Shofetim: Egla Arufa & Rasputin’s Death
Aug 15th, 2010 by Rabbi Simcha Weinberg in 613 Concepts, Music of Halacha, Portion of the Week, Spiritual Growth
Rasputin
On 19 December 1916, in the last December of the Romanov Empire, a corpse bobbed to the surface of the Malaya Nevka River in Petrograd. Ice-encrusted with a mutilated face. But the most startling thing was its hands. It bound hands were raised. For there, under the icy water, that extraordinary individual, although beaten and shot, had still been alive, and had still been trying to break free of his fetters. And, as the police would later write in their report, great numbers of people hurried down to the river with flasks, jugs, and buckets to ladle up the water in which the awful body had just been floating. They wanted to scoop up with the water the deceased’s diabolical; improbable strength, of which all Russia had heard. (The Rasputin File by Edvard Radzinsky, Page 1)
My grandfather, Rabbi Yaacov Yitzchak Ruderman zt”l explained why the elders of the city declared “Our hands have not spilled this blood”: The Talmud says that no one had escorted the person from the city. My grandfather asked: How did they know? How would an escort from the city have saved his life?
He answered that someone who leaves a city alone, feels alone and therefore weak. Someone who leaves with an escort feels honored and therefore stronger. He would have fought back.
We can literally give someone the strength to fight, or fight harder for his life by simply treating him with greater respect. The Egla Arufa teaches us that we bear some responsibility for people we know who give up without a fight.
Consider the Russian peasants who were so inspired by the evil and hated Rasputin’s fight for life that they wanted some of the water in which he fought his final battle. We are moved and inspired by fighters. The Egla Arufa reminds us that we can nurture the will to fight in the people we know and meet.
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The Elder Tosafist Masters (Da’at z’keinim m’Ba’alei HaTosafot)[21;7] comment on the spelling of ‘lo shufchoo’=did not spill(the blood)as spelled in the Torah with a ‘heh’ instead of a ‘vav’ ==> the Torah hints there are 5 (‘heh’ numerically)things a host should provide for a guest:Food,Drink,Lodging,Escort and a Gift/Food for the journey. So the city elders are stating this individual came not before them, for had he done so they surely would have taken care of him and therefore are not culpable.(Brigands, staking out the city gate, watch to see who isn’t attended and would conclude the unescorted person had no ‘family’who cared about his welfare and ’surely would not be missed,since he wasn’t on the list’.
The Cohanim (RaSh”I) then say ”Cahpeir l’ahmcha Yisrael”-’Master of the World, Forgive your people Israel…’effectively widening the net to indicate zero degrees of separation between all of Israel and and the anonymous victim.
There is a special significance to the timing of this Torah reading and its message of ‘areivut’=the sweetness of knowing we are all one family who care about and are responsible one towards another. Just 4 shabbatot ago, immediately following Tish’a b’Av, the first haftarah of consolation (Nach’mu)cocludes “Ish lo ne’edar” -when the redemption will come, not one person will be missing. Conversely, one could understand this to mean, that if even 1 person is missing, the redemption could be delayed. Therefore we are charged, each and everyone of us, to do our utmost that no one will be left behind or feel left out. After a month’s lapse, with the advent of Chodesh Ellul we read about the Eglah arufa to underscore the importance of feeling responsible for each other,even those we have just met or are yet to meet.
On Rosh HaShanah nite when we bless each other to be inscribed in all the good Books, before individually blessing each other R’ Shlomo had the entire shul community
cry out in unison “l’Shanah Tova Teecateivu v’Teikhateimu”to each of the 4 corners of the world so that not one yid in the world, wherever they may be,would not be blessed with a good year.
Before Yom Kippur, R’ Shlomo would exhort us that each yid can daven to G-d and ‘demand’ “Master of the World,I implore you, please please please I don’t want You to sign me in UNLESS you also sign in the other yidden”
May we all be blessed with the imminent arrival of the Redeemer (even today Erev Shabbat!!)and if not, at least be inscribed for all good things!
If you really read Radzinsky, you will see toward the end that he made small mention of the fact that Rasputin had helped many Jews escape Russian oppression. The peasants and Jews loved Rasputin for helping them get educations, housing outside the Pale, escape unjust imprisonment, and avoid death. The antisemitic aristocracy were the ones who hated Rasputin for helping the Jews and spread many slanderous lies about him which unfortunately became history. Radzinsky, in only giving slight mention of Rasputin’s aid to Jews, and only once mentioning that there were pogroms in Russia, shows his own antisemitism. My information comes from memoirs of people who were there, including my great great uncle who was his secretary, and the tsar’s own chief of secret police.
Read “Rasputin and The Jews”, available on Amazon, to see how Rasputin advocated equal rights and freedom for Russian Jews and other minorities.