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Retired judge Tzvi Tal, head of The Tal committee, speaks at the Israeli parliament on the topic of the Tal law. The law deals with the special exemption from mandatory military service in the Israel Defense Forces given to Israeli Ultra Orthodox Jews. November 17, 2009.
The Jewish world lost a unique and special individual this week. Justice Tzvi Tal, of blessed memory, was one of those rare individuals who truly embodied the dictum of the Gemara Yoma 86a:
Abaye said: âAnd you shall love the Lord your Godâ â you shall make the name of Heaven beloved. How? One should learn Torah and Mishna, serve Torah scholars, and be pleasant with people in one’s business transactions. What do people say about such a person? Fortunate is his father who taught him Torah, fortunate is his teacher who taught him Torah, woe to the people who have not studied Torah. See how pleasant are his ways, how proper are his deeds. The verse states
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Your just acts are like the mighty mountains; Your judgements are unfathomable …. (Psalms 36:7)
As I write these words, the whole Jewish world is reeling from the news of the tragic loss of 45 lives at Meron on Lag baOmer.. We feel deeply for their grieving families..
Why G-D sent this tragedy to us on Lag baOmer on all days – the day commemorating the abatement of a deadly plague and a day of rejoicing – and at the tomb of Rashbi of all places, only He ultimately knows. His judgements are “river-deep and mountain-high”. As the Kotsker Rebbe famously said, if we would understand Him we would be Him. One small consoling effect is that the tragic accident generated a br