Parshas Mishpatim
By Rabbi Dovid Zauderer
Here, you can add this question to the “Four Questions†at the Seder this Passover …
Why is President Trump different from all other presidents?
All other presidents did not get impeached even once, but this president - twice.
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In my “research†for this article, I looked up the online dictionary for the meaning of the words: “trumped-upâ€, as in “trumped-up chargesâ€.
The answer that came back to me was: “untrue, and made up in order to punish someone unfairly.â€
Hmmm, I thought, that’s interesting…
Is it possible that the trumped-up charges being brought against ex-President Trump in his second impeachment trials are also untrue, and made up in order to punish the president unfairly?
Does former President Donald J. Trump truly deserve to be punished for what happened at the Capitol building in Washington D.C. on January 6th 2021… or is this whole “Capitol Punishment†case grossly unfair and unjust?
So I figured that as a rabbi I would do what rabbis typically do – and offer you a Torah perspective on this issue:
In Deuteronomy (3:7-12), the Torah discusses the case of a meisis [pronounced may-sis], one who entices others to go astray and to worship other gods.
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein ZTâ€L writes in his responsa Igros Moshe (Orach Chaim 1:99) that although the Torah mentions the meisis specifically with regard to the sin of idolatry, in reality it applies to all sins.
So that any Jew who entices or persuades his fellow Jew to do any sin whatsoever is considered a meisis according to Halachah (Jewish law) and is duly punished with all the severity of the law.
Could one possibly make the case that with all the President’s constant rhetoric about a rigged election and his whipping up the masses into a frenzy to go take back our country from the Bad Guys – he was guilty of being meisis the masses to storm the Capitol building on that fateful Wednesday in January, and to cause death and tremendous damage in their path? Not too sure about that …
Elsewhere the Talmud (see Kiddushin 43a) discusses a case where a person sends a shaliach (agent) – sort of like a modern-day ‘hit-man’ - to kill someone else. According to one opinion in the Talmud – and this is also how Maimonides rules in his Mishneh Torah in the Laws of Murder 2:2 - the sender is liable to receive “Death by Heaven†for his role as the one who sent the agent to kill the other person.
The Talmudic commentators argue as to whether or not the sender’s punishment of ‘â€Death by Heaven†applies only to a case of murder, or even where the agent is just sent to inflict damages.
Either way, I think that it would be quite difficult in a court of law to argue that President Trump’s public rants in front of huge crowds of supporters are akin to sending an agent to carry out a hit where the connection between sender and murderer/damager is clear.
So basically, what I am saying is that from a Torah point of view, I don’t think that Congress really has what it takes to take Trump down with a conviction.
The truth is that I really shouldn’t speak on behalf of the Torah, since I’m not as smart as I look.
This much I can tell you from the Torah, though.
The Torah commands us in Deuteronomy 23:8: “You shall not reject an Egyptian, for you were a sojourner in his land …â€
Now bear in mind that Egypt was the slave master of Israel for over 200 years, but we are enjoined not to treat them in kind. This, the Bible tells us, is because Egypt had provided food and lodging when our ancestors had to go there. We therefore accept any Egyptians who seek to convert to our faith (at least after three generations).
Do you know what this means for all of us folks? The Torah is telling us – no, commanding us – that we have to be eternally grateful to our former Egyptian tormentors for the good that they did for us, providing us with food and lodging when we needed it.
And the same is true with our former President. Whether or not you like Donald Trump – or whether or not he is found guilty at the impeachment trials – doesn’t change the fact that he did a whole lot of good for America and even more for Israel during the past four years. And for that we need to be forever grateful.
So I say to you: “Thank you, President Trump! We appreciate what you’ve accomplished! Best of luck!â€
http://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=653