Middle of the Road: R’ Yehuda Oppenheimer

As I gaze at the lights of the menorah on the eighth night of Chanukah, I wonder: Was Beis Hillel right?

I don’t have any original thoughts to share in this essay. It is not a Torah thought, or a social commentary or a rant. It is just a thought that may help others in the prayers we are all saying.

In Part One of this essay, published a few months ago, I described the growing tension between the chareidi and non-chareidi (secular and national religious) public. I contended that the chareidi community must acknowledge that the events of October 7 have dramatically transformed Israeli society and significantly affected the interactions between the chareidim and other societal groups, as the status quo will no longer stand.

The haftarah we read this past Shabbos, Parshas MiKeitz, is rarely read. The last was two years ago, but not for 20 years before that, and it won’t be read again for another 17 years. Nevertheless, it is one of the most well-known stories in Tanach, about the two women who came to Shlomo to decide who the mother of the live baby was. He famously decreed, “Bring a sword and split the baby in two!” causing the real mother to beg him to spare the life of the child. The other said, “Well enough, neither you nor I will have a son.” Disregarding the well-known aside regarding the two mothers-in-law, this was held up as an example of Shlomo’s great wisdom, which the whole nation marveled at.

They say that “seeing is believing.” In our age of technical wonders and artificial intelligence, we know that this is not to be trusted with any “photographs” or “video” that we see, as they can be easily altered, and it is close to impossible to know when they are “fake.” However, when it comes to natural things we see with our own eyes, we still take it true that “seeing is believing.” Moreover, the notion suggests that one cannot truly comprehend an event or phenomenon until and unless you see it for yourself. That might be true about many things, but at least for two events this past week, I beg to differ.

The haftarah we read this past Shabbos, Parshas MiKeitz, is rarely read. The last was two years ago, but not for 20 years before that, and it won’t be read again for another 17 years. Nevertheless, it is one of the most well-known stories in Tanach, about the two women who came to Shlomo to decide who the mother of the live baby was. He famously decreed, “Bring a sword and split the baby in two!” causing the real mother to beg him to spare the life of the child. The other said, “Well enough, neither you nor I will have a son.” Disregarding the well-known aside regarding the two mothers-in-law, this was held up as an example of Shlomo’s great wisdom, which the whole nation marveled at.