Three Chapters from the Book Problems and Solutions by Dovid Eidensohn

6 - The Strangest Story in the Talmud? HaShem Battles the Moon!

            Actually, the story that I will quote from gemora Chulin 60b is much stranger than what I wrote in the title here. I wrote here “HaShem Battles the Moon!” Yes, that is true, as the gemora there describes the battle in detail. But the real strangest story is the conclusion of the gemora there where HaShem, having failed to convince the Moon to do what He wanted, then declares, “Bring for Me an Atonement because I made the Moon small.”

We now quote the above gemora, and will add explanations where appropriate.

Gemora Chulin 60b: “Rabbi Shimon bar Pazai asked, ‘It is written that, ‘Elokim made the two large luminaries.’ And it is written, ‘The large luminary and the small luminary.’” The problem is very simple. First the Torah tells us that HaShem made two large luminaries, meaning they both were large. Then it is written “The large luminary and the small luminary.” This means that only one luminary was large and the other luminary was small. As we will soon see, the two luminaries were the Sun and the Moon. HaShem decided to make the Moon small as we will see.

The Moon said to HaShem, Master of the Universe! Is it possible for two kings to share the same crown? He said to her, Go make yourself small. She said to him, because I uttered before you a proper statement I must make myself small? He said to her, Go and rule over day and night. She said, What is the benefit? Of what good is a candle in the daytime? (HaShem said) Go and the Jews will count because of you days and years. She said, Days also cannot be counted other than by mentioning seasons as it is said ‘And they will be for signs and holy days and for days and for years.’ (HaShem said) Go, and the pious will be called your name Yaacov the Small, Shmuel the Small, David the Small. He saw that she was not satisfied. HaShem said, Bring for Me an atonement that I made the moon small. As Reish Lokish said, Why is the Goat Offering of Rosh Chodesh unusual that it says “for HaShem”? HaShem said, This goat will be an atonement for Me because I made the moon small.’”

First of all, what kind of chutzpah does the Moon have to argue like that with HaShem? And if the Moon does have such terrific Chutspah, why does HaShem tolerate it? Assuming that the Moon is an angel, what angel can make demands of HaShem like that? And what angel gets away with it? And what angel succeeds in making HaShem admit that since He disagreed with the Moon He must bring an atonement every Rosh Chodesh?

This brings us to the beginning of the Torah, and the story of Creation. In the Chumash we find “In the beginning ELOKIM created the heaven and the earth.” HaShem’s Name is ELOKIM, the Name of Justice, which is also a female name. Later on, much later, suddenly the Torah reverses itself, and starts all over with the Creation story, but this time HaShem is HaShem ELOKIM. HaShem is masculine and kindness, and ELOKIM is female and justice. What does this mean? The Torah was dictated by HaShem, and did He change His mind?

So we have Justice and Kindness ELOKIM the Name for Justice, and HaShem the Name for Kindness. And we have a female name ELOKIM for rigid justice. And we are greatly confused by all of this going here and then reversing. This is, after all, HaShem’s Torah.

We come now to a point where we must define what HaShem’s plan was in all of this. There had to be a plan behind the various Names and why first this one and then that one. When the second Name was introduced, what happened to the first Name? We want answers.

The answer is as follows. The Creation is a Creation of humans who are not angels. A human is not an angel, and we find at the act of Creation that the angels opposed the creation of humans. If HaShem wants them, what Chutspah do the angels have to oppose it?

The answer is as follows. There are three levels for human beings in the Torah. One, is rigid justice. A world of rigid justice does not tolerate sin. If ELOKIM would be the standard of creation anyone who sinned could disappear. It would be a repeat of the Flood when the world was wiped out leaving only one family of righteous people, Noah and his family.

But less we reject rigid justice, we must understand that HaShem is insulted when He created a world of sinners. That world is Chilul HaShem. The angels who have no inclination to sin are also insulted when HaShem created a world filled with sinners. If the Moon wanted to dominate over the Sun, she was simply reflecting respect for HaShem, that a creation filled with sinners, as it is and as it has always been, is a Chilul HaShem. If she had Chutspah to argue with HaShem, it was Chutspah to save the world from sinners and to promote rigid justice that would not tolerate sinners.

Thus, we have a clash that seems to have no solution. If there is rigid justice, we have a situation that could easily result in wiping out most people because most people are not perfectly righteous. If we on the other hand seek kindness, we promote a world of sin. What is the solution?

The solution is a gemora in Avoda Zoro beginning 4b and going into 5a. The gemora asks how it is possible that King David who stated that his heart is so pure that evil cannot influence him, and then he goes and kills a husband and steals his wife. That is probably the greatest sin ever done. How did that happen? The answer, says the gemora as Rashi explains, is that HaShem wanted it to happen to teach everyone that no matter what sin you do, if you repent HaShem will accept it. Again, the purpose of the world is not perfect justice. It is not a world full of sinners. It is a world filled with sin but containing the capacity of Teshuvo, which is the purpose of Creation.

Having said that, should we all go around killing husbands and kidnapping wives and then doing teshuva? HaShem selected the highest level of humanity, which was King David and the Jews at Sinai, as the gemora teaches, and had them sin, although they were not at all interested in sinning do to their very high level. But the world learned from these great people who sinned by the will of HaShem, that people should never despair of penitence and Teshuva. Teshuva is the purpose of the world.

Having said that, what happens to ELOKIM and rigid justice? Do we declare a vacation for such things? If here and there a perfectly righteous person appears, Mordechai of Megilas Esther, and the Chofetz Chaim, should we be disappointed, chas vishalom?

Now everything seems to fall into an order we can understand. The Torah begins with a lengthy discussion of Creation as an act of ELOKIM, rigid justice, the female Name. But once established, and once we understand that of course HaShem is sanctified when perfectly righteous people exist, and a world requires such people. We don’t want a world where no perfectly people exist. The catch is that when most people do sin, we don’t reject them, because of the Creation of Teshuva, as we explained.

Thus, the perfectly righteous are happy. The rest of us who do sins maybe every day, have teshuva. Ultimately, there is hope for everybody. Yes, there is hope even for the Moon. HaShem made her small, because rigid justice is a threat to most if not almost all humans. But HaShem accepted the complaint of the Moon because He surely desires a place for the few perfectly righteous. They are not second class citizens. HaShem emphasized His preference for the perfectly righteous even though most people can’t reach this level, by declaring that once a month a sacrifice be brought for Him, for HaShem, for allowing a world that defies the standards of the perfectly righteous. By bringing a sacrifice of atonement, HaShem encouraged the great level of penitence, as the gemora above in Avoda Zora teaches, that the greatest Jews had to sin to prove the value of penitence. So, yes, HaShem created a world that begins with ELOKIM and the perfectly righteous. He then took step two to give the sinners a chance, which really means that He gives those who do teshuva a chance, because that is the only hope for the vast majority of humankind. And to establish this, HaShem declared that He would also repent, to encourage everyone who is not perfect, the vast majority of people, not to be ashamed because if they were ashamed they would not repent. Thus, the penitent are proud because if HaShem repents why can’t everyone repent? And in a world where the few perfectly righteous are honored, because that is the ideal, but for those who sin there is teshuva and HaShem backed them up, we have a world filled with people happy with their levels and determined to serve HaShem with joy.

7 - A Husband or Wife without a Functioning Marriage

The Hebrew version of this is:

ולשון הרמב"ם פרק טו' מהלכות אישות וז"ל מצות חכמים היא שלא ישב אדם בלא אשה שלא יבא לידי הרהור עכ"ל ובמגיד משנה שם מביא המקור להרמב"ם מגמרא יבמות סב ע"ב וז"ל שאין אדם רשאי לישב בלא אשה עכ"ל

Translation is: Rambam Chapter 15 of the Laws of Marriage says, “The rabbis have decreed that a man should not be without a wife lest he come to sinful thoughts. The Magid Mishneh there brings the source of the Rambam in the gemora Yevomose 62B, “A man is forbidden to live without a wife.” Let us understand that the Rambam and the Magid are not saying that if a man has a wife and they have no intimacy that this is okay. It is not okay. It means that a man has a functioning marriage where there is regularly intimacy as taught in the Shulchan Aruch and gemora. But if a wife wants a divorce and the husband refuses to give her one, even if they continue to live in the same house, the husband has no intimacy nor does the wife. This can cause both of them to find intimacy with another person who is forbidden to them and if they do this they are doing a horrible sin.

Let us now bring the Hebrew version of our next teaching:

והנה מי שאין לו אשה  והוא צעיר לימים יש לו לחוש שיכשל בזרע לבטלה ח"ו. ובש"ע אבן העזר סימן כג' סעיף א' וז"ל אסור להוציא שכבת זרע לבטלה ועון זה חמור מכל עבירות שבתורה ע"כ ובסעיף ב' וז"ל אלה שמנאפים ביד ומוציאים שכבת זרע לא די להם שאיסור גדול הוא אלא שהעושה כן בנידוי הוא יושב ועליהם נאמר ידיכם דמים מלאו וכאלו הרג הנפש.

This means “one who has no wife and he is young we must fear that he will sin with zera livatao chas vishalom. In Shulchan Aruch Even Hoezer chapter 23 paragraph 1 we find, “It is forbidden to take out zera livatolo and this sin is greater than all sins in the Torah.” In paragraph 2 there it says, “And those who with their hands take out zera livatolo not only have they performed a great sin but who does this is in nidui and regarding such people it is said, “your hands are filled with blood, and it is as if they killed a person.”

We must clarify something at this point. When the Torah was given to Moshe and the rabbis wrote the Talmud it was permitted for a man to have more than one wife. It was also possible for a man to divorce his wife even if she refused the divorce. But today because of various newer laws it is forbidden to have more than one wife and to divorce a wife without her consent is also forbidden. If so, a husband who has reached a point with his wife that he cannot have regularly intimacy with her, either because she refuses or because he does not want to be with her, we have a crisis. Biology is burning for a young person, and it doesn’t go away for many years until the person is really old, and even then, who knows if anybody is really cleansed of the biology. If so, the only solution is a good marriage. If a person is unable to have intimacy but the marriage is good, things may be fine. But especially with younger people, any marriage with no functioning intimacy and nothing to calm the fire of the biology, what hope is there to be saved from serious sins?

There are today thousands of people without a proper protection from their biology. Many people divorced and cannot remarry for whatever reason. Many people can marry but are reluctant because of the many problems in marriages today, the gender war, etc. Many people delayed marriage until it got to the point that they could only marry by accepting somebody much older or much different than the person they always planned to marry. Such people can wait and wait and wait until they find what they always wanted, but it is not easy to find somebody you wanted in your youth when you are much older.

This is a crisis and it is only getting worse. The gender wars, the fears, the lack of proper guides for many people, yes, it is a crisis and it is only getting worse.

We have, in his book, revealed various problems in the Torah world. We have also suggested various solutions. Let us try now to make something of a list of the problems and a list of solutions. If we believe strongly in the Torah and the Shulchan Aruch, and we associate with people who agree with this approach to Torah and life, we have a way to deal with crisis. But if we don’t believe strongly in the Torah and the Shulchan Aruch the way the Chofets Chaim and earlier generation believed in them, we have no tools to stand strong to solve the problems.

This is going to bring us to the next section of the book, Heel and Happiness – the Secret of Success. We are going to discuss about people who believe in the Shulchan Aruch the way we should believe in it, and are outnumbered. And yet, there is hope and more than hope.

8 - Heel and Happiness – the Secret of Success

Devorim 7:12 “And it will be when you keep the laws of these commands and guard them and fulfill them, then G‑d will fulfill for you the covenant and the kindness that He swore to your fathers.” The Orach Chaim, a major commentary on the bible, asks why this passage was written with the two unusual beginning words. The passage should be written “And if you keep the laws…” Instead it adds two words והיה עקב which in Hebrew translate to “and it will be because of (your hearkening to the commands)”. The Medrash explains that the word “HEEL” is there to teach that G‑d promises protection only to Jews who do not grind the Torah into the ground with their heel.

I hear alarm bells. What Jew steps on the laws of the Torah as one grinds something in the dirt with his heel? Some Jews obey and some Jews are too busy to obey. But a Jew who believes in the Torah doesn’t grind a command down with his heel. Furthermore, if the condition for G‑d to protect the Jews is the fact that the Jews don’t grind the Torah down into the dirt, that should be extremely easy to fulfill. What Jew would do it and if there was a Jew who did it, and people knew about it, we can be sure that the Jew would never do it again and most likely would do penitence for his hideous mistake. The real alarm bells sound because the Torah was not written for people who have to be warned not to ground the Torah into the ground with their heels. Something is very, very wrong. Of course, there is nothing wrong with the Torah. But the Vilna Gaon says that when the rabbis want to say something secretive they write it in such a way that many people will think it is just foolishness. This exactly fits the tee. But what secretive thing is there in this passage? (The Vilna Gaon’s teaching is in the third volume of the Zohar page 73, that heavenly sources are of two varieties. Some are revealed and understood. And some are not understood until a person merits to achieve the secret message in it.)

Let us look carefully at the lengthy discussion of the Orach Chaim HaKodosh in this matter of the HEEL. We must be careful to find something very problematic. If it is a normal passage we are wasting our time. I think I found it. The Orach Chaim is chugging along on the basic idea of the word heel and nonchalantly tosses in the fact that there is a Mishneh that uses the word heel. The Mishneh is talking about IKVISO DIMESHICHA which is Aramaic for “footsteps of the Messiah.” Okay. Fine. Heel means Moshiach. Pretty basic. Nothing exciting. And that is not what I am looking for. So out

comes the gemora and the Mishneh, and guess what. Pay dirt! Big time. The Mishneh is talking about

the most hideous sins the Jews ever saw or even heard about. And this period, just prior to Moshiach, is called “footsteps of the Moshiach” using the word AIKEV which really means “Heel.”

Now we are ready to load up the cannons and know what the secret of the passage is. IKVISO DIMESHICHA means the “footsteps of the Moshiach,” at least, that is the phrase. Does the phrase suggest the quick arrival of Moshiach? If it does, we are wasting our time. We must find something that is the opposite of what we are thinking. Then it may be the secretive passage that we want to find.

Now, pay attention. IKVISEH DIMESHICHA means “footsteps of the Moshiach.” But does it suggest the quick coming of Moshiach? Absolutely not. It is talking about the complete opposite. It is talking about the worst sins Jews ever did or heard of. Is that connected with Moshiach? How in the world can Moshiach come when Jewish children insult their parents? If “one’s enemies are his family” can Moshiach be right around the corner? Let us not forget the teaching of Eliyohu HaNovi in the first page of his teachings Tono Divei Eliyohu, that “the Tree of Life” is Torah, but Derech Erets, respect for people, and surely respect for parents, is more important. If there is a common thread among the many hideous sins listed in that Mishneh about Ikviseh Dimeshicha, it is that Derech Erets is dead. What does that mean regarding Moshiach?

For that, we have the final passage of Malachi the last book of the prophets. “Behold I will send to you Eliyohu the Novi, before the great and fearful day of HaShem. And he will return the hearts of the fathers to the sons, and the hearts of sons to their fathers. Lest I come and destroy the world.”

The task of Eliyohu the Novi is to restore Derech Erets, to undo the terror of the period of Ikviseh Dimeshoch when Derech Erets was destroyed. Pay attention now. We are getting into some delicate terrain. Number one, Eliyohu the Novi is not known to be standing on the mountains announcing Moshiach these days. The destruction of Derech Erets is the mood of Ikviseh Dimeshicha, meaning that Moshiach will only come with a period of the destruction of Derech Erets. How can Moshiach come in a time when Derech Erets is basically dead, when the rulers of the world deny G‑d, and the other hideous things mentioned in that Mishneh at the end of Sota happen? This is the exact question which blocks us from understanding why the Orach Chaim HaKodosh quotes this Mishneh about Ikviseh Dimeshicha along with “heel” of the passage in Devorim which is supposed to teach us happiness about a perfection in Torah that runs from the head to the feet or the heel. This seems to be an insurmountable problem, precisely the type of problem we need to reach deep into it and find the “secret” suggested by the Vilna Gaon in such passages.

I have it, and it is in that very Mishneh at the end of Sota, but it is a passage that can easily confuse most people. Therefore, we are going to have to borrow the teaching of the prime disciple of the Chofetz Chaim, Reb Elchonon Wasserman of blessed memory, to fix it. And then we have our secret.

The passage comes after a long list of misery of dead rabbis, of the decline of the Torah, etc., and etc. The passage really fits the mood of the Mishneh, which is a hideous mourning from top to bottom. A passage in this mourning appears several times, “And we have nobody to turn to other than our Father in heaven.” This passage seems appropriate for despair. There is nothing to do and nobody great enough to deal with the problems. It is all over. That is how the passage reads at first glance. But we know that in our search for the secret we have to dig deep and find it. And the one who did this was Reb Elchonon Wasserman. He said, “We have nobody to rely upon to help us other than our Father in heaven.” It seems to say that nobody can or will help us. And if the world is so inclined to insult parents and do all of the other hideous sins and destruction of Derech Erets mentioned in the Mishneh, why should HaShem help us? Isn’t He the one quoted at the end of Malalchi who threatened that if Derech Erets was not fixed He would completely destroy the world and kill everyone in it? He is the last person to trust to save the world when the world has utterly destroyed Derech Erets, and we await the destruction of the entire world and everyone in it. But Reb Elchonon insisted that despair is not the meaning of the passage “And we have nobody to rely upon other than our Father in Heaven.” Rather, “there is nobody to rely upon other than our Father in Heaven” means that in a world swarming with the worst sins and evil, our Father is waiting for the few individuals who still worship Him properly. And for them He will save the world and bring Moshiach.

But, how can He help us when He has clearly threatened to destroy a world without Derech Erets? And Ikviseh Dimeshicha is clearly a world without Derech Erets.

Something is missing. And we have to find it. It is the word “HEEL.” Why is this the key to the secret we search for? Look carefully at the commentary of the Orach Chaim HaKodosh there and he mentions that the correct purpose of והיה עקב is as follows: VIHOYO means “You will be happy” why? Because HEEL means that from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet, the heel, you are serving HaShem. Now the secret is right around the corner.

To understand, we must tell another story about the Chofetz Chaim and one of his top students, who learned intensely with Reb Elchonon for years. I refer to the Ponovitcher Rov, a great builder of Torah in Israel. The Ponovitcher Rov was originally from Europe and then he went to Israel. While in Europe and studying intensely with Reb Elchonon Wasserman under the Chofetz Chaim, the Ponovitcher became very close to the Chofetz Chaim. Once, after he had become a prominent Rov of a city, he sensed that the people in his city were determined to drive him away and get a new Rov who was a modern person. He came with his problem to the Chofetz Chaim who told him, “When two armies battle to conquer a city, and somebody who does not join the winning army may be severely punished, one must join the strongest army.” The Ponovitcher Rov was stunned and he asked, “Should I become modern?” The Chofetz Chaim relied, “HaShem is the strongest one.” Join his army.

The Ponovitcher Rov learned this lesson well. When Rommel may his memory be blotted out, was just outside of Israel and ready to break through and kill every Jew there, the Ponovitcher Rov was busy building a Yeshiva. Somebody asked him about this and he replied, “If I build a Yeshiva and somebody tears it down, it will nonetheless be rebuilt.” Rommel didn’t come and the Ponovitcher Rov completed his Yeshiva. Maybe the fact that there were people there in Israel who had no fear of the Germans but only of HaShem helped to make the miracle of the defeat of Rommel.

Okay, let us spell out the secret. The secret is: When the world is filled with wicked people, the worst, and HaShem notices that here and there are people who are turning to him despite the majority of deniers and wicked people, He thinks about them first as they think about Him first. Therefore, there is hope. These people are the “Heel” connected to the head that connects to HaShem, and He will not neglect His special children.

The Gaon Reb Aharon Kotler came to America which was a place for people who want to make money not Torah. The rabbis in America were paid good salaries to provide services with one condition: if they saw somebody drive on Shabbos they were not allowed to make an issue of it. This was the treifeh medinah; the money was good, but behave.

Reb Aharon requested an appointment with the senior rabbis to present his ideas about what to do in America. The appointment came and Reb Aharon presented his ideas how to transform America into a Torah world. The rabbis listened and when Reb Aharon had finished the senior rabbi said, “Reb Aharon. We are in charge here. You go to Israel and teach in the Yeshiva of your father-in-law, Reb Isser Zalman Meltser.”

What could Reb Aharon say in reply to that? If he yelled at the rabbis, he ruined things. If he said nothing, he was ruined. But don’t forget, that Reb Aharon came to the treifeh medinah with faith in and the backing of HaShem. That rabbi who insulted Reb Aharon died on the spot. I heard this from Rabbi Dov Eisenberg who received Semicha from Reb Aharon. Reb Dov was from German extraction, and he went regularly to college to learn how to make a living. He often took Reb Aharon with him to New York on his way to college. It is quite possible that he himself saw this miracle. But even if he did not see it personally, if Reb Dov said something, it was solid. We will soon talk about the one rabbi in America who stood side by side with Reb Aharon to battle the rabbis. He was Reb Shraga Feival Mendelowitz, the head of Yeshiva Torah ViDaas. His son Reb Shmuel was the Rosh Yeshiva in Monsey of Yeshiva Beis Shraga named for Reb Shraga Feival Mendelowitz the head of Yeshiva Torah ViDaas.

We are getting to the secret. Reb Aharon trusted completely in HaShem. And it worked. That was the passage in the Mishneh about Ikviseh Dimeshecha that says, “And we have nobody to turn to other than our Father in Heaven.” This means, said the Chofetz Chaim’s major disciple Reb Elchonon Wasserman, not as some understand that we should despair. It means the opposite. We should not despair, because if we trust in HaShem, even if the whole world is evil and is exactly what the Mishneh talks about that sons insult their fathers and daughters insult their mothers, which means the collapse of Derech Erets, the few people who keep faith in HaShem will save the world.

That is, the prophet Malachi closed the prophetic teachings with the sentence “Behold I send to you Eliyohu the Prophet, before the arrival of the great and awesome day. And he will restore the hearts of fathers to their sons, and the hearts of the sons to their fathers, lest I come and destroy the entire world.” Eliyohu has not yet arrived, and the world is filled with evil, and the destruction of Derech Erets. Why then does HaShem not destroy the world as He has pledged to do? That is because of the few people like Reb Aharon who fulfilled the passage “There is nobody to turn to other than our Father in Heaven.” When we turn to Him, we will save the world, and ourselves.

When a Jew like Reb Aharon comes to a world like America, where the senior rabbi brutally insults him and tells him to leave the country, what hope is there? Seemingly, there is no hope. But Reb Aharon went to that meeting with faith in HaShem. When all hope is lost; when Derech Erets, something greater than Torah, is lost, what hope can there be? A few people who trust in HaShem completely will take the light of HaShem into the treifeh Medinah, battle the “rabbis” to the end, and succeed.

“And it will be when the Heel is aroused” all of the blessings will come to be. The Heel is the connection from HaShem to the head of the tsaddik who is complete in his faith down to his heel. He knows and fulfills what HaShem wants of him. And every inch of the tsaddik is tightly connected to HaShem, and HaShem is tightly connected to the tsaddik. Then, the corrupt world will feel the holy light of heaven and miracles will take place. Evil will be destroyed and Torah and Derech Erets will be restored.

This is the idea behind “and it will be” a change from the evil in the world to the efforts of the tsaddik who has pure faith in HaShem. HEEL, the one who connects his soul and his head to the feet that do the work. The feet go here and there and fight tooth and nail to destroy evil with the light of heaven blazing down from HaShem who never leaves the tsaddik who trusts in Him. Then a few righteous people will see miracles and bring about the changes necessary for Moshiach. That is the secret.

Above I quoted from the Vilna Gaon the idea that when we find a strange passage in the Torah or the Talmud, it seems out of place, but that is a hint that it hides a deep thought, a secret. I don’t know where this is brought in the Vilna Gaon, although it is well known that he said it. However, I think it is based upon a Zohar III:73A “There are three worlds connected one to the other: HaShem, Torah and Israel. And each one of these is a world upon world hidden and revealed. The third level is Israel, divided into two worlds, hidden and revealed, Yisroel and Yaacov.” The Zohar says that Yaacov is the lower revealed level for Jewry and Yisroel is the higher but hidden world. These are the words it uses to describe the higher hidden world, “The rules and the judgments for Yisroel: these are the mysteries of the Torah, and the rules of the Torah, and the secrets of the Torah.”

Thus, we were right to seek secrets when faced with the questions posed by the Orach Chaim HaKodosh that seemed strange but surely hid great secrets. The secret we revealed is the secret of haShem finding the few trusted righteous who merit to bring Moshiach. Such a great secret!

This book is about Problems and Solutions. The Problems are that today the major rabbis in America violate the Torah in the worst way, by making babies into mamzerim when they force divorces on husbands or tell women to leave their husbands with no GET at all and remarry and have mamzerim. I know of no way to stop this. But this I know. HaShem is stronger than these “rabbis” and the women who follow them. Trust in HaShem and fight back, as small or great a punch as you can manage, but fight, and you will see happiness even in such a world, the Ikviseh Dimishicho. HaShem is waiting for you and the few who fought back because they know there is somebody to trust in and to obey, even in such a terrible time. This is the ultimate test and it is the ultimate reward. It is a time to choose where you will go.