If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall weigh out silver according to the bride-price of virgins."
The bride-price of virgins in those days was equivalent to a full year’s minimum wage.
The Liberal Seducer of Young Women
This great truth was unknown to the billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, the high priest of the progressive liberals of the world. In order to advance a progressive agenda globally, he seduced hundreds of young women to have intimate relations with prime ministers and leaders from across the world. Once again it becomes clear that without God, one can commit the greatest injustice known to humanity in the name of justice - and feel enlightened and morally upright.
For this wickedness Epstein was indicted, imprisoned, and either committed suicide or was eliminated. Jeffrey Epstein advanced the progressive liberal agenda through his associate Herbert Wexner who amassed immense wealth through a different form of disgraceful exploitation of women. Together, for more than a decade, they managed the Wexner Foundation, which carried out “consciousness-engineering" among hundreds of judges and leaders in key positions in Israel and around the world.
Blackmailing the Leaders of Israel
Today the magnitude of the benefits received by Ehud Barak from both Jeffrey Epstein and the Wexner Foundation is coming to light: millions of shekels for an article that was never written, expensive gifts, luxury hotel stays and hospitality. Simple logic suggests that Epstein did not give gifts to world leaders for free. Through such bribery he extorted many political decisions which today everyone sees were disastrous.
Does the Corruption Reach the Judicial System?
We are told that Epstein allegedly invested tens of billions in Israel’s judicial system. Who knows whether he was not responsible, behind the scenes, for many of the decisions made by braches of the judicial system that constantly seek to turn the State of Israel into a secular liberal state? Were decisions against the so-called "settlers" in the Land of Israel made in this way? Was the bizarre decision to concede to the Arab sector regarding land theft, authorized under the protection of the judicial system, made in this way?
Jeffrey Epstein and the Leaders of Israel
-We do not know what caused the IDF to evacuate Lebanon hastily when Ehud Barak was Prime Minister - an overnigiht withdrawal that strengthened Hezbollah and placed the State of Israel in existential danger.
-We do not know who persuaded Israel’s leaders to agree to relinquish significant portions of Jerusalem, were it not for Yasser Arafat’s unlimited demands that prevented the implementation of the dangerous peace agreements that Barak sought to sign with him.
-When one connects all this with Epstein’s progressive liberal agenda and his methods of operation, one can understand who negatively influenced Ehud Barak’s judgment.
No one would be surprised if we were to discover that this corrupt group also blackmailed Ariel Sharon and transformed him from being a right-wing diehard who loved the Land of Israel into someone who relinquished parts of the Land without reason or sense. Nor would we be surprised to discover that those who seek to incriminate Benjamin Netanyahu are agents of the same criminal circle.
Fortunately for the State of Israel, the head of this kingdom of evil ended his life in great disgrace.
Consciousness-Shaping of Prime Ministers and Decision-Makers
It remains for us to mention that Herbert Wexner’s fortune was accumulated through disgraceful exploitation of women. Through this tainted wealth, a foundation was built in his name whose purpose was to shape the consciousness of Israel’s leaders. Many of our State’s leaders were sent to study at Harvard University in the United States - which, in its distorted morality, failed to condemn the massacre, murder, and rape of Jewish women on Simchat Torah.
Two years ago, the directors of the Wexner Foundation understood the magnitude of the mistake in educating Israel’s leaders in values at this corrupted university and severed their ties with Harvard University.
“Do not learn morality from the nations of the world."
This is the reason the Torah tells us not to learn morality from people who have no God. Do not learn even from those who appear most moral in your eyes:
“It was taught: Rabbi Tarfon would say: Wherever you find courts (batei din) of gentiles, even though their laws are like the laws of Israel, you are not permitted to bring cases before them. As it is said: ‘And these are the ordinances that you shall place before them’ - ‘before them’ and not before gentiles" (Gittin 88b).
“God stands in the congregation of God; in the midst of judges He judges."
The Torah teaches that one must judge only in a court within which God’s Presence dwells - a place where:
“God stands in the congregation of God; in the midst of judges He judges."
But when He is not present:
“How long will you judge unjustly and show favor to the wicked? Selah. Judge the poor and the orphan; vindicate the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the poor and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked" (Psalms 82).
So it is ruled in the Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 26:1):
“It is forbidden to litigate before gentile judges and in their courts, even if they judge according to the laws of Israel, and even if both litigants agree to be judged before them - it is forbidden. Whoever comes to be judged before them is wicked, as if he blasphemed and raised his hand against the Torah of Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him."
As Though He Perfected the Entire World
Because of the indwelling of the Shechinah that rests with God-fearing judges, it is ruled (Tur, Choshen Mishpat, Siman 8):
“A judge should see himself as though a sword rests upon his neck and as though Gehenna is open beneath him. He should know whom he is judging, before Whom he is judging, and Who will exact payment from him if he deviates from the line of justice. As it is said: ‘God stands in the congregation of God; in the midst of judges He judges.’ And it is said: ‘See what you are doing, for you do not judge for man but for God.’"
Therefore, judges must sit in awe, in reverence, wrapped solemnly and with gravity. It is forbidden to act frivolously or to engage in idle talk in the court. A judge should see himself as though a sword rests upon his neck and as though Gehenna is open beneath him.
Any judge who does not judge with true justice causes the Shechinah to depart from Israel. Any judge who takes money from one and gives it to another unlawfully - the Holy One, blessed be He, takes souls from him. But any judge who renders a truly just judgment, even for one hour, is considered as though he perfected the entire world and causes the Shechinah to dwell in Israel (Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 8).
My Teacher, My Father of Blessed Memory, Would Not Drink Tea in the Courtroom
My father, the great Rabbi Mordechai Eliahu of blessed memory, would not drink even a cup of tea in the courtroom out of honor for the Divine Presence. He would say that when “a sword rests upon his neck and Gehenna is open beneath him," it is impossible to drink a cup of tea and the like.
For this reason, whenever he served as judge in a beit din he would be careful to pray before every hearing that the Shechinah rest upon him, that no error emerge from under his hand; that God illuminate his eyes to see the truth; and that he have the strength to rescue the oppressed from his oppressor.
May it be His will that we merit the fulfillment of:
“And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning; afterward you shall be called the City of Righteousness, a Faithful City. Zion shall be redeemed through justice, and her returnees through righteousness."
Amen