The president of the largest Reform temple in Los Angeles came to a pious scribe who lives in town and said he wanted to fulfill the Torah commandment mentioned in the Torah portion that week: “And now, write for yourselves this song” (Deut. 31:19). The man ordered an especially elegant Sefer Torah for his temple. The amount of the transaction amounted to about 40,000 dollars, and the scribe, who needed the money, was uncertain what to do: May he write a Torah scroll for a Reform congregation, because after all, they are Jews and are obligated in this commandment (and the scribe needs money)? Or should the scribe not do anything for them?
A similar question came from another pious Jew, who sews Torah mantels and Ark curtains. Reform Jews (who are heretics according to Jewish law) came to him and wanted to order Torah mantels for their Torah scrolls and elegant curtains for their Torah ark. He was unsure: Is it right to sew for them? They may deny the Torah, but maybe he should sew the curtains and mantle for the sake of the holy Torah. Even if the public sins, did the Torah scroll sin?
Answer:
My teacher, Rabbi Yitzchak Zilberstein, rules: It is explained in the tractate of Ta’anis (15a, and in the Shulchan Aruch 579:1) that on a public fast, the public lays ashes from a burned item on the Torah ark and the Torah scroll, because it is in sorrow too. Likewise, we put ashes on the heads of the Nasi and Supreme Rabbinical Court president, because the written Torah and the oral Torah are both in sorrow.
It is the same in this case too. The Torah wants to wear sackcloth and put on ashes because of these sinful people. If so, G-d forbid that one should enter a place that is a complete desecration and blasphemy of G-d and His Holy Torah, to honor the Torah with a mantle and curtains when it is in sorrow and would instead prefer to have ashes placed on it.
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Reform Jews Who Want to Build a Sukkah Near their Temple
Rabbi Zilberstein was asked another related question by a pious carpenter. The carpenter was asked to build a magnificent sukkah for Reform Jews next to their temple. May he accept their order?
Answer:
It is a virtuous act for the carpenter to tell them: I see you want to fulfill the commandment to dwell in a sukkah which is under the protection of the Almighty. So please accept upon yourself to believe in the Thirteenth Articles of Faith. I will then happily build you a beautiful sukkah.
But as long as you are among those who have gone astray, you are not making the sukkah in fulfillment of the commandment. Since people will believe that the Sukkah is kosher and built to fulfill the king’s commandment [1], but your sukkah was not built out of this motivation, but merely for “folklore” and symbolic reasons, it is instead a fraud and will be a stumbling-block for many.
[1] This is the view of Rashi in Tractate Sukkah (page 9a beginning with the words “A sukkah for the sake of the holiday”): “As it is written, sukkahs for G-d — because it is the King’s commandment.”
