Re: [Cz-L[ Generalizations: what does Talmud say

Thank you so much for consulting your wise Rabbi. It is "Brilliant" indeed.
This should be read by all the people who generalize, who bear grudges forever,
and who are prejudiced.

Happy Purim,

Ruth

 
Ruth Glasberg Gold
20191 E Country Club Dr, #1802
Aventura, FL 33180 USA
 
T 305.936.9494
F 305.936.9992
email: glasgold_at_bellsouth.net

________________________________
From: cornel fleming <cornel.fleming_at_virgin.net>
To: Jacob Greenberg <grs_software_at_bigpond.com>; Czernowitz-L_at_cornell.edu
Sent: Fri, February 22, 2013 1:14:25 PM
Subject: RE: [Cz-L[ Generalizations: what does Talmud say

Brilliant!!! Cornel

-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-75110676-8441035_at_list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-75110676-8441035_at_list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Jacob
Greenberg
Sent: Friday, February 22, 2013 4:51 AM
To: Czernowitz-L_at_cornell.edu
Subject: RE:[Cz-L[ Generalizations: what does Talmud say

[Please post in Plain Text]

I would like to share with you an e-mail I received this Friday from my =
Rabbi.

Question of the Week: =20

I have an acquaintance who was born in Germany, but raised most of his =
life in the USA. His father was a member of the Nazi youth. I find this =
very difficult to ignore. My friend is not like his father. Yet he made =
a point to tell me of his father's past and his father's hatred of Jews. =
Can I truly befriend such a person??

Answer:

There is a precedent for your question. It goes all the way back to the =
story of Purim.

Haman was the wicked Persian minister who plotted the annihilation of =
the Jewish people. Through a complex sequence of seeming coincidences =
that were only retrospectively recognized as miraculous, his plot was =
overturned, the Jews saved, and Haman executed on the very gallows he =
had prepared for the Jewish leader Mordechai.

We celebrate the festival of Purim to remember Haman's downfall and the =
victory of the Jewish people over their enemies. But there is a little =
known ironic addendum to the story. Haman's relationship with the Jewish =
people continued posthumously in a most curious way.

The Talmud relates that "Haman's grandchildren studied Torah in Bnei =
Brak." That means Haman had Jewish offspring. The very man who wanted to =
destroy the Jews had rabbis as his descendants.=20

When the Haman family came to convert to Judaism, their background was =
known, and yet they were embraced by the Jewish people as one of us. =
Indeed a the great Talmudic rabbi, Shmuel bar Shilas, was a member of =
that family.

We don't hold children culpable for the wrongs of their fathers. A child =
or grandchild of a monster who disassociates from the evils of the past =
should be accepted for who they are. Whether Persian or German or =
Amalekite, the gates of reconciliation are always open.=20

We should never exonerate unrepentant perpetrators of evil. But their =
innocent children who actively repudiate their ways, move to a new =
society and adopt different values, should not suffer for the moral =
failures of their forebears.

Haman was evil. His grandchildren weren't. They celebrated Purim too. =
What better expression of the triumph of good over evil can there be =
than that.

Good Shabbos and Happy Purim,

Rabbi Moss-Nefesh Synagogue. Sydney, Australia

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Received on 2013-02-22 15:55:54