Q&A: Bnei Brak, City of Sins
Bnei Brak, City of Sins
Question
“Rabbi Ilai the Elder said: If a person sees that his evil inclination is overpowering him, let him go to a place where he is not known, and let him wear black and wrap himself in black, and let him do what his heart desires, but let him not desecrate the Name of Heaven in public” (Kiddushin 40a; Chagigah 16a).
Rashi: let him wear black — so that he should not appear in his own dignity; perhaps this will soften his heart. And also, if he sins, people will not pay attention, since he is not important in their eyes; therefore he should wear black.
Tosafot (Kiddushin): and let him do what his heart desires. Rabbeinu Chananel explained: Heaven forbid that he was permitted to commit a sin. Rather, Rabbi Ilai meant that the hardship of travel, inns, and wearing black break the evil inclination and keep a person from sin.
Tosafot (Chagigah): and let him do what his heart desires. It sounds entirely like a person is permitted to do exactly what he wishes in private and not in public, and not like Rabbeinu Chananel, who at the end of the first chapter of Kiddushin (40a) explained that Heaven forbid he was permitting a sin; rather, he said to wear black and go elsewhere because wearing black and staying at inns breaks his heart and he will not come to sin, and from now on he will be able to do what his heart desires, since certainly his evil inclination is no longer overpowering him. But the flow of the Talmudic passage does not seem to support his words here or at the beginning of the final chapter of Moed Katan (17a):
- As painful as this is—and it is painful—it seems that Rabbeinu Chananel is right. Because according to Rashi and Tosafot in Chagigah, he wears black so that he won’t be recognized and there won’t be a desecration of God’s name. But if so, what is the point of going to a place where he is not known? His black clothes already hide him from everyone’s eyes. And if he went to a place where he isn’t known, why wear black?
- It is well known that Australia was once a British penal colony, and most of its residents were British criminals sentenced to exile there, except that most of them decided to remain there even after serving their sentence. In light of the Talmudic passage above, could it be that Bnei Brak is a city where, in the past, anyone who wanted to sin would dress in black and wrap himself in black and go there, and in the end, after doing what they enjoyed doing, decided to stay there?? Please don’t refute the theory. It’s brilliant. One simple theory that answers dozens of questions…..
Answer
- I don’t think that wearing black conceals him hermetically even according to Rashi and Tosafot. There is nothing preventing us from saying that according to them as well, wearing black serves to prevent the sin.
- This theory was already suggested by me long ago. No need to compare it to Australia. Bnei Brak need not be a penal colony, but rather a city that the people living in it chose to come to in order to wear black and then do what their hearts desire. Alternatively, once they wore black, they found for themselves permission to do what their hearts desired.
Discussion on Answer
He wouldn’t even need that, since in the court system everyone knows everyone anyway because they appoint relatives there…
In Bnei Brak they wear black, but they do not wrap themselves in black, since their prayer shawls are white and only the stripes are black. The only ones who wrap themselves in black are district court judges, Supreme Court justices, and the lawyers appearing before them.
But there is a second problem shared by both Bnei Brak residents and legal professionals, namely the requirement that he “go to a place where he is not known”—whereas in crowded Bnei Brak everyone knows everyone, and the same is true in the legal system, which is public by nature.
“A place where he is not known” is the internet, where a person can express himself freely without revealing his identity.
In summary: one who wants to save himself from sin needs three conditions: a. to live in Bnei Brak or in a Haredi neighborhood and wear black; b. to serve as a district court or Supreme Court judge, and wrap himself in black; c. to write posts and comments anonymously on the internet, a place where he is not known;
And about this it was said: “Reflect upon three things and you will not come to sin” 🙂
Best regards,
Key Star Isaac 🙂